Alan Wake 2: My Impressions

[_Neptunno_]

Hey guys!!

A few days ago I finished Alan Wake 2 and wanted to share my impressions of this amazing game that kept me hooked for almost a month.
I bought it on Epic in April taking advantage of a sale and the fact that it was my birthday (a nice little birthday treat for myself, hehe). Although it's not the complete edition, it was more than enough to enjoy it to the fullest. In the end, I put in about 35 hours because I dedicated myself to thoroughly exploring all the maps and hunting down collectibles, like the lunchboxes, songs, and the like.
Just a heads-up: I'm not really a fan of horror games in general, but I still enjoyed it quite a bit (Funny how I'm not a fan of this genre and my last game review was about the Penumbra saga xD). To some extent, it's not that pure horror where you suffer the whole time, you know what I mean, but the atmosphere is brutal.
In my opinion, it improves on the first one in almost every way. The first one seemed like an amazing game back in the day, but it eventually felt a bit drawn out for me (and that's even though it's shorter than this one). On the other hand, Alan Wake 2 doesn't get tedious at all. If you grind through it, you can clear it in a couple of weeks or less.

Here's what I liked and disliked the most:
The best:

• The story: I thought the mechanic of switching characters between Saga and Wake was amazing. Not just for the narrative, but because the weapons and upgrades for each are completely different.
• The Remedy touch: I'm quite a fan of Remedy, especially because of my beloved “Max Payne”, and I loved controlling Wake in that dark New York, it was inevitable to be reminded of Max.
• Graphics and sound: it's an absolute marvel.
• Combat: Fights with enemies are much more fun and varied than in the first installment, at least that was my impression.

The worst:
• Map (Saga): At times with her, especially in the residence and hospital areas, the layout felt quite confusing and I admit I got lost a few times.
• Save games: It's a bit lacking to have more slots to save games. That said, you do find plenty of spots on the map for quick saves or fixed save points.
• Remedy's "trips": Look, the game sometimes goes overboard with its wild tangents. This is a house specialty and part of its charm, but it has its good and bad sides.

As for the ending... well, it's not bad, but it leaves your head a bit spinning. It almost feels like it's inviting you to replay the whole thing from the start to see that truly "definitive" ending. But after 35 hours, I wasn't in the mood to start it all over again….hahahaha. Well, technically things change since it's like the character remembers parts of the plot, to some extent it has its charm. But anyway… for now I preferred to watch the full ending on YouTube
In short, a fantastic game that I highly recommend. That said, the game doesn't really start getting interesting until you've put in about 2-3 hours, so you'll need to have a bit of patience.

Cheers!!

[_Neptunno_]

I forgot to mention another downside: Having to buy and play it on the Epic Store!
Maybe it's because I'm too used to the Steam launcher or I just prefer that platform much more because, after all, it's where I keep my main game library. I admit that the whole thing about all the games they give us "free" (I'll have close to 80 games) on Epic is great, and many of them are real gems, but I'd play them all on Steam anyway! I'm a Steam fanboy

By the way, one more thing before I forget. I was looking into playing the Alan Wake 2 DLC, "Lake House", which I believe lasts about 2-3 hours... and turns out I'd have to pay €20 to upgrade to the Deluxe Edition. As you can understand, I'm not having it, I'm not jumping through hoops for just two more hours of gameplay

Cheers!!

[pos_yo]

@_Neptunno_ I played it back in the day. I even made a sort of tutorial for installing it on Linux (now it's even easier).

I really liked it, and as for the DLCs (I picked them up back in the day with Epic Store points), they're fine but nothing special. The main game is the best part.

@_Neptunno_ said:

• Remedy's "trippy moments":

The "musical" is one of the best parts of those trippy sequences...

[_Neptunno_]

@pos_yo said:

@_Neptunno_ I played it back in the day. I even made a sort of tutorial to install it on Linux (it's even easier now).

I really liked it, and regarding the DLCs (I picked them up back then with Epic Store points), they're fine but nothing groundbreaking. The main game is definitely the best part.

@_Neptunno_ said:

• Remedy's "trippy moments":

The "musical" part is one of the best of those trippy moments...

Look, personally I really liked the musical theme, but we have to admit it's a pretty trippy thing, hehe. But the cinema part??... where they just slap a kind of real movie on the screen... damn, that's complete madness!

Regarding the DLC, you put my mind at ease; I already had the feeling I wouldn't be missing out on much. I wouldn't mind playing it, but I'm not about to pay that much money for something so short; in the end, the only thing you do if you play along is encourage them to keep up these practices and spoil them

@pos_yo I hadn't remembered the thread you started back then! 2023, when the game had barely even been released. How nice, I even replied to you myself commenting on my impressions of the first Alan Wake and saying I'd play the second one during the day because of the creepiness lol. In the end, it went on sale for my birthday, as I said.

Thanks a lot for sharing your impressions and, of course, for putting together that guide back in the day to play it on Linux

Cheers!!!

[kim533]

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