Board 8 > They're releasing Spider-Man 2 and Alan Wake 2 at the same time?

(+) Yeah! (+)

So I've beaten Alan Wake twice now. I never beat it in Nightmare mode and I very briefly debated doing that, but I remember having a rough time getting through some parts and would rather have an easier playthrough, so I stayed on Normal. Good thing too because I never played it on a controller and I'm playing it on my Steam Deck now, and it feels harder on a controller than keyboard/mouse, or I just suck a lot more. I will never get all the manuscript pages.

That said, Alan Wake still rules! I love this bizarre, creepy story. Just such a strange narrative, made even stranger by Alan narrating it like a book. The combat is whatever. I never loved the combat and I sometimes find it a bit frustrating, but it always leaves me tense in the right ways.

Got through the first two chapters though. Barry is the best, and if he isn't in Alan Wake 2 I will be so disappointed.

Something funny was that I turn on the first radio in the game when you get to the cabin and get an achievement for collecting all of them. Somehow I missed the very first one in both of my playthroughs before this!

PrivateBiscuit1 posted...

Good thing too because I never played it on a controller and I'm playing it on my Steam Deck now, and it feels harder on a controller than keyboard/mouse

I wish I could play with keyboard/mouse but not being able to soft hold to aim without using battery is way too much of a loss to me. Hope the sequel has a way of sorting that out with those controls.

Xiahou_Shake posted...

I wish I could play with keyboard/mouse but not being able to soft hold to aim without using battery is way too much of a loss to me. Hope the sequel has a way of sorting that out with those controls.

I have no idea what that even means, but I've never really had a problem using keyboard/mouse before.

But man, it feels cool seeing Alan Wake on a TV instead of my monitor this time, controller and all.

If I can squeeze in the time, I'll try to play Control because it's supplemental LORE, I guess. I have been meaning to play that one for a long time.

PrivateBiscuit1 posted...

I have no idea what that even means, but I've never really had a problem using keyboard/mouse before.

I phrased that badly I think - so on controller, you can gently pull the trigger to raise/aim your light and gun, but it doesn't spend any battery until you fully pull it to do a focused beam. On mouse/keyboard, you can only do the focused beam, so you end up spending a lot more battery since you can't aim without doing a full blast beam.

I forgot how long some of these chapters were.

I beat Chapter 3. Screw that bulldozer. I'm a lot more used to just blowing all my good items and weapons when I have them, and I've been ending the chapters breaking even on some or having excess, so that's definitely the way to go.

Hoping to get this game done by this weekend.

Man I feel silly - just tried out mouse and keyboard during my own playthrough and realized that mouse gives you so much precise control over your passive flashlight beam that the "soft hold" I was talking about before is 100% redundant. Game feels incredible this way and I wish I'd switched over sooner!

I get that. I'm still missing my keyboard and mouse in this.

I think the most frustrating part about Alan Wake is when you get into combat, you can just flat out completely not know someone is behind you until you've already been hit. Like I have no idea where this person came from.

Tank controls on a controller make it hard to whip around really quick, so I just sort of keep looking forward and try to make distance before I'm attacked.

Hope to play Chapter 4 soon. That one has always been my favorite chapter. If you know, you know.

Alright, I need to step it up with Alan Wake. I did get through Chapter 4, which still remains the best chapter in the game.

Children of the Elder Gods!

I forgot how much I loved Barry. He better be in a lot of the second game because that character rules.

I finished my playthrough (including dlc) today! Definitely agree that chapter 4 is absolutely peak and I'll be terribly disappointed if we don't get ample Barry in the sequel.

Yeah, Mortal 1 Kombat comes out Thursday so I don't think I'll be able to complete everything. lol Going to try to play a lot tonight though. I may take a break from M1K to try squeezing in the rest though before Spider-Man 2 comes out.

Ayooo I beat Alan Wake 1 and the first DLC!

I forgot how great the last chapter is in Alan Wake. It really does such a great job really making you think you're traveling so far. Lots of challenges. Lots of game changers. Creepy ending. It does so many things well with that last chapter.

The first DLC I always enjoy. A lot of clever stuff that breaks the conventions of the game by essentially having little to no rules to follow. A lot of little nods and such and interesting challenges along the way. It really does go all out with the concept, and I really hope that Alan Wake 2 has a lot more of this stuff. As much as I like the grounded realism, being able to go wild with this gaming system and the nightmare universe really does amp it up a lot and make it a more fun challenge.

So I can definitely finish the second DLC tomorrow. American Nightmare? I'll need to find a day where I'm just free from any obligations and can take over the TV for a night to just bang that out.

I would have really liked to do Control as well, but we'll see.

Thinking I may play through Alan Wake's American Nightmare this weekend.

How long is Control again?

Howlongtobeat says somewhere between 11 and 19 hours depending on how much side stuff you do and that lines up pretty well with my experience. I'm replaying it now, my first run clocked in at 15 hours with no dlc and maybe 70% of the sidequests. My replay's already past that length with three chapters to go but I just finished AWE so that added a good chunk of time that wasn't there before.

I started Alan Wake's American Nightmare and did not get as far as I wanted to.

That said, it's such a step up gameplay-wise. While it may not be as gripping or difficult, I feel like they really perfected the system and made everything look much better. Mr. Scratch rules and I love the idea of him emerging as a supernatural serial killer as the Boogeyman created from the rumors of him in the real world after the end of the game.

But the direction they went with everything in this game and how they made everything so much better is why I think Alan Wake 2 is going to blow it out of the park. Because they clearly had an understanding of what needed improving from the original game for American Nightmare, and I imagine they'll keep going. Also promising is that AW2 seems like it will have a more open world deal like this game too.

Just beat American Nightmare. Tons of fun! Nice, short little game with low stakes. Interesting story for what is basically a little bonus game testing out new elements from the original.

Mr. Scratch rules and pretty much everything involving him is really compelling and I'm really glad he's going to be in Alan Wake 2.

So yeah. I got the minimum I wanted to do before Spider-Wake 2. I don't think I'll try to beat Control, especially if the Sonic Frontiers DLC ends up being anything worth playing. So we'll see.

Fellas, Alan Wake 2 feels like it's going to be something incredibly special. But everyone who had an early preview of the game has nothing but glowing things to say about it. And it looks hauntingly gorgeous too.

https://youtu.be/NUi1GG_qQ7g?si=tJ_yzmycU8ivIOFj

I thought AW fans had disowned American Nightmare or pretend it doesn't exist or something?

Waluigi1 posted...

I thought AW fans had disowned American Nightmare or pretend it doesn't exist or something?

I mean, it's mostly just an irrelevant side-story. Like it has little to no impact aside from giving little epilogue bits to characters. Nothing changes from the ending of Alan Wake to the end of American Nightmare.

But they've confirmed Mr. Scratch is in Alan Wake 2 and some videos already have him talking about him, so it seems like he's pretty prevalent despite you defeating him there.

The problem is not a lot of people played American Nightmare and it doesn't have a re-release. So not a lot of people have actually played it.