Alan Wake [split topic]

[itsfredtitmus]

Alan wake

Holy fuck this game is amazing I can't believe how good it is was going to give up on it for a second time as well just before it got good

I remember playing this when I was on a huge twin peaks/deadly prem kick but stopped after chapter 2 BUT FUCKK it gets so good once it sheds all the customary peaksy references and goes down the rabbit hole

Just killed loads of "taken" with assistance from arena lighting at an abandoned fake black sabbath concert and fought off a harvester with my torch

Bought the DLC so I have more to play when I finish it lol

[bgmnts]

Yes!!

[madhair60]

fucking fantastic isn't it? that concert is a moment for the ages.

[El Unicornio, mang]

Alan Wake 2 looking pretty nice

[Rev+]

If it has a problem it's that it uses up all of its tricks very early.  Everything that happens from the halfway point is a bit of that but hey, you've got a bit of that to deal with at the same time.

Also, there's that bit of the game when you're driving somewhere or other.  You can explore buildings, and change cars if yours gets damaged.  None of this has any point whatsoever, it's just getting you from one location to another, but there was clearly some kind of content that was intended to be in that empty stretch.  They'd done the environment though, might as well keep it in.

I prefer American Nightmare as it's clearly not the product of fannying about for years and changing what the game's like.  It's a straightforward load of old nonsense.  They're both alright, like. 

[C_Larence]

Starting this now. A while back, before the remaster was announced, I decided to watch the full game on youtube as it was pretty much the only Xbox exclusive I was sad to miss out on. I didn't get very far into it because I find watching games extremely dull. Much like this post, because I just realised I don't really have anything else to say yet.


The voiceover reminds me of Xavier: Renegade Angel

[C_Larence]

Played up to the end of Chapter 1 so far. The voiceover still makes me laugh (I keep picturing him saying "What doth light"), and I'm not sure if I like that the manuscripts tell you what is going to happen before you see it. There's been a few mistimed cues and the frame rate in cutscenes is bizarrely bad on PS5. I'm generally enjoying it though and will definitely stick with it

[itsfredtitmus]

Going to replay it on nightmare when it's unlocked yesyes

Really enjoyed when Sarah joins your lead and lights them up for you and you both just unload into them (the slow motion when the last one is ridden of <3)

I'm at the dam right with the log lady and I genuinely keep thinking it's the fucking the last of us I always thought that game was doing resident evil4 but nah it's Alan Wake all along

[itsfredtitmus]

the manuscripts seem to add more to the confusion than anything but I did miss quite a lot of them and only started reading

There's a right sneaky bastard bit where bear traps are reintroduced and you think it's one of the manuscript pages and there's a taken following you

[C_Larence]

At Episode 3 now but struggling with the level design. Episode 2 was one long slog through indistinguishable woods, often with no discernible trail to follow. I found a crashed plane which Alan said he'd heard go down (I didn't). To the right of the plane there was a tree trunk with a painted arrow pointing right. To the left side of it was a tree trunk with a painted arrow pointing left and up, which led to a cache of flare gun ammo. If the arrow pointing right leads to anything I have no idea, but I'd be annoyed as I spent 5 minutes searching that whole area trying to work out where to go next, before realising I had to counterintuitively double back on myself to progress.

[Average Comedy Enjoyer]

FYI Control is canonically in the AWU. I've not played AW but Control has a whole chapter which is obviously a big Alan Wake tie in. A great game too, especially if you like SCPs

[Mister Six]

Speaking of which, Control: Ultimate Edition (which includes the DLC) is now discounted from about $40 to $10 on the US PlayStation Store, and I assume also the other stores as well.

There are actually two versions - one PS4 only and one PS4/5; get the latter as it basically means a free upgrade if you buy a PS5 down the line.

Discount ends July 7.

[Mister Six]

At Episode 3 now but struggling with the level design. Episode 2 was one long slog through indistinguishable woods, often with no discernible trail to follow.

Yeah, I felt the same way. A couple of tips: first, keep your eye on the minimap; head towards the little yellow dot to get to the next checkpoint. That should help deal with the getting lost issue.

Secondly, the game is very linear, with the only variation being the occasional weapons cache (marked with the yellow paint) and the odd scattered page. If you're not trying to get full completion then just stick to the main route using the yellow dot; there's usually nothing in the woodland areas surrounding the main route, and the cache paint markers are usually placed right in or around your path; just wave your torch around a bit as you go.

The good news is that the boring forest shit is pretty much done with by the end of chapter 3, and the final three chapters are much more varied and interesting. They're also more open, so stuff like explorable (but non-essential) buildings and roads are much more obvious. Again, you'll find swathes of empty areas to the sides of the main roads, but you can ignore all these. It's worth poking around in any buildings or caves you see, though.

[itsfredtitmus]

Cunt wore that hoodie every fucking day for weeks on end wonder how bad he stunk at the end

[itsfredtitmus]

American Nightmare is actually somehow better I didn't realise this was possible - throws way more enemies at you and it's actually unnerving watching the real life footage from the fake Alan kill people and seeing the path of destruction hes left for you (he's in his John Wick suit which means evil)

This is only going to last for a couple more hours? Fuck I want it as a FULL GAME I want more of this

[Mister Six]

American Nightmare gave me the push I needed to figure out how to get a PS4 controller working with my laptop, so now I've got another gaming option and can finally play all those Steam and GOG games I've been building up with charity bundles over the years (including Quantum Break!).

And yeah, it's pretty great. I love that the maps are more freeform and mundane than those in AW proper. I felt much more excited exploring the little motel complex and its adjacent diner than I did plodding across a hundred miles of identical forest, and the drive-in theatre feels nicely eerie and desolate.

It also has the worst acting I've encountered in a game since the original Resident Evil. The first lass is all right but the woman playing posh scientist crumpet is amazingly, delightfully, dazzlingly dreadful. I assume they didn't have the budget to actually hire proper actors and just got in the first rando who answered a Craigslist ad.

And obviously the gameplay is a lot of fun, with a couple of cool new enemies (and the laughably shit spiders) although the ostensibly exciting range of weapons really highlights the limitations of the gameplay: every gun ultimately plays the same. You shine your torch, burn through the darkness and then blam away until they're dead with whatever you have in your hand. The guns that do more damage have less ammo, and the guns that do less damage have more ammo - so on balance it doesn't make a blind bit of difference which ones you use. And once you get the one-hit-kill crossbow everything else just seems like a waste of time.

I'll probably finish it up tomorrow - I think I'm at the final boss now - and then I'll crack on with Control.

[C_Larence]

Yeah, I felt the same way. A couple of tips: first, keep your eye on the minimap; head towards the little yellow dot to get to the next checkpoint. That should help deal with the getting lost issue.

I'd never even noticed that was there!

Finished the game now. 5.5/10

[itsfredtitmus]

A fucking Kasabian CD

[itsfredtitmus]

I'd never even noticed that was there!

Finished the game now. 5.5/10

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Hkt8E2Ul-Xw

[C_Larence]

It was charming but tedious to play. If I never see a flying possessed object again in my life I'll be happy.

[itsfredtitmus]

AMERICAN NIGHTMARE IS SO FUCKING GOOD
 
It pulled some metal gear solid/hart of darkness stunts on me towards the end I couldn't believe it did this to me


Edit: no it fucking doesn't it was just my Xbox glitching out

It inverted the colour and I thought it was the game toying with the player
FUCK OFFF

[oggyraiding]

Alan Wake Remastered is one of the "free" games you get in July for having at least the basic Playstation Plus membership.

[ishantbekeepingit]

Alan Wake Remastered is one of the "free" games you get in July for having at least the basic Playstation Plus membership.

Which is how I'm playing it.

106 manuscript pages
100 thermos flasks
12 tin can pyramids
30 chests
11 radio programmes
14 TV programmes
25 signs
10 alarm clocks
6 cardboard cutouts
10 video games

By my count, that's 334 collectibles.  It's completely ridiculous, and ruins the atmosphere because while my computer game wife is screaming for help I'm running up the path on a thermos hunt.

[C_Larence]

I fucked off the thermos hunting early. If they'd been in places it would be conceivable for a thermos to be I'd have been more interested, but I had no intention of combing through already confusingly laid out woods for little reward.

Had no idea there were alarm clocks, cardboard cutouts or video games lol

[oggyraiding]

You can only find all manuscript pages if you're on Nightmare mode I believe.

[Mister Six]

Which is how I'm playing it.

106 manuscript pages
100 thermos flasks
12 tin can pyramids
30 chests
11 radio programmes
14 TV programmes
25 signs
10 alarm clocks
6 cardboard cutouts
10 video games

By my count, that's 334 collectibles.  It's completely ridiculous, and ruins the atmosphere because while my computer game wife is screaming for help I'm running up the path on a thermos hunt.

The signs, clocks, cutouts and video games are just in the DLC, if it helps.

TBH unless you're a completist - in which case you'll need to play the game on Nightmare, because some of the manuscript pages only appear in that mode - you can skip everything but the chests, because they don't give you anything useful for your gameplay, and the manuscript pages mostly just tell you what's going to happen next anyway (aside from the occasional asides to other residents of the town).

If you are a completist, and not currently playing on Nightmare then definitely just play the game and enjoy the story, and worry about everything else when you play it again.