I wish I had a more original take, but this is basically the Twin Peaks: The Return of video games. It is so rare for an expensive-looking AAA game to be this thematically dense and creatively unencumbered. Even the faux-open world collection side quests feel remarkably well integrated into the story and overall experience, to the point where I actually (mostly) enjoyed running around and collecting all of the stuff I missed before crossing the point of no return. I'm going to be thinking about this game for a long time, and will probably do the NG+ "Final Draft" mode whenever I get the chance.

I think Alan Wake II and Disco Elysium are probably the two best European video games ever made, and they were developed a 3 hour boat ride away from each other across the Gulf of Finland. What is going on in northeast Europe that makes people geniuses at video game design?

self-loathing as a broken funhouse mirror, distorting and reflecting back everything you hate about yourself; you see it everywhere; on billboards, on tv, in everyone else. It all seems to reaffirm the ugliness you see in yourself; you can run from it but it'll always be there, right behind you. The only way to escape is to confront the man in the mirror, to look at the twisted parody you've become and choose to do something about it; as max says "It could destroy you, drive you mad. It could set you free"

a masterpiece