Alan Wake 2 was really good - but imo not as incredible as its review scores would indicate

Way back in 2011, I came across the first Alan Wake game, and ended up enjoying it quite a bit. It's very much a flawed gem - the gameplay is rather dull and monotonous, but the compelling story and atmosphere do a lot of heavy lifting in making it a pretty memorable experience. As a fan of horror novels and Stephen King in particular, the game scratched a very specific itch and was overall a good time despite its shortcomings.

I was pretty excited for the sequel because 1. I wanted more Stephen King'esque "small town supernatural incident" type of narratives and 2. I really liked Control and was curious to see more stories in the so-called Remedyverse.

After finishing Alan Wake 2 recently, I'd say that by and large, the game was a big improvement over its predecessor in almost every way - even though parts of it left me slightly underwhelmed and frustrated . Although I don't necessarily agree with the very high review scores, it still was a great experience.

In terms of visuals and presentation, the game is top-notch. On a PS5/OLED TV combo, it looks stunning, with state of the art visual fidelity, detailed animations and excellent motion capture and voice acting. Remedy has always had a knack for making their games feel very cinematic and AW2 is no exception. In really is the pinnacle of Sam Lake's career so far from an aesthetic standpoint.

The story is pretty damn good for the most part. It's a great continuation of AW and it also adds another compelling layer to the larger narrative by incorporating Saga Anderson into it. The intersecting storylines are well-crafted and designed and both Alan and Saga's parts are great - admittedly though, I enjoyed Saga's sections quite a bit more than Alan's. They felt much more aligned with what I was really looking for, in terms of getting a creepy, immersive supernatural thriller in a remote small town. The atmosphere and vibes in Saga's section were awesome.

I liked Alan's Dark Place portions for the most part as well but they just weren't as compelling. I know Sam Lake and Remedy loves playing with meta narratives and all that, especially in this series, but some parts of Alan's sections got a bit too zany and...up its own ass...to be fully compelling.

The way both stories eventually develop, connect and resolve though was ultimately pretty cool and had some frequent "whoa" moments. You gotta love Remedy for always making some really bold narrative choices, even though not all of them always work for me. At their best, when combined with gameplay, they transcend the genre, get your blood pumping and put a smile on your face - like the "We Sing" section from this game. At their worst though they can feel a little forced and contrived. I wasn't a big fan of some of the late night show interview sections - felt a bit too on-the-nose.

The gameplay is where it felt a little short for me. Although it was quite a bit improved from the first game, it still felt somewhat repetitive and undercooked. I'm not a huge survival horror fan or anything, and I've really only played RE2 and 4 remakes, and the Dead Space remakes in this genre. Compared to those, the gameplay felt a little lacking and sluggish. Navigating some the level design and puzzles in Alan's areas was kind of frustrating as well, and I found the boss battles, as well as some specific sections, pretty uniformly underwhelming. Luckily though the game gives you one shot kill and invulnerability modes so you can kind of just skip those sections altogether if they get too annoying lol.

As a whole though Alan Wake 2 is a great experience. I don't think I'd put it in contention for GOTY and I don't particularly align with the incredibly high scores but it's still a very well-crafted experience that's had a ton of love and passion put into it. It's a solid 8/10 for me.