100%'d Control. Why, after I’d beaten it already back when it came out? Iunno. Still good.
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hmmm ok. looks like I’ll have to REMEDY this situation!
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to expand on this, when you have the villain making a choice at the end of each chapter, that effects the tv show as well. It’s such a weird, indulgent feature that it shouldn’t be missed, even if the tv show writing isn’t your jam it still works as the connective tissue for the game’s story, without which it would be very slight indeed
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Yeah I really liked the shooty bits and all the cruft is necessary.
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although… why is the combat in this so uninspired? it feels like someone convinced them to make a very down-the-middle resident evil / TLOU type survival horror thing. the guns feel good and everything but it’s quite disappointing considering how much better realized this feels in every other way coming off of quantum break and control. they should’ve just let you throw people around and fly again
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the shotgun feels nice but yeah I’m sad that they’re handicapping one of their strongest assets by going the modern survival horror route instead of further expanding on their conception of third person shooter as peckinpah playground
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the alan wake chapters of this are Address Unknown: the Videogame, feels like its made for the old school remedyheads
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I spent the first five hours being blown away by the writing and the visuals but also expecting them to give me powers at some point and now that they’re not I’m feeling quite torn, it might be objectively the best looking game I’ve ever played but it’s inarguably underdesigned like control was underwritten and they were obviously capable of better on both counts
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Having played the first Alan Wake recently before starting the sequel so many of the design decisions make sense in the context of them responding to criticism of the first game.
Mainly that there was too much combat and it wasn’t very good at a fundamental level and game couldn’t decide if it wanted to be an action game or a horror game so it was doing neither very well. So this time they picked a lane and stuck with it, which is a horror game with minimal but decent combat where it appears.
I’ll also say I’m glad I had just played the first game before starting the new one because I was instantly recognizing all the characters and locations that return from that game. I need to get back to it because I’m curious what other locations from the first game they return to. I’ve only just played up the part where you start controlling Alan Wake so I’m still early on (I’ve fallen into a GTA shaped hole since the GTA VI trailer lol).
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Finished. The last couple of levels are pretty good, and I feel very satisfied with how things wrapped up both mechanically and story-wise. It’s obviously a sequel hook, which is fine when the sequel is there.
The game is definitely in the lost tradition of “quick save game”. The fights tend to be so unevenly stacked against Max that the only real way through is trial and error. There are also so many encounters that are just ambushes that immediately fucking kill you, which is absolutely hilarious but not exactly intended for defeating it on the first time you encounter it. That basically lead to me quicksaving every third step and reloading endlessly.
I think this is fun! I don’t mind reloading a bunch to try and perfect an encounter, and it gives me lots of chances to use weapons i rarely use because, hey, if I don’t like how the encounter went I’ll just reload. I’m not sure this is intentional, but my feeling was that of doing many takes on a scene in an action movie, trying to get the stunt just right. There’s skill, repetition, and a little luck involved in such an endeavor.
The story is really good. The way it tells it through those comics is best-in-class. They are a little cheesy, but they’re framed really well and each panel is a little gift. No time or space is wasted, and I took screenshots of like 90% of them because I loved them.
The self-seriousness is consistently undercut with goofiness, which is appreciated now. I really didn’t understand this style of writing until I was much older than when this came out, so I’m glad it hits properly now. The game itself knows that it’s funny but still takes itself seriously, which is great to see that element was there right at the beginning with Remedy.
It feels like great TV writing!
The level design is at that perfect point where textures were fairly realistic, but the structures are often completely absurd. For example I love love love the stage set in the restaurant that’s also on fire and exploding. It forces you to move forward a lot which means it has to have like, half a linear mile of Restaurant Stuff. This means there are at least two full dining rooms on opposite ends of the same kitchen, way too much food storage, and a basically endless basement.
I love the surreality of this style of level design very much. It’s very informative to just like, how I think about life in general, so it was good to get a new game of that era in my veins.
It also does this thing a few times where there are really bizarre ways of moving through the map. These moments feel like I’ve broken the level design somehow, which is nice.
So yeah, 10 stars outta 7, adored the game to bits and basically have zero problems with it. It probably helped that I didn’t try to power through it - I took it real slow, about an hour at a time, then quitting whenever I got a little frustrated. Seems to be the trick for all the Remedy games I’ve played so far.
For whatever reason I’m on the same bent as @hellojed because I was also thinking of doing FEAR soon, but I think I’ll stick with the Max Payne route for now. Maybe. I might play Balan Wonderworld…
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i think what I love the most about max payne 1 is it’s health system, in that you’re constantly scraping through encounters by the skin of your teeth, because you only have so much health that regenerates and you’re forced to stop and wait for it to regain before you go on. In more contemporary games, you regenerate all your health and don’t have a healthbar, but in max payne you do, so you know exactly how much you have to play with. and it isn’t a lot!
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I made a post on John Woo’s Stranglehold a while ago, and that got RealSlavicBear to check it out for a stream. During that time there was a part of a level where there’s a jazz band playing in the middle of an arena, and you have to keep them alive while they’re playing and waves of bad guys come and attack you. There’s a special move where you do an animated 360 while shooting guns and doves are flying around, and that kills everyone in the room regardless of whether there’s walls in the way or not. I feel like I’m gonna have to have to play this game.
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idk it’s weird I feel like the combat is a lot better than it has to be as a horror-focused survival horror game without ever going into RE4 territory where it’s such a good action game that it compromises the tension and atmosphere.
it is too easy overall is my biggest problem. I still need to play the new new game + mode to see how that feels.
I’m replaying Max Payne 3 and as much as l enjoy it this is the main thing it’s missing.
I like the wild swings Rockstar took with the setting and pulling Max in an alternative hell that’s just way darker in tone, but it’s only ever undercut by Max’s occasional self-awareness and self-deprecation in the voiceover. The trademark Remedy goofball meta-commentary through in-universe pop culture creeping in or the bizarre themepark level designs (not limited to levels set in actual themeparks) are just sorely missing as a counterweight as you get dragged further in to the bramble.
Health’s music kicks ass though and I love the game’s score.
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i’ve been working through all remedy games.
just near the end of alan wake 1. should i be playing the dlc (and american nightmare)?
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Cania did this recently and seemed to enjoy all of it. But when I played all of those just after the PC port launched, I thought only American Nightmare was worth playing. They all have relevant story stuff, so if that’s important to you then I think you should play the two DLC episode as well.
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adrenaline
in my soul
alan wake
has lost control
can highly recommend at least the second DLC level for some of the visuals. They’re not tremendously long anyway though and if you’re already alan-wake-pilled you should have no trouble getting through both of them
american nightmare is really, really fun and i think is important to alan wake 2 (which i have still not played)
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