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Alan Wake Remastered |OT| In Dreams, I Walk With You

TGO

Hype Train conductor. Works harder than it steams.
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TechRadar - 4.5/5

Alan Wake Remastered shines a flattering light on one of the Xbox 360’s most beloved games, which is now available for PlayStation users to enjoy for the very first time. If you’re a returning visitor to the town of Bright Falls or fancy delving into the darkness to find out what all the fuss is about, don’t sleep on Alan Wake Remastered. Now, how about that sequel, Remedy?​
Press Start - 9/10
Alan Wake Remastered is a prime example of if it isn't broken, don't fix it. The story, and the way it's told is truly timeless, and it's a game that everyone should experience. Some of its design might be stuck in the past, but none of it ever feels detrimental to the overall experience, and the visual facelift just makes the experience that much better. Whether you're a new fan of Remedy's work, or a long-time player, there's never been a better excuse to visit or return to Bright Falls.​
GamePitt - 9/10
Alan Wake Remastered looks and feels like a 2021 game, despite technically being 11 years old with a new coat of paint. The gameplay is solid and still holds up today, the story is interesting and keeps you hooked, and the modern visual upgrades enhance the already thick and creepy atmosphere. I'm annoyed I overlooked this game upon its initial launch, but I'm also glad that I got to experience it at its very best on the PlayStation 5 – highly recommend for existing fans and those who have never played it before.​
MP1st - 9/10
Outside of the lack of the American Nightmare DLC, Alan Wake Remastered is without a question the definite way to play Alan Wake. Improved performance coupled with immensely improved visuals makes the journey back into Bright Falls well worth taking again for fans. And if you're one of the many who are new the IP, well get ready for one incredible experience.​
God is a Geek - 9/10
Alan Wake Remastered is a definite improvement in the visual department, offering the same great story and intense gameplay throughout.​
PlayStation Universe - 8.5/10
Alan Wake Remastered is the perfect way for PlayStation 5 users to experience the story of Alan Wake. However, players looking for a refreshing experience might find themselves with a bit too much of the same thing that's been seen in previous versions of the game. At the end of the day, I am recommending this game for what it is over what the remaster offers.​
EGM - 8/10
Alan Wake Remastered does what a good remaster should. It honors the original game's artistic direction while enhancing it with modern technology, specifically in the form of volumetric lighting. Its lack of American Nightmare as part of the package is disappointing to say the least, but fans of Remedy's current work would do well to take a trip to Bright Falls, whether they're returning or visiting for the first time.​
GameSpot - 8/10
Creepy atmosphere, fantastic combat, and clever storytelling make Alan Wake's quest thrilling from beginning to end.​
Game Informer - 8/10​
Well worth revisiting over a decade later to see how your theories hold up. This is a great game to discuss with friends – a book-club experience for gamers​
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Hugare

Member
Awesome OT

This OT might have had more effort put into it than the remaster.

lol, this is true

More geometry is cool, but they've made some questionable choices with textures

Why not using AI to upgrade textures without changing their look, ffs

On Reddit people are reporting tons of bugs. I experienced some finicky lighting sometimes, but eh.

I'm enjoying the remaster because I love this game. But it could have been much, much better than this.
 
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Saber

Gold Member
"In Dreams", wtf

Great game btw. Love to play on X360 back at the time, gonna get this beauty soon.
 
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Reactions: TGO
I like the movie poster vibe of the OT/OP. Great job.

Just ordered a physical today, hoping it arrives by Saturday so I can spend my weekend playing this wonderful game again.
 
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Ev1L AuRoN

Member
This was the game that made me get a 360 back in the day. Great atmosphere and suspense. It has a lot of nostalgia for me, but I don't think I'll reward that cash grab with my money. The game is not very old, but I think this version don't add enough for me to buy it. Really want to support the franchise, but I think the game deserve more.
 

SCB3

Member
This was one of my Legit favourite games and after playing the first Episode, yea I remember why, the only issue I have is the shoulder swapping thing, but I can work around it, so far so good

Though I am shocked no one picked this up for a TV series, its really built for it, very Twin Peaks ish.

Also, the DLC for Control touches on AW right? I still need to go back and play some more of that.
 

TGO

Hype Train conductor. Works harder than it steams.
This was the game that made me get a 360 back in the day. Great atmosphere and suspense. It has a lot of nostalgia for me, but I don't think I'll reward that cash grab with my money. The game is not very old, but I think this version don't add enough for me to buy it. Really want to support the franchise, but I think the game deserve more.
Agreed, I do think this deserved a complete Remake with the Control Engine.
But I've never played the original so I can't really complain about how much of a Remaster it is.
But it looks good so far(playing the PS5 version)
The character models could be better, but everything else looks great imo.
And it cost me 23 quid (physical) so I really can't complain.
Also the Dualsense triggers work really well with this game, I can't imagine playing it without them.
 
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This was one of my Legit favourite games and after playing the first Episode, yea I remember why, the only issue I have is the shoulder swapping thing, but I can work around it, so far so good

Though I am shocked no one picked this up for a TV series, its really built for it, very Twin Peaks ish.

Also, the DLC for Control touches on AW right? I still need to go back and play some more of that.
The way it auto swaps non stop? Yeah, that drives me bonkers.
 

Pejo

Member
Boy the comparison videos I watched were not kind to the remaster. I'm keeping an eye on the thread for first hand impressions though.
 

skit_data

Member
Looks like we found a tipping point. More than 1 gen old needs a more from the bottom up remake, rather than a remaster. I guess you can get away if you have 10/10 gameplay but my experience with Alan Wake didn’t feel fresh in terms of gameplay, more like severely dated.
 
Really excited about this coming to Playstation. I played it a long time ago when I had an Xbox 360 and it was one of my favourite games.

Always been itching to replay it.
 

rofif

Can’t Git Gud
I just can't get over how stupid his face looks. Especially standing under a light... Textures are better but I don't think I like the remaster
 

Barakov

Member
I'm up to episode 3. Seems like a slightly better version of Alan Wake. All of the good and bad is still there. Texture wise the faces are better but even though Alan's face looks more like the actor it seems kind of....I don' know, off?

Still I'm enjoy my time with it. I'd say get the PC version on steam for half the price if this is your first go with this game.
 
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TGO

Hype Train conductor. Works harder than it steams.
I'm up to episode 3. Seems like a slightly better version of Alan Wake. All of the good and bad is still there. Texture wise the faces are better but even though Alan's face looks more like the actor it seems kind of....I don' know, off?

Still I'm enjoy my time with it. I'd say get the PC version on steam for half the price if this is your first go with this game.
I don't know, it looks kinda ruff imo
 

Desless1

Member
The original was a classic from my point of view, and guess the remaster would be a great addition to cold long nights during winter.

But the face and neck... why?
 

Starfield

Member
The studio behind this remaster (not Remedy) is just bad. Terribly bad.

I love Alan Wake, played the first 2 episodes and had way more visual glitches than I anticipated. Not even the original game had that many bugs.
 

rofif

Can’t Git Gud
I'm up to episode 3. Seems like a slightly better version of Alan Wake. All of the good and bad is still there. Texture wise the faces are better but even though Alan's face looks more like the actor it seems kind of....I don' know, off?

Still I'm enjoy my time with it. I'd say get the PC version on steam for half the price if this is your first go with this game.
I think the original looked closer to the actor. New one looks weird and even the light hits this guy face weird :p
 

TGO

Hype Train conductor. Works harder than it steams.
The studio behind this remaster (not Remedy) is just bad. Terribly bad.

I love Alan Wake, played the first 2 episodes and had way more visual glitches than I anticipated. Not even the original game had that many bugs.
Really?
Xbox any chance?
 

Starfield

Member
Really?
Xbox any chance?
PC. Look at the video someone posted above.

the flickering stuff sadly isnt just the only visual glitches you get to see occasionally. ive had way worse ones.

its shocking to see that some TEXTURES even look worse in the remaster.
 

TGO

Hype Train conductor. Works harder than it steams.
PC. Look at the video someone posted above.

the flickering stuff sadly isnt just the only visual glitches you get to see occasionally. ive had way worse ones.

its shocking to see that some TEXTURES even look worse in the remaster.
Yeah that was me, I thought the original looked exactly like what it is, a 360 title displayed in high Resolution
I wouldn't say the textures was worse, they definitely better as the original are an eyesore.
But maybe I wasn't looking close enough
I'm sure you can pick them out.
My only complaint is the character models outside of Alan are still of 360 quality but a little better.
 

nowhat

Member
I played this on a 360 some decade ago, but looking back I must have done so half asleep in the middle of the night (or completely baked - it may be both, there seems to be some correlation) because I remember very little of it. Some more major plot points, but mostly that there were things I liked (especially the presentation and atmosphere) and things I didn't (combat being a major one). A quite mixed experience overall. As some still keep gushing about this, I decided to give it another and more throughout go on PS5, just finished the main game.

The gameplay graphics look like what you'd expect from a (then very impressive-looking) game from few console generations back that has received a minor facelift. Or few shots of Botox from a used syringe in some shady back alley, as may be the case here. Increased resolution and 60fps is of course appreciated, but clearly it is an older game. Also whether some of the lighting changes are actually an improvement is debatable, but on the whole, it's fine by me, it does what it needs to. And performance has been solid, which is always nice.

The cutscenes are a whole another matter though. They target 30fps (and currently can have some serious stuttering, hopefully that gets patched) which is not ideal, but I can live with that. The character models and especially animations can look quite "retro", to put it politely. Given how much emphasis there is on the narrative in the game I would have expected both to receive much more attention, but alas this is not a Bluepoint-level remaster, let alone a proper remake, so that gets a pass too. This means there can be some unintentionally hilarious moments though. But what gets me is the faces, or rather the skin. I'm no graphics expert so I can't say if it's the textures, skin shaders or whatnot, but the way the skin reacts to ambient light just feels completely wrong. The skin shouldn't be able to "pick up" some of the tones it does. Maybe it's just me, but it looks really off-putting and can also look like the face should be a part of a completely different scene than its surroundings.

The combat, I get why Remedy wanted to do something different. Typical third person combat with automatic weapons and bazookas wouldn't be appropriate here, and using light as an integral part is fitting both thematically and visually. But I just don't like the implementation, I find the combat very messy for lack of a better term. The aiming is not that great under ideal conditions and when fighting only a single enemy, but with enough action on the screen it becomes quite literally hit-and-miss. Regular flares do an especially good job at blinding enemies while also obscuring them from the view of the player. Having L1 function both as dodge and run is just a bizarre design choice - it can be unreliable to initiate running with enemies around, and when you manage to do that, there's no visual cue to tell the player that you're running out of stamina. Alan just breaths a bit harder for a little while before crashing, which you likely won't hear because of all the other sounds from the combat. I found the combat tolerable at first, but towards the end of the game it just got tedious and boring. At no point after an encounter did I think to myself "wow, that was an epic battle!". Quite often I thought "welp, I'm glad that's over with".

I have nothing against linear games and I think not making this open world (as was the original idea) was the right call. But "linear" doesn't mean it should be "almost on rails". Here the game shows its age as well, most of the level designs are fundamentally very basic. "Wide linear" is a more recent buzzword, but surely the concept has existed much earlier, I would have preferred that approach. It's easy to determine where you should be going even without the checking compass, and while there may be some obstacles in getting from point A to point B, more often than not it's just some menial busywork like retrieving a nearby key or starting a generator. Not that moving some platforms around is that much more satisfying. Of course you can take some detours (usually in a very limited fashion) if you're so inclined, but that raises the question "but why?" - and the game doesn't do a very good job answering it. You can hunt for supplies of course (although the game is quite generous with them, if you want a refill for your flare gun it's often right around the corner), beyond that... there are the collectibles, naturally.

I don't think every game needs collectibles, but if you're going to include them, they should have at least some payoff. I quite liked the radio and TV shows, but you don't need to go out your way to find them, they're found pretty automatically along with the main story. Beyond that there's reading signs (I suppose some context to the world), knocking down can pyramids (something to do at least) and collecting coffee thermoses (if you aren't a trophy hunter or have really severe OCD there's absolutely no point to them). Personally those don't offer much motivation for exploration. Of course there are the manuscript pages as well. They are connected to the main story and may also hint about upcoming events, but while I tried for a long while to maintain my interest in them, they are just not that great in my opinion. I doubt Alan will receive a Pulitzer any time soon.

...and that was an intentional segue to the story and writing. The writing can be very heavy-handed at times - or in other words, it's Sam Lake. This is more of an observation than criticism, he has a rather distinct style that fits here reasonably well. At the same time, he's not the most versatile or eloquent writer out there, and that shows as well. The story, ehh, it's alright. I didn't hate it or anything, but it didn't blow my mind either. I guess what gets me most about the story is that it's just such a huge wasted opportunity. The premise (that Alan can affect reality with his writing) would allow for all kinds of really weird shit, but in the end what's in the game is all quite tame. Grounded even, in a way. One could argue that instead of a complete brainfuck (which I would have preferred) the game is going for that Twin Peaks mystery vibe, with a little town and the eccentric people in it, but that's really not the case either. Most of the town and its inhabitants are completely ignored, and the few ones you interact with don't really have much of a personality beyond a name and occupation.

So, this remains a mixed experience for me. I wanted to like it more than I did. But at least I tried - still have the DLCs left, maybe I'll enjoy them more.
 

01011001

Banned
I just played this for the first time a couple months ago when it was still on GamePass. I don't think I'd qualify it as "masterpiece", but it was okay.

every game that isn't complete trash nowadays will be called a masterpiece by someone...
Alan Wake is good, I love it, but calling it a masterpiece really is a stretch bigger than the CfA2 Great Wall
 

MrFunSocks

Banned
Loved this game on the 360, played through it again via BC, but this remaster doesn't scream needed to me. Seems like it was probably done just to get it on PS5 for all the people that have never played it.
 
Remaster was absolutely needed ^^ as the games incredibly low res on xbox one bc. If you're a console gamer it was needed. 4k/60 fps is a huge upgrade over 720p/30..
 
every game that isn't complete trash nowadays will be called a masterpiece by someone...
Alan Wake is good, I love it, but calling it a masterpiece really is a stretch bigger than the CfA2 Great Wall
Masterpiece in b-rate psychological horror atmosphere. It really is in those respects. It absolutely nails the vibe it's going for.
 

Wizz-Art

Member
Still my favourite game of all time, now higher resolution and FPS then the Xbox360 version, I take it for only the 8 bucks I paid.
 
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Impotaku

Member
So far i'm really enjoying it it's been so long since i played the x360 version i can't remember exactly how it used to look, so far i don't have any complaints. Then again i'm not some super anal graphics whore either so i don't have unrealistic expectations. For £23 it's providing some early fun pre halloween entertainment so far, the only thing i'm dreading is the thermos hunt LOL. Man how much coffee does Alan really need?
 

TGO

Hype Train conductor. Works harder than it steams.
So far i'm really enjoying it it's been so long since i played the x360 version i can't remember exactly how it used to look, so far i don't have any complaints. Then again i'm not some super anal graphics whore either so i don't have unrealistic expectations. For £23 it's providing some early fun pre halloween entertainment so far, the only thing i'm dreading is the thermos hunt LOL. Man how much coffee does Alan really need?
Yeah I don't get the complaints either, but I never played the original.
It's no PS5 game but outside the character models it looks like a nice PS4 title.
And if you're played Remedy's other games it plays very similar imo
 

SkylineRKR

Member
Original PC version does look better. Especially the faces and the lighting looks to be more natural.

But for console, well I played AW last year on Series S and its a sub 720p (540p, 4x MSAA in fact) 30fps game. Its very janky and really blurry. Its hard to recommend it instead of the remaster. Though the original did feel eerie because of the very gritty and foggy looks, like SH used to do.
 

Fake

Member
So far i'm really enjoying it it's been so long since i played the x360 version i can't remember exactly how it used to look, so far i don't have any complaints.

Most of Alan Wake fans played at first on Xbox 360 and if I remember right Alan Wake 360 suffer heavily from black crushes.
 

chaseroni

Member
Loved this back in the day but every time I revisit it, I notice things I'm not crazy about.
I think I'll skip the remaster but enjoy if you're playing it for the first time its a nice lil game.
Would not call it a masterpiece..lol
 
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Wizz-Art

Member
I did call it a masterpiece and the best game I have ever played, it proudly stands at the top of my all time games list. Nothing comes close to create so much atmosphere as Alan Wake does and it's so well written and paced excellent there is no dull moment.

Playing it in the dark with the volume of my surround system cranked up. Walking in the woods, hearing those sounds every step you take, it's insanely tense and immersive when you realize that you are even holding your breath just so you could focus better on the sounds and where they're coming from. For a 2010 Xbox360 game it was Insanely good and I wished they did a remake rather then a remaster.

I hope there will be a sequel on the way because there's so much more they could do with this mystery story and with the current gen they can go absolutely crazy with things they wanted to do with this one but couldn't because of hardware limitations.

To me the ending of Alan Wake gave me goose bumps and is the most memorable ending in any game I ever played over the course of 30+ years of playing games. Rarely I'm invested in a game like I usually am with really great movies or TV shows, I could "binge play" it but I'd rather take it slowly 1 episode a playing session works the best for me. It's such a genius game and this remaster just remind me of that fact after 11 and a bit years.
 

SCB3

Member
Is it just me or is this game causing anyone else a bit of motion sickness? I'm usually completely fine with any game but its making me a bit dizzy at times
 

Fake

Member
Is it just me or is this game causing anyone else a bit of motion sickness? I'm usually completely fine with any game but its making me a bit dizzy at times

Maybe they put a strong montion blur, is there any option in the menu to disable?
 

Fake

Member
Yes there's an option for that

I remember getting motion sickness while playing Sonic and Sega All Star Racing on Xbox 360, but never on Alan Wake for Xbox 360.

In that case, if there is no level to put on montion blur I would recommend that guy disable.
 

SCB3

Member
Maybe they put a strong montion blur, is there any option in the menu to disable?
Yea I just turned it off, seems a bit better,

Come to think about it, I have the same issue with Avengers as well, I can't play that for more than a few hours without feeling a bit weird
 

Fake

Member
Yea I just turned it off, seems a bit better,

Come to think about it, I have the same issue with Avengers as well, I can't play that for more than a few hours without feeling a bit weird

Devs are to blame here because a powerful montion blur can do motion sickness even on the people with no historic of eye sickness.

There are games that really fail in that departament, so vary between games. I was never a fan of montion blur myself.
 
I got this but it’ll sit on my shelf for a while but I loved the original, played it a few times on PC and 360. Bit annoyed that the remaster doesn’t come with the American Nightmare fever dream though.
 
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