Alan Wake II (2023)

This would have been an easy five star (maybe best of all time for me personally) if it were not for the Alan Wake sections. Saga's campaign is a fun survival shooter romp and Alan's is a tedious and overcomplicated slog.

The Alan levels can be modified by either swapping lights AND scenes for each given area, so you have not just a simple switch, but permutations of interactions between the light and scene. AW2 doesn't even make the slightest attempt to hold your hand here too, there's no clear objective markers on the map, and instead you get vague descriptions like "escape the dark place."

Along the way you're pestered by enemies I never quite figured out. Some of the black blobs are aggressive, and some are passive. As far as I could tell, the only way to distinguish is to expend some of your flashlight resource and they will sometimes respond accordingly? I don't know.

All that said, this is some of the best presentation I've ever seen. It's stunning, I just wish the gameplay wasn't needlessly complicated so I could enjoy the ride.

Alan Wake 2 is the sequel that most believed we would never get. Thirteen years later and some help from Epic games, we finally managed to get this long awaited follow up. While this entry does so many things right,t here are still some aspects of it that are really frustrating. Canonically taking place 13 years after the original which is how long the gap was between 1 and 2, the game leans into this with Wake being missing during this gap as he goes missing at the end of 1. The story is a bit more barebones this time around, mostly revolving around how to end this next book of Wake's which is causing all sorts of havoc to the town. The story is wrapped up pretty nicely at the end here, even if technically you have to beat the game on new game plus to get a few extra seconds which resolves any leftover questions.

The gameplay hook this time around is the two playable characters. You'll play as Alan going through the Dark Place which is a little slower and more akin to typical survival horror having to solve some puzzles to advance. The other playable character is Saga Anderson who is an FBI agent who was brought to the town initially to solve a murder. Her sections play a little more action heavy as she's trying to make her way around the town solving cases while being pursued by members of a local cult and beings from the Dark Place making their way into reality. What the sequel does that's really neat is the ability to switch between these two characters almost any time you come across a save point. There are a few spots where you can't do this based on where the other character is at in their story, but you can play through almost the entirety of one before moving on to the other. Their stories are really intertwined, so you'll get different perspectives on aspects you've already seen as you progress. The voice acting and motion capture are so good this time around.

Gameplay is a bit buggy even a few years after release, and I encountered one bug that stopped progression and I had to completely close out the game and reopen probably 5 times. Another bug around trying to find Wake's "words of power" where I could clearly see the spot to shine my flashlight, but no matter what I did it would not activate. The map will show locations of puzzles and items sometimes even after you've picked them up leading you to panic thinking you missed them. Enemy variety is really lacking this time around as apart from a few of the "bosses", you'll really only face maybe 3 enemy types. The combat is somehow I think less satisfying than it was in the first. The exploration I did enjoy for the most part, and it's nearly required to do at least some exploration as that's the only way you'll come across additional items, puzzles that give you extra buffs, and sometimes even weapons. Early on, I didn't realize how much I was missing out just trying to go waypoint to waypoint, but thankfully there are only a few big areas in the game and you often return to these so you can't really miss out on any of these side areas or collectibles.

Alan Wake 2 isn't a bad game by any stretch. From a story telling and voice actor/motion capture aspect, it's a technical marvel. There are enough bits in the game that left me with a bit of a sour taste in my mouth, but still absolutely recommend this game to any fans of the original or those looking for a slightly different survival horror experience!

Roll Credits?: Yes!

Surprised/Let Down/As Expected: As Expected

Favorite Mechanic or Narrative Moment: Just as with the first Alan Wake, the narrative is the reason to be here. With the groundwork laid, this one spares no time throwing you deep into the lake and dares you to unravel what is going on. The difference here is that this time around you are given the mind place/writer's room gameplay device to help keep yourself mentally grounded in this endeavor. Those go a long way to help grok all the twists instead of leaving you lost with no idea of what's going on. Gamifying understanding a dream world and confusing story was a great move.

Least Favorite Thing: Personally, I would prefer if a lot of the exploration/side quest type things were toned down a bit in favor of strengthening the core experience further, but that definitely has more to do with how I play than anything. The combat is more than serviceable and in line with modern experiences, but it didn't make me want to spend time exploring all of the nooks and crannies to find upgrades. The pull of the narrative made me want to just keep moving forward and let the system give me ammo/health as needed even if I didn't have a bunch of upgrades.

Hype Alan Wake II ympärillä on ollut valtava. Välttelin pelin aloitusta sen kauhuteeman vuoksi pitkään ja ajattelin, etten voisi koskaan nauttia tästä pelistä. Lopulta joku kriittinen raja hypen määrässä ylitettiin ja oli vain pakko ottaa itseään niskasta kiinni ja hypätä tämän pelisarjan pariin.

Alan Waken II jatkaa suoraan ykkösen tarinaa, tosin välissä on kulunut reilu kymmenen vuotta. Jatko-osa ei kuitenkaan selittele ykkösen tarinaa oikeastaan mitenkään, joten ehdottomasti ykkösosa kannattaa pelata ennen kakkosen peluuta.

Alusta asti on selvää, että synkkyys ja pelin kauhuelementit on viety vielä pykälän pidemmälle kuin ykkösosassa. Kuitenkin sain pelin pelattua kaikkinensa läpi, joten ihan liialliseksi tämänkään pelin pelottavuus ei koskaan noussut. Silti kaikista pelin osa-alueista en pitänyt, ja näiden osioiden läpi lopulta vain juoksin kun pelotti niin paljon. Valonpilkahduksia on hieman enemmän nähtävillä kuin ykkösosassa, ja ne tuovat mukavaa vaihtelua pelin synkkyyteen. Peli on todella komeaa katsottavaa, vaikka omalla PC:llä ihan kaikkia herkkuja ei saanutkaan käännettyä kaakkoon.

Peli on jaettu kahteen toisiinsa nivoutuvaan tarinaan. Valtaosa pelistä pelataan Saga Andersonina, FBI-agenttina, joka on työparinsa Alex Caseyn (aka Sam Lake) kanssa saapunut jo ensimmäisestä osasta tuttuun Bright Fallsin kylään selvittämään rituaalimurhien sarjaa. Uutena elementtinä pelissä on Sagan puolelle tuotu Mind Place, jonka kautta Sagan ajatustyötä murhien selvittämiseen tutkitaan. Mind Placessä on perinteinen tutkimusseinä, johon laitetaan erilaisia todistusaineistoja tai päättelyjen tuloksena syntyneitä ajatuksia loogiseen järjestykseen. Linkittyvät asiat vedetään punaisella narulla yhteen ja sitä rataa. Mind Place on loistava pelillinen lisä tarinankerrontaan, sillä se tietyllä tavalla pakottaa pelaajan selvittämään tarinaa, mutta kuitenkin hyvin mielenkiintoisella tavalla.

Toinen puolisko pelistä pelataan ensimmäisestäkin osasta tutulla Alan Wakellä. Tämä osuus pelistä on huomattavasti paljon synkempi, mutta myös monellakin tavalla oudompi ja kokeellisempi. Mind Placen korvaajana Alanin puolella on hieman vastaava käsikirjoitustaulu, jossa pystyt muuttamaan "kohtauksia" erilaisilla tarinaideoilla ja näin edistää peliä erinäisin keinoin. Idea on suorastaan loistava, mutta olisin itse toivonut sitä, että tarinaideat olisivat muuttaneet maailmaa vielä radikaalimmin. Yleensä kyse oli vain siitä, että yksi ovi avautui tuolta tai laatikon paikka siirtyi tänne ja käyttö jäi hyvin pelimäiseksi ja käytännölliseksi. Alan Waken puolella nähdään myös yksiä pelin parhaimmista osioista. Puhun tietenkin musikaaliosiosta, joka on oman pelihistoriani yksiä muistettavimpia osioita. Poets of the Fall fanina oli hienoa nähdä heidän alter ego bändinsä Old Gods of Asgard mukana näissä pelin muistettavimmissa kohtauksissa.

Taistelu on edelleen hyvin vastaavanlaista ykkösosan kanssa. Taistelu on toimivaa, mutta ei mitään ihmeellistä. Pahikset kestävät normaalitasolla liiankin paljon osumaa, joten panosten säästely ja keräily nousee arvoon arvaamattomaan. Resident Evilmäinen resurssienhallinta on ihan hyvä lisä, joka entisestään korostaa pelin survival horror-elementtiä.

Kuten ykkösosassa tarina on tämän pelin suola. Käsikirjoituksen taso on entistäkin parempi ja tarinaa kuljetetaan hyvää tahtia eteenpäin. Pelissä on tiettyä mysteeriä ja mielenkiintoisella tavalla outojakin juttuja. Suomalaisuus on nostettu kaakkoon mm. Bright Fallsin naapurista löytyvän Wateryn kylän avulla. Watery on suomalaisten maahanmuuttajien perustama ja edelleen kylässä on paljon suomalaisia elementtejä nähtävissä esimerkiksi Suomi Hallin muodossa, jossa raikaa ihan perinteikäs suomalainen iskelmä. Koskelan veljekset, joita esittää Peter Franzen, ovat yksiä parhaimpia hahmoja pelissä. Erityisesti heidän osaltaan pelissä on myös paljon huumorielementtejä ja vaikka peli ensisilmäyksellä vaikuttaisikin hyvin perinteiseltä survival horrorilta, niin nämä huumorielementit ja outoudet pelastavat paljon peliä omissa silmissä.

Tämä peli on yksi vaikeimmista arvosteltavista, sillä peli on tietyllä tasolla ihan 5/5 kamaa, mutta pelissä on myös monia elementtejä jotka laskevat pelin arvosanaa. Yksi merkittävimmistä miinuksista tulee pelin lopusta, sillä peli päättyy käytännössä lähes samaan pisteeseen kuin alkoikin ja minkäänlaista loppuratkaisua pelille ei saada. Tämä petaa tietysti asemia pelin jatko-osalle, mutta oli kuin märkä rätti kasvoille kaiken sen mahtavuuden jälkeen. Tarinansa puolesta peli on täyttä timanttia, mutta edelleen pelin teema ja maailma ei ole ihan sitä ominta, joka hieman laskee omaa fiilistä. Lisäksi taistelu on myös hyvin tavanomaista ja tietyllä tasolla jopa hieman ärsyttävää. Lopulta vertailemalla muihin 5/5 peleihin, päädyin siihen, ettei tämä ihan niiden kaikkien aikojen pelien joukkoon kuitenkaan kuulu. Silti ihan innolla olen odottamassa pelin DLC:eitä ja pelin jatkoa.

4/5 Kiitettävä

This is definitely an improvement on the original, but it still doesn’t stick the landing for me. I enjoy the atmosphere, the creativity, the meta narratives, the locations and the environments. But I just don’t think the gameplay is very good.

My biggest complaint is exploration. If I play it Metroidvania style (going for 100%), it is extremely tiresome to wander around trying to find things that only marginally reward you. Getting the later upgrades that assist this helped though.

The combat is still not a strong suit. Yes it’s more dynamic than the original, but it still kinda feels clunky.

The story. I definitely like some of it, but not all elements. It’s an interesting blend of supernatural and meta, which are kind of at odds with eachother. So sometimes it was really interesting and other times it’s kinda just “oh, magic”.

Overall, it definitely grew on me. It is kind of a slow burn game. Not even close to game of the year, but a worthwhile playthrough.

This game was my most anticipated of the year right next to Spider Man 2, but I had no idea that this game would be my personal pick for 2023 GOTY. Alan Wake II took the series in the obvious but amazing direction, Survival Horror. The story was absolutely fantastic with one sequence that I literally am so amazed by I watch it daily on YouTube.

Cannot wait for what Remedy does next I do not care how long it takes.

10/10

First off, I feel I should explain my history with the games of Remedy Entertainment before going any further. My first experience with Remedy was Alan Wake 1. I was very much a PlayStation 3 kid during this time, but this game was one of the rare Xbox 360 games to make me jealous of Xbox owners (Forza being the only other one to really do so). So when I got an Xbox 360 for Christmas in 2012, I naturally went and bought a copy of Alan Wake the next day… and I loved it. The story was compelling, the gameplay felt unique & responsive and the presentation made it feel like a well-made TV show. So naturally (once I’d played the DLC & the Xbox Live Arcade spin-off Alan Wake’s American Nightmare), I was looking forward to a sequel… only to find out that Alan Wake 2 was (at that time) not happening. There had been a prototype shown & pitched to Microsoft, but it was rejected in favour of a new IP that leaned into Remedy’s historic blending of live-action video into their games and Remedy would repurpose most of the ideas seen in that prototype for American Nightmare instead.

This new IP would take the form of Quantum Break and would experiment with blending video games & TV to tell its story. And while Quantum Break was far from a bad game and had some interesting ideas in its story & especially its take on time travel, it failed to reach the heights of Alan Wake for me & many other Remedy fans. It would seem that it also failed to resonate with a broader audience & it definitely didn’t do as much to move the needle when it came to Xbox One console sales as Microsoft had hoped. So Remedy would part ways with Microsoft, reacquire the Alan Wake IP from them & (after resuming brainstorming on an Alan Wake sequel) their next project would be the smaller-scale Control, which, while also not reaching the heights of Alan Wake for me, was a solid game that hinted at possible ties to the Alan Wake universe, which culminated in a DLC that officially crossed over with it & confirmed the two games were in the same universe. This made me and many others very excited about what the future held.

And now, just over three years since that DLC’s release & almost thirteen and a half years after the original game’s release, Alan Wake II is finally here! So, what do I think of this game I’ve been waiting just over a decade for? IT WAS AMAZING!

First, let’s start with what is probably the most important part of a Remedy game: the story. And what a story it is! The game has you switch between Alan & Saga, with both only providing part of the whole story. Both stories are tense, gripping & filled with memorable moments and I do recommend alternating between the two to get the best experience (although I will note that the game only gives you free rein to switch between the two in the middle of the story). The way Remedy mixes gameplay, real-time cutscenes & live-action cutscenes throughout the game is ingenious & the best ratio of the three that Remedy has ever struck (said live-action scenes also look great and are clearly well-shot, but with more of a B-movie or arthouse feel than that of a big Hollywood blockbuster). The story Remedy weaves throughout these stories is engaging, creative & insane in a way that is so distinctly Remedy while feeling like a natural continuation of Alan Wake’s story. The writing is simply stellar, pulls you into the narrative, is filled with twists and turns that keep you guessing even after the credits roll and has no shortage of layered & complex characters to analyze and get invested in. The orchestrated music enhances the atmosphere while the lyrical music (almost all of which has been created specifically for this game) are all bangers that I would absolutely listen to on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube even long after my playthrough is done. It is simply crazy what Remedy have accomplished with this story & I’m glad Epic threw that Fortnite money at Remedy and gave them the space & resources to make this game what they wanted it to be.

Now, do you need to have played Alan Wake to understand Alan Wake II? I wouldn’t say it’s strictly necessary. The game itself is fairly self-contained & does explain most of what newcomers would need to know throughout. That being said, I’d still recommend playing or at least looking up recaps of Alan Wake and Control (which is confirmed to be set in the same universe as the Alan Wake series and introduces concepts & entities like the Federal Bureau of Control that factor into this game’s story) before starting Alan Wake II if you want to know everything you need to going in. I personally can recommend Hidden Machine’s recap on YouTube if you just want to go the recap route. But familiarity with not just the Alan Wake games and Control, but also Max Payne & Quantum Break is ideal to get the most out of this game as it is filled with nods to Remedy’s past work for their fans. But you can definitely enjoy the main story without familiarity with Remedy’s prior games (even if familiarity with Alan Wake & Control is recommended).

The gameplay, on the other hand, is mostly standard for a survival horror game. If you’ve played any of the recent Resident Evil remakes, you probably already have a good idea of what to expect from Alan Wake II’s gameplay. That’s not a bad thing though. Remedy’s sensibilities are surprisingly at home in a survival horror context considering they’ve never made a horror game before. Pretty much the only mechanic in this game that I can call out of place is the upgrade system. Not only does it feel at odds with the very atmospheric & cinematic story Remedy’s trying to tell, but it’s also just useless. I pretty much never interacted with it at all in my playthrough and never felt disadvantaged as a result. Not to mention how you really have to go out of your way to find the upgrade points to afford said upgrades. Even Control’s upgrade system had more reason to exist than this one does. And that game’s upgrade system isn’t all too good either.

While we’re on the topic of gameplay deficiencies, one area where Alan Wake II falls short compared to the Resident Evil games is replayability. Due to how exploration & puzzle-heavy Alan Wake II is, I don’t see this game holding up as well on repeat playthroughs as something more combat-heavy like the Resident Evil 3 & 4 remakes or Village (RE2’s remake is probably a bit more replayable too). Not that every game needs to be replayable, but I could see this hurting Alan Wake II’s value proposition for some people.

But it’s not all bland or bad news on the gameplay front. It’s interesting how Saga & Alan’s segments differ from each other gameplay-wise. While the combat mechanics between the two are the same, Saga’s segments are much closer to the aforementioned Resident Evil remakes with more of an action-horror feel to them with some LA Noire-esque detective gameplay mixed in. Alan’s segments on the other hand are much more puzzle-focused and often take on a more moody, almost Silent Hill feel with a focus on more psychological horror as Alan navigates through the Dark Place.

As for whether this game is scary… Yes it is. There were plenty of times that the game’s scares got me & the atmosphere Remedy build up got me scared of what was around the corner.

Also, while the mechanics are fairly typical, the levels you use them in can be anything but. In fact, some of the most creative, insane & boundary-pushing sequences I’ve experienced in a game in years are in this game! If you thought that Remedy couldn’t possibly top Control’s Ashtray Maze… hoo boy, you’re in for a treat as there are a couple of sequences that may actually be even better than that (won’t spoil anything though, but if you know, you know)! The ways the game has you changing reality in real-time in Alan’s sections are simply mind-blowing and feel like they are really taking advantage of the standardization of the presence of SSDs in modern gaming hardware to do things not possible previously. It’s truly awe-inspiring stuff.

Speaking of awe-inspiring, THOSE GRAPHICS THOUGH! While this really shouldn’t be surprising coming from Remedy, Alan Wake II is a stunning technical showcase that justifies its high system requirements on PC. Alan Wake II really does push modern graphics technology forward in a way that hasn’t been seen since Cyberpunk 2077 back in 2020. It makes heavy use of ray tracing to the point where even the lowest settings use some sort of software-accelerated RT tech with little to no rasterized fall backs & is one of the first games to implement Path Tracing on PC, which is impressive in and of itself (even if said Path Tracing is fairly limited & isn’t as game-changing as it is in Cyberpunk 2077’s RT Overdrive mode).

But it’s not all amazing with this game on the technical side of things. While the PC version (which is what I played) is an incredible technical showcase (as I just explained), it’s also (like quite a few other games released this year, even some of the greats like Baldur’s Gate 3) filled with bugs. In my playthrough, I ran into some audio desync issues in cutscenes, which ruined a couple of scenes, one instance of falling through the world due to some assets not loading in, more instances of safe rooms not loading in properly, a surprising amount of lighting pop-in (mostly surrounding those safe rooms) & a couple of A-Posing character models. While all of these bugs are disappointing to run into & I wish the game was released on PC in a better state, none of these issues derailed my experience entirely and prevented me from enjoying what Remedy has created and I wouldn’t suggest letting them stop you from playing this game either. There have been reports of some game-breaking bugs that prevent players from progressing the story and/or side activities, but I did not encounter any of them in my time playing at launch.

The game on PC also doesn’t have any form of Anti-Aliasing outside of DLSS & FSR 2. This, considering how bad the image quality of FSR 2 is at lower resolutions, could be problematic for those without Nvidia RTX GPUs, but I have an RTX 2070 and even DLSS Balanced at a target resolution of 1080p looked pretty good to me.

My last gripe with Alan Wake II is the lack of any kind of physical release. While it’s understandable for the PC version to be digital only (this has been the standard on PC for a long time now), I do lament that the console versions haven’t been given such a release, especially from a game preservation standpoint. It’s not a dealbreaker for me, but it’s still worth mentioning.

Conclusion:

When Quantum Break was announced a decade ago, Remedy promised that it would be “the ultimate Remedy experience”. While that game fell short of that lofty claim, Alan Wake II very much is the ultimate Remedy experience, their magnum opus so to speak. The story is probably their best, most idiosyncratic, meta & strange narrative to date. The characters are all layered and complex. The mix of gameplay, real-time cutscenes & live-action video feels just right. The survival-horror genre manages to fit Remedy’s sensibilities like a glove (even if the upgrade system feels as though it’s more present due to obligation to the genre than anything else). The graphics & technology are some of the best in the industry and (along with certain chapters of the story) feel like Remedy is truly pushing video games as an industry & art form forward. This is my Game of the Year for 2023 & it’s hard to see anything else topping it, not even fellow GOTY frontrunners Baldur’s Gate III & The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.

It is truly incredible that Epic Games let Remedy truly go wild with this game & if this is representative of how they plan to get people to use the Epic Games Store going forward, I’m on board (as long as they also realize that they need to improve the user experience & feature set of the Epic Games Launcher too if this strategy is going to work). Especially since Valve seems content to profit off literal gambling with Counter-Strike 2, which is disgusting to me for reasons I went into in my review of that game…

Ratings:

Creative score (story, gameplay, voice acting, art direction): 10/10

Technical score (graphics, audio, performance)):

9.5/10 (assuming the bugs eventually get fixed)

8/10 (as of now)

Business Practices score: 7/10 (Not much to complain about. Even the Epic Games Store exclusivity is not much of an issue this time considering Epic both published this game & funded its development. The lack of a physical release (even on console) blows though)

Overall score (my thoughts on a game’s overall quality, does not consider the business practices unless they are detrimental to the experience):

9/10 (as of now)

10/10 (assuming the bugs are eventually fixed)