I finally got around to trying out Alan Wake 2. I had played a little bit of Control, but overall, this is the first Remedy game I’d really sink my teeth into. It’s been a great time. Alan Wake 2 is the kind of bonkers ride that you only get from a team that’s making the exact game they want to make regardless of if anyone would want to actually play it. It’s maybe the first game of a larger budget I’ve seen like this since Catherine back in 2011.

These are just some notes and first impressions. For reference, I am currently playing Saga’s 3rd chapter, having completed Alan’s first 4.

This game looks fantastic. The environments are lively and the character models are super impressive. The close up shots of Saga look damn near live action. I also love the absurd amount of character animation during conversation sequences. When the police officer at the start of the game said he’d hand me a key then started looking through all of his pockets for it, I was blown away by the sheer level of detail the team really didn’t need to put in.

That being said, playing on PS5, the performance is a little rough. The game maintains a stable 60fps on performance mode, but visual glitches, artifacts, and shimmering abound. It has the feeling of playing a next gen game on current gen hardware where it feels like the PS5 is barely pushing through. I’ve also had several instances of audio, subtitles, or both falling out of sync with the visuals. These are ultimately minor issues, but I figured it was worth saying.

Taking the story simply at face value, disregarding its presentation, I really like it. It would be really, really easy to just write a meta narrative such as Alan Wake 2’s and have audiences be blown away through the sheer twists and turns, but I was surprised at how meaningful the game was through its meta narrative. I haven’t gotten far enough into Saga’s story to mine its thematic depths, but I enjoy how Alan’s story, if you see writing a book as a metaphor for game development, is about the creation of Alan Wake 2, facing deadlines and heightened consumer expectation. Sam Lake and the team clearly put a lot of themselves into their games (outside of Sam Lake literally being in the game).

Taking into account the story’s presentation, that’s what makes it really special. I want to dive deeper into this later, but I like how many different techniques are used to tell the game’s story and how they all have meaning. I really enjoy whenever a live action sequence shows up.

I knew the musical section was coming, but it still knocked me on my ass when it did.

The entire cast is strong, but I want to give a special shoutout to Alan. Matthew Porretta’s voice work gives the impression of an everyman trapped in a horror story, while giving the character plenty of heart. However, I am personally floored by Ilkka Villi, who Alan’s character model was based on and who plays him in the live action cutscenes, with Porretta dubbing over the voice. Both aspects of the performance coming together as well as they do add a lot to these scenes, but Villi’s physical performance as Alan is a huge part of why the live action cutscenes are so enjoyable. I love how Villi portrays Alan as consistently wide-eyed confused. Mr. Door is also a standout. I like Saga, but her voice mix and acting sound like every line is an internal monologue.

The game has a really slow start, with true combat only coming in at around the 2-hour mark, but once it’s going, it’s fun. It’s not the most mechanically complex survival horror, but it gets the job done. It’s more than The Last of Us, but less than a Resident Evil in terms of survival horror gameplay. The fundamentals are rudimentary, but with a few fun ideas. Enemies also hit really hard, meaning you have room for mistakes, but not much. One enemy can take you down frighteningly fast.

I enjoy the idea of using the flashlight to make enemies vulnerable, but I question its inclusion gameplay-wise (understanding it’s there for lore reasons and it was the gimmick of the original game) in Saga’s sections as opposed to Alan’s. In Alan’s levels, shining the limited flashlight on enemies can let you know if the enemy is actually hostile before they attack, also requiring that battery when they are, where Saga’s enemies are always out to kill you. Considering that both flashlight batteries and ammo are limited, I see it as a bit of a waste to have to rely on both in Saga’s sections when it makes more sense to me to have Saga’s combat rely heavier on ammo management since every enemy you encounter is hostile. Maybe forgoing the flashlight mechanic for something else in Saga’s levels would help her gameplay stand out more. I also wish that outside the mechanic where some of Alan’s enemies are fake, there were more to differentiate Saga’s Taken enemies and Alan’s Shadows.

Overall though, I struggle to really judge Alan Wake 2 as a game. As a game in the horror genre, Alan Wake 2 is solid. It’s fun and memorable, with some great ideas. However, taken as a work in the horror genre where gameplay is the main of many elements through which Alan Wake 2 presents its story and horror, it’s truly exceptional. If you’re looking for a survival horror game to really sink your teeth into, this probably isn’t the game for you. This is the kind of game you play to experience something interesting and creatively unique, sometimes at the cost of gameplay. The gameplay is solid and novel, but what stands out most is the story, characters, and how the game takes inspiration from police procedurals, talk shows, shitty infomercials, and arthouse horror to create a product that remains focused and cohesive despite all of that. While I do believe there are ways for games to be considered “art” without simply mimicking the stylings of live action film or prestige TV drama, I don’t think Alan Wake 2 falls into that trap. This isn’t a game that wishes to become art by mimicking other mediums but takes inspiration from other mediums to enhance its own experience in a way still impossible if the core experience wasn’t a game.

Alan Wake 2 isn’t my game of the year. 2023 has simply been too strong of a year and I do kind of want more out of the actual game within Alan Wake 2. However, this is easily one of the most strikingly unique games to come outside of the indie scene in years. If you value the potential of games outside of simply visceral fun or are interested in the ways gaming can tell a story, Alan Wake 2 is a game you must play.