Watch Out for Fireballs! 254: Alan Wake (Premium)
Added 2019-10-17 21:18:54 +0000 UTCAlan Wake is a writer, and he reminds you of that a lot. This is Remedy's third person shooter followup to the first two Max Payne games. It dabbles in horror without being terribly scary, and gets extremely metatextual at a time when that wasn't a huge thing in games. It worked at the time, and would probably work on a first playthrough, but we struggle to see through the game's unfortunate design flaws.
Thanks to Vulpes for producing this episode!
Comments
I'm veeery late to the party, but let me say one thing about the music: I actually find the old gods of Asgard music quite solid. It's obviously nowhere near my favourite artists and would not think it is particularly deep, but still enjoyable. But there is one crucial component: I think if the lyrics were in my native language I would probably think less of them, as I have a hard time with cringy German lyrics as well. When it comes to English it's always a much more deliberate decision to semantically understand what I'm listening to. I suspect it is the same for many Europeans and that includes people from Finland as well. So maybe it is just not a big deal for us, including the developers and musicians. Anyway, just wanted to leave that here as I feel like that's a factor you don't consider because of your US perspective.
Alexander Gerhards
2023-01-08 17:35:43 +0000 UTCHave you also tried Eldritch? I like that quite a bit
Jack Morris
2019-10-24 20:34:17 +0000 UTCI played it for a couple of hours and didn't like the play enough to keep up with it. A roguelike lovecraftian game really did sound cool to me though. -GB
Duckfeed.tv
2019-10-24 17:34:37 +0000 UTCThis game sounds terrible.. Somewhat related: Have you guys heard of or tried the game “Lovecraft’s Untold Stories”? It might be up your alley.
Zerk Marsh
2019-10-24 17:07:04 +0000 UTCI almost crapped my pants when I heard my name in the intro, on a game I love no less! Much love to you guys and glad to be among your supporters!
Sage Beatty
2019-10-23 15:07:24 +0000 UTCI can't help but have affection for Lumberjack Ghost Killer: The Game.
Joshua Kane
2019-10-18 01:22:27 +0000 UTCGoing back and playing this for the first time it was baffling to me that this is the same developer who made Control. the two games are so different, I was disappointed too :(
Joelle
2019-10-17 23:58:07 +0000 UTCI've been replaying the game in anticipation of the episode (a long one; thanks!), and boy does it ever feel tedious. The gameplay is repetitive and boring, as are the environments. I didn't enjoy replaying this, in spite of the fact that younger me felt compelled to collect every single useless collectible. As a game, it's certainly lacking, yet I just can't dislike it. The music is what you get when a Western studio attempts to do the equivalent of anime or JRPG songs. Sure, stripped of context it's silly and kind of dumb (there's an equally dumb one in Control), but in the moment it feels additive. Still, I can't help but love the impossibly heavy hand of Remedy. They're one of very few large Western studios that seem to just go for it, to run with whatever idiosyncratic or quirky idea comes to mind. The result is usually a polished lack of polish, and perhaps a lesser product as a result. There's something to be said for ambition, even if it's not fully or successfully realized. This feels like TV Tropes the game. The goofy yet self-serious plot, narration, and atmosphere are great (if you appreciate trash), though little else holds up. Regardless of its faults, thanks for covering this endearing piece of crap!
Vulpes
2019-10-17 23:36:10 +0000 UTC
