Why Alan Wake 2 is my Game of the Year 2023

welcome everybody to a new Game of the Year video it's been two years since I made one of these but I'm excited to be doing one again just so you know I'm going to keep this spoiler free but I will be talking broadly about the game and showing video of various locations throughout also bear in mind this isn't meant to be a review I'm not going to be talking about every aspect of the game I'm really just going to share some of my most perent thoughts and feelings behind why I'm choosing this title for my game of the year so with that out of the way I'm going to start by talking you through my thought process because it wasn't an easy decision this time around there have been so many strong contenders this year personally it came down to a four-way tie up between Boulders Gate 3 Street Fighter 6 Resident Evil 4 and Alan Wake 2 Boulders Gate 3 probably would have taken it if not for the crazy amount of bugs and battle slowdown that really undid much of the immersive experience that that game otherwise provides and as I'll be talking about later you'll understand how important immersion is to my frame of mind Street Fighter 6 very nearly took it it's an incredible game which managed to get me into fighting games in a way I never imagined I could or would even want to it's really brought a whole new dimension to my gaming life that I just never had before as well as being one of the most polished games on release I've played in the last decade ah the delay [ __ ] Dump Dump Dump Dump Dump Dump yes yes [ __ ] yeah however horror games have always held a special place in my heart and so it came down to the last two options okay it's game time the original Resident Evil 4 is one of my favorite games of all time and my most completed game of of all time having finished it maybe 12 times and aside from the Final Fantasy 7 remake I believe its remake is the best ever made okay it's game time it was a joy to play and actually manages not only to replicate but improve significantly on the original something that deserves the highest of Praise ultimately though in a year where Alan Wake 2 exists a game which pushes the envelope of the horror genre forward in ways that frankly felt electrifying at times it has to take the top spot for me I have to start with talking about the visuals this is without question the best looking game I've ever seen although the detail and the texturing is fantastic the thing that elevates it to another level is the lighting my God this game is beautiful I cannot express enough just how beautiful but perhaps the footage in this video will give you some idea for my eyes this game has the best implementation of rate racing so far even better than the overdrive mode in cyberpunk 2077 which was already incredible looking but this is something else it's definitely not perfect and although I haven't tested it both ways I feel like having dlss frame generation switched on definitely introduces some graphical artifacts now and then but it's only very subtle things and didn't take away from my experience besides without it on I wouldn't have been able to run the game with Ray tracing smoothly on my RTX 4070 graphics card anyway so I was happy to live with it even then there were slight hiccups with the frame rate here and there throughout the game but I just didn't care it felt worth the sacrifice I lost count of how many times throughout the game I found myself stopping just to stare at something as I walked into a new room or around a new Corner this game literally took my breath away on countless occasions and had me rushing to share screenshots with my friends I cannot wait for this game to get a photo mode so I can replay it and go to town with it personally I am a sucker for pretty Graphics yes they're not everything but boy does high quality Graphics grab my attention seeing Graphics of this quality takes me back to being a kid again when a new console would come out and the Step Up in graphics was always revelatory an experience is much rarer these days the most memorable example of this was the first time I saw Super Mario 64 in 1997 it was one of the most impactful moments of my entire life but anyway back to the lighting for me there is more to the lighting in this game than just looking pretty though it's the realism of it the fact it looks very true to life to see light behaving in a way that's very natural and that can manifest in ways that might not be immediately obvious for example there is so much secondary illumination caused by light bouncing multiple times from surfaces and objects that it means a lot of the time you don't even need your torch out to see where you're going it's the same reason why in the middle of the night you might be able to navigate your way to the bathroom via the dim light from another room this isn't to say the torch is isn't needed though there is a difference between having enough light to see where you're going and having enough light to see things in detail and if there is no light sources at all then it's completely pitch black as it should be it's just lovely how the light softly Blends out into Blackness so many games have really distinct edges where the areas of Darkness are and in this game it's just a really soft and smooth gradation now I'm fully aware that secondary illumination isn't a new idea in gaming but it's just the way it's implemented here horror games are all about how you feel and it feels to me like there's an extra layer of realism here that enhances the level of immersion and atmosphere in a way I've never experienced before both of which being things that are so important to a horror title I'd go as far as to say that horror games live or die by those two things and the lighting here elevates an already thrilling experience to new heights by the way if you're interested in a Thor technical analysis of the rate tracing in this game I highly recommend checking out digital foundaries YouTube video which I will link in the description below they managed to capture some amazing footage where they demonstrate in the finer details exactly what R tracing is doing for the image if you're anything like me there's nothing worse than horror games where the plot is some Loosely cobbled together collection of themes with no real narrative thread to take you from beginning to end and if there is it's so obscure as to not really grab your attention as you play the game this seems to represent the vast majority of indie horror titles these days too often the plot is just a loose excuse to set up some cheap jump scares I feel like everyone played Amnesia in 2010 loved it and somehow decided that game should be a template for every horror game moving forward notes and keys and vague dialogue does not a horror game make or at least a good one anyway it worked for amnesia but that doesn't mean every game should copy and paste that style and expect to make an enjoyable experience now mainstream horror doesn't escape this kind of criticism either it's for similar reasons that I feel the plot and evil within two is Miles better than the first game because in the first one nothing makes any sense until the credits Roll by which time it's way too late to appreciate the story beats that do happen throughout with the second game however it's clear what's going on from the outset the first game tried way too hard to set up its twist that is not to say that a horror game shouldn't have some mystery to it but at some point you need some answers at the very least otherwise you'll be left wondering what was the whole point of it all and I find that to be a very satisfying experience as a gamer where horror games fail then is when they give you questions and instead of giving you answers just keep giving you more questions the question and answer ratio if you will has to be in Balance if the plot of a horror game is too mysterious if what it's happening is too unclear then the plot isn't having an impact on the player it's happening separately from the player and it is not being truly enjoyed simply witnessed on the flip side if the plot of a horror game is too clear then it's not as interesting and the lack of any uncertainty limits the anxiety and suspense that you can create in the player's Mind through the other symbiotic design choices in the game The Narrative of Alan Wake 2 Treads the line between Clarity and mystery expertly keeping you guessing and throwing in twists and turns from start to finish but at the same time regularly giving you more insight into what's going on while also leaving many things open to interpretation ensuring you always have more to think about it drives everything forward and makes you want to keep playing it's an interwoven narrative puzzle and I believe it has enough complexity that it will still feel fresh on a third playthrough now not all Gamers care about games having an interesting plot I know many are just happy to have an enjoyable game play and if a game can hit that that's all they really care about but I definitely fall into the camp that likes a good story in my games to the point that games that try hard with the plot but have some rough edges will still capture my attention even if they don't perhaps nail everything I site the sinking City here as a perfect example bring me that dirt bag Lewis he and I are do a reckoning do this for me and I'll help you with anything you need stories capture my curiosity and attention not just in gaming but in films books and even real life they take my mind to another place they make me feel more alive I love to be immers inspired and made to feel things if a game can do that then it will Elevate the experience for me it will make me pay more attention and take things in better if a game can maintain that consistently throughout those are the games that truly leave a deep and lasting impact on me and it's for that reason that Boulders Gate 3 didn't because it broke the immersion too regularly and too consistently for me to take the game in as it was intended it frustrated me too much my attention wandered too often level design wise you won't find much you haven't seen before if you've played a lot of horror games but that's okay because the execution is masterful in both design and atmosphere creating a pervasive and terrifying tension across an assortment of classic horror locations the creepiness factor is through the roof the design is linear but with open zones so you don't feel hemmed in at anytime some people will still feel restricted but for my tastes I love the tight game gam playay design afforded by this approach with no wasted space or fluff the zones can feel very interconnected with different routes you can take to get to the same place and it really adds interest to the experience as you fight your way through the viscal combat encounters that this game has to offer on the corner amongst others certain sequences reminded me of sections of the Metro series American Horror Story and The Shining which really put a smile on my face there was also several times a new area was coming up and I was able to see from a distance what I was heading towards and the presentation was such it allowed ample time for me to build a picture in my head about what Horrors might await me there I really enjoyed the NPC integration in this game as much effort has been made into writing the dialogue for background chatter between NPCs as for the dialogue of primary characters in the game NPCs are always talking about something relevant something you're already thinking about perhaps and it never feels unnecessary or like it's filler and it really just elevates the world design and helps to make it feel like a real world with real people rather than just a game World it all feels very believable like it could really be happening as you explore there are plenty of things that happen to give more detail to the world such as a radio talk show and TV adverts that bring character amusement and further Dimension to the experience probably the only criticism I have is that there is a cabin that's literally copy and pasted a few times throughout the side content which I felt was a bit of a shame but I can forgive it because all the Interiors are just absolutely beautiful with plenty of clutter laid out to make places feel lived in great effort has been made to reduce the amount of loading screens being you just staring at an image this isn't to say there are none but where possible they've hidden them and they contain dialogue to continue the plot while loading between areas is happening I don't really want to say too much about the game play so that you can Discover it for yourself but the locations are affected by and integrated into the plot in a really cool way there is for my tastes just the right balance of combat and Exploration with plenty of time to drink in the atmosphere exploration itself feels rewarding and tense and I enjoyed exploring thoroughly the puzzles I mostly enjoyed there is a repeat puzzle as side content throughout that was at times so vague I had to skip a couple but in general puzzles a fun and although a little handh holdy at times it's definitely not like God of War Ragnarok where it solves the puzzle for you without being asked which turned me off that game completely there were one or two other puzzles which I had to skip because I couldn't figure out I felt like I had the correct solution but it just wasn't working maybe I messed up but I really got the sense the design was a bit off the combat isn't going to win any awards but it was fun and visceral enough for my taste to serve the purpose of the surv Al horror aspect of the experience even if I did occasionally feel like head shots were missing their Mark when they shouldn't to a certain extent it's possible to stealth your way past enemies which I took advantage of at times and led to some creepy moments as usual I did what I normally do these days with survival horror which is play it on normal only to struggle to have enough room for the excess of resources I ended up with I would probably have been better off playing it on hard but perhaps that will be my second playthrough a mark of a good horror game is when when you find yourself proceeding slowly through the areas making sure you check all your corners and preparing yourself for anything at any time compulsively reloading as you go a good portion of the play time of horror games comes from the expectation the player is moving slowly through it out of fear and if the player feels confident enough to just run through it all without a care in the world the horror aspect has failed this game doesn't have that problem at times it even had me not wanting to push forward until I had taken a moment and a deep breath bre or six from the gameplay and World design to the plot the visuals and sound design everything serves the singular vision of this game which is the way it should be if you want to create an incredibly immersive experience which is exactly what this game is all about in fact it's one of the most immersive games I've ever played for me personally this game is the ideal horror game the kind of game that I dream about when I think about horror game design which I do frequently there's not much in gaming I love more more than the blend of survival horror with a great story I've also never played a game where the music was so tightly integrated into the plot the soundtrack puts a punctuation mark at the end of your experiences of horror and lifts you emotionally into another place no place was this particularly more evident than for one gameplay sequence in particular which I'm going to say absolutely nothing about if you know you know and if you don't I can't wait until you get to experience it for yourself but not everything about this game can be Quantified analytically this is also a game about moments big moments in the plot that leave you open-mouthed gaping at the end of chapter screen with eyes wide moments that scare The Living Daylights out of you that drive you forward that make you throw ammo conservation to the wind and unload every bullet in your gun for a sudden need to put down an enemy as fast as possible thoughtful moments that Inspire that make you want to get into the head space of a particular character for a minute before you push on dialogue moments that leave an impact that you can't stop thinking about afterwards musical moments that bring your emotions to overwhelming [Music] levels I laughed I cried I cheered this game is magical in a way that the occasional frame rate hitch and the smattering of unnecessary full screen jump scares just cannot undo the gameplay and storyline are integrated in such clever interesting ways the plot holds your attention throughout the psychology at play is incredibly interesting and inspiring the audio music Elevate everything the lighting feels like a new chapter in game visuals and as a bonus it's really funny at times too this is more than just a game it's an experience that frequently breaks out of its own boundaries blending multiple art forms together and become something more as a result it is Art the team at remedy entertainment have truly achieved something magnificent here and it is for these reasons that I feel compelled to say that Alan Wake 2 is my game of the year 2023 I'll see you in the dark place

Channel: Don Fucius

Views: 1,010

Keywords: thegameawards, games, gaming, immersion, alan wake, alan wake 2, thegameawards2023, remedy, remedyentertainment, goty, game of the year

Id: 3Yjama0GYtU

Length: 17min 23sec (1043 seconds)

Published: Fri Dec 08 2023