I feel insane because I don't understand how this game was nominated for GOTY, and why its rated so highly.

I'm a big Remedy fan, having played all their games (except Quantum Break...). I loved the original Alan Wake and was looking forward to this, but I just couldn't get into it.

I was hooked at the start, with the atmosphere and the premise and the visuals, but I ended up losing interest a few hours in and then started to realize just how boring the gameplay loop is.

Overall,
+ Amazing visuals. I played on PS5 and it looked amazing, I can only imagine what it looks like on a beefed-up PC
+ Incredible sound design. Felt great playing this with a 5.1 surround system
+ Unique, compelling atmosphere. The "vibe" of this game, of Bright Falls, of the Dark Place, is impeccable.

All that being said, the game itself is SO INCREDIBLY BORING. Its a walking simulator 90% of the time, and the combat (whatever little there is) feels like a chore every single time. I dreaded playing this game for more than 30 minutes at a time. It's just not fun.

I'm all for cinematic games, but they have to be games at the end of the day. They need to have engaging gameplay elements and give players some agency in their actions. There was none of that here. Even the really cool Mind Place concept is nothing more than the illusion of control - the game doesn't let you actually deduce anything, you just point and click at all the options until something sticks.

I'll watch any movie or tv show directed by Sam Lake, but please stop trying to turn video games into something they're not. Blending things together is great (see recent Naughty Dog games for example), but not like this.

Alan Wake 2 could have been a fantastic 2 hour movie instead of a tedious 20 hour game.

Not bad, it's a good start I guess.

Game is far too easy, even on the hardest difficult, but the combat is a bit of fun for a while. It does get a bit frustrating later on though

Story isnt all that interesting, but the main relationship sidequests are. Main story has almost an inexcusable horrific conclusion though.

All side activities in the open world are basically what you would expect from a lazy developer. Braindead tiny puzzles scattered around every 20ft that do nothing for enjoyment aside from people who want to spend hours doing the same thing over and over again. The world feels absolutely barren outside of hogwarts itself, even though there is infinite things to do, none of it feels like any more than a checklist of meaningless tasks to do.

Hogwarts itself is built amazingly, and the developers did put a ton of effort into the school, and even the little details. So i have to give them credit for that. Harry Potter fans will be surprised how much is jammed into the school. You can explore every single room top to bottom in it.

The gear system is ripped straight out of whatever base template developers are using nowadays, but I appreciate the ability to transmog clothing based on anything you have ever picked up. I just wish that there was whole outfit slots you can select because this is one of those games where you constantly pick up new gear that is better so keeping your signature look is really frustrating after a while transmogging constantly.

Beast taming is pretty fun for about 3 minutes but it is pretty barebones so you end up just forgetting about your beasts after a while.

Not much reward whatsoever for doing all of the tasks around the map though in which there are hundreds everywhere.

Final boss is a joke. Thats literally all I have to say. The game ended on an absolutely horrible note with me.

There needed to be some sort of morale system in this game, you can break into houses and steal things from people, you can extort more money from quest givers, you can learn unforgivable curses and be rude to everyone, but no dialogue reflects this and there is absolutely no downsides to not do this since nothing changes in the game if you are a terrible person.

Side note- Fuck JK Rowling, I didn't factor this into my review of the game though.

This game is pretty mediocre for a modern open world game. But it does have some bright spots that shine brightly

I can say that art team combining with animation team did a marvelous job creating a magical enviroment. Hats off to them! that being said, I can't say the same for gameplay and optimization part. There were a lot of stutters here throughout my playthrough. Combat was somewhat clunky and repetitive also while exploring NPC interaction was not there as if they dont respond. The only worthwhile npc response was when I use Unforgivable spell certain npcs objected using the spells that's all. All in all game is worthwhile to play but the overhype for this game is unnnecessary. Completed on hard mode 80% including all relationship quests in 42 hours (difficulty is walk in the park, try hardest difficulty)