The original Alan Wake is one of my favorite games of all time, so after seeing all the hype for the sequel I was dying to play it. While I am not as high on it as the average seems to be I did find it to be a really great sequel in many ways. It definitely leans more into the horror than the original, the graphics and sound design are absolutely insane... I am not easily scared but there were a few times I jumped (not counting the really annoying unearned jump scares that happen constantly, those are my only complaint with the horror in the game)

The addition of Saga was questionable to me from the trailers, but she really stole the show for me. Her sections play exactly like I would expect a modern Alan Wake to be, the combat is improved and has a nice weight to it, and her loadout is super fun to use (shout out to the bow). Her story has a lot of similarities to the first game but I love the additions she brings being a detective, the mind place board is a really neat way to follow along and figure out the mystery of the plot.

The Alan sections are a bit more mixed for me, there are some really amazing scenes here that I won't spoil and the really high production value is even more prevalent in these areas. The gameplay though is just lacking to me, swapping the scene to progress constantly is a neat idea but I just didn't ever get into it. The story of Alan resolves really nicely in the end, and I appreciate the really unique meta way of telling it, but it's just not ultimately my favorite delivery method. It is very modern Remedy which fans will enjoy, but I am definitely less of a Remedy fan and more of an Alan Wake 1 fan specifically.

This game was not what I expected in a lot of ways but I appreciate how unique it was, and the survival horror elements are still very good when they are given the time to shine. I recommend for sure.