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Alan Wake II |OT| I'm blinded by the lights.........

I was talking specifically about the "asshole" line, which is said by an "evil" version of Saga. If you're not a fan of her having crime-solving powers, for what it's worth, I justify it in the story by thinking:

Saga is Warlin Door's daughter, the Doors have those powers, and they'll reveal this in DLC later.

And how is her fighting her way out of the Mind Place when trapped there not working hard to achieve something? Even with her powers, that took gumption. That was my personal favorite Saga section.
the issue isn't that it's not not justified. it's that it's a built-in 'deus ex machina' that can, without really thinking, solve anything when called on...

& as far as saga
fighting her way out of the mind palace / dark place, i'm not seeing how her managing to do it really required anything more than remembering this song ('jonah in the whale, noah in the ark, what did they do, just when everything looked so dark?...'):

 
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the issue isn't that it's not not justified. it's that it's a built-in 'deus ex machina' that can, without really thinking, solve anything when called on...

& as far as sage
fighting her way out of the mind palace / dark place, i'm not seeing how her managing to do it really required anything more than remembering this song ('jonah in the whale, noah in the ark, what did they do, just when everything looked so dark?...'):

I'm laughing with you on that song choice, btw. You're not wrong. I just really liked that part.
 

Alex11

Member
I know I will get ridiculed because people are overtaken by the game spectacle (which is indeed good) but man... I am so disappointed week after finishing the game.
You're gonna get ridiculed by the masses or by megafans, so I wouldn't worry too much, not that you are, just saying.
I've finished first AW good 5 times or more. I am a fan. So I am not looking for flaws or trying to hate on the game.
This is exactly my situation, loved the first one with multiple playthroughs.
-Gameplay sucks ass. You walk, pretend to solve case files by just wasting time, Listen to more dialogue which is often just internal talking head... and shoot 3 dudes.
This is the point that bothers me most, coming from another playthrough of Control (really like the game and gameplay) the gameplay in AW2 is nonexistent almost. How you point it, pretend to solve cases, that wall with all the connecting dots is just a waste of time. At least the Alan path is good, there with the mechanic of choices you can have different stuff.
-Ending sucks ass
-Alan is still good. I liked his sections well enough but his gameplay is also nothing special.
-yeah graphics are good. But just good. At least on consoles, there are way better looking games with better fps and image quality.
Didn't finish it, agree with the graphics.
 

Northeastmonk

Gold Member
I can’t imagine playing the first game 5 times. I really like the horror aspects and some of the events that happen in AW2. I don’t think I could replay it. There are too many brick walls to the progression. Even when you know what to do, it just takes time. I am right at the end. I couldn’t see it to the end because I want to sleep. I’ll check out the ending tomorrow.

I really liked it. I just don’t think it would be fun to replay. So many good parts jammed in an obscure puzzle. They nailed the aesthetics and dark horror themes. Some very creative missions that feel great to have witnessed.

I don’t see how someone would play this for 6-7 hours at a time. A nice steady pace was good for me. Taking a day or two off to get that vibe going again.
 

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
Im back playing and I still can't get over how mediocre the combat is, I'm well over 60fps but it is still clunky and doesn't really feel that good. Item management is also a disaster and the dodge is not great.

Can't believe these are the same people that made Control.

Different focus, combat is AW2's tertiary focus as far as I'm concerned.
 

Bernoulli

M2 slut
Just started and I'm at the crime scene, should i stop and play AW remake first? I tried it on 360 when it came out but forgot everything
 

SnapShot

Member
Just started and I'm at the crime scene, should i stop and play AW remake first? I tried it on 360 when it came out but forgot everything
Don't think so, game has a ton of links, references and callbacks to many earlier Remedy games (especially Control with the FBC and AWE stuff) so would probably be a lot more enjoyable if you know about that stuff from playing those games before it, but overall most of what you need to know is already explained in AW2. would make more sense to play Control first instead because the story is now also linked to that game's story with FBC and AWEs.
 
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Bernoulli

M2 slut
Don't think so, game has a ton of links, references and callbacks to many earlier Remedy games (especially Control with the FBC and AWE stuff) so would probably be a lot more enjoyable if you know about that stuff from playing those games before it, but overall most of what you need to know is already explained in AW2. would make more sense to play Control first instead because the story is now also linked to that game's story with FBC and AWEs.
Just finished the first chapter and loving it, downloading control now
 

Chuck Berry

Gold Member
otKgeKi.jpg
 

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
Just started and I'm at the crime scene, should i stop and play AW remake first? I tried it on 360 when it came out but forgot everything

Look up a YouTube story recap.

But, yes, it's a story sequel. You'll get a lot more enjoyment from knowing what happened in the first game.
 

Northeastmonk

Gold Member
I am conflicted. At times this game really shines. It’s like something finally clicked in the horror genre. It’s not even developed by a Japanese game developer. No offense but RE, SH, Fatal Frame, and the latter, they’re all amazing. I’m not into Amnesia or a lot of other titles. Devotion was a special game and that game is amazing, again from an Asian studio. Try not to make a big deal out of that. I was just surprised with AW2. The people in the dark place had their moments. “wake…wake..”. What got to me, like it did others, are the breaks in gameplay. Locations stayed the same and there wasn’t much to interact with.They got my Twin Peaks motor going, but the actual enjoyment from running into nothing sucked. The time it took to sort some cases was boring. I took some breaks because I couldn’t do it for hours on end. The live action stuff was neat, but it also made me feel like I’ll never want to do that much gameplay work to see this again. It also felt like it overstayed its welcome. I didn’t want to go back to the hotel or I didn’t want to go back to a phone. If I died, I didn’t want to play the same “talk to Alan” and then click 6-7 post it notes. The ending wasn’t really satisfying. It could have ended at the beginning of Deerfield with the book. The supplemental cast weren’t as interesting as Twin Peak’s either. At times I got so bored with Saga’s story and Alan’s wife barely had any screen time for her to be so important. Yet she was super important. The whole plot with Laura sending a letter in Silent Hill 2 was better if you ask me. If the game was easier to move around in and the cases weren’t so intrusive, the game could have easily been a 10/10. They could have made the town a little bit more interesting. Running down the street was cool the first time. Everything after that felt like getting lost in the woods. There is a lot holding it back. I enjoyed the pacing of The Evil Within 1 and 2 more. AW2 has a lot going for it and if you had hours upon hours to burn doing mundane walking around then I can see it being your GOTY. Silent Hill 1-3 are easier to get from point A to point B, all while letting you explore the world. I didn’t care about coffee world in AW2. They could have added another Cherry Pie reference, which they did, but it was all over in the matter of seconds. Yet I had to climb up the same stupid rock or go down another hallway without any interaction. Sometimes they’d freak me out like the first boss appearing in the woods or the old people running around the backyard.

I’d probably give it a solid 8.5/10. That ending was so drawn out. I skipped a couple dialogue pieces that didn’t seem important. You could feel the actress vomiting her role with pointless bloated lore. I was ready to see the credits roll.
 
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Literally just finished my first playthrough and I have very conflicting opinions.

First of all, I want to say that I had a great time playing this game. Survival horror is right up my alley and it delivered on both fronts. I think the way the story is presented is way ahead of anything I have ever seen in a video game before and I was blown away by everything but at times it didn't feel "gamey" enough for me so it felt like a slog to get through at times. I also felt that the production values are maybe too big for what a game needs to be. I don't know, I'm still trying to digest everything and collect my thoughts but I'm just scared that other studios will see this and think that they will all need to to have live-action sequences with top tier actors to be deemed worthy instead of investing in gameplay.

I know it sounds negative but it's really not, I was literally blown away by everything that was presented to me but I just don't think it needs to be THAT Hollywood for a video game.
 

Northeastmonk

Gold Member
Literally just finished my first playthrough and I have very conflicting opinions.

First of all, I want to say that I had a great time playing this game. Survival horror is right up my alley and it delivered on both fronts. I think the way the story is presented is way ahead of anything I have ever seen in a video game before and I was blown away by everything but at times it didn't feel "gamey" enough for me so it felt like a slog to get through at times. I also felt that the production values are maybe too big for what a game needs to be. I don't know, I'm still trying to digest everything and collect my thoughts but I'm just scared that other studios will see this and think that they will all need to to have live-action sequences with top tier actors to be deemed worthy instead of investing in gameplay.

I know it sounds negative but it's really not, I was literally blown away by everything that was presented to me but I just don't think it needs to be THAT Hollywood for a video game.
Sometimes I wanted an auto button or a fast travel. I had to wake up. If I am telling myself “crap, not again” when I see the objective then it really didn’t master any piece of what would make it a masterpiece. I agree, good, but flawed. :)
 

Hugare

Member
Finally finished it

As a huge AW fan, I loved it, but its a very, very flawed experience. To me the first one is the better game: better gameplay (imo), more focused story, better pacing, better world building, better characters ...

As an experience, AW 2 was awesome. As a game, tho? I cant imagine myself replaying this game anytime soon. I didnt have much fun with the combat or the Mind Place, so the appeal of replaying it would be to experience the story unfolding yet again.

+ Pros:

* Looks amazing. Framerate suffers tho, and at Quality mode it was at times the worst performing game that I've played yet on my PS5.
* The lamp mechanic is just insane. Its more impressive then Rift Apart on the PS5. Shifting realities instantaneously was always impressive.
* Some scenarios were really cool (and scary). Saga's chapter 5 was the most scary thing that I've played since Outlast II.
* Loved the idea of 2 campaigns that you could choose at anytime.

- Cons

* Combat sucks. They made the flashlight mechanic worse than the first game, and its now just a minor nuisance before shooting baddies. You also cant stagger enemies during their attacks like you used to in the first game. Wolves are a pain in the ass for all the wrong reasons.
* The story is too convoluted now. Lots of redundant dialogue and monologues. Trying to make sense of all of this is impossible. Remedy was more interested in style over substance, and that's disappointing.
* Alan had the shortest campaign, despite having his name on the cover. Saga's was longer and had the best levels, imo. Made Alan's campaign feel like DLC.
* Bright Falls felt very small compared to the first game. The narrow FOV also gives the impression of everything being more cramped. Levels were much bigger in the first game.
* Many game breaking bugs. I had to wait days so Remedy could patch the game so I could continue my playthrough. I've never experienced shit like this before in a game, and I've played Bethesda games on the PS3 and Cyberpunk on launch day. I've counted at least 4 different game breaking bugs that I've found online.

Overall: 8.5/10

Still enjoyed the first game more
 
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OmegaSupreme

advanced basic bitch
I just played through THAT part in the game. Holy shit that was awesome. Luckily I didn't have it spoiled for me for the most part. I think I saw something about it in a youtube thumbnail but I was able to put it out of my mind. In a year full of great games this might be my favorite. I loved the original and this feels just as good to me. I'm not as young as back then obviously so that first game had that benefit but this game still has me smiling constantly.
 

SnapShot

Member
Just finished it. Man what a game, way less repetitive than their previous game and endlessly creative. can't wait to replay it
 
Fuck I'm clocking close to 30 hours and still haven't finished the game

Just started Chapter 6 and got the pump action shotgun.
 

Umbral

Member
The Mind Place stuff: I’m not trying to be rude, but did they play-test this or play it themselves? It’s all redundant information I just heard or witnessed in-game. I see it, Saga recaps it with her voice lines, I go to the mind place and read it and then place it on the board where Saga makes another remark or has an epiphany about it. Why am I sorting it on a case board with a Destiny-cursor of all things? Cut it all from the game, including Saga’s magic ability. I really thought we were gonna have grounded detective mixed with surreal writer trying to escape “hell.” Disappointed.

The writing: Again, I don’t want to be rude, but it’s very poor. There are moments where it’s decent but the majority is YA level stuff. Saga’s response after the opening of the game is that she’s “thrilled to be here for this mystery!” What is that? Who says that?

FMV stuff: Excellent usage of the medium. A little too much movie stuff for me at times, but I like their use of it.

Combat: Oof.

Survival Horror: Where? Horror, occasionally. No survival required.

Pacing: Oof.

I’m glad I played it but I won’t be coming back to the game for a replay. I want about $20 back as well. I don’t see myself playing the DLC. This should have been a favorite game of mine but I’ll take Control every time, despite its many flaws.
 
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sinnergy

Member
Has there been any improvements to IQ on console? The shimmering would drive me crazy
They can fix shimmering if they move FSR in the pipeline , like you can on PC. but I don’t think they can, base resolution is to low and the consoles not powerful enough. Maybe if the make their own TAA.
 

sertopico

Member
Wow, I got pretty much bored when doing Saga's storyline almost till the end all at once, then I switched to Alan and I must say I am enjoying those parts much more. Feels like playing an horror version of Max Payne.
I think it's better to do a bit of both during your playthrough, so that the gameplay doesn't get too repetitive.

I am also impressed by the assets and material quality on screen here, the path tracing is the cherry on the top, and makes the excellent work they did stand out even more. You can really see any imperfection on wall plaster when pointing the flashlight at it, even the grout lines between tiles have been modelled and react to light realistically, the amount of debris on the streets projecting shadows and their top notch quality. That's next level imo. I think only nanite can compete with this. For detail freaks like me this is a feast for the eyes.

Here, DLDSR 2.25x on a 1440p monitor (4k output), 4090 with maxed out details.

alanwake2_2023_11_12_5qfbc.png


alanwake2_2023_11_12_3wefu.png
 

rofif

Can’t Git Gud
The Mind Place stuff: I’m not trying to be rude, but did they play-test this or play it themselves? It’s all redundant information I just heard or witnessed in-game. I see it, Saga recaps it with her voice lines, I go to the mind place and read it and then place it on the board where Saga makes another remark or has an epiphany about it. Why am I sorting it on a case board with a Destiny-cursor of all things? Cut it all from the game, including Saga’s magic ability. I really thought we were gonna have grounded detective mixed with surreal writer trying to escape “hell.” Disappointed.

The writing: Again, I don’t want to be rude, but it’s very poor. There are moments where it’s decent but the majority is YA level stuff. Saga’s response after the opening of the game is that she’s “thrilled to be here for this mystery!” What is that? Who says that?

FMV stuff: Excellent usage of the medium. A little too much movie stuff for me at times, but I like their use of it.

Combat: Oof.

Survival Horror: Where? Horror, occasionally. No survival required.

Pacing: Oof.

I’m glad I played it but I won’t be coming back to the game for a replay. I want about $20 back as well. I don’t see myself playing the DLC. This should have been a favorite game of mine but I’ll take Control every time, despite its many flaws.
This might be the most on point summary of the game. How did reviewers missed all of this and gave it 9s and 10s all around ?!
Btw. I loved the game at first. It took me few hours to start realising the same conclusions as you. How long before you felt something is off with the game?
I mean, yeah I liked the general atmosphere and some crazy stuff but that’s about it. And graphics on ps5 sucked ass too so there wasn’t even that thing about the game…
 

xrnzaaas

Member
* Alan had the shortest campaign, despite having his name on the cover. Saga's was longer and had the best levels, imo. Made Alan's campaign feel like DLC.
Yep the promise of Alan being in half of the game was basically a lie. Saga got the coolest and biggest levels (including the return to Bright Falls), pretty much all of the bosses, more collectibles and even additional riddles with cult stashes and nursery rhymes. Not to mention you spend more time in her mind place and you only pop up to the writer's room when playing as Alan (although I would say this is better ;)).
 
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Hugare

Member
Yep the promise of Alan being in half of the game was basically a lie. Saga got the coolest and biggest levels (including the return to Bright Falls), pretty much all of the bosses, more collectibles and even additional riddles with cult stashes and nursery rhymes. Not to mention you spend more time in her mind place and you only pop up to the writer's room when playing as Alan (although I would say this is better ;)).
Yeah, they really wanted for the player to like her by giving her all the cool stuff, but the character itself was a nothing burguer. Dont know if it was the acting or writting, but she was really one note and boring.

Oh, one cool easter egg about the endgame:

When you get to play as Alan at the end of the game after the ritual on the shore, they play the original's main menu sound effect. And the combat music with the Taken is the first game's combat music. Really cool easter egg
 
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I really lost my temper while playing Alan. I have 30 hours in the game I'm getting a little fatigued with it.

While trying to get to the Cinema the combat showed it ugly face and I almost threw my Dualsense Edge on the floor because I died three time while trying to get there through the shadow fucks. The camera sucks, the autolock fucking sucks and the frame rate is all over the place. Inside the cinema too I'm really fed up with the combat and the camera in close quarters. Now I'm so fucking pissed that I don't care about the story and just want to finish the fucking game

Maybe I have to take a little break from the game.
 

tommib

Gold Member
I really lost my temper while playing Alan. I have 30 hours in the game I'm getting a little fatigued with it.

While trying to get to the Cinema the combat showed it ugly face and I almost threw my Dualsense Edge on the floor because I died three time while trying to get there through the shadow fucks. The camera sucks, the autolock fucking sucks and the frame rate is all over the place. Inside the cinema too I'm really fed up with the combat and the camera in close quarters. Now I'm so fucking pissed that I don't care about the story and just want to finish the fucking game

Maybe I have to take a little break from the game.
Lower the difficulty.
 

Bridges

Member
Surprised at some of the negativity here. I loved the mind place, I loved the Saga segments. I really liked the combat even though I found it difficult and died a ton. I really don't have any complaints about the game aside from how many bugs I ran into. Mostly visual/audio stuff but I did one time clip off of a ladder as Alan and ended up floating in the air with no way to get back on the ground. Ended up having to reload and lost 30 minutes of progress.

I still would call this a 9/10 top quality experience. Absolutely loved. It's been a decade since I played the original but I think I like this one better.
 

tommib

Gold Member
Surprised at some of the negativity here. I loved the mind place, I loved the Saga segments. I really liked the combat even though I found it difficult and died a ton. I really don't have any complaints about the game aside from how many bugs I ran into. Mostly visual/audio stuff but I did one time clip off of a ladder as Alan and ended up floating in the air with no way to get back on the ground. Ended up having to reload and lost 30 minutes of progress.

I still would call this a 9/10 top quality experience. Absolutely loved. It's been a decade since I played the original but I think I like this one better.
Agree with this. I just had a lot of bugs on PS5 as well. I had to restart the game several times due to sound effects being cut off, a visual glitch with the flashlight showing a white square when used and getting stuck on assets.

Otherwise, the mind-place is a super cool idea, even if it kind of plays itself. The mood and atmosphere is top of the line. The whole structure of the game is super interesting and the back and forth between Saga and Alan was always neat. I normally detest multiple protagonists but it totally works here and I wouldn't have it any other way. You're jumping between very different worlds compared to say Spider-man 2 where, does it really matter? It's just annoying and superfluous.
 

Hugare

Member
Agree with this. I just had a lot of bugs on PS5 as well. I had to restart the game several times due to sound effects being cut off, a visual glitch with the flashlight showing a white square when used and getting stuck on assets.

Otherwise, the mind-place is a super cool idea, even if it kind of plays itself. The mood and atmosphere is top of the line. The whole structure of the game is super interesting and the back and forth between Saga and Alan was always neat. I normally detest multiple protagonists but it totally works here and I wouldn't have it any other way. You're jumping between very different worlds compared to say Spider-man 2 where, does it really matter? It's just annoying and superfluous.
You said it: Mind Place is a super cool idea. But I have many problems with how it was implemented.

Mind Place locking progression is plain dumb. Sometimes I would choose to look around and explore, and not stoping the game just to pin some photos on a wall in order to progress

It would be fine if its purpose was only to give more insight into the story, like the manuscript pages in the first game. Completely optional for those who want to dig deep into the investigation. Most 'a-ha" moments in the Mind Place are redundant anyways.

It being mandatory in order to progress the story will suck on replays.

Same for the profiling. At the end of the game it got ridiculous. You had to choose a option, profile the individual for 10 seconds, then choose another option, profile the individual for another 10 seconds ... and it went on for 7 times!!

Just select to profile the person and let the conversation play out instead of cutting the conversation in 7 tiny pieces.
 
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Alex11

Member
You said it: Mind Place is a super cool idea. But I have many problems with how it was implemented.

Mind Place locking progression is plain dumb. Sometimes I would choose to look around and explore, and not stoping the game just to pin some photos on a wall in order to progress

It would be fine if its purpose was only to give more insight into the story, like the manuscript pages in the first game. Completely optional for those who want to dig deep into the investigation. Most 'a-ha" moments in the Mind Place are redundant anyways.

It being mandatory in order to progress the story will suck on replays.

Same for the profiling. At the end of the game it got ridiculous. You had to choose a option, profile the individual for 10 seconds, then choose another option, profile the individual for another 10 seconds ... and it went on for 7 times!!

Just select to profile the person and let the conversation play out instead of cutting the conversation in 7 tiny pieces.
Exactly how I feel about the Mind Place.

I would guess that maybe they didn't have time to properly implement the idea they had, as it stands out it's nothing more than an overly elaborated journal.
Which I would prefer, as I like a journal of things I discover as I go along, but have it a bit simpler.
 

Danjin44

The nicest person on this forum
Exactly how I feel about the Mind Place.

I would guess that maybe they didn't have time to properly implement the idea they had, as it stands out it's nothing more than an overly elaborated journal.
Which I would prefer, as I like a journal of things I discover as I go along, but have it a bit simpler.
There is another upcoming game that will have same type of investigation but this time they combining it with turn based RPG.

Decapolice....I'm curious how in depth gong to be comapre to Alan Wake 2.
img_about01.jpg
 

xrnzaaas

Member
There is another upcoming game that will have same type of investigation but this time they combining it with turn based RPG.

Decapolice....I'm curious how in depth gong to be comapre to Alan Wake 2.
img_about01.jpg
Thing is in Alan Wake 2 it's not very deep. You can't put any of the clues in a wrong place or come up with a completely wrong deduction as a result of it. It's all about locating all of the obligatory clues (which are usually nearby and in plain sight) and doing some trial&error with them on the board. You don't even have to read their descriptions to learn where they should fit.
 
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Danjin44

The nicest person on this forum
Thing is in Alan Wake 2 it's not very deep. You can't put any of the clues in a wrong place or come up with a completely wrong deduction as a result of it. It's all about locating all of the obligatory clues (which are usually nearby and in plain sight) and doing some trial&error with them on the board.
Yeah, I personally like the idea investigating gameplay but in AW2 is too simplistic and not all that rewarding, I hope Decapolice does it better.
 

Umbral

Member
This might be the most on point summary of the game. How did reviewers missed all of this and gave it 9s and 10s all around ?!
Btw. I loved the game at first. It took me few hours to start realising the same conclusions as you. How long before you felt something is off with the game?
I mean, yeah I liked the general atmosphere and some crazy stuff but that’s about it. And graphics on ps5 sucked ass too so there wasn’t even that thing about the game…
Thanks. I’m trying to be fair while not excusing the bad. There’s slightly more bad here than good, which is unfortunate.

I started seeing the cracks pretty early. The writing and people‘s reactions to events seemed odd and I chalked it up to intentional weirdness but as things kept going I started to realize the writing was just bad. It was probably a few hours in, somewhere after my first segment with Wake and I switched back to Saga. They took a crazy shot and just missed.
Yep the promise of Alan being in half of the game was basically a lie. Saga got the coolest and biggest levels (including the return to Bright Falls), pretty much all of the bosses, more collectibles and even additional riddles with cult stashes and nursery rhymes. Not to mention you spend more time in her mind place and you only pop up to the writer's room when playing as Alan (although I would say this is better ;)).
As basic and short as Alan’s sections were, I enjoyed them much more than Saga’s. I wasn’t being a detective, I was in an exposition avalanche. I really liked how infrequently I had to go and spend time in the writer’s room. The Mind Place can go though. I really hated that place by the end of the game. You move a cursor, click a phrase, listen to Saga stare straight forward and talk with FMV flashing, click another phrase. On and on. I clipped it because I thought it was so crazy that it was in the game. I might hate myself more that I found all of the rhymes and stashes.
Yeah, they really wanted for the player to like her by giving her all the cool stuff, but the character itself was a nothing burguer. Dont know if it was the acting or writting, but she was really one note and boring.

Oh, one cool easter egg about the endgame:

When you get to play as Alan at the end of the game after the ritual on the shore, they play the original's main menu sound effect. And the combat music with the Taken is the first game's combat music. Really cool easter egg
The writing. I don’t know who’s exactly responsible for some of it but it’s juvenile at times. Again, not trying to be rude, simply stating my opinion. Her acting wasn’t great but it was passable.
I really lost my temper while playing Alan. I have 30 hours in the game I'm getting a little fatigued with it.

While trying to get to the Cinema the combat showed it ugly face and I almost threw my Dualsense Edge on the floor because I died three time while trying to get there through the shadow fucks. The camera sucks, the autolock fucking sucks and the frame rate is all over the place. Inside the cinema too I'm really fed up with the combat and the camera in close quarters. Now I'm so fucking pissed that I don't care about the story and just want to finish the fucking game

Maybe I have to take a little break from the game.
I think I know where you’re at. The damn glitching/skating enemies in the game are the worst. The game has rough movement and controls for dealing with them. By the time you get them in your sights they glitch out or skate off and you have to readjust. Despite having DualSense features they didn’t add gyro aim, which would have helped a lot with aiming. I had a few rage moments because of those enemies specifically. The shadow enemies are kind of difficult to read because of all the visual noise around them, which doesn’t help.
 
Thing is in Alan Wake 2 it's not very deep. You can't put any of the clues in a wrong place or come up with a completely wrong deduction as a result of it. It's all about locating all of the obligatory clues (which are usually nearby and in plain sight) and doing some trial&error with them on the board. You don't even have to read their descriptions to learn where they should fit...
As basic and short as Alan’s sections were, I enjoyed them much more than Saga’s. I wasn’t being a detective, I was in an exposition avalanche. I really liked how infrequently I had to go and spend time in the writer’s room. The Mind Place can go though. I really hated that place by the end of the game. You move a cursor, click a phrase, listen to Saga stare straight forward and talk with FMV flashing, click another phrase. On and on. I clipped it because I thought it was so crazy that it was in the game. I might hate myself more that I found all of the rhymes and stashes...
what i find kinda disturbing, actually, is that the mind place is fundamentally a 'thinking simulation', a brainless, impossible to fail exercise that gives the player the 'feeling' of thinking without actually requiring them to...
 

Hugare

Member
Hurts to say this but at Saga's Chapter 7, after a very frustrating encounter, I selected Story mode and blazed through it

The combat isnt great. And they've decided to make an arena fight like the concert in the original AW, but this game combat system cant keep up with that. So it was easily the worst combat encounter in the game and a huge difficulty spike.

After that, I finished the rest of the game in easy mode and ... I kinda loved it. No more bullet sponge enemies, so you can focus on what the game exceeds at: presentation and story.

I'll probably play NG+ on Easy to enjoy the ride
 

Chuck Berry

Gold Member
Im back playing and I still can't get over how mediocre the combat is, I'm well over 60fps but it is still clunky and doesn't really feel that good. Item management is also a disaster and the dodge is not great.

Can't believe these are the same people that made Control.

The lack of the slo mo perfect dodge from AW1 is just..inexcusable considering how sloppy the mechanic is and feels.

The gunplay is just the most damning thing about it. I dont come to Remedy games to relive the plain shooting of RE2 and 3R.

I liked Remedy when they were innovating combat mechanics, not taking them from older games.

So much of this games design decisions just make no fucking sense to me considering their past work. And yes I realize they made a survival horror game,.
 
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Hugare

Member
The lack of the slo mo perfect dodge from AW1 is just..inexcusable considering how sloppy the mechanic is and feels.

The gunplay is just the most damning thing about it. I dont come to Remedy games to relive the plain shooting of RE2 and 3R.

I liked Remedy when they were innovating combat mechanics, not taking them from older games.

So much of this games design decisions just make no fucking sense to me considering their past work.
And some enemies you just cant evade, like those fast ones that double hit

You can dodge the first hit, in a very sloppy way, but the second one will land

Not being able to stagger enemies mid attack is just nonsense. If he is already running at you, you can only dodge.

When the dodge works, that is. Sometimes it wont even if you get the timming right.
 

SnapShot

Member
And some enemies you just cant evade, like those fast ones that double hit

You can dodge the first hit, in a very sloppy way, but the second one will land

Not being able to stagger enemies mid attack is just nonsense. If he is already running at you, you can only dodge.

When the dodge works, that is. Sometimes it wont even if you get the timming right.
Dodging is unlimited, can even dodge those that hit 3 times
 

xrnzaaas

Member
Hurts to say this but at Saga's Chapter 7, after a very frustrating encounter, I selected Story mode and blazed through it

The combat isnt great. And they've decided to make an arena fight like the concert in the original AW, but this game combat system cant keep up with that. So it was easily the worst combat encounter in the game and a huge difficulty spike.

After that, I finished the rest of the game in easy mode and ... I kinda loved it. No more bullet sponge enemies, so you can focus on what the game exceeds at: presentation and story.

I'll probably play NG+ on Easy to enjoy the ride
Yeah that arena fight is definitely too hard compared to all previous encounters. Too much is happening, too many enemies keep appearing and your allies aren't really helping you that much. The later boss fight was a cakewalk by comparison.
 

sertopico

Member
It's not that hard at normal difficulty, I've made it after the third attempt. Just make sure to have enough flashbang grenades to kill more enemies at once, use the shotgun, avoid the big guy and the old double headed lady, use the help casey and the fbc agent provide with flares and extra ammos. Never stand still. But yeah, the dodging mechanic is not always very effective and using medkits or just accessing the inventory is a pita.
 
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