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[marjo]

Finished it. To say that I love it would be a huge understatement. It's not just my GOTY, but one of my favorite games of all time. Everything hit for me perfectly.

I really appreciated how the game seemed to respect the player. No objective marker showing you were to go. No NPCs solving the puzzles for you outright. It seemed to strike the perfect balance between nudging you in the right direction, while still give you the space to work things out. Not to mention the story and atmosphere were right up my alley.

It's definitely an experience that's going to stay with me for a very long time.

Well done Remedy!

 

[Salmon Snake]

Alan Wake parts has some annoyances

Spoiler

The chases. Well I just had the second one in the hotel at did take me four attempts to finish it

 

[semiconscious]

The graphics and presentation in this game is amazing but the actual gameplay and pacing is horrible. It’s a very hard game to get though because it gets very boring at times.

This game was over scored imo. I would give it a 7.5 at most. If they leaned more into making it an action game and made the story easier to follow it would have been better. But at the same time it’s good to have variety and this game is a very unique experience which is why I think the reviewers scored it so high.

well, for that matter, so's breaking your arm. i've never understood why something being a 'unique experience' is considered to be an inherently good thing. because one can think of many 'unique experiences' that they'd much rather live without experiencing themselves...

i'd never deny that alan wake 2 has some very unique aspects. it does. but i just happened to find getting through them to be a pretty miserable experience, & one i'd absolutely never want to re-experience or recommend to others...

 

[xrnzaaas]

I've finished it after spending 30+ hours with the game (I've stilled missed a few collectibles). This is not going to be a goty for me like I wished, not even close. Playing large parts of this game is just tiring... whether it's spending time on Saga's board (and not being able to progress otherwise) or just struggling through loops in Alan's dark place. They've also dialed up the mindfuck meter to the maximum (or maybe even beyond - some scenes were more annoying than others) while in the first game it was very managable in that aspect. I'm not saying it should be the same in the sequel, but the game shouldn't try to act clever and leave you more confused in like every major scene. Maybe some people will find that refreshing and actually enjoy the meta stuff, I didn't.
The gameplay was also quite disappointing, I was expecting much better combat coming off Control. I actually avoided some fights on purpose knowing they wouldn't be that fun. One thing I can't say bad things about are the graphics - the game looks awesome even in the performance mode on the PS5.

I've completed the first game more than 5 times and I've always had a blast. I've finished Control twice (along with the dlc's) and had a blast during both playthroughs. I really don't want to replay AW2, maybe I'll do it once after the dlc's are all out there and enough time has passed.

 

[Negotiator101]

Been playing with no issues now all of a sudden voices are out of sync, anyone had this problem? on Xbox.

 

[Roberts]

Alan Wake parts has some annoyances

Spoiler

The chases. Well I just had the second one in the hotel at did take me four attempts to finish it

Yeah, I disliked those. If you get through it on your first try it means you got lucky. It really isn’t about intuition or skill.

 

[K' Dash]

This game was made for me, it is exactly what I wanted from an Alan Wake sequel. Sadly I feel I'm close to the end because I got very few collectibles to find.

 

[Chuck Berry]

As if I wasn’t already having a mostly boring time where it feels more like work than playing, I just hit a game breaking bug involving getting that fucking parade float together

Spoiler

The Espresso Express ride is completely fucked when trying to get the circuit board. Can’t get under the ride. tried all sorts of restarts. Fucked.

Congrats Remedy for making a broken game for me to enjoy and basically burn my $60. See you in a year and go fuck yourself.

 

[Arsic]

As if I wasn’t already having a mostly boring time where it feels more like work than playing, I just hit a game breaking bug involving getting that fucking parade float together

Spoiler

The Espresso Express ride is completely fucked when trying to get the circuit board. Can’t get under the ride. tried all sorts of restarts. Fucked.

Congrats Remedy for making a broken game for me to enjoy and basically burn my $60. See you in a year and go fuck yourself.

Do you have the item that lets you get under there ? And did you hit the button to start up the ride ? Then I think you hit it again to stop it.

 

[Chuck Berry]

Do you have the item that lets you get under there ? And did you hit the button to start up the ride ? Then I think you hit it again to stop it.

Yes I did all of that and put everything together in the mind palace but it does nothing. I got the switch and either car 6 sits there while all the other cars clip through it, or the cars don’t move at all and they’re clipped through the wooden surface and all that spins are the pole connector things when I hit the switch

Game is broken trash. Massive disappointment overall for me. Hope maybe I’ll have some drive to play it a year or so from now WHEN ITS ALL FIXED UP but who knows.

 

[Flabagast]

Saga chapter 5 is

As a survival horror level it's as classic as it gets, and quite scary with that too. One of my favorites so far

 

[TheDarkPhantom]

Finished it last night after almost 30 hours clocked, missing one trophy for the plat, a known "bug", will see if I can grab it from an earlier manual save otherwise I need to start a new playthrough.

I love a good narrative, I love survival horror, I love Remedy's unique brand of weirdness. Alan Wake 2 delivered on all fronts but not without hiccups. Pacing often made it feel like the game was dragging along, enemy variety is sorely lacking, story/exposition can at times cross the line of being simply bizarre and enter the realm of silliness, Sam Lake being overly indulgent. The presentation is stellar throughout though and I quite enjoyed the dual protagonist system.

I was thinking about what's next for this series. Alan Wake is a writer in the vein of Stephen King. As someone whose read a ton of King's books (everyone go read the Dark Tower series and dive down the rabbit hole from there) the one thing you'll find is a crazy variety of ideas across his novels. AW in contrast has been rather one note, flashlights and shadows, OK, we get it, give us something new. "Wait!" the man cries "the flashlight is a big part of AW's identity!". Imagine if in AW3 he picks up the flashlight, examines it and says "I don't think I need this anymore", THAT would be cool as all fuck.

I'd like to see Remedy really flip the script if we get an AW3, go wild with the supernatural elements, whole new locations completely different from Bright Falls to explore and new game mechanics while keeping the fantastic ideas like changing plot elements on the fly, weird narrative delivery that Remedy is known for. More (and more memorable) boss battles would be welcome too.

AW2 is undoubtedly one of 2023's finest games, I can understand anyone having it as their personal GOTY. It's been a wild year though, one for the history books so while AW2 is absolutely in my top 10 it's not in my top 5 (maybe it's top 6 lol). Well done Remedy, no doubt you will get some well deserved awards this year now give me Control 2!

 

[semiconscious]

I was thinking about what's next for this series. Alan Wake is a writer in the vein of Stephen King. As someone whose read a ton of King's books (everyone go read the Dark Tower series and dive down the rabbit hole from there) the one thing you'll find is a crazy variety of ideas across his novels. AW in contrast has been rather one note, flashlights and shadows, OK, we get it, give us something new. "Wait!" the man cries "the flashlight is a big part of AW's identity!". Imagine if in AW3 he picks up the flashlight, examines it and says "I don't think I need this anymore", THAT would be cool as all fuck...

actually, not so much. alan wake's much more a writer in the vein of mickey spillane or ed mcbain - he's a crime writer, & the author of a hard-boiled detective series. a quote from same lake:

In the first Alan Wake game, we already established that he has written these crime stories with Alex Casey. To me, more than anything, that was kind of a metaphor for Remedy and Remedy’s process. We created Max Payne and that was a big success...

https://venturebeat.com/games/why-i...ctive-tale-of-alan-wake-2-sam-lake-interview/

alex casey's hard-boiled monologues actually reek of spillane's over-the-top style. the mike hammer series is completely classic & deranged, & well worth checking out:

There's a saying that the show must go on. Nobody ever bothered to explain why but everybody lives up to it. Out in the alley, the police were removing the remains of a little fat guy who didn't have a chance. Out front, an audience who didn't even know about the shooting was enjoying the show. On stage, Tempest Flame was doing the dance that wouldn't be seen in living rooms this season...

Not a hunch. A fact. Some small, trivial fact. What was it? Could it be the answer? Something was bothering me terrifically. I tried some more beer. No. No. No ... no ... no ... no ... no. The answer wouldn’t come. How must our minds be made? So complicated that a detail gets lost in the maze of knowledge. Why? That damn ever-present WHY. There’s a why to everything. It was there, but how to bring it out? I tried thinking around the issue, I tried to think through it. I even tried to forget it, but the greater the effort, the more intense the failure...

 

[TheDarkPhantom]

actually, not so much. alan wake's much more a writer in the vein of mickey spillane or ed mcbain - he's a crime writer, & the author of a hard-boiled detective series. a quote from same lake:

Be that as it may crime novelists don't delve into the supernatural which AW is full of. The world of AW (specifically Bright Falls/Cauldron Lake/Watery areas) is a facsimile of King's beloved Maine except in the Pacific Northwest. Furthermore, writers often experiment in different genres (King included) so it's not as if they can't write the next game to reflect such a change in Wake, would fit perfectly with the narrative stylings of the series.

As for crime novels I highly recommend James Ellroy's 'Black Dahlia', a true masterpiece in the genre and in general, based on a true story.

Edit: also, did you forget Alan Wake literally opens with a Stephen King quote? lol, some more background on that:

Stephen King Gave a Famous Quote to Alan Wake for Almost Nothing

An Alan Wake developer talks about getting a famous quote from renowned horror author Stephen King in the original game for a shockingly low price.

gamerant.com

 

[semiconscious]

Be that as it may crime novelists don't delve into the supernatural which AW is full of. The world of AW (specifically Bright Falls/Cauldron Lake/Watery areas) is a facsimile of King's beloved Maine except in the Pacific Northwest. Furthermore, writers often experiment in different genres (King included) so it's not as if they can't write the next game to reflect such a change in Wake, would fit perfectly with the narrative stylings of the series.

As for crime novels I highly recommend James Ellroy's 'Black Dahlia', a true masterpiece in the genre and in general, based on a true story.

i'm a huge ellroy fan (the big nowhere's my personal fav)...

i'm not saying that the world of alan wake isn't all about horror & the supernatural. it very obviously is (of course, bright falls also resembles twin peaks, which's also a spooky mystery set in the n.w., as much as anywhere else). but you said 'alan wake is a writer in the vein of stephen king'. &, as i said, that's just not so. wake's the author of a hard-boiled crime series, & king's a horror author. & nothing about the nature of the wake games themselves alters that...

 

[SCB3]

And done, safe to say this is one of the best games I've ever played, not just this year but any and considering how much I liked AW 1 despite its ease this surpasses most Horror games for me, and something I'll love to replay on Halloween months for years to come

This has shot into my 2nd favorite game of the year now and to think I was gonna skip it at first

 

[Luipadre]

Yes I did all of that and put everything together in the mind palace but it does nothing. I got the switch and either car 6 sits there while all the other cars clip through it, or the cars don’t move at all and they’re clipped through the wooden surface and all that spins are the pole connector things when I hit the switch

Game is broken trash. Massive disappointment overall for me. Hope maybe I’ll have some drive to play it a year or so from now WHEN ITS ALL FIXED UP but who knows.

Its wild how different the experience can be regarding bugs in this game. I played 30 hours, finished it and only had like 1 or 2 minor graphical bugs and thats it. Aside from the shit framerate ofc, sadly its not great on PS5 and made the combat not enjoyable at all. I'll wait with my new game+ replay for more patches if the performance gonna improve or replaying it on a better hw

 

[JimmyRustler]

Its wild how different the experience can be regarding bugs in this game. I played 30 hours, finished it and only had like 1 or 2 minor graphical bugs and thats it. Aside from the shit framerate ofc, sadly its not great on PS5 and made the combat not enjoyable at all. I'll wait with my new game+ replay for more patches if the performance gonna improve or replaying it on a better hw

Can confirm. Had no bugs whatsoever either. Actually wanted to chime in when someone complained about how buggy games are today and praise AW2 for the polish... haha

€dit: come to think of it... I did have one bug at a boos fight when a script didn't work after I defeated him. Had to reload and do it again, then it worked.

 

[kurisu_1974]

First boss disappeared at a certain point, had to reload and do the fight again. I got stuck in the environment once in the woods between some bushes with no way to move. Also fell through the floor into nothing when leaving the subway. Those are the three issues I had technically, but it has been a long time since I had bugs like that in a game.

 

[Chuck Berry]

Its wild how different the experience can be regarding bugs in this game. I played 30 hours, finished it and only had like 1 or 2 minor graphical bugs and thats it. Aside from the shit framerate ofc, sadly its not great on PS5 and made the combat not enjoyable at all. I'll wait with my new game+ replay for more patches if the performance gonna improve or replaying it on a better hw

Definitely wild. And considering that I play practically everything under the sun, Im surprised it doesnt happen more often. The last time I hit a game stopping bug like this was during Deus Ex Mankind Divided's launch.

According to PSN customer support Im actually eligible for a refund so at least Ill get my money back.

 

[adamsapple]

Its wild how different the experience can be regarding bugs in this game. I played 30 hours, finished it and only had like 1 or 2 minor graphical bugs and thats it. Aside from the shit framerate ofc, sadly its not great on PS5 and made the combat not enjoyable at all. I'll wait with my new game+ replay for more patches if the performance gonna improve or replaying it on a better hw

My experience was 99% bug free, but then I ran into a bug where the game almost broke for me, it was a scripting error and I needed to replay the same segment 5, 6 times before the proper trigger happened and I was doing the same steps each time. It sounds like that one has been fixed since but it *ALMOST* made me quit the game.

I'm super glad I was able to get past it.

 

[Salmon Snake]

Damn I almost got stuck between bed and wall in "Room 303".

 

[BacklashWave534]

Probably my game of the year. I was put off a bit by the "white assholes" comment but then i was reminded that the woke mind virus has infected most of the gaming industry.

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

 

[TerribleAtThisGame]

According to PSN customer support Im actually eligible for a refund so at least Ill get my money back.

Good. More people should be aware of that in general considering how shameless this has gotten in recent years.

Curiosity would've gotten the better of me but all the bugs made me wait. Turns out the gameplay is actually as much of an afterthought to their pretentious auteur crap as the trailers alluded to.

 

[semiconscious]

Definitely wild. And considering that I play practically everything under the sun, Im surprised it doesnt happen more often. The last time I hit a game stopping bug like this was during Deus Ex Mankind Divided's launch.

According to PSN customer support Im actually eligible for a refund so at least Ill get my money back.

hmm... if, instead of paying for the game & playing it all the way through, i could instead get my money back, & watch the game on youtube? hmm...

i'm thinking you might've just come out on top of this...

 

[Chuck Berry]

hmm... if, instead of paying for the game & playing it all the way through, i could instead get my money back, & watch the game on youtube? hmm...

i'm thinking you might've just come out on top of this...

I dont even want to watch the rest. Most disappointing Remedy game by a country mile for me. In fact, if anyone here can mail me one of those MIB pens to erase it from my memory it'd be greatly appreciated.

 

[semiconscious]

I dont even want to watch the rest. Most disappointing Remedy game by a country mile for me. In fact, if anyone here can mail me one of those MIB pens to erase it from my memory it'd be greatly appreciated.

yeah, i almost immediately wanted to replay the original. still looking forward to it eventually. congrats on getting reimbursed, bud...

 

[Chuck Berry]

yeah, i almost immediately wanted to replay the original. still looking forward to it eventually. congrats on getting reimbursed, bud...

Haha thanks. I had to kiss a lot of ass and then rage up and escalate it to management because the dipshit regular employee was refusing. It was a bit of a pain but whatever. Gibs me my money back.

Also all this has made me do is want to replay the first game, Max Payne 2 and Quantum Break. You know, back when Remedy was innovating and not imitating

 

[sinnergy]

We sing omg .. amazing

 

[Salmon Snake]

Saga's Chapter VI was actually pretty creepy.

Spoiler: Amnesia

I fucking knew that they'll use the good ol' steps in the water trick in this game. And it got me

 

[Salz01]

Damnit. I have the Expresso car 6 bug where it doesn’t move. I can’t move on…. Hope they fix it fast.

 

[Revolutionary]

Finally finished the game. I still feel like the game's narrative is incredible overall BUT I feel a tinge of disappointment with the ending because, just like in Control, the ending is somewhat anticlimactic. But Remedy announced that NG+ would have additional story (and maybe ending?) so I'm expecting (or hoping) that will fix my issues.

So yeah, really looking forward for the NG+ patch to come out. Hopefully it doesn't take too long.

Edit: Also hope Nightmare difficulty gets really stingy with resources because the copious amounts of resources made the game easy on Hard.

 

[Danjin44]

But Remedy announced that NG+ would have additional story (and maybe ending?)

They already announced this game going to have two DLCs just like how AW1 did.

 

[Revolutionary]

They already announced this game going to have two DLCs just like how AW1 did.

I bought the Deluxe Edition so I am aware.

I was talking about NG+:

The 'alternative narrative' is what I was referring to.

 

[Danjin44]

I bought the Deluxe Edition so I am aware.

I was talking about NG+:

The 'alternative narrative' is what I was referring to.

My guess is you might see ending with the two DLC s rather than with ”alternative narrative“ in NG+

 

[Luipadre]

Its not even in top 10 in the US and fucking GTA V sold more than this game. This is why we cant have nice things. Keep playing and buying the same shit for TEN FUCKING YEARS

 

[JimmyRustler]

Its not even in top 10 in the US and fucking GTA V sold more than this game. This is why we cant have nice things. Keep playing and buying the same shit for TEN FUCKING YEARS

There is really nothing in this game that would appeal to average Joe. The plot is convoluted AND expects from one to play a 13 year of game first, a lot of the gameplay is slow and boring and the combat is bad by any metric. Be glad that Epic was crazy enough to greenlight this - and hope the Remedy will finish the story with the DLC. Because they won’t get another shot here.

 

[adamsapple]

A very good technical breakdown of the game from Remedy. They used mesh shaders pretty liberally.

How Northlight makes Alan Wake 2 shine

Showcasing new Northlight technology in Alan Wake 2

www.remedygames.com

 

[Johnny Concrete]

So I finally got in here, not afraid of spoilers anymore since I just finished it.

I didn't play AW1, but did play Control and loved that game. Survival Horror is one of my favorite genres, so when AW2 was announced to be just that it got my hype levels into the danger zone.
It didn't disappoint, though. It's everything I wanted from it and much much more.

I can safely say that Remedy might be the developer that gets the most out of this medium if it comes to storytelling. How do you involve the player in an interesting way and still tell a pretty complex story? This is how you do that. By making the players' interactions part of unraveling the story.
It makes other high quality story heavy games (like for instance The Last of Us p1/2) pretty much look like amateur work with their gameplay -> cutscene -> gameplay. Alan Wake II meshes both elements together beautifully.

For me Silent Hill 2 was always the king of Survival Horror games, but that crown has passed on to this one. And it's not just 20 hours of feeling dread, there's a lot of light hearted moments as well, mystery and weird stuff and of course some pure horror moments (especially Saga has a rough time, but yea, she's the one in the horror story).

I could ramble on for hours. This game has been on my mind for the last few weeks and will be for some time probably.
Standing ovation for Mr. Lake and Remedy.

 

[Johnny Concrete]

A very good technical breakdown of the game from Remedy. They used mesh shaders pretty liberally.

How Northlight makes Alan Wake 2 shine

Showcasing new Northlight technology in Alan Wake 2

www.remedygames.com

Ok, what the fuck. They actually have some sort of Nanite working in that engine.

 

[kikkis]

Ok, what the fuck. They actually have some sort of Nanite working in that engine.

I think primary strength of nanite is rendering pixel sized triangles and lod system they use. But i dont think northlight has that

 

[Johnny Concrete]

I think primary strength of nanite is rendering pixel sized triangles and lod system they use. But i dont think northlight has that

Nanites strength is culling parts of the geometry on very tiny clusters and this does that as well. It's definitely Nanite-lite, but it's good to see in-house engines exploring these things.

 

[iorek21]

This has been said to death, but "We Sing" is Top 5 Greatest Gaming moments of all time.

 

[tommib]

Its not even in top 10 in the US and fucking GTA V sold more than this game. This is why we cant have nice things. Keep playing and buying the same shit for TEN FUCKING YEARS

Just be happy it was done. It’s an amazing game.

I know Returnal didn't crossover into the mainstream (at all) and it’s by far my favourite experience this generation. It exists. It was made.

Same with AW2. Super experimental games with high production values. They’ll always find a way.

 

[K' Dash]

Just be happy it was done. It’s an amazing game.

I know Returnal didn't crossover into the mainstream (at all) and it’s by far my favourite experience this generation. It exists. It was made.

Same with AW2. Super experimental games with high production values. They’ll always find a way.

Agreed, I never expected Remedy to make it after all this time. It may not shatter records but I'm glad that it was made, the fact that is so unique makes me appreciate it more.

 

[Sleepwalker]

So I havent had much time to play lately until today and I'm about to give up on this piece of shit.

Im at caldera station after getting the first light,

Explore around
- make it to break room
- find sheriff
- explore some more, unlock doors get loot
- get to 2nd light, combat arena
- Crash to desktop

Get sent back to break room, repeat. Crash again same spot 2 times more.

Finally get past the encounter

-make it into the station
- use ticket
- line up echo
- watch monologue

- Crash mid monologue and get sent back to break room.

Wasted my gaming time tonight and made basically no progress. Fuck this shit.

/rant over

 

[adamsapple]

So I havent had much time to play lately until today and I'm about to give up on this piece of shit.

Im at caldera station after getting the first light,

Explore around
- make it to break room
- find sheriff
- explore some more, unlock doors get loot
- get to 2nd light, combat arena
- Crash to desktop

Get sent back to break room, repeat. Crash again same spot 2 times more.

Finally get past the encounter

-make it into the station
- use ticket
- line up echo
- watch monologue

- Crash mid monologue and get sent back to break room.

Wasted my gaming time tonight and made basically no progress. Fuck this shit.

/rant over

That sounds bad, didn't have that kind of crashes on console personally. I love the game but it could have used another pass of QA before release for sure.

 

[semiconscious]

So I havent had much time to play lately until today and I'm about to give up on this piece of shit.

Im at caldera station after getting the first light,

Explore around
- make it to break room
- find sheriff
- explore some more, unlock doors get loot
- get to 2nd light, combat arena
- Crash to desktop

Get sent back to break room, repeat. Crash again same spot 2 times more.

Finally get past the encounter

-make it into the station
- use ticket
- line up echo
- watch monologue

- Crash mid monologue and get sent back to break room.

Wasted my gaming time tonight and made basically no progress. Fuck this shit.

/rant over

sorry, bud. alan wake 2's auto save system is an embarrassment, & there's really no excuse for it. i mean, hell, the game already involves more than enough built-in repetition without adding even more...

the good news? imo, you really ain't missing much. still sucks, tho...

 

[Terenty]

Hey, Sam Lake, how about you just make a cheap TV series for Netflix or something and cut out that pesky gameplay altogether?

I swear Alan Wake's part is literally a "hold f to watch FMV" simulator.

The game started out pretty interesting, not gonna lie, but it grew so fucking boring the further it went, with repetition, traversing the same places over and over again, respawning enemies that take forever to kill, neverending FMVs and holding f for literally everything.

The place at end where

Spoiler

Saga got stuck in the Mind Place

is the epitome of everything that's wrong with this game.