LogFAQs > #977113876

Copying my review from elsewhere...

This may be a hot take, but I think AW2's gameplay is actually worse than the first game's. Sure, it's highly refined, and there's a lot more going on, but it's not actually more fun that way. Some say it's in service of making the game scarier, but to me, that's a bad thing. I don't like being scared, which means I get nothing out of scarier combat. There is less combat, which is certainly a plus, but it's replaced by other boring gameplay elements. There's a lot of exploration, which is highly unenjoyable. The act of moving around and navigating these huge environments is a chore. The first game had a radar to guide you to objectives, but this game wants you to explore and find more stuff. The story rewards can be nice, but the gameplay puzzles and areas aren't fun in the slightest, so I mostly tried to ignore the exploration and mainline the story when possible, which is the main reason people are here, of course. There are some interesting gameplay elements, at least. In Alan's sections, you get access to various murder Scenes. At each Scene, you can change the time/what's happening in order to alter the environment. In a movie theater, for example, you can have a movie be playing, or you can have it be right after a murder, or you can have demons swarming the room. Doing this alters how much of the area you have access to, and it can be interesting figuring out which areas of the movie theater to set to which times to progress. It's still tedious actually navigating through the areas though, and generally requires copious use of the map, which they declined to make into a minimap, probably to enhance "immersion" (it is not immersive.).

On top of that, you play as two characters in this game. Saga's parts are quite a bit less interesting gameplay wise than Alan's, having more straightforward exploration. You do get to use clues you find in the environment to solve mysteries in a bit of detective-style gaming, but that can be pretty trial and error focused, since some of the clues apply to multiple questions you have to answer. Both characters explore sprawling environments, and I found myself wishing modern devs could embrace linearity more often while playing.

However, this still ends up being a pretty good game, because of everything that's not the gameplay. Story and presentation-wise, this might be 2023's best game. Discovering the truth of all the mysteries is a thrill, especially since you're playing with two characters, each of whom have their own mysteries to unfold. Finding out about the Cult murders as Saga is a blast, with some great reveals. Saga herself isn't particularly interesting, but she's a fine vessel to solve mysteries with, and her dynamic with her partner is fantastic. In the style of Control, there are a bunch of live action sequences, but they're greatly expanded here. You get ads on TVs from the Koskinen brothers, which are absolutely hilarious every time you get one, and some parts of the main story are live action as well, especially on Alan's side. The blending of in-game cutscenes with live action sequences gives the game an idiosyncratic feeling you won't find anywhere else. There's a ton of great story in here, with unique twists and skillfully presented predictable story elements that are delivered well enough to blow your mind. A certain chapter in Alan's story is one of the best moments of any game ever made, and almost certainly the best moment in a 2023 game. This is a game that makes me wish other devs were this ambitious. There are other cinematic games I enjoyed more than this, like certain Sony first party games, but the highs of those games don't even come close the the greatest moments in Alan Wake 2. Control did some of this stuff, as I said, but AW2 takes it to a far greater level, and is a much better game. It's too bad the gameplay sucks, but if Remedy ever figures out that aspect of their games again (I liked the Max Payne games back in the day but hated Control's gameplay), they could make a real all-timer. Maybe trying to make something other than a third person shooter would help...