This game made triple A devs cower in fear, saying that this game shouldn't set a new standard of quality because they know they can't make a game as good as this. What else is there to say?

I have a few grievances in Act 3 where I felt like the game wasn't expecting me to do the main quest in the order I did it. A little incongruence with how the in-game journal talks about the quest, and what the quest actually is.

Still, absolutely a masterpiece. And absolutely a new standard for modern gaming.

Alan Wake 1 is a 10/10 psychological horror/thriller movie trapped and constrained by a pretty average action adventure game. I can absolutely see why a sequel came out after 13 years. It's just so dense with potential, especially after that ending.
The gameplay itself is the only drawback. Pretty serviceable third person shooting with very repetitive and sometimes annoying encounters. Nice enemy variety, however no real variety in how to best them. The possessed objects are never fun.
The narrative, effort, and style simply elevate it far beyond a stock standard 2010s action game with horror elements. The attention to things that make it feel - for lack of a better term - off, and again, more than a production-line action game. The live action parts, the music, licensed or original (Space Oddity plays during the credits and it's amazing). Hell the entire story itself is something I've never seen before. I can't even conceptualise how someone came up with this. Very impressive.
All in all the best 7/10 I've ever seen.