The multiverse lore thing was actually around almost a decade ago with Alan Wake and also the American Nightmare game. So I wouldn't really call that them hopping on the trend as much as just continuing the original narrative.
the meta for the first game is not like it is here, so you two are missing basic points, but also, its not statistically likely for most people playing this to have play any of the previous games except maybe control.
There's a difference between the first game having a simple "Mirra was here" easter egg message written on a wall from another one of their games, and this one having complete character cross-overs...
@datatsushi2016 Alex Casey, the Max Payne like character was in the first game, Quantum Break makes multiple references but nothing as solid, Alan Wake was literally in Control, I don't know what more you need.
I love the tense moment when you shoot an enemy yet it either doesn't kill them or you miss and you have to reload and a Taken us running at you. Love that.
@@Astartes-6969 ya I don't actually play it, it's far too artsy fartsy for me. I just like that they depict crossbow reloads accurately for the most part.
On the "Alternate Universe" thing, from what I remember it was in the first game, and a huge part of it. The whole "dark place" and how Alans writing affected the world and stuff. So I wouldn't call it "hopping on a trend" considering its established in the story.
Especially House of Dreams ARG (released around American Nightmare). Deals a bit into the alternate pocket dimension thing. It’s really cool how they mix sci fi, horror, and fantasy like this. Very Stephen King, fitting lol
Funny that as you mentioned everyone in the village looks finnish, the two dudes in the shot are actually modelled after Peter Franzen, a finnish film actor.
After playing the game, this review doesn't make much sense in a lot of aspects, while on others I agree. 1) "This is supposed to be a fictional American town and half the population seems to be Finnish". You just contradicted yourself there (emphasis on fictional). Plus, if you listened to the story carefully, they say Watery was founded by Finnish immigrants. Bright Falls still seems very American. I did like the ABK sketch because at times it felt a bit like that, but in a fun way. 2) The Silent Hill comparison is perhaps warranted in a few places, but I think the game is ultimately doing its own thing. 3) "And on some levels is on par with that decade old first game". Are you serious? There's clearly a huge difference in engine work and details. Having played the originals I know they are clearly different in detail. The first game was ahead of its time in terms of graphics, and this one is on another league of detail. 4) "The environments are just all forests, beaches and more forests". You forgot that these are self contained areas in a fictional rural Washington. Watery is about 35% forest and has a habitated area, the Coffee World fair, the Lighthouse area and the trailer park, while Cauldron Lake is about 95% forest but then Bright Falls is about 45% forest. So saying it's all forest and beaches is off by a few hectars at least. 5) "Most areas are just dark and not all that impressive". You do realize you're playing a survival horror based in a rural town, right? I personally thought being stuck in a forest at night with wolves and all sorts of Taken got my heart pumping a little. And not every town with fog is a Silent Hill tribute now. In fact, the fog in the town that inspired Silent Hill was not created by weather patterns, while forests like in Watery and Finnish towns usually have dense natural fog and the easiest explanation is often the correct one. 6) I was actually worried about the specs and that's a good point. I think the game isn't polished to the point where scenes and gameplay stall without being pre-processed. It's weird since the original never stalled on me and modern SSDs and GPUs have a hard time with the game as I've been told. It still plays smooth most of the time and I haven't encountered any major issues. I also found a few bugs like weird light sources and shadows. 7) Facial expressions are really polished. I remember the original being so good for the time that now I feel old. 8) The gameplay was fun, but some creative choices could've been better - The detective work felt like a placeholder at times, but it was nice to have a sequence of events to trace back to. Doing actual deductions would've been nice, but I can see why Remedy wanted to make this a linear experience. You're still rewarded for extra clues you find like the nursery rhymes and the cult stashes (the lunchboxes not as much). The padlocks are fairly easy to unlock, at least for me, but there are a couple of hard ones that require lateral thinking or observation (there are also some that require some mathematical magic, but they are fairly easy). The writing board could've been better by establishing a relation of cause and effect between characters and scenes, but if you want to focus on action, you should thank this gimmick. 9) We all know the Remedy Multiverse is a thing, but it has been a thing long before Alan Wake 2 and Marvel. Fans always acknowledged that there was a link between the original and the world of Max Payne (or Alex Casey). Yes, the multiverse thing can be a huge rabbit hole, but Alan Wake was innevitably going to clash with Alex Casey and Thomas Zane. Doing it through Control's premise was not bad, but I wonder why the Oceanview Hotel event looks so different between games. 10) "You're watching more of the game than playing it". The original was also like this and being immersed is a big part of the story. Did they sacrifice the pacing a little? Maybe, but they always compensated it with decent chunks of actual gameplay. I would say resource management can be clunky if you're paranoid about it like me, but it's actually a bit tough to get the perfect balance between weapons, healings and throwables and the Taken are so much faster and unpredictable, feels like the original RE3 again. 11) Quantum Break was still more cutscenes than gameplay in comparison with AW2. I rarely felt that way with this game, just like I did with the original. I still got to explore and collect things before moving on with the story. And even when you move on, they made sure to keep a lot of well spaced gameplay sections. You can bypass most enemies, but some areas can be a nuisance if you don't take care of them. However, it is slower than the original because it's a survival horror trope. Back in the original you could run, now you can only jog. I guess it's one of those things they should've kept from the original's action horror experience, but AW1 and AW2 are completely different genres of gameplay. I also miss the driving sections a little, even though they were a bit clunky. 12) "On some levels this is a horror game if you want to fall asleep". For someone who played survival horror before, that's a pretty big claim. Survival horror is usually a slow burner and when you kill the enemies it's typically a breeze walk (unless it's a game like Code Veronica). In this game, there are a few tense unexpected moments in the story paths alone but if you plan on doing exploration for resources, that's when you rarely feel safe due to the atmosphere and the enemies that keep respawning randomly. You don't notice it as much in the earlier parts of the game (apart from the Dark Place stuff). The original also did the jumpscare imagery thing a lot (but they weren't as reliant on it back then). 13) Again, action horror is not survival horror. If you expect this game to be the original, it's not. Remedy made that clear. But there's still plenty of the original in this one. Also, I saw that you were using keyboard and mouse: One thing I can say is that guns feel better on the mouse, but inventory management on the run feels better overall on the controller. 14) Yes, I agree that the hand flare tactic is similar to RE's counter mechanic. I think it's a good way not to get beaten every time and actually helps you stay in the fight with the hand flare radius, so it's actually a creative improvement on the counter that wasn't discussed here. 15) I don't think it was discussed this, but there's different animations and timings for different healing items. I thought that was good, it makes you over reliant on painkillers and trauma packs, but the medkits are too cumbersome to use in battle and they advise you against using them. 16) "It was a misfire to not let you acquire those bigger and better flashlights". I guess it's a valid point, but the biggest problem with the game is how easy it is to waste multiple charges when aiming at a Taken. And if they're powerful Taken, you can waste more if you're not aiming correctly at the hit box. I prefer the original mechanic because it felt dynamic and you never felt completely naked when you lost all the batteries, making sure you can always fight back. I guess it's realistic to have no power left, but losing ammo is bad enough, losing the flashlight focus is worse when you're ambushed. Thankfully, I never had that problem. 17) The axe throwing guys are really toxic, but I agree the poltergeists in AW1 are just as bad. 18) "They forgot about that [haven] mechanic entirely". No they didn't. Don't forget it behaves like a survival horror trope, so the experience is less linear and you're forced to go to specific areas to save and get your inventory sorted, meaning you have to save often. There's no point for each haven to be a checkpoint because of those reasons and makes you rely more on small haven spots for temporary survival. There are also upgrades to slightly improve these havens, but I was hoping they would heal a percentage of my health, not just in critical situations (although it's kind of fair since you have a huge variety of healing items and healing upgrades). Additionally, there are also plenty of checkpoints throughout the entire story that are not necessarily havens making this criticism completely unjustifiable. 19) Wait, actually story that progress plot is now exposition too? Most of the story was actual plot, the only exposition comes in the form of the usual manuscripts you find and the mind place board which made previous information obvious. I think I didn't find more infodumps in the game other than those. Most of it was actual writing work and it even made me question about obvious stuff and character intentions. Many of them become obvious to fans after a while, but not to Saga because she's just finding this stuff along the way. 20) I agree that the balance needs to be tweaked on some elements but I never felt they screwed up the formula and Max Payne is being developed alongside Rockstar, so it's not just Remedy involved. Remedy did the survival horror tropes justice imo, it's just that Alan Wake never needed some of these changes because the action horror side of its gameplay was already brilliant and tense in the first place. I still think it's a brilliant game and very much on par with the original, though I hope the next installment will take notes from what went right with both games because there's a lot of stuff in the original that worked (like pacing, dynamic atmosphere and some fighting elements that made it smoother) and there's plenty of new survival horror stuff that was well cooked (tense exploration, inventory, upgrades, puzzles and a feeling of dread/horror).
You did a great job explaining your counter points etc. And as I was listening to the review, what you wrote was what I was thinking 9 times out of 10 lol. Enjoyed reading it.
@@sean8102 Thank you for reading my opinion piece and for the kind response ❤ I never expected it to get any kind of attention because it's a bit of a "half-rambling, half-discussion" kind of thing and quite long since it covers almost every point in the review. I just felt I needed to add my own two cents in there. Glad you enjoyed it.
It's not really a multiverse/alternate universe in the Dark Place, my guy. You should look more into the story/concepts and the first game. The Dark Place is subjective and infinite, ever changing. He's not multiverse hopping, he's in the same place. It's LITERALLY the whole point of the plot lmao he's stuck there.
Calling the otherworld "The Dark Place" just constantly reminds me of the criminally underrated British comedy Garth Marenghi's Darkplace. Expecting Alan to say "You and he were, buddies, weren't you?" at any moment ahaha
@@Blood_Aple hope you have a great time! I missed him coming to Sheffield and need him to come back! Knowing I missed him makes me feel like a disembodied head laying a pool of blood, my blood.. blood, blood, blood.. and bits of sick
(21:43) In case you didn't know - those guys are actually the three leading members of the finnish rock band "Poets of the Fall" whose song "Late Goodbye" appeared back then in Max Payne 2. In that game, the singer Marco also did the voicing for the main antagonist Vladimir Lem.
Are you shure about the fact that their singer voices Vladimir Lem, because .. well i cant hear that myself and his lines are buried in my ears. Max, dearest of all my friends, i was supposed to be the hero.
Glad to see this video getting back up, because RU-vid is really getting tiresome with their copyright laws. What's the point of doing a review if you can't review it in the best way possible? It's especially annoying when people try to review movies & TV shows.
What happened? I watched this video already and was confused to seeing it again, not knowing if I watched it already or not. He does not explain to what happened or if this is a reupload with changes. So can anyone else explain?
It wasn't a copyright issue unless I am mistaken - it was flagged as "not suitable for advertisers" meaning there was something deemed inappropriate/violent which means it would not get the exposure it normally would.
It's kind of a shame that the only time we really get to hear James McAffrey is through Remedy projects, semi-including Max Payne 3. The man has a phenomenal voice.
@@slainemccool2875 Without Googling it, I remember the voice of Death being a somewhat known actor, though I don't know to what degree or if that was more in the past than now. I do agree, though. His voice is pretty far up there with some of the best for that kind of role.
I love Alan wake 1 but I’m of the opinion that the first game has the opposite problem, where there was way too much combat. The scares and atmosphere started to wear off about halfway into the game and it basically just became an action shooter with scripted combat sections you could see coming from a mile away. Even when playing on the hardest difficulty, I was running around levels with full ammo in all my guns and this was on top of the fact that the first game had way more combat.
I agree with you Gman 150 percent. As much as I do enjoy Alan Wake 2 it can a bit frustrating at times and those jump scare flashes is just about to piss me off.
"When I had DLSS frame generation turned off, it halved my framerate" Yes Gman, that is what frame generation is supposed to do. thanks for pointing it out
@@rvh1999 the point of frame gen is that it doubles ur frames by putting ai frames in the middle of real frames... it runs very well (on a 3070 idk about other gpus) and if u really want truly next gen games, games should start using new features and push hardware...
I mean this game was introduced as we're not doing an action horror, this one will be a survival horror. So being able to run past enemies and having a slower pace is expected.
@@Funko777Almost like what's scary is different for everyone. I played Evil Within 1 and 2, games I see people constantly say are scary and was only ever creeped out by one of them twice. I played Darkwood and am now playing Alan Wake 2, and have been creeped out by both numerous times just by walking through the woods because of the sound design.
@@Chasm9it is a fast innovative fps with non repetitive gameplay 🤣 it's out now if you preorder. Story is ok but the gameplay is WAY better than this. I feel like you haven't seen any of that game lol Some people just wanna play a game, not a movie. That's ok lol
@@master-dukecuthbert5061 I mean, you kinda have it rightish in the end. Gman said it himself, technically speaking combat in Robocop is repetitive. He just likes it more because the story is comparitively simpler and doesnt require him to think too hard. Not that its a bad thing. I'm gonna play the shit out of robocop too.
Saying the music level is bad or to long is criminal that shit was absolutely amazing to the point until now i havent heard anything but people loving it.
@@zzodysseuszz Its probably just from people who played Control (which more people should play imo). There's a musical section there too called the Ashtray Maze. The music level here is essentially the Ashtray Maze dialed to 11 and I think anyone who liked Control would love this one too.
The first couple of chapters where you have to explore the forest around the lake genuinely made me feel terror I haven't felt in a horror game in quite some time. The way the sun is setting in that section yet the forest is so dark and dreary made me feel suspense I haven't felt since I played P.T. back in 2014.
Quantum Break is way better than it gets credit for. I mean it wasn't perfect by any means but it had some great ideas lore and gameplay related, and I will never get enough of leaving enemies suspended out of time in the broken sections.
Quantum Break didn’t get the recognition it deserved only because it was an Xbox exclusive, it’s a shame how the game industry treats Xbox. Give Alan Wake for example, an Xbox exclusive that didn’t really get recognition until it was remastered on all platforms.
I played that shit on the hardest difficulty and the only thing that was bad was the range on explosives, especially on the final boss... And with there being no achievement for the difficulty and only beating the story was a bit...annoying.
@@HonkHonkler And you can get off Gman's nutsack since you buried yourself sixfeet under, judging from your numerous replies to many of the comments here. People here not agreeing with Gman's review does not mean they're on a defense crusade for this game. It's not the first time Gman had horrid takes in the past on certain titles.
@@saisameer8771I actually liked when he sweared like a sailor he was pissed in the third game. Love “YOU’RE TURNING PEOPLE INTO GLUE THAT’S MY FUCKING PROBLEM.”
So, it's basically like every other game made by Remedy. As a teenager, I remember being super disappointed at Max Payne 2 while I loved 1. My dad loved part 2, though. Years later, I remember when Alan Wake released, a lot of people disliked it and only saw its flaws. Same with Quantum and Control. All in all, some people love Remedy's games, some don't.
I guess there is also a reason why some people enjoy Twin Peak even with its major flaws. Even tho I like Remedy I am not entirely sure if I see Twin Peak myself.
Yep, it's kinda downhill since Max Payne 1. Max Payne 2 was good too but not the same as Max Payne 1. It's been going downhill since then. Remedy is thinking they are going somewhere with their confusing and generic time travel and multiverse stories somewhere but they are not. They are just making it unfun like Bioshock infinite. At least the world was much better in that game.
Even if I’m still gonna buy Alan Wake 2 since it seems right up my alley, I still really appreciate your reviews and your honesty. Thank you for reuploading!
Remedy games just aren't good gameplay experiences. You'll be watching a movie like any Sony game, and playing the same 5 minute repetitive gameplay loop in the exact same environment for 40 hours.
Idk if I agree with this one. It seems to me this just isn't your game and I respect your opinion on how you feel about it. However I can also tell you aren't really on par with your research on some subjects of the game. Example 1: The minimum system specs were purposefully set high to not disappoint people. People have been able to run AW2 on a 1070 for example with 60 fps. Example 2: The Finnish city is very nicely explained in the game and it's a fourth wall break for the developers. It's a running gag they've had in all their games ever since the first Max Payne even. Example 3: the multiverse as you call it that remedy is setting up here is actually one of the very FIRST iterations of such a concept on film or games. They started doing this with American Nightmare. Honestly I love the quality as per usual and the content in general and usually I'm fully on board with your thoughts and feelings on a game. And even though I appreciate your personal opinions on the game I felt like I needed to address these examples, because it seemed you didnt really enjoy it so didn't feel like doing the proper research this time.
@@snnnaaaaaakeeeee4470 No, how dare people be braindead POS that conveniently ignore a DESTRUCTIVE ideology. How bad does $hit have to get before you people admit it's fxcked SOOO many things up not just in media, but culture and just genera human relations? SERIOUSLY. How bad? On the brink of all our nukes being launched at each other in one final big bang to humanity?
There was an X-Files game in the PS2/GameCube era that this reminds me of. With aspects of a Buffy the Vampire Slayer game called Choas Bleeds from that same era. With a bit of N64 Shadowman mixed in.
Remedy games are weird. They rarely do very well with wide audiences and reviewers, even I can admit they’re not spectacular successes, yet as games they’re incredibly intriguing and can draw you in well after you’ve played through them. I’ve already replayed Control several times as well as Quantum Break.
They are games that treat you as if you already know all the in-universe lore, I believe that is a turn off for some players. For me, it is amazing how the story goes unfolding and how everything starts to make sense. Their storytelling is the best in the industry.
That's because most gamers just wanna shoot people up in COD. It's just anecdotal, but it seems like that. Like for instance, the number of my friends that play deep story driven games similar to Alan Wake? 1 guy. The number of my friends that play COD every weekend with the bros? All of them. Again, it's just anecdotal, but it still means a pattern was recognized.
@@PerfectlyPoachedEgg 7 years ago they put a live action teaser for Alan Wake 2 in Quantum Break where it showed Sam Lake and a white female detective, they "raceswapped" her by casting a different woman when making the actual game.
@@14ElmStreet28 oh I see. I actually needed up googling the whole thing. Thanks though. Seems like remedy did a tease then went with a different actor.
@@darthcinema4262remedy handled max Payne 1 and 2 as a co publisher with rockstar games So therefore had rights to Mona sax. Remedy had no handle in max Payne 3 for some reason, it was rockstar that made it. Which is why it may have felt different and didn’t have her And it’s also the reason why we aren’t getting a max Payne 3 remake included with max Payne 1+2
Yeah, God forbid the game actually TELLS A STORY. These idiots just want more Jap writing where you are EXPECTED to skip the cutscenes because the dialog and narrative are garbage
If it needed to be multi protagonist.... For a game called "Alan Wake 2...." how the hell is it not Alex Casey??? I mean come on....Sam Lake with legendary James McAfee VO? That would have been a cool twist that Alan Wake is wanted and you played as Max Payne looking for him. But we get Saga, featuring Alan Wake.....
Reminds me of Deathloop. Every "professional" reviewer gave it a 10 and praised it as not only one of the best games ever but almost a spiritual experience. Then I played it and it was a solid 6/10.
Such a shame that the story isnt focosing on Alan when the game is Alan Wake.. is like playing Duke Nuken but you mostly play Bombshell Shelly... I fell the story was disapointed and not well writing since I hear it was outsource by a canadian company with ESG back up... so I am not too suprise if it true and why it tank hard
They should’ve stuck with the original idea where you play as Alan hunting down Mr Scratch who had stolen his identity and become a local legend (like Jason from Friday the 13th) Instead they pulled a Deadly Premonition 2, which also sucked. Guess those ESG bucks were too sweet
Yes! I loved that concept and loved Mr. Scratch in American Nightmare. What they did with his character in this game is a criminal downgrade. He was somehow less interested than Barbara Jagger from the first game!
Game looks blurry? I didn't experience that at all and I feel like you are disturbingly underselling the forest graphics. On par with the first game? What? I felt like this game was like top 5 graphics all time tbh.
I just got to Alan's first segment, and I gotta say that Saga is such a ridiculous character. She acts like a teenager sometimes with corny jokes. Like she witnesses a reanimated corpse, and people disappearing in front of her. But she shrugs it off and later says this case is exciting. And the morgue scene in general was absolutely baffling. 2 officers dead. 2 FBI agents only ones left alive. Dead body is gone. Saga, in 10 seconds, explains this supernatural shit that took place and the officers are like, "oh really? Oh well. Good luck on your case". Like frig man, why isn't anyone in the police station the least bit suspicious of the outsiders?
Praises stafieleds graphics and then goes on to say say this one of the best looking games ever doesn't look that good? That kinda thing makes it hard to take the rest of your review seriously
Saga is not a Mary Sue, it's explained pretty explicitly that she's a "Seer". And it's implied that she's the daughter of Mr. Door. So of course, she would have powers like he does. She herself does not know that, so she just assumes that she's able to do the mind palace technique all on her own.
@@lorecow88 Yes they are going for ESG or something similar to that.. but people need to realize you cannot win a game award in 2023 if you don't feature a black or brown main character in the game to a certain percentage. It was a rule change a few years ago and it's ruining story telling in gaming
@@TheDarkblue57 Don't shoot the messenger, wokie. Straight from the BAFTA website: At least one of the lead characters is from an under-represented group(s). For non-narrative games where the cast is an ensemble - the total roster of playable characters meets one, or more, of the below targets. • A 50-50 gender balance • 20% belonging to an under-represented ethnic group • 10% LGBTQ+ • 7% D/deaf and disabled • Significant amount of characters featuring regional diversity • Significant amount of characters are from a lower socioeconomic background
To be fair though Remedy, with at least Alan Wake 1, and Control has been doing multiverse concepts for a while now. Alan Wake 1 came out in what? 2010?
I have loved it so far, it definitely is a sensory overload. If nothing else it does things with it's overlays of different scenes on top of the regular gameplay I have never seen.
It's fxcking sad how many people will defend this woke trash. Humanity is a fxcking disgrace on SOOO many levels, but now even ruining escapism. Yeah, this species can fxcking rot.
Dare i say, the last good Remedy game was Max Payne 2. Since then, Remedy has embraced the "Interactive movie" path, since Sam Lake wanted to be a director. i really wish i could enjoy Alan Wake and Quantum Break. Alan is kinda of an asshole on 1, and Quantum Break is a full show with some playable parts.
probably the hardest ive disagreed with you, I'm loving the game so far several hours in. But you're entitled to your opinion, and you put the effort in explaining it
OMG a reasonable, mature person on the internet. It's like seeing a god damn unicorn lol. I beat it last night and loved it. But agree with you 100%. So what if someone has a dif opinion than me about a fucking video game lol. Doesn't mean I can't enjoy other content from him. Hell I prefer he be honest with how he feels, than bullshit to follow the general reception, regardless if I agree or not.
This is why I still support physical. They want $60 for an average game that's going to your digital library void after a single playthrough (this game is 85 gigs, you're not gunna want it sitting on your hd) I sold RE3R and Callisto for all my money back after beating them. Don't have the tolerance in the current economy for games like that.
1) The story’s trippy and dreamlike, but if you’ve kept up with the lore of Remedy’s games, you’d know what’s going on. 2) Remedy hinted at a multiverse in Alan Wake in 2010 and cemented it with Quantum Break in 2016. Saying they’re chasing the trend is ignorant at best and dishonest at worst. Everyone is entitled to their opinion but maybe like…know what the fuck you’re talking about before you put out a review?
@@CodeVeronicaXIf "multiverse" is the only thing you got out of Remedy-verse games then yes, maybe these games aren't for you. There are more simple games out there for your consumtion.
@@wille84fin Played Max Payne 1, 2, the first Alan Wake, Quantum Break and loved them. Remedy has the right to go into another different direction, but I still prefer the pre-Control era of their games.
@@CodeVeronicaX Fair enough. Also, i'm 100% biased because.. you know, i'm Finnish. And all the little nods and references to Finnish culture and especially the humor land for me as a result. So there is that.
Why would they have two protagonists in a game called "Alan Wake" like whos idea was this. Might as well just have made a different game like no one showed up to play a female detective we showed up to play as the guy the game is named after, paranormal investigator and all round badass. Great concept for a game not called Alan Wake. Whatever, solid review as always, pass on this one.
I mean, the Mad Max movies are not actually about Max himself outside of the first one. Just because a character's name is in the title does not mean they have to be the sole focus. Would you complain that The Simpsons frequently focuses on non-Simpson family members? Or that Family Guy only focuses on Peter like half the time? Out of any complain that one makes no sense.
@@snnnaaaaaakeeeee4470 I'm honestly confused why he even calls wake a bad ass, this is all his fault and he still can't fix it after a decade of stories. He's more tragic than anything.
The game is demanding because of the lighting. Even when ray tracing is off, it's still doing some more simple raytracing, it's just not hardware accelerated. Most people won't notice it but with the full path tracing option you don't have the weird out of place shadows or phantom light sources making surfaces glow when it's dark and there's no light nearby. The ambient lighting also feels way more realistic.
I just came off of beating this game myself and watched this. This was definitely a FAR slower experience compared to Alan wake or control. Especially in the combat department. But I got to say, I really enjoyed the puzzles this game had, while there solutions were very similar, finding a code or key etc. The different ways you had to solve them was surprisingly varied and at time challenging. It really spoke to me as someone who loves puzzles. Speaking of, I do also wish the case board was done differently it definitely needed to be engaging if they wanted us to use it as much as they did. Maybe provide some kind of reward for getting pieces of evidence correct 1st try or solving the case path below x amount of errors. I don't know give a skin for guns or some extra items. Really enjoyed the story personally. But the big issue I have personally, is to who ever decided to put the final chance. The bit before the penultimate act. Whoever decided to set it to nighttime! Messed up cause it makes finding things much harder on Saga's side. Personal critique aside. loved the video G! Looking forward to more videos. Also, thought you'd be happy to know because of you I bought Return to castle Wolfenstein and I have been having a blast with it. Especially with the Real RTCW mod. EDIT: Fixed spellings/ spacing and also sentencing. Have beaten RTCW on Death incarnate with vanilla weapons. Was a fun challenge!
No problem watching this video again, but I have to say I wasn't expecting such a deviation from the general consensus that this is a mid/underwhelming game. People are calling it a GOTY contender and you're basically saying it's not even close lol. I'll have to try it out for myself and see
Some reviewers just don't get a game and it's as simple as that. It's very important to point out that Gman went critical as all hell on SOMA and got mass abuse for it because even as he would say now its an objectively badly done review. He did the same again with soldier of fortune 2, re reviewed it and came to a different pov, did the same with condemned 2 and re reviewed it and came with a different opinion. Before he got a very unfair takedown by youtube we were saying that to be objectively fair, his best critique always comes in the FPS genre, but I do applaud him for just saying how he feels even if everyone else thinks he's wrong. Can't fault the man for being straight out and hey, I'm excited to give a look today. From what I gathered nearly all his criticism came from how he felt the game SHOULD be and not what it wanted to be.
@@kevintablet743 100% true. I've always felt his non FPS reviews are just a bit too critical at times. Never struck me to read the comments until now though since this one just went a little too far off the mark. Yeah some games just don't click with everyone but it definitely feels like he came in with a different set of expectations then everyone else
His view are partly justified in this case compared to the first game AW2 cuts back a lot of the action and focuses almost entirely on being just a cinematic game, the first game still had story and lore to collect but it did not interrupt gameplay flow as much to do it. Remedy really feel like they just want to create tv shows but got stuck making games instead and it is showing more and more with each release. I should note I don't mind story heavy games just saying if you were to play AW and then play the sequel back to back your allowed to have disappointments in the changes.
I am of the opinion that not everyone will like this game at all. Thats fine. I'd say replays of this game might not be the most fun, but I am enjoying the gameplay and narrative. It's like a mix of Twin Peaks (especially season 3) with some RE2 remake gameplay.
YEEEEEEEP. I mean I get it. YEARS after a cliff hanger, A LOT of Wake fans are in a desperate denial to like it because they just want anything from this universe again. Sad really, I kind of feel for them. But denial only makes this ESG $hit worse.
Bruh, the game is technologically a truly next-gen piece of software. What are you on about not looking impressive ? This and Cp2077 are the best looking games out there, period. And the fact that you shit on this game and still like Mirage is very questionable.
@GmanLives just a heads up DLSS quality largely depends on how it is implemented in-engine and probably contributed to your blurriness. If you use dsr and upscale passed 1920x1080 this blurriness is often mitigated and very minimal frame loss in most games. Test it yourself!
You can just edit the m_fSSAASharpening parameter to like 0.5 in the render.ini located in %localappdata%/remedy/AlanWake2. This applies the DLSS sharpening filter after post processing. Post processing needs to be set to high for it to be applied after upscaling anyway which is surely a bug. RT direct lighting needs to be on in any case in order for reflections to work right in this game. There are many things to turn on and off here that are not in the in game menu as well. These are my changed parameters that drastically make the game less blurry and give a very slight fps boost if you leave FOV at default. Film grain and motion blur also are off in game menu ScRGB should probably be set to true if you are using a HDR monitor instead of a TV with Hgig: 'm_bVignette": false, "m_bDepthOfField": false, "m_bLensDistortion": false "m_bPreferScRGBHdr": false, "m_fFieldOfViewMultiplier": 1.2, "m_fSSAASharpening" 0.7,
I think the blurryness might have to do with using upscaling at 1080p too. Even at the high quality setting it's upscaling a 720p image, not exactly crisp by any means. At 1440p upscaling from 1080p you'll most likely get a sharper image.
@@Crashed131963 That's how the upscaling tech works behind FSR and DLSS. It basically lets your gpu render the frames at a lower resolution and then it upscales it to your screen resolution. So for example if you use DLSS quality, it basically takes the res down 1 notch. So if you're on 1080p, that means DLSS quality renders the image at 720p and then upscales it to 1080p and then applies some sharpening magic so it doesn't look all that much worse than the native 1080p image. I hope that makes sense!
Maan... when I first watched this review I was like: "Well, gman might not be into this kind of game but the game doesn't seem all that bad..." Now that I've beaten the game, I gotta say, this game has some serious flaws. The combat, Saga's level design and the physics of objects are worse than the first game. The game does have some magic moments, but the bad aspects of it are always there to drag them down. By the end of it, the game felt lacking compared to Alan Wake 1 and even Control... - Loved the story's main plot, but kinda hated Saga's part (she felt to clean for a world full of dirty, crazy characters...). - Alan's light transitions are an awesome mechanic, but the combat got worse than what it had the first game (felt like they tried to emulate the Resident Evil Remake's formula, but couldn't get it quite right). - The fantastic physics of Alan Wake 1 and Control are nowhere to be seen! Objects glued into place, almost zero destruction of environment, the grenades and flares are a joke, and even the lantern got nerfed. By the end it felt like they needed more time to figure things right, specially the gameplay aspects of it. It's not a bad game, but a deeply flawed one, with some really good mements here and there.
People said a lot about the alternate universe thing in the comments. What i'd like to add is that it's a part of Remedy's bigger picture with the game Control and has been for a long time before it became a fad. But i have to STRONGLY disagree about the narrative being confusing and the pacing being off. First of all if you've really played Control and AW1 then it all makes sense, also every little bit of information is there in the game but it clicks in place after the credits roll (it actually took me some time to figure some details after i finished the game but that in itself was pretty satisfying for me). And about the pacing: it's a horror game, it should have off beat moments to throw you off. The pacing is perfect and creates great atmosphere of uneasiness that leads to some of the best jumpscares in gaming history. But i have to agree on the technical side, the game would benefit greatly from better optimization.
any time i've seen the criticism of a narrative being too confusing or not making sense in a work with nonstandard storytelling, it's usually futile to reason with that position. I think some people are only willing to engage with a straightforward plot and double down on the writing being bad if they're too lazy/disinterested to understand it. I'm the opposite where i love when a piece of media makes me think or solve a puzzle but i can get that it's not for everyone.
Just beat the game and wanted to say, this was one of the greatest games of all time. No joke, the story, gameplay, 'lore' just everything fit so well. I put in about 20+ hours into the game and loved every second of it.
I'm a huge fan of Control and the world they built in that game, and I actually agree with many of the points you made about AW2. Being weird and different doesn't make you better or even good. And i'm also disappointed in how even Digital Foundry can't stop praising this game's graphics but the highest settings including RT and stuff are simply not accessible for most gamers right now. Even DLSS has way too many artifacts for my taste and that tech is not much more than a clutch to achieving borderline playable framerates, not to mention how completely useless frame generation is below 60 fps.
This game is 2023's Deathloop. You play a "stronk" Mary Sue black wahman and Alan Wake's own storyline in his titled game is secondary. Compared to Remedy's past work, including the oft-forgotten great Quantum Break, this one has barely any combat. No wonder most reviewers are commenting more on the visuals and the weird stuff than the gameplay, because it's nothing special. If not for the forced protagonist (Saga), this could be considered a decent if disappointing follow-up in my eyes. I remember downloading the first game's trailer off Gamespot back when it was announced as a PSOne exclusive. Finally when I played it on the 360, I couldn't put my controller down for a few days.
@@Broformist Well considering black female warrior kweens make up 9% of the american population, it makes perfect sense why they are forcing this demographic into lead roles in everything they can. Must be chasing those massive sales numbers for representation.
@@Broformist Lmao. Seriously, bro. Like the only people on Earth who have absolutely nothing, freaking nothing, in terms of contribution to things in humanity that actually matter. No inventions, no philosophies, no discoveries, no architectural marvels etc NOTHING! But every single media has them shown as being ultra-smart, the best of people and the center of attention, despite whining about victimhood all the time.
Yeah, nothing against Saga. I actually did like her character, but I have to agree with you. I'm pretty sure the only reason she's the playable character is for her connection with Odin/Tor and being (they didn't outright say this in the game but extremely obviously) Mr. Door's daughter.
im sorry but i almost completely disagree with u on this one. I think this Game looks visually stunning and the pacing and gameplay work way better for a horror game, compared to the first one. The combat felt a bit clunky, ill give u that.
I tend to skirt over reading text in most games, just give me stuff to kill! In Alan Wake II, I scrupulously read everything and love piecing the crazy story together in the lodge room. Remedy have just the right amount of info to take in, without overdoing it, which is quite a skill. Has raised the bar not just in visual quality but storytelling too.
to be very fair i don't think we're actually dealing with a multiverse in alan wake 2. all you do is just change the reality in front of you with alan's writing. after all, it is not the real reality so he could do anything. maybe you got so tired of it that you're seeing it in places you probably shouldn't
The abstract and seemingly nonsensical storytelling was definitely inspired by Twin Peaks: The Return. Both are so random and over the top that I end up confused by the end lol
Alan Wake II is an art house film or a post-modern novel in video game form. The twisting narrative, layers of meta, intertextuality, and other factors that make the game weird, slow, hard to get into, etc are expected. The cutscenes, dialogue, and the narrative are the game. The combat, resource management, and puzzle-solving are just the framework that allows Remedy to present the text.
I can't recall her bringing up being black a single time in the game. Closest thing would be the "another white asshole" line. Which is because she's freaking the hell out and panicking because she just got trapped in the dark place because of Alan. And that's it. She then figures out how to reach him, and talks about how they are in this together.
Soooo you don’t play as the character’s name on the cover as much as Saga…… I enjoyed my time with the first one but this once just seems….. idk changing things for the sake of changing them ? Like a lot of problems sequels have these days it seems.
I'll just write exactly what I wrote last time, even if you changed the title. Idk how to feel about this review, a lot of the stuff shown here seems to be a lot more fun than the first game where I didn't like the gameplay at all. You point out how the first game had more action going on, which implies you expected the sequel to be like that. Remedy made it very clear that the first game was an action game with horror elements, while also making it clear the sequel is intended to be fully focused on horror. Kinda sounds like you went with the wrong expectations. Also I'm taking the statement on the enemy variety with a huge grain of salt, the first game didn't have a big enemy roster in the slightest. As for the multiverse complaint, that is something that was stablished in Control and its DLCs, did you not play the game? If you did, then this shouldn't have come as a surprise, they aren't chasing trends or anything, they're just working on the interconnected universe they already set 4 years ago.
It's not an action game through and through yet all the weapons are hanging from the hip and all that inventory management? It's a shameless RE4 clone with Alan Wake lore plugged in and it doesn't work. It's a disappointment in his hefty graphics requirement. He showed all the flaws clearly and the clips shown are a proof of that. Cheap jumpscares that were not even present in RE4 remake. This game is all over the place.
@@HenryTownsmyth Well then you could say it fails at being a good horror game if the attempts at scaring the player are ineffective. I pointed out how he's disliking the game based on what it isn't and not for what it is. No one should go into a belated sequel expecting the formula to stay intact, hence as to why I'm saying it sounds he went with the wrong expectations in this game. If you think the execution was bad then fair enough, saying that it isn't as action packed as the first game does sound like you're judging it simply because it's different, and different obviously doesn't mean worse. Also inventory management is something that is a lot more associated with horror games than with action games.
@@HenryTownsmyth Uh…inventory management has been a part of survival horror games long before RE4. Seems like RE4 is the only survival horror game you’ve played.
trying to force people to buy it expecting to play as their favorite character and then forcing diversity into it to try to win a BAFTA award. Game awards only allow games with black people as the lead characters
