Alas, people won't make all the right choices in their lifetime... Though luck always seems like it's on your side.

You will keep winning, having never lost before. But why you? Why... must it be you?

If all your luck is built on the pain of someone you love, on the loss of dozens more - if these windfalls, these jackpots aren't a gift from Gaiathra- if all they are is a long string of meaningless deaths...

I was walking in circles around my room for over an hour after finishing it last night and am still trying to collect my thoughts. A beautiful finale to the entirety of Xeno and everything I could have ever asked for.

I have never felt such satisfaction upon finishing something before and am so glad I played Gears and Saga beforehand. I played this series, especially 3 and FR, at the best possible time in my life, purely by chance, and don't think its themes would have resonated with me as deeply as they did had I played it at any previous point in my life. I'll never forget what it has taught me and will forever treasure it. Sagabros we won

P.S. DABURU SUPININGU EJJI

This game is complicated for me to really talk about. I think the main story is fine, it's short and does what it needs to do, and the game delivers some emotional gutpunches for Kiryu. But I played this game on hard, and the gameplay itself is some of my least favourite in the series. Before you upgrade, you're underpowered and the fights can be quite hard if you actually try to engage with the game's mechanics. Dodge behind a boss while they're attacking and start hitting their back, and the boss won't stagger and will instead slowly turn around and you just eat shit anyway. Spam charged light attacks in Yakuza style, though? The boss staggers on every hit and you do massive damage.
There were also some baffling changes to the starting kit, like being able to die in extreme heat mode until you get a specific upgrade even though you did not need to get an upgrade for that in every game prior. But ok, the game wants you to get upgrades or it's a pain to play. So I upgraded Kiryu's styles almost to completion, and now he's way too powerful, and bosses go down in a few hits. Even the final boss, which they attempted to make like the final boss of 5, having a massive healthbar and a lot of stage transitions, was way too easy because upgrades in this game make you way too strong. Once again, I played this game on hard mode.
I would also like to reiterate that actually trying to engage with the game's mechanics makes you eat shit. Try to grab an enemy and as you press the button they start their attack animation? Well even if your grab hits them before they hit you, you still rebound off them instead of grabbing (unlike literally every other game in the series), and the enemy hits you anyway. Even if you do grab an enemy, don't expect any crowd control. They are a terrible option, and they even removed small fun things like being able to change your hold on an enemy while grabbing them. They also gutted bounding throws, locking them behind extreme heat mode and making it so that you can't use them on strong enemies, once again different from every other game in the series. But if you're in extreme heat mode, why would you use bounding throws anyway? Unlike other games where any enemy in the vicinity will get knocked over, bounding throws barely stagger, so its use as a crowd control method is terrible, and it does very little damage. Meanwhile, you can just use the spider thread to throw a bunch of enemies at once and knock down any enemies they hit outside extreme heat, or you can use Agent style in extreme heat and just spam the light attack button and do way too much damage in a massive area. I do not understand what the thought process was behind gutting grabs and bounding throws so badly.
There was some fun to be had in the gameplay, like messing with crowds of weaker enemies in Agent style, but the game removed any options you did have in previous games against bosses, locking you into a few painfully easy options. I swear, Dragon Engine Kiryu's combat peaked at 6 where you actually had to think about your actions somewhat and from there it was only downhill. It was so boring to play that I didn't even bother doing the 4 kings side story.

I'm seriously not sure how to start this.

Alan Wake 2, the notorious sequel and award-winning continuation to a 13 year old game finally released. It's safe to say that the original's lasting impact on Remedy and players alike has been felt for a while now. AW1's blend of TV inspired episode structure with meta-narrative commentary on writing seamlessly gave way to a unique experience which has, I think, aged quite well. It was something I found quite interesting in their catalog of games and whilst playing them in order grew to enjoy, even with its shortcomings in gameplay. Where that and the side story Alan Wake's American Nightmare left off gave way to a lot of questions and theory crafting for the next couple years.

Well... You know the rest, let's cut the bullshit.

As someone who's only recently given Remedy's games a go-around it's pretty obvious that their identity, that is multi-media storytelling, is so integral to their games. It's the difference between them and other triple A developer I feel; utilising the "cinematic feel" these developers now try to go with but to a whole other level.

Remedy has always pushed boundaries to try mix these sorts togethers, Max Payne tried to imitate Noir cop stories with comic book panelling, Alan Wake with TV aesthetic and in-game live action cutscenes with the TV's, Quantum Break's inclusion of an actual TV show in between story chapter, Control's Darling videos and Hotline. You get the memo, it's something Remedy has tried to push for and I think with Alan Wake 2, they've finally surpassed what's possible within the confines of its story.

Their creative vision can be seen bleeding into everything in this game with scenes like Herald of Darkness and most, if not all the scenes in this game. Yötön Yö for instance, a short film created in-universe by a character, looks so incredible and had me so locked in. It also being in Finnish just a nod to all sorts, as one of my good friends discussed to me throughout the game, and the studios origins is quite cool even for someone who isn't from there.

The inclusion of a FUCKING MUSICAL section is just... genius. One which works so well because of how goofy it is but also how amazingly written the lyrics were (I was singing it so much at work after seeing it). Poe- cough The Old Gods Of Asgard are a band that have been with Remedy for a very long time and each new song they've made have been great, but they went above and beyond with not only this but Dark Ocean Summoning and Anger's Remorse. They only have gotten been with The Poet and Muse and Take Control. It's just so nice to see a band so integral sonically for their games, hoping they also come back for future games.

So musically and visually, Alan Wake is just the evolution of what's been before them? Transcends pfftttt what about the actual game, I'm here for the game!!! The story!!!

Well, the story is good. I'm gonna be quite frank here, it's been call mind-bending and whatever adjectives to describe its story, none of which does it justice I feel. I don't think I can do it justice without writing an essay of an essay about it, something even longer than this. I will though give a small tidbit about one aspect I found cool.

The story's usage of Alex Casey is something I've thought about a lot recently. Inspired by Remedy's most iconic character, voiced by the legend himself (RIP), reused and spun for a completely different purpose whilst written by a the main protagonist makes it alone something quite special. His interactions with Alan is short, but gives you an understanding of how tired he is, not of the jokes around him being related to Alan's fictional character, but of his own existencial crisis which is echoed near the end of Initiation. It makes you question about Alan's writing, how many lives he's using for his own gain even when it's not out of malicious intent. Casey's own existence being fictional or not, and why he's so interlinked with the story just left so much to talk about. I love Casey and throughout the game, it uses him so differently that I expected which left impressed with how Sam developed as a writer.

Alan and Saga are cool, I'm just REALLY not wanting to write too much on them but I'm quite happy about how they were handled. Saga was someone I didn't think much about before coming in but came out impressed with how her story linked with the events with Bright Falls. Originally, AW1 was supposed to be Alan and Nightingale as protagonist before being canned but I'm glad they didn't let that idea go to waste with this attempt.

Alan Wake is nothing without the Bright Falls and its characters. All the previous characters were done even more justice like Odin and Tor (genuinely happy about their focus) and new characters like Saga, WARLIN DOOR, Koskela Brothers, Tim Breaker were all fun. There's a character I feel has also been in the back of my mind since the ending of AW1 and all I can say about them is I was impressed with the handling of her.

Aspects like the "Remedy-verse" were also handled naturally. It does a lot for what was established with Control, AWE, House of Dreams and QUANTUM BREAK??????????? HUH??????? There's plenty more with the next two DLC's that I have hope will be cool.

Another aspect I love was the genre shift, something that should be whatever to most people, is such an huge thing I feel not only thematically perfect for the story but the gameplay loop as well (see what I did there). Survival Horror is a cool genre I feel and outside of me being ass (thanks oomf) it's one I genuinely have fun in. Everyone under the replies I know hates the combat shift and change from the simplistic AW1 but I don't know man.... I liked it a lot more BECAUSE I felt like it more tense, BECAUSE it was more about resource management, BECAUSE it'd take a while to kill someone. It didn't feel bullshit a lot of the time, I did though feel scared shitless. Something I'd say is genuinely cool about this game sometimes is the enemies. The taken previously were quite goofy but wow the redone have been quite fun to fight against, when I'm not having someone in my ear scream about running away.

Alan's sections in the dark place having you try stay in the shadows, not using your flashlight, flipped a lot of what I thought from the previous games in a nice way. The plot board and mind place were brilliant ideas though, especially with Alan's writing changing areas on the fly. It was technically impressive and having no sort of loading screen inbetween made it more cool, I loved the detective side of both of them, Alan's through Casey's echo's and writing return but also Saga's own deductions and piecing together notes.

There's a lot I'm intentionally leaving out, why? I have way too much to talk about that it'd look like a dissertation on a developer and not a review because at the end of the day, you know that I like this game. What I believe is nice though, is I'm able to express it here in the most unedited way possible. I'm just THAT happy about Remedy hit a home run and now all eyes are on them.

So what did we learn from this? Alan Woke is a localiser, Sam Lake has been mewing and lookmaxxing since the 90's and I am the champion of light. Go play Alan Wake 2 if you haven't, not sure why you'd read this if you did and goodbye!

all the way back in 2014, i had heard a lot about this game from different video game reviewers, usually with some video title like "the worst game of all time" which resulted in me finding a strong interest in the title. i would watch a lot of videos on it and found its reputation to feel a little weird, since at worst it looked generic. later that year i chose to play the first kane & lynch and i thought it was okay, it was a weird little third person shooter game but i ended up really liking it. i then chose to play the demo of kane & lynch 2 on xbox 360 since i wasnt willing to pay for the game, and again, i did not get why this game is as hated as it is. my interest in the series however promptly faded as i moved onto other things.

fast forward an entire decade, and as a result of a joking whim with a friend, we decided to play this game in full. over time, i had largely forgotten about my previous experiences with the two games and the impression of "worst game of all time" sat again in my mind, choosing to believe i just "didnt get why it was bad" as a kid.

the game quickly struck me with its horrible gunplay, nauseating camera and weird (albeit really cool) aesthetic. shooting at people feels no different than shooting at nothing, its hard to even tell when youre actually doing anything half the time. the game feels extremely obtuse and uncomfortable to play. i sneeringly said "this is all meta kino, kane & lynch 2 is a violence bad masterpiece" not thinking too much of it.

yet the more i played, the more my sneering comment just felt like it was coming true. the sheer grotesqueness of the game, the edginess of the dialogue, with its endless and excessive swearing and shouting, it all just clicked in the chapter where kane and lynch run around butt ass naked. i realized that, completely in spite of how intentional or unintentional it may be, this game made me feel the exact same way as i did when i first played drakengard 1.

after the aforehand mentioned chapter, i found myself entirely engrossed in the game. i couldnt find it in myself to mock it anymore. my friend and i almost found it funny at just how seriously we both started taking it at a point. realizing the entire plot starts from a single woman being killed by our protagonists, one who is unnamed, and doesnt have a single scene beforehand. the death that feels completely weightless from the perspective of both our psychotic protagonists, AND the violence numbed player, one typically inclined to find themselves playing a shooter game like this.

there is no such thing as a weightless death. the sheer amount of dissonance between the significance her death has, and the significance felt across the entire game are worlds apart, and defined entirely by how normalized violence and killing had become in gaming (and media as a whole) at that point in time.

in conclusion, kane & lynch 2: dog days is a meta kino violence bad masterpiece. it effortlessly communicates its message through its gameplay and aesthetic alone. my 10 year long journey with this duology has randomly been brought back into my life at a time when i can appreciate it for what it is.

kane & lynch 2: dog days is an ethnic masterpiece.

angry joe gave this game a 3/10 though so idk if i can keep liking it. most of my opinions are shaped by his so i cant really think anything else :/