i cannot fathom how anyone can play this all the way through and claim it’s the haters that are wrong. this isn’t silent hill, this isn’t even P.T.— this is a first person snoozefest that throws all subtlety out the window in favor of a poorly acted, milquetoast melodrama that claims to touch on the subject of suicide and depression but is so scattered and unsure of what it’s trying to say the end of the game is basically “uhh don’t kill yourself actually, here’s the suicide hotline”. there was an interesting segment that intelligently and creatively painted a picture regarding generational trauma and familial abuse, but is dropped just as quickly as it’s introduced.

the gameplay is abysmal, walking around the same corridor over and over barely interacting with anything before being thrown into a chase sequence that can only be described as lightly jogging from an enemy that is slower than you and making obvious turns less you turn into a dead end and experience a boring one-shot kill animation that does not change once throughout the whole game. every chase segment is poorly thought out especially the last one, none of them are challenging, but the monster will be on the other side of doors as you open them so it’s very unlikely you’ll be able to complete a nightmare segment without having to restart at least once.

the short message is lazy, dramatic, surface level, and entirely carried by its asset and lighting artists as well as what little Masahiro Ito contributed to the presentation. Konami is testing the waters to see what new gen fans are willing to accept from this defunct, creatively bankrupt franchise and this P.T. rip off walking sim is not what people should want or expect from Silent Hill.

The most narratively fascinating game of this console generation and perhaps one of the most interesting and groundbreaking narrative games of all time. Alan Wake II isn't a perfect story whatsoever, there's character writing and pacing issues that leave much to be desired but Remedy should be commended for their ability to step up their storytelling and twist and turn the story so remarkably so that you're left questioning everything-- it truly is a thinking man's game.

The genre and theme juggling is incredible as Alan Wake II is ultimately a survival horror game, but at its core is a beautiful mishmash of ideas and different forms of media (music, short film, gameplay), excelling at each one of these.

Remedy creates a unique brand of horror present in Alan Wake II which is so effective primarily because of the sequel's departure from the first game in both gameplay and mood. The Lynchian inspiration is there, but you can tell there lies a more sinister and intense undertone that rears its head to truly strike fear into the player.

My issues with the game don't lie in general gameplay but rather half baked elements of the game's central narrative. The storytelling of Alan Wake II for the most part is brilliant, there's no contention there. However, anyone sticking with this game for 20+ hours will find the ending fairly rushed including Saga's arc. This is my ONLY issue and I find the rest of the game to be a blast. The performances, gameplay, combat, puzzles, graphics, music, and horror are all a 10/10 and I'm overall satisfied with my most anticipated game of 2023.