I was hoping Alan Wake would be good. Did not expect it to be my GOTY after seeing the credits roll. Excellent review as always Huber. Love that you really took your time with this one and let it cook.
Plus the fact the NG+ is basically going to add even more to the game. Get it, not a loop, a spiral;D Seen some of the spoilers, it's going to be insane. As Remedy stated, "Alternate Narrative".
After a few hours of playing AW2 that first night it came out, I could tell right away this game was special. By a certain sequence about halfway through Alan's campaign (you know the one if you've played the game), I knew instantly this was my GOTY. Once I finished the game it cemented itself as one of my all-time favorite games. As a massive Twin Peaks fan, it's so surreal to see a game of this scale that feels like David Lynch made it himself. Sam Lake and Remedy aren't afraid to experiment with visuals and storytelling and I'm so thankful for that. This is a one of a kind experience and I can't wait to replay it when NG+ comes out (and the DLCs).
I am really hoping it wins GOTY Remedy deserve it. As much as I loved Baldur's Gate 3 I think Alan Wake 2 does more to push the media forwards it is more boundary pushing and takes more risks with pretty much every aspect of the game. It is simply one of those games that feels like there will be a befoe and after AW2 in gaming and especially survival horror gaming. BG3 brought back BioWare/Obsidian RPG's of old and I applaud them for that It was the best throwback to the heyday of RPG's on PC.
You can call Alan Wake II a postmodern detective murder mystery, an atmospheric psychological horror fever dream and a meta 4th wall shattering narrative with enough mind-bending twists, turns and revelations and layers upon layers of metaphors, meta commentary and cryptic symbolic messages to make even David Lynch, Ari Aster, Robert Eggers and Christopher Nolan proud. You can also clearly see influences and elements pulled from TV shows like Twin Peaks, True Detective and The Twilight Zone or movies like Inception, Se7ven, Hereditary, Midsommar and The VVitch, alongside games like Resident Evil and Silent Hill and even theater and rock opera, but even saying all this still doesn't do Alan Wake II justice because nothing else has ever blended all these various elements together in the same kind of way that Sam Lake and Remedy have done here and it's something you can't truly explain and just need to experience for yourself because that's what Alan Wake II is. An experience like no other. Hell, nothing else even has the same kind of visual presentation or tells its story in the same way Alan Wake II does either. The closest thing to it would be Remedy's other hit game Control, but even then that game is so vastly different from what Alan Wake II accomplishes. We're talking in-engine graphics and cutscenes mixed with pre-rendered cutscenes mixed with tons of entirely live action sequences as well. With plenty of times when all 3 of these techniques are utilized and blended together all at once flawlessly to create a truly unique experience that only the medium of video games could ever provide. Ambitious is a word that's thrown around a lot nowadays. Everyone wants to release the next game changing piece of media, but few ever do reach that level. If there's one single game that was released this year and truly deserves to be described as ambitious, it's Alan Wake II. Not only is Alan Wake II a technological marvel and the best looking game I've ever seen from a graphical standpoint, but Alan Wake II is more than a game, it's a truly one-of-a-kind trans-media EXPERIENCE that blends together cinema, literature, music and gaming all into one package in a way never before seen in this medium, but also in a way that could only ever be done in THIS medium. Alan Wake II is simply a boundary pushing, genre defying, tour de force of creativity and innovation that would take decades of time to ever fully replicate in this same way again by anyone other than Sam Lake and Remedy and even though it took 13 years to release, the wait was more than worth it because this is the best possible version of the game we could've gotten and it was only made possible because of Remedy's own experiences making games like Quantum Break and Control leading up to Alan Wake II, which is not only a game, but an EXPERIENCE unlike any other and one that I know will stick with me for as long as I live.
Thank you for the review - job well done, very professional as always. Also thank you everyone for all the comments, as a developer they make my heart sing while trying to wake up in this beautiful morning ❤ After Control the team obviously took a totally different direction with Alan Wake 2 - In Control we put the gameplay first, while Alan is a story and mood first game. Lovely to see both of these games finding their audience. We try our best to keep surprising the gamers - even if it will mean taking risks in the future too - also when now diving into the unknowable in Control 2. I'd love to tell you what's cooking but can't do that just yet 😅 What I can tell, is that I need to take a shower and head to the office to continue adding those ingredients with the wonderful team in Remedy - in the meantime please enjoy Alan Wake 2.
What about the fucking golden bullet you guys missed with this game regarding to its story? Its the exact case as Shenmue 3, after all these years you guys had the chance to make the sequel all the fans dreamed about and you ADVANCED LITERALLY NOTHING STORY WISE, in fact you end the game in the exact point the first game ended. Such dissapointment product of you just want to milk it (and that useless RCU) instead of giving all your fans a proper sequel and not this filler game that felt like a spin off sort of waiting for the proper real sequel that we will never see. So disgusting and this comes from a real AW fan.
The game should just be called Saga Anderson. I agree with your points throughout. I've put 39 hours into the game (completed it) and it is a let down and disappointment to me: I'm tired of sugarcoating it or pretending it's not. Even though I didn't prefer Saga over Alan as a character (obviously, I'm playing a sequel to one of my favorite games and characters: Alan Wake), I too preferred Saga's sections because they were, well, better, as you detailed. Sigh. It's not that I disliked Saga or anything, it just seems crazy to me I estimate I played as much as 60-70% of Alan Wake 2 as Saga (AND importantly, Alan's sections were largely walking simulator). I honestly can't believe more people don't have a problem with this. I can't give the game more than a 6 or 7 out of 10 for these and other reasons: pacing, meh combat, amount of time walking/nothing happening. Ugh.
Not sure if you have watched the spoiler mode for AW2 but he does address this. He has had medical issues within his family he has been attending to, so yes he did need to take this long.@@Arcanenix
I'm glad someone mentioned the difficulty in this game. As a survival horror veteran, it is unquestionably one of the most achievable games in the genre on hard mode. The spikes are welcome when they come as I'm so conservative in my play style that i ended up with too many stored resources by the end. Even so, i will say it was a surprisingly balanced experience. I never quite felt comfortable but also i always knew i could step up to the plate and power through. Still, i think they couldve tipped the scales a little more out of player favor just the ratchet up the tension more.
I gotta wonder why most mainstream media outlets typically criticize jump scares in horror games (rightfully so) but there's no mention of them in AW2. A game where there's an overabundance of them and they're often unearned. On top of that the lack of enemy variety is barely brought up and if it is its barely glossed over. The Callisto Protocol got absolutely panned for having a lack of enemy variety. Just weird that everyone seems to collectively be giving this game a pass for generally agreed upon sticking points
I’ve been excited for this review ever since finishing the game recently! I would love to hear a spoiler discussion from yall to get your takes on some of the more pivotal points of the game! Thanks Huber & Don!
I logged 35 hours into Alan Wake 2, 100% the game. I imagine if I actually looked for the last bits of collectibles myself I’d put in an extra few hours, but near the end I didn’t want to burn myself out. I really say with this one, let myself soak in every scene, but of dialog, audio log, comedian, and log files. Man was this game a gem.
I've rarely felt so compelled to 100% something. Its just so engrossing and satisfying to play that it was hard not to. To say nothing of how helpful the mind place was for seeing what you had left. It just all felt worth doing and like it wasn't unachievable. It will probably be a while before anything compares though i hopped right over to Dead Space remake after and its at least providing the same immersive qualities that satisfy my brain. Still, AW2 will unquestionably be unforgettable.
This whole year, I was tryna figure out what my game of the year would be. There are so many fantastic games that were released this year but for my tastes Alan Wake 2 is quite possibly the best game I've experienced this year.. absolutely loved it.
Great review, Huber. Play this game on a 4000 series GPU with Ray Reconstruction if possible, it really is a visually transformative difference. My only complaint is towards those screen filling jump scares, otherwise this feels like a dream come true kind of experience.
Probably the best survival horror game I have ever played. And that is in comparison to Silent Hill, Resident Evil, Condemned, Outlast, Evil Within etc.
Huber, masterful writing. Def sold me on this game. Just trying to force myself to watch the Alan Wake 1 playthrough even though I have it on PS+ Extra.
This really is a divisive game it seems. I've seen a lot of pure hatred for this game. But I love it. Finished it so quick because I was so drawn into it.
Very fitting score. To me this is a 10/10, I loved every second of it and even now, weeks after finishing it I can't stop thinking about it. GOTY for me though I know it won't win at the TGAs.
I loved the first game but struggling with this one. Saga is awesome the first hours but the mind place interrupts all the flow Alan is ok but you end up mixing "words" until you advance, and the writing is just nonsense as Control, i have to beat it to see if its always like this
ALAN WAKE 2 IS MY GOTY 100% STORY AND CREATIVE STORYTELLING WITH LIVE ACTION'S AND ACTORS GREAT PERFORMANCE ARE SOO AMAZING AND CINEMATIC THANK YOU SAM LAKE FOR THIS WIRED STORY AND AMAZING SEQUEL ❤AND THANK YOU EASY ALLIES FOR THIS GREAT REVIEW
They probably had their hands full with the main game stuff. Remedy aren't that big of a studio and have multiple projects to work on. DLCs for the game are set for 2024, which is a good indication that they have them planned out, but actually started developing them just recently.
@vadymorlov4234 yeah I'm not that surprised but it is hard to keep in mind the size of the studio considering they're last two games look way better than many full sized AAA studios. Hopefully NG+ comes with the new dlc so I can get the one collectable I missed for the platinum trophy
Excellent review. Can’t wait to play this game. The only negative i’ve heard was the difficulty being easy for survival horror even on the hardest setting.
No, you will see - this game won't be easy. It took me over 37 hours to beat it. Masterpiece and pure survival-horror. You will love it and sometimes hate it, because it is very scarry....it will keeps in your mind. :)
@@bluthexer9152 Gotta disagree, big time. This was one of the easiest "hard" difficulties I've played in a game. Ammo, health and resources are just way too plentiful, I eventually had to start discarding items cause both my inventory and storage were maxed out. The lack of enemy encounters and variety certainly doesn't help, while the dodge can easily be spammed to get you through most of the game. Enemies sometimes even drop more ammo than you put into them. It just feels like they really undelivered after hyping up the survival horror aspect so much. If this is your first survival horror game I could maybe see some difficulties but if you managed to get through the hard difficulties of RE4 and Dead Space earlier this year, this game will give you little issue.
@@TundraBoy69Thanks for your perspective. I was looking forward to this game, but will now wait for a significant price drop and see how they improve the game. If i dont see enough improvements to my liking, I will unfortunately have to skip this game as well as the first one. Life goes on. Blessings.
@@TundraBoy69 There is a nightmare mode coming with the new game plus, lets hope they add more encounters and ramp up the difficulty with it but I do agree that the hardest difficulty at base is disappointing. Even hard difficulty options have to appeal to everyone now.
I have to fully and completely DISAGREE with this review. This game was an utter 0/10 and at about 1/4 of the way through I knew I was playing out of just spite. I absolutely loved Control and did like Alan Wake, but my god, this game is truly broken and feels as if it was made entirely for the people who work at Remedy... The story is so convoluted that it isn't even fun to be lost in it, I literally had no idea what was going on most of the time. The multiple characters in multiple realities playing multiple parts just felt like Sam Lake just wrote himself into a corner and then tried to play it up as, "isn't this 4th wall breaking just awesome!" No, the story is up its own ass all the time to the point where it was unbearable. I felt like I learned nothing and wasted hours of my life. The puzzles were actually painful. I admit I'm bad at puzzles by nature, but these were on another level of stupid. I am not the sole opinion on that... I gave up about 1/3 of the way through the game and literally just said, "screw it, I'm going to TH-cam for every locked chest and every stupid puzzle" and the comments are FULL of people who are like, "WTF? How was I supposed to solve that?!" So my opinion isn't a lone one. The gameplay is non-existent, it's like during the last 6 months of development someone came rushing into Remedy and said, "oh shit, this is a video game! Quick make it playable! I know we filmed all of those live action scenes and awesome 4th wall breaks, but we have to have people PLAY this!" --- I played this on PS5 and my god "fighting" enemies was a joke... EVERY enemy is a bullet sponge. When I got to the Thorton and Mulligan fight, I truly gave up and switched it to Story mode because I realised this was pointless... Aiming is terrible on purpose to give that "survival horror" feel, and it's SO DAMN DARK most of the time I'm legit never scared or jumpy because I just hear noises in my headphones and then my character falls dead again after 3 hits. This game was clearly made only for the people who were making it and no matter how much criticism it gets, it's going to get rave reviews simply because it's different and graphically is great... I WANTED to like this game, I really really did. However, it sucks, plain and simple. I'll never play it again and hope to high hell Remedy doesn't mess up Control 2 this bad. Get your shit together, god damn...
This was sold as a survival horror game since the day it was announced, not an action game. You wanted more action than the game had, but in no way does that make it a bad game. You were simply not very good at the game if you couldn't figure out the puzzles. Stop blaming others for you faults. You dont deserve to be taken seriously based alone on you giving it a 0/10. Thats just projection on your part.
I've played through Alan Wake 3 times and I've been excited to play this game. Sadly, the PC version is exclusive to the Epic Game Store and I like to keep things on Steam when I can, so I'll keep waiting till then. Will probably have a nice sale when it does come to Steam too.
@@EasyAllies Oh snap! If that's the case then I'll just have to get it on Epic. I just like having access to my Steam friends, achievements, cloud saves, and especially the overlay that lets you make notes and change its transparency. Hopefully EGS will one day get there.
Good sequel, but the storytelling could be a BIT less convoluted. Saga's mind place should be a little more automatized, since it adds little to the gameplay experience and in the end, just repeats what we see by playing the game. There's no feeling of satisfaction in 'deducting' the scenes, so it feels a little dull. Combat is good in her parts, but Alan's chapters are kinda confusing. The whole 'scene change' gimmick didn't hit as good as Remedy expected to, leaving the player without knowing what plot should he use in each scene -- or if he should try every available plot in his disposal. The ending is anti-climatic to say the least, and the real final boss fight is earlier in the game, since the ending is just more investigation and a final cutscene. I'm leaning towards the thought that the story should've had a concrete ending, and leaving it open for a Part 3 doesn't seem very wise and not really honest toward an audience that already waited 13 years for the sequel. I enjoyed for what it was, and there are plenty of good moments. A solid 7/10.
I could not handle it. Alan Wake, suddenly thinking of itself as a legit survival horror game is weird on its own, but the fact that the game is putting my PC on fire all while not giving me even a third of the same combat intensity as did American Nightmare, the shlockiest and hence best entry in this series, is just horrendous. If I want to play Resident Evil 2 remake I will go do that. I was waiting for Alan Wake 2, with self-aware shlock story, lots of combat and Mr. Scratch being hammy as fuck. Also... somewhat less technically impressivel, just so that my laptop isn't burning my fucking fingers when I'm trying to play it.
Something About the game is coming across as soulless to me. Games have been inspired by Twin Peaks for 30 years but this game feels like it’s just copying and not using it as an inspiration to make its own point., Life is strange is heavily influenced by Twin Peaks, but it feels like it is inspired by it where Allen wig just feels like it’s copying without really understanding it.
Reading this makes me wonder whether you have even played the game or not really understanding what you experienced while playing it? Because to me as huge fan of twin peaks, there is only a little bit of TP here and way more of its own material. Also if you start looking all the influences on music, films, games or any type of art at all, there is always something that the artist has been inspired and taken influences from. Clearly you can see Twin peaks in the settings, but I felt it was there more on the first game than this. It seems that most of the time when people run their mouth on AW2 being bad, they have not even experienced the game themselves. Making me sad.
@@JH-dx9umI never said it was bad. I said it seemed souless. And while I have started it, I haven’t finished it yet. And I’m not saying this as a definitive statement. I’m more wondering if other people are seeing the same thing. Of the games that I have played that are inspired by twin peaks (harvester, silent hill, link’s awakening, majora’s mask, return to zork, thimbleweed park, life is strange, etc) they all pulled more broadly and thematically than literally “Alan wake goes into the black lodge and his evil doppelgänger comes out”. It feels like it’s lifting exact plot points without understanding that lynch wasn’t just doing weirdness for weirdness sake and it was part of his overall point. But if you’re not feeling that way, maybe it’s just me. And maybe it comes together after I get further into it. Like, another example is Twin speaks starting with a murder but lunch not intending to solve the murder because the murder isn’t the point. It feels like Alan Wake is like “oh the murder definitely IS the point”. Maybe I’m not explaining it well.
@@JazGalaxy I think how the game starts here is just way to introduce the game to the new players more than anything. If it started with Alan fighting shadow boogie men from the start, it would go well for the old fans for sure, but new audience would be dropped in the deep dark end of the lake right from the start and left with pretty much clueless what the heck is going on.
The game is a complete snooze fest, if you're considering buying it, I highly recommend to watch an hour of gameplay to see if the story based game is something you're interested in. This game borders the tell tale types of games, wish they let me refund it.
They never said it was an action game, survival horror since the announcement. It's definitely not for everyone though. Especially in the day of social media decimating the attention spans and braincells of the masses. No patience for a game like this for most unfortunately.
Genuinely impressed (and very happy) that the whole review doesn't mention Twin Peaks. I understand there's heavy inspiration from that series in AW2, but it's refreshing to hear this game talked about and praised on its own merits rather than how well it emulates the vibe of something else.
@@KaoticVibesit's ok if it's done right. Like when a character suddenly stands behind you. But just randomly flashing the screen and playing a loud sound is pretty cheap. If I want that I could ask someone to randomly scream at me throughout the day.
Does anybody have a 110 a year policy? That would be insane. If you accidentally gave it out early in the year and that would mean that the best game ever made could come out and you couldn’t give it a 10 because you already wasted it?
For me it is easily 10, but I can totally see it getting less by other people. It has flaws, it has bugs (most of those already ironed out as I write this), but even with those flaws, the strong areas of AW2 could easily get 11/10 story, atmosphere, creativity, just being more than a game in many ways, having the balls to be unique. Strong parts easily covering up the flaws to a degree I can easily call it a 10 for me. But, the game is not for everyone, as clearly already seen in the comments by some. For some its slow, its scary, even bit graphic in its violence.
As much as I enjoyed the first chapters as Saga it all falls apart when you play Alan Wake. It simply is boring gameplay. That subway level is uninspired and simply cringy in terms of narrative. The mechanics of changing the environment with that lamp is confusing and not fun. Too much cheap jump scares. Fighting those silhouettes with the flashlight is uninteresting. I wish we would only play saga and focus more on FBI investigation. And the janitor? Again? He was in Control. The whole thing is weird and not in a good way.
I played and finished the first game and i quite like it. But i'm not yet play this one (i only watched MKIceAndFire playthrough). While i can agreed that the graphics looks amazing but i don't think the story is that good / deep. It feels like this one handled by different writers because the tone feels kinda different compare to the first game. And what's with the constant cheap jump scares with flashy effect? Are Remedy really wants to give me epilepsy or something 🙄. The first game doesn't have lame jump scare shoving up to the screen every five minutes. Not sure who at Remedy think it's a good idea to keep doing cheap jump scare over and over.
Becuase the internet is riddled by narcissists with no patience and people take them seriously for some reason. Dont let others think for you man, this game rocks!
Because Internet full of narccisistic non gamer who never read any book, and thought they play it, they understand it and enjoy it. They failed to see the whole pic, a game as a whole, you found that people who love it has no idea what is story writing (and they totally ignore Saga dont wear glove on autopsy, and she can solve case without any hint but with her superpower, thats "good detective" story writern by someone who never read detective book), what is character building and game play, they just praise because of some particular scene, like the music video, or remedy-verse. People who can see beyond those things know that this game, the whole game is a one narccisistic game director man show, that's why they think this Sam Lake are western Kojima - which both are super narccisistic and movie director wannabe
You don't have to play Alan Wake 1 first, though doing so greatly increases how much of the details you'll understand. Same with control, not required, but if you've played Control you'll get much more context.
I was hoping Alan Wake would be good. Did not expect it to be my GOTY after seeing the credits roll. Excellent review as always Huber. Love that you really took your time with this one and let it cook.
Plus the fact the NG+ is basically going to add even more to the game. Get it, not a loop, a spiral;D Seen some of the spoilers, it's going to be insane. As Remedy stated, "Alternate Narrative".
Do I need to play the first game?
@@skuirrelTV I would say yes! I mean I guess you could watch a recap video but if you’ve played 1 and Control you’ll get so much more out of it.
After a few hours of playing AW2 that first night it came out, I could tell right away this game was special. By a certain sequence about halfway through Alan's campaign (you know the one if you've played the game), I knew instantly this was my GOTY. Once I finished the game it cemented itself as one of my all-time favorite games. As a massive Twin Peaks fan, it's so surreal to see a game of this scale that feels like David Lynch made it himself. Sam Lake and Remedy aren't afraid to experiment with visuals and storytelling and I'm so thankful for that. This is a one of a kind experience and I can't wait to replay it when NG+ comes out (and the DLCs).
I am really hoping it wins GOTY Remedy deserve it. As much as I loved Baldur's Gate 3 I think Alan Wake 2 does more to push the media forwards it is more boundary pushing and takes more risks with pretty much every aspect of the game. It is simply one of those games that feels like there will be a befoe and after AW2 in gaming and especially survival horror gaming. BG3 brought back BioWare/Obsidian RPG's of old and I applaud them for that It was the best throwback to the heyday of RPG's on PC.
You can call Alan Wake II a postmodern detective murder mystery, an atmospheric psychological horror fever dream and a meta 4th wall shattering narrative with enough mind-bending twists, turns and revelations and layers upon layers of metaphors, meta commentary and cryptic symbolic messages to make even David Lynch, Ari Aster, Robert Eggers and Christopher Nolan proud. You can also clearly see influences and elements pulled from TV shows like Twin Peaks, True Detective and The Twilight Zone or movies like Inception, Se7ven, Hereditary, Midsommar and The VVitch, alongside games like Resident Evil and Silent Hill and even theater and rock opera, but even saying all this still doesn't do Alan Wake II justice because nothing else has ever blended all these various elements together in the same kind of way that Sam Lake and Remedy have done here and it's something you can't truly explain and just need to experience for yourself because that's what Alan Wake II is. An experience like no other.
Hell, nothing else even has the same kind of visual presentation or tells its story in the same way Alan Wake II does either. The closest thing to it would be Remedy's other hit game Control, but even then that game is so vastly different from what Alan Wake II accomplishes. We're talking in-engine graphics and cutscenes mixed with pre-rendered cutscenes mixed with tons of entirely live action sequences as well. With plenty of times when all 3 of these techniques are utilized and blended together all at once flawlessly to create a truly unique experience that only the medium of video games could ever provide.
Ambitious is a word that's thrown around a lot nowadays. Everyone wants to release the next game changing piece of media, but few ever do reach that level. If there's one single game that was released this year and truly deserves to be described as ambitious, it's Alan Wake II. Not only is Alan Wake II a technological marvel and the best looking game I've ever seen from a graphical standpoint, but Alan Wake II is more than a game, it's a truly one-of-a-kind trans-media EXPERIENCE that blends together cinema, literature, music and gaming all into one package in a way never before seen in this medium, but also in a way that could only ever be done in THIS medium.
Alan Wake II is simply a boundary pushing, genre defying, tour de force of creativity and innovation that would take decades of time to ever fully replicate in this same way again by anyone other than Sam Lake and Remedy and even though it took 13 years to release, the wait was more than worth it because this is the best possible version of the game we could've gotten and it was only made possible because of Remedy's own experiences making games like Quantum Break and Control leading up to Alan Wake II, which is not only a game, but an EXPERIENCE unlike any other and one that I know will stick with me for as long as I live.
Thank you for the review - job well done, very professional as always. Also thank you everyone for all the comments, as a developer they make my heart sing while trying to wake up in this beautiful morning ❤
After Control the team obviously took a totally different direction with Alan Wake 2 - In Control we put the gameplay first, while Alan is a story and mood first game.
Lovely to see both of these games finding their audience. We try our best to keep surprising the gamers - even if it will mean taking risks in the future too - also when now diving into the unknowable in Control 2.
I'd love to tell you what's cooking but can't do that just yet 😅 What I can tell, is that I need to take a shower and head to the office to continue adding those ingredients with the wonderful team in Remedy - in the meantime please enjoy Alan Wake 2.
What about the fucking golden bullet you guys missed with this game regarding to its story? Its the exact case as Shenmue 3, after all these years you guys had the chance to make the sequel all the fans dreamed about and you ADVANCED LITERALLY NOTHING STORY WISE, in fact you end the game in the exact point the first game ended.
Such dissapointment product of you just want to milk it (and that useless RCU) instead of giving all your fans a proper sequel and not this filler game that felt like a spin off sort of waiting for the proper real sequel that we will never see.
So disgusting and this comes from a real AW fan.
The game should just be called Saga Anderson. I agree with your points throughout. I've put 39 hours into the game (completed it) and it is a let down and disappointment to me: I'm tired of sugarcoating it or pretending it's not. Even though I didn't prefer Saga over Alan as a character (obviously, I'm playing a sequel to one of my favorite games and characters: Alan Wake), I too preferred Saga's sections because they were, well, better, as you detailed. Sigh. It's not that I disliked Saga or anything, it just seems crazy to me I estimate I played as much as 60-70% of Alan Wake 2 as Saga (AND importantly, Alan's sections were largely walking simulator). I honestly can't believe more people don't have a problem with this. I can't give the game more than a 6 or 7 out of 10 for these and other reasons: pacing, meh combat, amount of time walking/nothing happening. Ugh.
I have never needed a physical edition more than I do of this game.
Glad to see Huber take his time with this review, it’s his personal goty after all.
@@Arcanenix that’s what she said - Micheal
@@Arcanenix Except he clearly did.
Not sure if you have watched the spoiler mode for AW2 but he does address this. He has had medical issues within his family he has been attending to, so yes he did need to take this long.@@Arcanenix
I'm glad someone mentioned the difficulty in this game. As a survival horror veteran, it is unquestionably one of the most achievable games in the genre on hard mode. The spikes are welcome when they come as I'm so conservative in my play style that i ended up with too many stored resources by the end. Even so, i will say it was a surprisingly balanced experience. I never quite felt comfortable but also i always knew i could step up to the plate and power through. Still, i think they couldve tipped the scales a little more out of player favor just the ratchet up the tension more.
I gotta wonder why most mainstream media outlets typically criticize jump scares in horror games (rightfully so) but there's no mention of them in AW2. A game where there's an overabundance of them and they're often unearned.
On top of that the lack of enemy variety is barely brought up and if it is its barely glossed over. The Callisto Protocol got absolutely panned for having a lack of enemy variety. Just weird that everyone seems to collectively be giving this game a pass for generally agreed upon sticking points
Shhhhh that's logic don't let people in the comments know you can use it.
Im about 17 hours in and perfectly agree with this review. and THAT level... ill never forget it
AWII is possibly the best game I have ever played. Been playing games since 1995
Excellent review as always Huber and Allies. L&R!
I’ve been excited for this review ever since finishing the game recently! I would love to hear a spoiler discussion from yall to get your takes on some of the more pivotal points of the game! Thanks Huber & Don!
Ready and waiting:
www.patreon.com/posts/spoiler-mode-2-93089723
-Bloodworth
Oh my gosh so perfect! Glad I’m a Patreon member 🙌
I logged 35 hours into Alan Wake 2, 100% the game. I imagine if I actually looked for the last bits of collectibles myself I’d put in an extra few hours, but near the end I didn’t want to burn myself out. I really say with this one, let myself soak in every scene, but of dialog, audio log, comedian, and log files. Man was this game a gem.
I've rarely felt so compelled to 100% something. Its just so engrossing and satisfying to play that it was hard not to. To say nothing of how helpful the mind place was for seeing what you had left. It just all felt worth doing and like it wasn't unachievable. It will probably be a while before anything compares though i hopped right over to Dead Space remake after and its at least providing the same immersive qualities that satisfy my brain. Still, AW2 will unquestionably be unforgettable.
The presentation is amazing. I've never felt so compelled to read every word of every bit of lore as I have with this game. No skimming.
How did you 100% but not get all the collectables?
Huber was destined to write this review. I expected no less. Fair, but still nearly flawless. Well waited for indeed.
I’m replaying AW1 in anticipation
Alan Wake 2 was so fun. I love Remedy and am excited for the DLC, Control 2 and Max Payne remakes
This whole year, I was tryna figure out what my game of the year would be. There are so many fantastic games that were released this year but for my tastes Alan Wake 2 is quite possibly the best game I've experienced this year.. absolutely loved it.
a 10 in our hearts. great review huber
The only con i have for this game are the performance issues and the bugs where you cant progress. Other than that its goty material
If Huber hadn't spent his once-a-year 10/10 on RE4 this would be it. Fantastic review of a fantastic game.
Earlier this year I didn't think Huber would love a 2023 game more than RE4 remake but glad to see the hits just kept coming this year.
Great review, Huber. Play this game on a 4000 series GPU with Ray Reconstruction if possible, it really is a visually transformative difference. My only complaint is towards those screen filling jump scares, otherwise this feels like a dream come true kind of experience.
Was waiting for this! I was waiting all 13 since the first for this game to come out and it didn’t disappoint me in the slightest
Probably the best survival horror game I have ever played. And that is in comparison to Silent Hill, Resident Evil, Condemned, Outlast, Evil Within etc.
Huber, masterful writing. Def sold me on this game. Just trying to force myself to watch the Alan Wake 1 playthrough even though I have it on PS+ Extra.
Nice jump scare...u guys got me
Oh wow i didnt expect a review after this long
9.5 svore from Huber means a lot 👍👏
Alright. You got me. I'll buy it.
Show me the champion of light and I’ll show you the herald of darkness! 🕺
Cant wait to get to this once I finish up my backlog a bit!
Just finish the game and i can say this is my GOTY
Excllent review guys
One of the best games ever made.
This really is a divisive game it seems. I've seen a lot of pure hatred for this game. But I love it. Finished it so quick because I was so drawn into it.
Why is this review coming so late?
This game is not easy and really long. It took me over 37 hours to beat and the atmosphere is stunning...this game is more than just a videogame.
This is no reason the review is 1 month after release. I put 50 hours into it on the first week it released and 100% it and I work a full time job
Only Huber would throw “freakos” in a review
Very fitting score. To me this is a 10/10, I loved every second of it and even now, weeks after finishing it I can't stop thinking about it. GOTY for me though I know it won't win at the TGAs.
Yeah this is my favorite game this year. Still have BG3 for my GOTY but, AW2 just AMAAAZING!
I loved the first game but struggling with this one. Saga is awesome the first hours but the mind place interrupts all the flow
Alan is ok but you end up mixing "words" until you advance, and the writing is just nonsense as Control, i have to beat it to see if its always like this
Not to mention the bugs; missing audio, mixed audio tracks between languages, soft locks.
Yes! Was worried this review would also take 13 years to come out 😅
ALAN WAKE 2 IS MY GOTY 100%
STORY AND CREATIVE STORYTELLING WITH LIVE ACTION'S AND ACTORS GREAT PERFORMANCE ARE SOO AMAZING AND CINEMATIC THANK YOU SAM LAKE FOR THIS WIRED STORY AND AMAZING SEQUEL ❤AND THANK YOU EASY ALLIES FOR THIS GREAT REVIEW
Great review Huber.
Great editing and great script. Excellent review!
It's really odd that, considering the structure of the dark place, that new game plus isn't already in the game
They probably had their hands full with the main game stuff. Remedy aren't that big of a studio and have multiple projects to work on. DLCs for the game are set for 2024, which is a good indication that they have them planned out, but actually started developing them just recently.
@vadymorlov4234 yeah I'm not that surprised but it is hard to keep in mind the size of the studio considering they're last two games look way better than many full sized AAA studios. Hopefully NG+ comes with the new dlc so I can get the one collectable I missed for the platinum trophy
Excellent review. Can’t wait to play this game. The only negative i’ve heard was the difficulty being easy for survival horror even on the hardest setting.
No, you will see - this game won't be easy. It took me over 37 hours to beat it. Masterpiece and pure survival-horror. You will love it and sometimes hate it, because it is very scarry....it will keeps in your mind. :)
@@bluthexer9152 Gotta disagree, big time. This was one of the easiest "hard" difficulties I've played in a game. Ammo, health and resources are just way too plentiful, I eventually had to start discarding items cause both my inventory and storage were maxed out. The lack of enemy encounters and variety certainly doesn't help, while the dodge can easily be spammed to get you through most of the game. Enemies sometimes even drop more ammo than you put into them.
It just feels like they really undelivered after hyping up the survival horror aspect so much. If this is your first survival horror game I could maybe see some difficulties but if you managed to get through the hard difficulties of RE4 and Dead Space earlier this year, this game will give you little issue.
@@TundraBoy69Thanks for your perspective. I was looking forward to this game, but will now wait for a significant price drop and see how they improve the game. If i dont see enough improvements to my liking, I will unfortunately have to skip this game as well as the first one. Life goes on. Blessings.
@@TundraBoy69 There is a nightmare mode coming with the new game plus, lets hope they add more encounters and ramp up the difficulty with it but I do agree that the hardest difficulty at base is disappointing. Even hard difficulty options have to appeal to everyone now.
Been waiting for this. Not to make a decision on the game, I was buying regardless, but because I just really wanted to hear Hubers review.
Hey didn't know a new game plus would be in the works. Awesome news and great review!
I wonder if Huber loves Alan Wake 2 as much as The Evil Within 2. Huber does love him some survival horror in his videogames.
IGN: 10/10, Gamespot: 10/10, ???: 9.5/10 😂
I have to fully and completely DISAGREE with this review. This game was an utter 0/10 and at about 1/4 of the way through I knew I was playing out of just spite.
I absolutely loved Control and did like Alan Wake, but my god, this game is truly broken and feels as if it was made entirely for the people who work at Remedy... The story is so convoluted that it isn't even fun to be lost in it, I literally had no idea what was going on most of the time. The multiple characters in multiple realities playing multiple parts just felt like Sam Lake just wrote himself into a corner and then tried to play it up as, "isn't this 4th wall breaking just awesome!" No, the story is up its own ass all the time to the point where it was unbearable. I felt like I learned nothing and wasted hours of my life.
The puzzles were actually painful. I admit I'm bad at puzzles by nature, but these were on another level of stupid. I am not the sole opinion on that... I gave up about 1/3 of the way through the game and literally just said, "screw it, I'm going to TH-cam for every locked chest and every stupid puzzle" and the comments are FULL of people who are like, "WTF? How was I supposed to solve that?!" So my opinion isn't a lone one.
The gameplay is non-existent, it's like during the last 6 months of development someone came rushing into Remedy and said, "oh shit, this is a video game! Quick make it playable! I know we filmed all of those live action scenes and awesome 4th wall breaks, but we have to have people PLAY this!" --- I played this on PS5 and my god "fighting" enemies was a joke... EVERY enemy is a bullet sponge. When I got to the Thorton and Mulligan fight, I truly gave up and switched it to Story mode because I realised this was pointless... Aiming is terrible on purpose to give that "survival horror" feel, and it's SO DAMN DARK most of the time I'm legit never scared or jumpy because I just hear noises in my headphones and then my character falls dead again after 3 hits.
This game was clearly made only for the people who were making it and no matter how much criticism it gets, it's going to get rave reviews simply because it's different and graphically is great...
I WANTED to like this game, I really really did. However, it sucks, plain and simple. I'll never play it again and hope to high hell Remedy doesn't mess up Control 2 this bad.
Get your shit together, god damn...
This was sold as a survival horror game since the day it was announced, not an action game. You wanted more action than the game had, but in no way does that make it a bad game. You were simply not very good at the game if you couldn't figure out the puzzles. Stop blaming others for you faults. You dont deserve to be taken seriously based alone on you giving it a 0/10. Thats just projection on your part.
I've played through Alan Wake 3 times and I've been excited to play this game. Sadly, the PC version is exclusive to the Epic Game Store and I like to keep things on Steam when I can, so I'll keep waiting till then. Will probably have a nice sale when it does come to Steam too.
This is funded and published by Epic though. Have they announced that they will be bringing it to Steam? -Bloodworth
@@EasyAllies Oh snap! If that's the case then I'll just have to get it on Epic. I just like having access to my Steam friends, achievements, cloud saves, and especially the overlay that lets you make notes and change its transparency. Hopefully EGS will one day get there.
Hope it gets a physical release. 🙏🙏🙏
As good as BG3 was, I still had way more fun with Alan Wake 2, and is my personal GOTY
I was only interested in this if Huber was the reviewer. I wasn't disappointed!
I truly loved every moment the game gave me. I didn't like the bugs tho... Saga had a lot of them. Alan was mostly clean gameplay.
Very good and very weird game. Worthy of goty considerations despite 2023 being packed with bangers
Huber is a great writer
Was waiting for this one, looks amazing.
No words about AW2 being *digital only* and *Always Online demand* on PC/EGS!?
No...?
Maybe they don't think it's noteworthy
Baldurs Gate 3 is also digital only for now. It’s just the way the world is.
@@rallymonkey150 I hate this tbh
@@rallymonkey150 Baldur's Gate is getting a physical release early next year, but it looks to be a limited run.
Do i need to play the first game?
No, but you miss out a lot if you don’t.
Good sequel, but the storytelling could be a BIT less convoluted. Saga's mind place should be a little more automatized, since it adds little to the gameplay experience and in the end, just repeats what we see by playing the game. There's no feeling of satisfaction in 'deducting' the scenes, so it feels a little dull.
Combat is good in her parts, but Alan's chapters are kinda confusing. The whole 'scene change' gimmick didn't hit as good as Remedy expected to, leaving the player without knowing what plot should he use in each scene -- or if he should try every available plot in his disposal.
The ending is anti-climatic to say the least, and the real final boss fight is earlier in the game, since the ending is just more investigation and a final cutscene.
I'm leaning towards the thought that the story should've had a concrete ending, and leaving it open for a Part 3 doesn't seem very wise and not really honest toward an audience that already waited 13 years for the sequel.
I enjoyed for what it was, and there are plenty of good moments. A solid 7/10.
I could not handle it. Alan Wake, suddenly thinking of itself as a legit survival horror game is weird on its own, but the fact that the game is putting my PC on fire all while not giving me even a third of the same combat intensity as did American Nightmare, the shlockiest and hence best entry in this series, is just horrendous.
If I want to play Resident Evil 2 remake I will go do that. I was waiting for Alan Wake 2, with self-aware shlock story, lots of combat and Mr. Scratch being hammy as fuck. Also... somewhat less technically impressivel, just so that my laptop isn't burning my fucking fingers when I'm trying to play it.
Great review
The worst 100$ I've ever spent.
Why? What was so bad about it?
Something About the game is coming across as soulless to me. Games have been inspired by Twin Peaks for 30 years but this game feels like it’s just copying and not using it as an inspiration to make its own point., Life is strange is heavily influenced by Twin Peaks, but it feels like it is inspired by it where Allen wig just feels like it’s copying without really understanding it.
Reading this makes me wonder whether you have even played the game or not really understanding what you experienced while playing it? Because to me as huge fan of twin peaks, there is only a little bit of TP here and way more of its own material. Also if you start looking all the influences on music, films, games or any type of art at all, there is always something that the artist has been inspired and taken influences from. Clearly you can see Twin peaks in the settings, but I felt it was there more on the first game than this.
It seems that most of the time when people run their mouth on AW2 being bad, they have not even experienced the game themselves. Making me sad.
@@JH-dx9umI never said it was bad. I said it seemed souless. And while I have started it, I haven’t finished it yet. And I’m not saying this as a definitive statement. I’m more wondering if other people are seeing the same thing.
Of the games that I have played that are inspired by twin peaks (harvester, silent hill, link’s awakening, majora’s mask, return to zork, thimbleweed park, life is strange, etc) they all pulled more broadly and thematically than literally “Alan wake goes into the black lodge and his evil doppelgänger comes out”. It feels like it’s lifting exact plot points without understanding that lynch wasn’t just doing weirdness for weirdness sake and it was part of his overall point.
But if you’re not feeling that way, maybe it’s just me. And maybe it comes together after I get further into it.
Like, another example is Twin speaks starting with a murder but lunch not intending to solve the murder because the murder isn’t the point. It feels like Alan Wake is like “oh the murder definitely IS the point”.
Maybe I’m not explaining it well.
@@JazGalaxy I think how the game starts here is just way to introduce the game to the new players more than anything. If it started with Alan fighting shadow boogie men from the start, it would go well for the old fans for sure, but new audience would be dropped in the deep dark end of the lake right from the start and left with pretty much clueless what the heck is going on.
F*** yeah! Now where's that Spoiler Mode.
It's on Patreon right now. -Bloodworth
Here's the link
www.patreon.com/posts/spoiler-mode-2-93089723
-Bloodworth
I'm interested in playing this despite absolutely hating the first game.
It’s not for me but happy it turned out to be great.
The game is a complete snooze fest, if you're considering buying it, I highly recommend to watch an hour of gameplay to see if the story based game is something you're interested in. This game borders the tell tale types of games, wish they let me refund it.
They never said it was an action game, survival horror since the announcement. It's definitely not for everyone though. Especially in the day of social media decimating the attention spans and braincells of the masses. No patience for a game like this for most unfortunately.
Such a amazing game 😊
9.5/10 👍
Genuinely impressed (and very happy) that the whole review doesn't mention Twin Peaks. I understand there's heavy inspiration from that series in AW2, but it's refreshing to hear this game talked about and praised on its own merits rather than how well it emulates the vibe of something else.
The original was much better imo...
Agreed.
Won’t buy until the publisher releases it physically
Would love to play it, but i don't support digital only
TLDW: Sweet Baby Inc. made a movie. Remedy was involved to some extent.
I will buy once there's a physical release or when it's on sale
even if i made it ,i say is a thiller too or just a thriller maybe not the best horror , but u defend the thriller like u are from usa.
8 for me. If they didn't do those lame face flash jump scares, it could be a 9.
Being startled in a horror game lowers the score for you?
The jump scares are so obvious that I'm amazed they get anyone. You're playing a horror game, you should be tense already.
Yeah when it isn't a headache inducing tactic used in goofy flash games from 2005@@KaoticVibes
@@KaoticVibesit's ok if it's done right. Like when a character suddenly stands behind you. But just randomly flashing the screen and playing a loud sound is pretty cheap. If I want that I could ask someone to randomly scream at me throughout the day.
Those were pretty cheap jumps scares
Do you guys have one 10 a year policy per reviewer? I’m surprised that Huber didn’t give it a 10
We think pretty carefully about giving out 10s, but there's no quota attached. We have given out multiple 10s this year. -Bloodworth
Does anybody have a 110 a year policy? That would be insane. If you accidentally gave it out early in the year and that would mean that the best game ever made could come out and you couldn’t give it a 10 because you already wasted it?
@@JazGalaxy yeah true, I only thought they may have one cause Blood said the other week on the pod Huber already spent his 10
For me it is easily 10, but I can totally see it getting less by other people. It has flaws, it has bugs (most of those already ironed out as I write this), but even with those flaws, the strong areas of AW2 could easily get 11/10 story, atmosphere, creativity, just being more than a game in many ways, having the balls to be unique. Strong parts easily covering up the flaws to a degree I can easily call it a 10 for me. But, the game is not for everyone, as clearly already seen in the comments by some. For some its slow, its scary, even bit graphic in its violence.
The 1st Alan Wake felt a bit generic and repetitive but the sequel is one of the best games I've played.
As much as I enjoyed the first chapters as Saga it all falls apart when you play Alan Wake. It simply is boring gameplay. That subway level is uninspired and simply cringy in terms of narrative. The mechanics of changing the environment with that lamp is confusing and not fun. Too much cheap jump scares. Fighting those silhouettes with the flashlight is uninteresting. I wish we would only play saga and focus more on FBI investigation. And the janitor? Again? He was in Control. The whole thing is weird and not in a good way.
00:30 "attached television show" was just in the game. No one should come away thinking they aired live on tv lmao
The dialogues were a mess...
Yo alan wake go hard tho
I played and finished the first game and i quite like it. But i'm not yet play this one (i only watched MKIceAndFire playthrough). While i can agreed that the graphics looks amazing but i don't think the story is that good / deep. It feels like this one handled by different writers because the tone feels kinda different compare to the first game. And what's with the constant cheap jump scares with flashy effect? Are Remedy really wants to give me epilepsy or something 🙄. The first game doesn't have lame jump scare shoving up to the screen every five minutes. Not sure who at Remedy think it's a good idea to keep doing cheap jump scare over and over.
I was bored of this game in the first 10 minutes...
My personal GOTY was Baldur’s Gate 3… until I played Alan Wake II.
Brandon Jones is back?
Brandon doesn't work with us day to day, but he's continued to do VO for us since he left. -Bloodworth
It's not a loop...
Game is a little overrated imo
AW2 its Masterpiece ! 🎸🎛️
🎉
GOTY!
My GOTY
Feels like Blood squashed the 10
So....if it's so perfect why do I keep hearing things about poor story and plot?
Becuase the internet is riddled by narcissists with no patience and people take them seriously for some reason. Dont let others think for you man, this game rocks!
Because Internet full of narccisistic non gamer who never read any book, and thought they play it, they understand it and enjoy it.
They failed to see the whole pic, a game as a whole, you found that people who love it has no idea what is story writing (and they totally ignore Saga dont wear glove on autopsy, and she can solve case without any hint but with her superpower, thats "good detective" story writern by someone who never read detective book), what is character building and game play, they just praise because of some particular scene, like the music video, or remedy-verse.
People who can see beyond those things know that this game, the whole game is a one narccisistic game director man show, that's why they think this Sam Lake are western Kojima - which both are super narccisistic and movie director wannabe
@@violau8550 is English your first language??
It's more like an 8 than a 9.5
Nah
I don't even like the gameplay much but its still at least a 9
I have to play alan wake 1 first but i dont feel like it lol
First one was good
You don't have to play Alan Wake 1 first, though doing so greatly increases how much of the details you'll understand. Same with control, not required, but if you've played Control you'll get much more context.
@@DreadKyller yeah I currently own control and definitely want to play that.