I mostly decided to play this because Alan Wake 2 looks amazing, so I wanted to see where everything started so I could build up to the sequel. I liked this a lot, but it does have a few sizable flaws.

The combat is probably the biggest thing. In short it just ends up being very repetitive. I love the idea of having to use light against the enemies, but it should definitely have been implemented with more variety in mind. The enemies are also reused a lot, so you sort of get used to fighting the same exact way every time you run into anything.

The narrative is definitely the most interesting part of Alan Wake. The structure, for one, makes for one of the most original ways of telling a story I've seen. The characters are also great, Alan himself is weirdly memorable despite initially seeming like a bland 2010's game protagonist at first.

This definitely feels like a blueprint for what would turn into Remedy's future game design philosphy. I haven't played the Max Payne games yet, so I can't really say how it is different from those, but I have just started playing Control as of writing this. I can already see how they've improved off the general gameplay loop of Alan Wake. I love the atmosphere here too, I'm a huge fan of Lynch's stuff, especially Twin Peaks, so I really loved the vibes here.

I'm so glad I picked this up! Chants of Sennaar was so much fun to play, discovering every new language was a joy, I wish there were like 5 more of them. I would love it if the devs made another game in a similar vein. Even though it does drag a bit in some areas, notably the second level, I was always motivated to keep going forward and never once thought of dropping the game.

This is very close from being one of my favorites in terms of puzzles games but I feel like it falls a little short. The most glaring flaw comes in the form of the non puzzle sections. Everyone seems to mention the stealth sections, and I agree. These really didn't need to be in the game, and I feel like they're why I disliked the The Fortress so much more than any other level. More than anything else these sections just feel like the devs didn't have enough confidence behind their translation mechanic, which is a shame because it works wonderfully. I do feel like they realized this later on in development, but just decided to keep the sneaking stuff in since The Fortress is designed around it.

My favorite level was either The Garden or The Laboratories, these were the ones that felt the most fleshed out. The Abbey is really just a tutorial, and Exile just kinda hands you the language which is a real shame because it might be the most visually interesting level in the game. Both the Bards and the Alchemists had really interesting languages too, and I love the context surrounding both civilizations.

I played this with my girlfriend because she loves ancient civilizations and anything related to linguistics, so she had a blast :) It was a ton of fun being super confused together and then realizing somehting at the same time. This is definitely a game worth playing with someone else.

I feel like this would have been a lot more impressive had it come out before games like Return of the Obra Dinn or Outer Wilds, those two kinda blew every other puzzle game out of the water. Despite all that though, Chants of Sennaar still offers a very engaging primary mechanic, great visual direction and environmental storytelling, as well as a satisfying gameplay loop that I wish I could experience more of. Gonna keep my eyes on this team to see what else they come up with in the future!