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[SteadyEvo]

Just wrapped up the story and wanted to share my thoughts and hear the opinions of others.

The game starts out slow, which I don’t mind at first since this is an FBI agent conducting an investigation. I’m not expecting non stop action so the early pace doesn’t bother me. Tension builds as more information comes to light. Then shit gets crazy at the police station. I’m thinking to myself at that moment this is pretty good.

Fast forward to Wakes section. First impressions are positive. Stuck in a strange place with the ability to alter the world through writing . All good so far. Not a fan of the shadow people enemies but it’s early and I’m expecting enemy variety. Sadly this never happens

What I realize after a couple of hours is the pace remains the same throughout the entire game. Plodding along solving puzzles, painful backtracking, and monotonous enemy encounters. Wake’s sections become increasingly more painful with each passing hour. I found no joy in fighting the shadow people.

Then there’s the story. Simply put there’s way too much shit going on for me. Definitely preferred playing as Saga since her story is a bit more grounded in reality. Overall it basically lost my interest. I never skip cutscenes as I feel story is a key component in games. Towards the end I could care less, just wanted to see how things ended. The amount of story progression that occurs in the Mind Place and Wake’s story board was despicable.

Sucks cause there’s a great foundation here for an excellent game . Enemy variety, better combat and a straightforward story would’ve worked wonders. Story went bat shit crazy imo.

Just wanted to get that off my chest.

 

[Skyfox]

It’s shit, the end.

 

[adamsapple]

Fantastic game. Enjoyed my time with it.

 

[N1tr0sOx1d3]

Damn…. Great timing folks, it’s on psn sale and was about to take the plunge

 

[SlimySnake]

Agreed 100%. Its awful. It never gets going. Fuck the mind place stuff.

 

[TerribleAtThisGame]

I've ranted about it enough but it really is the epitome of style over substance Experience Game. Remedy went so far up their own asses with this game that they lost any thread to a good game completely to me.

Absolutely fucking stinker after Control. That game had some issues but the gameplay and level design were the focus and legitimately good. It's like watching a junkie in rehab backslide to their old ways.

 

[hinch7]

Didn't like Saga's story and the mind place made the experience a complete slog to play through. Even the combat is dumbed down and kept to a minimum.

Really dissapointing considering how much I enjoyed the first game. Even Control was a considerable better game and actually something I'd want to play.

 

[TerribleAtThisGame]

Agreed 100%. Its awful. It never gets going. Fuck the mind place stuff.

Mind Place is comical because they showed it off as some sort of alternative to everything being shooty bang bang. In reality, Mind Place is barely interactive nonsense that's more braindead and unengaging than combat.

I was excited for it too. I thought we'd get robust case solving and Adventure game style puzzles. Nah. That would've gotten in the way of their Oscar-worthy story we are clearly only playing the game for.

 

[mrqs]

At the start, the story is simple and really well told. But then Remedy remembers it's Remedy, and of course it becomes a mess in no time.

It's really frustrating. The game has such a dope style, great way of telling a narrative.

BUT THOSE PEOPLE ARE NUTS if they think they told a concise and well-established story. The game is absolutely INSANE and at the end I was just "what.".

 

[Bert Big Balls]

It’s shit, the end.

Fantastic game. Enjoyed my time with it.

The duality of GAF.

 

[analog_future]

It's a masterpiece IMO.

It's definitely a game that's not concerned with pleasing or appealing to everyone. The story is intentionally obtuse and impenetrable. The pacing is purposefully deliberate. The themes are strange and oftentimes unpleasant.


Because of this, some people say it's "shit". But that's okay, it's not intended to be for everyone.


Still arguably the best looking game ever made as well:

 

[amigastar]

The duality of GAF.

Yeah, in the end it comes down to personal preference. who would have thought

 

[winjer]

The duality of GAF.

Have you considered that gaf is not one single entity, but a bunch of people in a forum.
Each with it's own experiences, opinions and thoughts.

 

[Senua]

Have you considered that gaf is not one single entity, but a bunch of people in a forum.
Each with it's own experiences, opinions and thoughts.

 

[Bert Big Balls]

Have you considered that gaf is not one single entity, but a bunch of people in a forum.
Each with it's own experiences, opinions and thoughts.

I mean that goes without saying. It was kind of ... a joke.

 

[mrMUR_96]

Damn…. Great timing folks, it’s on psn sale and was about to take the plunge

You definitely should buy it and make up your own mind. I paid full price and loved it. Absolutely pick it up if it's on sale now.

 

[winjer]

I mean that goes without saying. It was kind of ... a joke.

But that is a very common comment around here.
As if people on a forum would always agree about something. The reality is exactly the opposite, as people are constantly disagreeing.

 

[Jaybe]

Damn…. Great timing folks, it’s on psn sale and was about to take the plunge

Wait for a deep discount.

 

[Bert Big Balls]

But that is a very common comment around here.
As if people on a forum would always agree about something. The reality is exactly the opposite, as people are constantly disagreeing.

Oh well, I thought it was funny. Have a nice day, Sir.

 

[PixelatedBeast]

I still havent bought this game yet. I havent even finished the first game, but they should have released a physical version.

Remedy would actually be a great studio to make a video game with the Sin City movie license. Fits well in their narritive storytelling style like in Max Payne.

 

[Eiknarf]

Just wrapped up the story and wanted to share my thoughts and hear the opinions of others.

The game starts out slow, which I don’t mind at first since this is an FBI agent conducting an investigation. I’m not expecting non stop action so the early pace doesn’t bother me. Tension builds as more information comes to light. Then shit gets crazy at the police station. I’m thinking to myself at that moment this is pretty good.

Fast forward to Wakes section. First impressions are positive. Stuck in a strange place with the ability to alter the world through writing . All good so far. Not a fan of the shadow people enemies but it’s early and I’m expecting enemy variety. Sadly this never happens

What I realize after a couple of hours is the pace remains the same throughout the entire game. Plodding along solving puzzles, painful backtracking, and monotonous enemy encounters. Wake’s sections become increasingly more painful with each passing hour. I found no joy in fighting the shadow people.

Then there’s the story. Simply put there’s way too much shit going on for me. Definitely preferred playing as Saga since her story is a bit more grounded in reality. Overall it basically lost my interest. I never skip cutscenes as I feel story is a key component in games. Towards the end I could care less, just wanted to see how things ended. The amount of story progression that occurs in the Mind Place and Wake’s story board was despicable.

Sucks cause there’s a great foundation here for an excellent game . Enemy variety, better combat and a straightforward story would’ve worked wonders. Story went bat shit crazy imo.

Just wanted to get that off my chest.

Who are you? Me?!
Cuz every word you wrote is exactly my sentiment!

OMG everybody raving about the graphics!
Graphics shmaphics!!
It’s easy to make insane graphics when it’s either a walking sim like Hellblade 2 or an investigative heavy game like this Alan Wake 2.
The mechanics and animations of the one main enemy, the shadow people, don’t even respond with how you hit or shoot them the way enemies respond in games like The Last of Us Part 2 or even Part 1!!

Plus, too much board reading

It’s my first PS5 purchase regret. Yes, I’ve purchased other games that I’ve disliked, but I was able to return them for full refund. This crap was digital-only so it’s sitting there stuck in my cloud like garbage.

 

[mrMUR_96]

I still havent bought this game yet. I havent even finished the first game, but they should have released a physical version.

Remedy would actually be a great studio to make a video game with the Sin City movie license. Fits well in their narritive storytelling style like in Max Payne.

Hell yeah, that would be slick

 

[GC_DALBEN]

Loved the first, dont like the second much, i would like to play only as Alan in the second one.

 

[M1chl]

Its horrible. Its full of meta and self-reference, especially the Wake side. The investigation is obnoxious and completely throws some pacing out of the window. It feels like story in one of those DLCs for first one, which were sort of bad, so this is that bad, but like 12 hours long...

 

[MrRenegade]

Have you considered that gaf is not one single entity, but a bunch of people in a forum.
Each with it's own experiences, opinions and thoughts.

If you would've seen the sophistication of bots... even 10 years ago. It's entirely possible that 3 gimp midgets control 70% of the accounts here.

 

[fatmarco]

My biggest issue outside the characters and the story was that the "Metroidvania" approach was more of a chore than anything fun, essentially because the enemy variety was poor (those shadow enemies were probably the worst enemy I've seen in a videogame in about 10 years just for how boring and unfun they were), the mechanics of the combat were poor, and it got to the point where you were more annoyed an enemy showed up than excited by the challenge. I should be running away from enemies because they're a challenge not because engaging with them just sucks.

Part of the issue is the way enemies respawn (in combination with finite ammo), but it just doesn't play as well as it needs to make being a completionist an enjoyable experience. Compared to its inspiration in Resident Evil 2 where the enemies, while scary, were fun to encounter with the variety of how you could deal with them.

And finally the backtracking destroys the games pacing, especially compared to Alan Wake 1 where it had a sense of continuous and controlled momentum.

 

[solidus12]

Fantastic game. Enjoyed my time with it.

You know the game isn’t Xbox exclusive, right?

 

[adamsapple]

You know the game isn’t Xbox exclusive, right?

That's right, you are allowed to like it too.

 

[MDSLKTR]

I owe rofif an apology, he was right.

 

[TrebleShot]

It was too long.

 

[Sleepwalker]

It was disappointing for a game I waited a long time for. I found Saga a very uninteresting and annoying character. The game has many long and boring sections and turns very repetitive at times.

The we sing chapter was probably my favorite gaming moment last year tho.

 

[Fake]

IDK know why they have wasted time to call that Alan Wake. Is not even a sequel.

 

[CGNoire]

Its a massive downgrade from the first one.

 

[GymWolf]

It was sam lake's death stranding, hopefully the dude keep his head out of his ass for control 2 and the max payne remasters.

 

[SimTourist]

The problem with long gaps between works of art is that even the creator doesn't remember the original plan for the story and keeps changing it over the years. The first draft, the first spark of imagination is usually the best, the more you overwork the script the worse it becomes. Plus they have the same problem as Yu Suzuki with Shenmue, instead of finishing a story that might not get another entry they leave the ending open. At least with the first game they were taking it seriously, but this one is too meta and 4th wall breaks bring it down.

 

[intbal]

American Nightmare is Alan Wake 2.

Remedy's new game is out-of-canon Sweet Baby trash.