Indika is a tough game to flesh out. It’s surreal environments coupled with stylistic fervor for framing scenes makes so much of the game compelling. And its interrogation of religious ambiguities reaches some interesting boiling points. But I also think much of the narrative is bogged down by less than inspired game design, with too few resonant character beats in between too many arduous levels. Still, I appreciate the swing even though the game couldn’t resolve that tension.

(Also, I’ve seen comparisons made about Indika to an A24 movie, and, even though I don’t agree with that - that doesn’t mean anything - I DO think the game is more interested in leveraging film language for its narrative with gameplay secondary)

Ghostrunner II is trying to do a bit too much for my taste, partly departing from the tight, high-octane levels that made the first Ghostrunner standout, in favor of bigger, more open objective sections. Sadly, these levels never worked for me, especially when leaving behind the cool, oppressive cyberpunk aesthetic (and its accompanying score) for the arid apocalyptic desert and the silence its partnered with. It felt disjointed and antithetical to what the heart of the series is and needs to be: pure, fast-paced, action platforming. I hope 505 scales back a bit if they decide to go for a third installment.

Overall a good game but an underwhelming sequel.

In a world where AAA gaming is dominated by C-suite mandates to create premium products made strictly by and for continuous consumption, it is a miracle we've gotten a game like Alan Wake II, with Sam Lake taking an even harder swing into the realm of the confident auteur. No concept is too obtuse, no idea too far-fetched, no mechanic too weird to attempt. To say it came together is to minimize the calculated post-modern approach to this gripping and looping narrative that Remedy Entertainment has accomplished. We are lucky to get a project like this that pushes the medium far beyond what many others are even attempting to do in this space. Alan Wake II has seriously restored my faith in what prestigious AAA gaming can and should be. Masterpiece.

...𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘱𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘰𝘯 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦...