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Alan Wake 2: Lack Of Sales Update Suggests It Didn’t Sell Too Well
Zuzu
Member
I finished it the other day. I didn't think it was anything exceptional. Gunplay was pretty average when you compare it to other survival horrors release last year like RE4 Remake and Dead Space Remake. Movement in combat felt clunky and not in a good way. The puzzles were either poor or average. Alan Wake's scene changing mechanic and the light switch mechanic were interesting in theory, but they hardly made any interesting puzzles around them. If Valve or Nintendo had of made this game, there would have been awesome puzzles using the type-writer/scene changing mechanic.
Saga's puzzles with the dolls and the cult stashes were pretty generic. Somewhat fun but uninspired at the same time. And some puzzles were just silly such as the maths problems on two of the cult stashes that were pretty much taken from a high school mathematics test book. The puzzles should be built using the tools and mechanics of the game world not taken from something you'd find in a schoolbook lol.
Saga's mindplace detective work was poorly done. There was hardly any actual gameplay required for putting together the evidence board and deductions were so simple and could be achieved through easy trial and error without any actual reasoning. Very poorly designed part of the game.
I disagree with people saying Saga was a good character. Imo she was a blandly written character with a pretty cookie-cutter, uninteresting personality. The story hook involving her daughter could have had more emotional weight around if her daughter actually made a physical appearance in the story. There's not one cutscene that features her daughter. All we have is some photos and some dialogue on the phone with her.
Alan Wake was a little more interesting than Saga but it didn't feel like his character developed too much either. It would have been better if they had have stuck to one character and deepened their character and story arc and they could have deepened the gameplay mechanic of a single character by giving them more skills and more weapons. Alan Wake has hardly any weapons to use. If it just focussed on him they could have made combat more interesting, at least for him.
Graphics on the Series X weren't that great imo. RE4 Remake and Dead Space Remake look better. The story was overall good though and the integration of live action into the story is the best I've ever seen in a video game. It was a master class wrt that and they've come a long way since the use of live action in Quantum Break. The connections the game makes with other Remedy games is also well done and this is one of the best connected universes in gaming atm imo. Something that I don't like is that the "true" ending is hidden behind New Game+. In a game like this where story is the central focus everyone should receive the true ending after the first playthrough imo. They also overused the jump scares in places especially in the retirement home.
Saga's puzzles with the dolls and the cult stashes were pretty generic. Somewhat fun but uninspired at the same time. And some puzzles were just silly such as the maths problems on two of the cult stashes that were pretty much taken from a high school mathematics test book. The puzzles should be built using the tools and mechanics of the game world not taken from something you'd find in a schoolbook lol.
Saga's mindplace detective work was poorly done. There was hardly any actual gameplay required for putting together the evidence board and deductions were so simple and could be achieved through easy trial and error without any actual reasoning. Very poorly designed part of the game.
I disagree with people saying Saga was a good character. Imo she was a blandly written character with a pretty cookie-cutter, uninteresting personality. The story hook involving her daughter could have had more emotional weight around if her daughter actually made a physical appearance in the story. There's not one cutscene that features her daughter. All we have is some photos and some dialogue on the phone with her.
Alan Wake was a little more interesting than Saga but it didn't feel like his character developed too much either. It would have been better if they had have stuck to one character and deepened their character and story arc and they could have deepened the gameplay mechanic of a single character by giving them more skills and more weapons. Alan Wake has hardly any weapons to use. If it just focussed on him they could have made combat more interesting, at least for him.
Graphics on the Series X weren't that great imo. RE4 Remake and Dead Space Remake look better. The story was overall good though and the integration of live action into the story is the best I've ever seen in a video game. It was a master class wrt that and they've come a long way since the use of live action in Quantum Break. The connections the game makes with other Remedy games is also well done and this is one of the best connected universes in gaming atm imo. Something that I don't like is that the "true" ending is hidden behind New Game+. In a game like this where story is the central focus everyone should receive the true ending after the first playthrough imo. They also overused the jump scares in places especially in the retirement home.
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Dev1lXYZ
Member
I wanted to get this, but decided I'd rather have Lies of P to play on Steam Deck. Remedy's games don't hold their value, so the sweet spot for this one is $29.99. I'll wait. I love the lore, but gameplay complaints and lack of enemies don't encourage spending above that price.
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rofif
Can’t Git Gud
Saga well written? She doesn’t react to anything, she becomes the main protagonist for no reason and she overcomes her problems at the end in five minutes.
All she does is monologues in mind place
YOU PC BRO?!
Gold Member
Which ones aren't true? I'll wait...
Danteyke223
Member
I bought the game on PS5, but will only finish it once all the DLCs are done. Those are usually relevant to the end of the game when it comes to Remedy stuff. The biggest issue I have with is the enemies. Where they seemingly doubled down on the boring enemies from the 1st game, and did not bother to make fun and interesting enemies.
Zathalus
Member
Alan Wake only being playable for 50% of his own sequel
- The original is a game that came out 13 years ago. How do you explain the setting and what is going on without making it a massive exposition dump? Sure maybe they could have done something else but the dual protagonist lends itself to a mystery and makes the start of the game quite intriguing. It certainly drew me in even though I had played the original. It still fundamentally is about Alan Wake though. I can see why some would be a bit mad because of this.
Race swapping of an existing character
- Technically not. The Saga Anderson that appeared in the short is not the same Saga Anderson in the game. Different Universe with the Saga Anderson in the game having a different father (not going to spoil who, but it ties into Quantum Break a bit). Even if this wasn't the case, the character they are race swapping was in a online short almost a decade ago, it's hardly a super important character beloved by the fans.
Blatant racism i.e. out of place usage of 'white' as a pejorative
- Yes it is used as a pejorative, the game immediately points out that this is a bad thing. The character was also being forced to say it by an outside force.
Feminist overtones i.e. Lead Agent's frequent and unrealistic deferment to subordinate Saga Andersson
- You must have gotten this from someone with a obvious agenda. Alex Casey is her partner (not lead or senior agent) and asks her to take point on the case, not because she is a woman but because she is really good (once again the reason for this ties directly into her ancestry but now on her mother's side).
I personally found Spider-Man 2 side quests super cringe and the entire feel good premise of everything threw me off but I got none of that from this game.
StreetsofBeige
Gold Member
Regardless of Steam availability, AW2 is not going to be a blockbuster seller. Has any Remedy game ever sold 5M copies?
Their games has too much production values baked into story, that's probably why most gamers avoid their games. As for AWII itself, I dont think too many people have been begging for a sequel. Most gamers never even played the first game, or know about it. And even if they did their knowledge would be a SP narrative with a guy with a flashlight.
Their games has too much production values baked into story, that's probably why most gamers avoid their games. As for AWII itself, I dont think too many people have been begging for a sequel. Most gamers never even played the first game, or know about it. And even if they did their knowledge would be a SP narrative with a guy with a flashlight.
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YOU PC BRO?!
Gold Member
I’m sorry but you are wrong about almost everything you are attempting to ‘correct’ me on. That’s ok though. The reasons I gave for not wanting to play AW2 were for me, not anyone else.
For the record, I do agree with Spider-Man 2 being totally cringe. Miles Morales was the same. I didn’t pick up SM2 as I don’t like the current day direction of the game. Another Sweet Baby Inc gem. Who knows how badly they will mess up Wolverine.
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mckmas8808
Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
That's the thing I don't understand about people. Some people seem to not understand who Joel really was when they played the first TLOU.
Zathalus
Member
I was correct on everything I said, especially the part about the white thing that everyone got worked up over. But I won't argue the point further, you have obviously made up your mind and no amount of facts would change your opinion.
rofif
Can’t Git Gud
You are not wrong except Alan is playable for more like 40% of the game.
Saga is the main character. Her fucking mind place is boring as fuck "pretend to solve case" place. You place the puzzles in automatic slots. no way to fail... and you listen to dialogue.
Boring as fuck, no tension, almost no action.... and even bad ending.
She has as much personality as a rock...
The horror is bad in a horror game because of jump scares. Best moments are just walking around the forest at night.
And survival is bad because there is barely any action to use your resources.
Then the puzzles with positivity messages in launch boxes and the figurines children crap.
I started loving this game and ended really disliking it. The best part about it is audio design and graphics obviously although definitely not on consoles.
I think I disagree with all those points lmao (except maybe for dialogue that can be weak in some select spots). TLOU1 is a mid game imho and playing the remake recently it really shows its age, whereas TLOU2 is a stellar action horror masterpiece
Senua
Gold Member
You should write for a publication dude, the way you articulate is incredible. It transports me back to a time of adolescent thoughts and makes me forget about adult pressures like bills and other responsibilities.
Ironically it rivals Sam Lake's writing, albeit in a slightly less, idiosyncratic way.
mckmas8808
Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
Exactly! Plus we know it charted close to and around Spiderman: MM. And we now know from the leaks that it Miles Morales sold and extra 4 million copies (from February 2022 - June 2023). There's no reason to doubt that TLOU2 didn't sell close to or around those numbers.
It's seriously like we are taking crazy pills sometimes. Bizarro ResetEra is right.
I don't understand this mindset that you and some others have. It's like you all are fighting a crusade or something. Rewarded? Is this some kind of philosophical Civil War that's happening that I'm not aware of? It's just Alan Wake 2 man.
TGO
Hype Train conductor. Works harder than it steams.
I just mean I ain't gonna pat them on the back for it and congratulate them of everything else while ignoring the rest.
I will call a good game a good game, and will call out the little shit stains on the wall if I see them instead of ignoring it.
Nothing to build up a vendetta about, the sales do the talking and like you said, It's just Alan Wake 2 man
You should know me by now, regardless of what it is, even if I love it
I'll call it straight down the middle with little care if anyone agrees or not.
And I'll just keep repeating my opinion, I gain or lose nothing either way.
It's just my opinion and I don't need validation
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Senua
Gold Member
It's a culture war. USA's issue that has spread like a cancer growth.The sad reality is the extreme left fringe have pushed far right thinking. Now to some people (many here it seems) games with a black protag are "woke" and trying to force an agenda, no matter the context.
Those of us more centered than the extremes are just left baffled by all the narrow minded white noise. But humans will human.
mckmas8808
Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
UGH.....You're right. It is a culture war. My fault, that did honestly slip my mind.
TGO
may not be fighting it, but others are. Glad to read what you wrote though, because sometimes I feel like I'm the crazy one lol. Like not everything in media has to be due to some agenda, conspiracy, or hidden narrative. People are even attacking people I respect and love like Dave Chappelle and Elon Musk. And lately, I'm starting to wonder if they are falling into this same culture war trap too. :-(
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YOU PC BRO?!
Gold Member
Sigh… you are delusional. Everything I stated was true. You disproved nothing my friend. Alan Wake is indeed only playable for 50% of his own sequel, the character Saga Anderson was originally introduced as white and was subsequently ’race swapped’, the out of place racist language and feminist overtones… all of it true. I was also correct about the digital-only distribution and Remedy's apparent collaboration with the extremely woke company Sweet Baby Inc. Not all of these things are deal breakers for me but some of them are. I’ll let you puzzle out which.
You go ahead and like the game, that’s fine by me. What I won’t do is enable this forced current day nonsense. I’m willing to give up games I may otherwise enjoy for my stance. I accept this and have vowed to not judge others for looking past it. Surely that’s as much as can expected of a man? It sure used to be.
elcapitano
Member
And what's more we also know Part 2 made the top sales on PSN list for 2022. So clearly it had good sales in 2022.
And we also know it was making and sometimes topping the top sales list on PSN in the first 3 or 4 months of 2023 due to the release of the show.
A reasonable assumption based on the data we have is around another 4 million copies sold.
Which puts it right in line with the other big hitters as we also know from the leaks God of War and Horizon where Bundled at over 20%.
The leaks also illustrated that TLOU2 was on track to become second to only Spiderman in terms of Net Sales for PS4 games.
So essentially the leaks indicated that worst case scenario Part 2 would be the 2nd or 3rd most successful Sony PS4 game of all time.
Not in terms of units moved but in terms of money which clearly matters more when some games have massively inflated Unit numbers due to bundles etc.
If you are primarily PC, it's only available on Epic. And they have a sale through Jan 10th that has a 33% off coupon. It comes out to just under $27 and also includes a copy of Alan Wake Remastered. And even more importantly an Alan Wake Fortnite skin, so it's buy a skin and get two games free.
Personally, I spent $10 more and got the deluxe edition that also includes the expansion pass since I'd end up buying the story DLC whenever it comes out.
TGO
Hype Train conductor. Works harder than it steams.
The most intelligent people are the easiest to be manipulated simply because they think they can't.UGH.....You're right. It is a culture war. My fault, that did honestly slip my mind.
A lot of people do fall into the culture war without realising it, and they are completely innocent and mean well
But they just have to ask themselves one question
Are they really centered or have they leaned towards one way with tolerance without realising it and now see people that are as not.
There are more centered people then both left or right.
And despite what they want you to believe there is very few far right, but if you're not with them then you're against them which means you're far right in their eyes.
And Dave Chappelle is awesome
MacReady13
Member
I have the game and am yet to finish it. Reason why? I want to PLAY a game, not watch a movie! Much the same reason I started Spiderman 2 and have yet to finish it- I want to play the game and not have to do bullshit quests like cleaning a house/apartment!
Stooky
Member
You dont think after all the people Joel murdered no one was going come back looking for him? He had it coming. You may not like what happened to him but it was definitively going to happen. You want the cookie cutter Disney version.... Joel stopped his murderous ways , is a good guy now and lives happily ever after. That really doesn't follow the theme of 'the last of us'
Hypereides
Gold Member
1.) Yeah? and TLOU took/takes place in a post-pandemic borderline apocalyptic wasteland. A dog eats dog world, if you will. The fireflies weren't exactly angels and good Samaritans either. It was a world driven by survival. Joel also struggled with the loss of his daughter. You could argue what he did was selfish and immoral while also understand his underlying motive for the former. From my pov Joel was painted as an anti-hero under the given circumstances and throughout the story till the end. Seems like Druckmann deliberately went against that and trounced that notion.
2.), 3.) Great. You got your premise for a TLOU prequel right there.
4.) The one where he commits the deeds implied in what you pinpoint in 2.) and 3.). A game slice that shows some dark atrocities that he committed while undergoing some degree of character growth. Going from a clearly immoral and heartless bastard to realizing and perhaps reflecting on past events to eventually becoming a somewhat better person. Maybe even adding a clearer foreboding and foreshadowing of his fate. That would fill in the missing consistency and warrant his merciless brutal reckoning. Conceptually, that could potentially stitch together some loose parts and fill in some blanks that unfold in TLOU2 and make the overaching storyline more believable.
Apparently, Druckmann deliberately, veto'ed and overwrote various established aspects in TLOU just for the sake of paving a path for an awkward narrative bridge in TLOU2 and hammered it onto TLOU1. That's even though his interpretation was in the minority among his peers. There's a far more comprehensive Reddit post that deconstructs, describes and explains various details and aspects it in depth that made the continuation incoherent:
TLOU2 as its own, self-contained, standalone and disconnected story is fine. As a sequel though, it lacks narrative fluidity and stable continuity. But, listen, Stooky, If you think that TLOU2 is clearly a flawless and impeccable narrative marvel then that's cool. You're entitled to think whatever you want. Anyway, that's all I'll touch upon this in this thread.
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DForce
NaughtyDog Defense Force
Wanted to compare Spider-Man Miles Morales to The Last of Us Part II since they were both around 10 million and Spider-Man sold an additional 4 million copies.
PlayStation Store Top 20 - 2022
PlayStation 5
US/Canada
14. Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales
PlayStation 4
US/Canada
12. The Last of Us Part II
Europe
8. The Last of Us Part II
Miles Moreals launched on PC in November 2022.
NPD November 2022
9th. Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales
GSD Europe November 2022
12. The Last of Us Part II
20. Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales
Spider-Man Miles Morales
The Last of Us Part II
- I updated April's 2022 results for The Last of Us Part II. It placed 20th for April in Europe
- I didn't check Japan PSN charts for Spider-Man: MM
- GSD charts for March and April only had the top 10 results.
- Spider-Man: MM didn't appear in the top 20 PSN charts for 2022.
- The Last of Us Part II was selling for $10 - $30, so that's why it didn't appear on the NPD charts a bit more.
- Spider-Man: MM had strong sales in the US but was low in Europe.
The first game sold 17 million copies in just under 5 years. The Last of Us Part II has until April 2025 to either match or surpass 17m copies sold.
rofif
Can’t Git Gud
yep I agree.
He did 20 years of crime and ellie is the thing that made him change.
By that point he has enemies and he obviously killed a ton of people in that hospital.
tlou2 story makes perfect sense and it's a rollercoaster of emotions on all fronts. I love it so much.
It was extremely successful because we still talk about it. It created REAL EMOTIONS. Not only real about in-game story. It created real emotions like - people grief for Joel outside the game. Grief their fav character dying and they hate the game for that reason. That's amazing.
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Hypereides
Gold Member
Honestly, the only thing Dr.Uckmann should be congratulated for is how much he's divided the fanbase. I suppose that does account for something though.
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rofif
Can’t Git Gud
I much prefer what they did rather than a straight, boring remake.
I like abby, I love the story and I love the game. It's one of best games ever made if you ask me... and I felt completely 180 before I came around on the game around the middle.
Ulysses 31
Member
OK so you've pivoted away from the immoral actions of the Fireflies. I never said Joel's past shouldn't come back to bite him and I didn't expect him to "get away with it" with the promo's lacking his presence so much.
Strange remark, I don't expect Disney version of characters in a TLOU world. This time Joel had a duty to protect a community and I assume he took that seriously. He had improved from his past self who just looked out for himself and his partner.
Salz01
Member
I’m at the point in the game where I just want it to be over. It’s a highly over rated game. The graphics and atmosphere are great, but the game play and the Saga clue wall is just grating on me at this point. No where near as fun to play as Max Payne or Control. I’m sure most of the lack of sales are losses due to people just watching YouTubers doing a full play through of this thing.
Senua
Gold Member
It's not meant to be as fun as those games, it's a frankly bizarre, brooding, atmospheric survival horror game. You're meant to be immersed in the world with its mystery and intrigue. It's weird because outside of this forum I see nothing but praise for it, but everyone is different.
adamosmaki
Member
This game screams sh***load of sales have it been on steam. I understand why is Epic exclusive but i do hope it comes to steam later and hopefully even GOG
rofif
Can’t Git Gud
it wont. AW remaster never made it to steam
Fake
Member
Tlous fans are so fucking delusional they keep repeating this argument over and over until the very end. It's so pathetic predictable.
Yeah, maybe Joel should going after the one who gave an order to shoot her daughter and others civilians in his town too.
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Hohenheim
Member
Not suprised that this masterpiece didn't sell mutiple millions of copies. It's a weird game with some very niche stuff in on.
I absolutely love it (its my favourite game in 2023), but it's definitly too weird for many.
It feels like they made this game just for me,as it has all the stuff I adore in these kind of universes (mystic and very, morbid real horror, good humour from the D Lynch notebook, and dark true detective season 1 vibes).
As for the whole "its only on Epic" thing, I cannot understand how thats even a issue.
I have ALL my games in steam, and when this released on epic only, I just downloaded that client and got the game on Epic. I would never think about that as a "issue". That's so weird!
It's a 30 sec process.
I absolutely love it (its my favourite game in 2023), but it's definitly too weird for many.
It feels like they made this game just for me,as it has all the stuff I adore in these kind of universes (mystic and very, morbid real horror, good humour from the D Lynch notebook, and dark true detective season 1 vibes).
As for the whole "its only on Epic" thing, I cannot understand how thats even a issue.
I have ALL my games in steam, and when this released on epic only, I just downloaded that client and got the game on Epic. I would never think about that as a "issue". That's so weird!
It's a 30 sec process.
Stooky
Member
Fake
Member
Thanks for proving my point lmao.
adamosmaki
Member
Well AW2 is been praised left and right about its graphics and surely enough alot of pc gamers will buy for that reason alone
Is this woke person here in the room with us now? Are yo fine?
Seriously, dude, chill. It is a fucking video game. Pew pew.
YOU PC BRO?!
Gold Member
I offered an opinion then defended my position. You offer nothing other than passive aggressive insults. To match your energy, I could equally respond with... Seriously dude, chill. It’s just a forum. It’s just an opinion. Take it easy out there ok. Be strong bro.
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Senua
Gold Member
Your insecurity is showing
mckmas8808
Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
Thanks for this data!
Stooky
Member
no for majority of the game fire flies were the good guys all up to the last hour of the game. Honestly calling them immoral is a player decision, save the world or joel gets a new daughter? thats what makes game awesome. In my opinion joel was selfish. ellie wanted the choice of giving here life. joel took that choice away. all these concepts were explored in TLOU2.
Ulysses 31
Member
That's where the story dropped the ball a bit when under scrutiny IMO. There was not enough in the game to show that the Fireflies had the resources to pull off saving millions with the vaccine. (Let alone defend and distribute it fairly).
The moral quandary of player's decision hinges on the Fireflies having a good shot at saving the world, otherwise the story is pretty straight forward and Joel is just saving Ellie from delusion child killers and who in their right mind would side with those?
Is it selfish? Joel puts his life in peril to come to Ellie's defence from people who're going to take her life without informed consent. When reviewing the events, it's the Fireflies who force the issue and keep escalating(knocking him out, separating him from Ellie, kidnapping, death threats) till Joel eventually responds with force.
That's where TLOU2 writers cheats a bit IMO, Ellie is never told the whole truth what went down at that hospital because the writers don't let Joel go into much detail. Heck, the prologue omits everything the Fireflies did and just show the aftermath, making out Joel to be a butcher.
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masterkajo
Member
Very sad. But so far I also have not bought it. I loved the first and Epic even gave me a 33% off coupon somehow. So I could buy it for just $26. But I can't bring myself to buy from Epic. I am still hoping it will eventually come to Steam where I will gladly buy it full price.