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I love Alan Wake in a weird way. My favorite part of this game is probably accidental in the production of it. I'll concede that some of the gameplay gets samey (like CJacobs said, Nightmare difficulty is a slog), though that never really bothered me. I enjoyed the story, setting, and the writing (as part of the atmosphere). However, this game has an interesting subtext that people tend to overlook either because of it being called a horror game but not being all that scary, or being a third person shooter. Also, I enjoy the subject of Alan Wake being a good or bad writer. This game's story presents him as both with the player, who will be probably biased based on personal preference, as a final judge. On one hand, I believe the game attempts to portray Alan as a good writer, although not great, but then suffers from a number of genre limitations. One of these, and most ready for discussion after one episode, is that the game writer's are not good writers. (Even though Sam Lake is the easiest name to name, I think the creation of a video game by a full team will have a lot of editing voices). Although the game has a good story overall, as did Max Payne 1 and 2, this does not transfer to the game writers being good writers. Their construction of prose lacks polish. His internal dialog, the most writey part so far, isn't exactly bad, just not good. It mirrors what a lay person would think of good writing, such as girth=quality or complexity=seriousness. These writers rely mostly on stereotypes of good writing, which are formed off a misunderstanding. Essentially, Alan Wake isn't writing as much as he is emulating. He doesn't just emulate Stephen King. He emulates what someone thinks Stephen King must sound like. When Alan must show his chops, the "good" writing is filtered through a bad or an average writer. These writers rely mostly on stereotypes of good writing, which are formed off a misunderstanding. Essentially, Alan Wake isn't writing as much as he is emulating. I could really go on and on about this subject, but might wind up in spoiler territory.
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Dec 5, 2016 01:38
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Nice piece of fish posted:Well, without spoiling anything, I think this question is really answered in this next episode: Just wait until I finalize my thesis working under the assumption that Alan Wake is meant to be a bad writer. The real psychological action thriller is how I won't stop talking.
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Dec 5, 2016 18:04
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Energizer Batteries: Reload them like bullets. Energizer Lithium Batteries: One equals like three normal batteries.
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Dec 12, 2016 21:31
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Alan Wake spoiling his own game is like someone spoiling Dark Souls by saying that at some point you fight a boss, or CoD by saying some levels end with a set piece exploding. Alan never gives enough information. Him writing "in the near future an enemy will have a chainsaw" isn't enough too warrant any opinions of emotions stronger than a mild intrigue. Anyways, maybe Alan Wake is a bad writer, which means I can write more meandering nonsense. Personally I don't think Alan Wake is supposed to be a "good" writer, and I don't think Remedy intended him to be. However, I think Alan Wake, in the game, appears worse than he is. I love the manuscript pages in their entirety. I like their idea as a collectible, how they give background information and tease the player, and how they play into the larger story. However, I will acknowledge that they don't display the best writing. This shouldn't be an indicator, or at least be a terminal indicator, for Alan Wake being a bad writer. Earlier, I mentioned that Alan's writing has to be filtered through the game's writers. They also pass through the filter of the game, as well. Each manuscript page is a single page, and not even a full one if you type it out in Word. Within that page, the game's writers had to put in a lot of information, or at least a lot of information that you probably don't notice. The game limitations restrict the game's writers, not so much Alan Wake. The game translates a large body of Alan's writing into a quick source for the player. Mediocre and bad writing transforms into bad and horrible writing due to this. When this game first came out, people seemed to be of the opinion that Alan was a bad writer, citing the manuscript pages as an example, but always forgetting that the manuscript pages served multiple roles other than being written by Alan Wake as an in-universe popular author. Especially with Rose, the game makes footholds for Alan being a bad writer. Rose represents a tasteless fan, whom Alan despises for being a fan. Alan, experiencing a crisis of talent, acknowledges he is not the best. Seeing Rose, a nobody in some nobody town with a nobody job as a waitress at a nobody diner, reinforces in Alan the doubts he has about his writing.
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Jan 3, 2017 20:48
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Nightingale suffers from "Castle Syndrome". In the show Castle, whenever characters talk about authors, they use three "celebrity" names, such as Stephen King, Dan Brown, and JK Rowling. (In fact, I think there's an episode where a character, possibly Castle, lumps those three authors together (it's been a long while since I watched the show)). The list of names actually show an ignorance over the subject matter. In trying to show knowledge over the subject, the examples raise questions on their inclusion. The names used are used solely because they are well-known, not because they are the most appropriate names to use. There are, however, lots of problems I like to call "Castle Syndrome". Of course, Nightingale is not a bad example. He at least keeps his references within, or at least near, the same genre. I just think he's an attempt for the Alan Wake writer's (Sam Lake as well as unknown people who may have helped) to stroke their egos and to relieve any doubt that Alan Wake is a substitute for Stephen King.
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Jan 20, 2017 21:01
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Gothsheep posted:Or it's possible that Nightingale is just an rear end in a top hat who calls Alan Wake by the name of whatever other famous author comes to mind to show his disdain for the 'famous writer' in general. You also can't discredit the fact that Alan Wake wrote Nightingale. So Alan Wake (author of the events of the game) made Nightingale call Alan Wake (character within the events of the game) different famous authors. Maybe Alan Wake wants to be compared to Dan Brown, or maybe Alan Wake figured that Nightingale would uses famous writers derogatorily. Perhaps Alan Wake wanted to show that Nightingale is ignorant of writers and therefore relies on famous names. This way, the more invested audience could gain an instant insight into Nightingale's character. Disdainfully calling Alan Wake "Hemingway" or "Spillane" shows that Nightingale has other reasons that simple federal law enforcement. Or, perhaps, Alan Wake, mediocre writer, wanted a character whom the ignorant audience could follow. Nightingale calls Alan Wake "Dan Brown" and "HP Lovecraft" (but not "Ernest Hemingway" or "Mickey Spillane"?) to appeal to the audience wanting an action with only hints to Alan Wake's oeuvre. In one way, the more receptive audience learns about Nightingale. In another way, the less receptive audiences keep up the mystique of Alan Wake's writing prowess. Speaking of insight, I want to see Bloodborne's fishing hamlet, but with Skyboat instead of Kos.
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Jan 21, 2017 18:05
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I'm either surprised or disappointed in the lack of a "the car honked it's own horn" reference. The battle with inanimate objects is so silly yet also so great. On one hand you are fitting pipes and junk that randomly launch toward Alan or a bulldozer that lightly brushes against Alan. On the other it provides the player with another enemy type and continues this self-deprecating self-awareness about Alan Wake and Stephen King. Stephen King making a monster out of some random object is an somewhat inaccurate caricature (e.g. early Family Guy had that joke about King writing a book about a killer lamp). The caricature is not entirely wrong and, as such, has worked its way into the shared view of who King is to the point where if you were to ask someone who had never read a King story or book to describe a King story or book, this person would probably talk about a killer lamp.
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Feb 4, 2017 17:51
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I don't know why there would be any doubt. Barry Wheeler has to be a genius to promote Alan.
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Mar 9, 2017 20:42
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Sure, product placement is bad, but I actually like how Alan Wake does those commercials. There's just something so arrogant about sticking a commercial on an actual TV. It's like the game knows it's selling out, but instead of trying to hide that from the player, the game just admits it in a blunt manner. Kibayasu posted:Part of me wishes they strung out the "You're actually crazy Alan/player" angle a little bit longer before going back to business as usual. But since this is a Remedy game and isn't a game just about Alan Wake the other part of me realizes that of course the player doesn't believe their character is actually going crazy because this is a video game The hospital part is great, and I wish the game had more of these "daytime" segments because they expand on the characters and setting better than the "nighttime" sections. My biggest problem, though, comes with pacing. Remedy could have played the "crazy" angle more, but it would've been too late. The player has no reason to doubt Alan's sanity (with regards to Alice's disappearance; other parts of his sanity may be up for question). At the same time, I like the idea of Hartman as a villain, but he's too sparse in the preceding game. This episode probably has the most interesting progression. Even if we don't doubt Alan's sanity, the hospital still works. It's fun to explore and the dialogue is great. We start to see some of the bigger picture of the mystery, and, I think, it does allow for some of the bigger questions, which would be spoilers now, that make me love the game.
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Mar 20, 2017 16:37
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Scalding Coffee posted:Back at the area when you were disarmed, if you run at large movable objects like mine carts, Alan will push them with such force that it sounds like a small explosion. Of course, he is barely moving them, but it sounds like he has Hulk powers. Alan probably wrote that "the mine crarts exploded in a rondeau of antiquated mechanization" and whatever force made his manuscript real just couldn't understand that passage.
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Apr 7, 2017 20:08
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Gothsheep posted:Basically the game starts off straight horror. You're powerless, hunted by shadowy figures you don't understand, with no idea what's going on or why. Even if it made sense in the plot, something like that fight on the stage wouldn't have fit in the earlier parts of the game just because it would have been such a shift in tone. I like your interpretation. A few good moments in the early game break up the "creepier" bits, but toward the end, Alan Wake adopts the confident mindset of any FPS protagonist. Overall, I think the game paces the slower and faster gameplay sections well. To add more to what you said, I think the shift from horror to action is summed up by the description provided on the front of the box: psychological action thriller. The game is never really a horror game. The horror elements come from an almost academic appreciation of horror. Alan Wake's internal monologue is well aware of the horror stereotypes and tells the player not to be clever but to separate itself from being labeled as a horror game. It is an action game based on a psychological question. However, games like Silent Hill 2 have married "psychological" to "horror", establishing a preconceived standard in the player. Early reviews pointed out the lack of scares in the game, which, I felt, only pointed out how generic we expect a scary game to be. The reviews showed a lack of imagination on the reviewer's part. Alan Wake's real horror comes from a more confusing, convoluted place that most people won't care to venture to. As such, I can ask the question "when does the events of the game (by which I mean the parts controlled by the player) take place?" Alan-TV talks about moving the book from horror, because Alice will have to die in a horror story. Alan-Game hears this revelation from Alan-TV. This means Alan-TV either wrote his appearance into the manuscript that controls Alan-Game's action, or possibly that Alan-Game's events happen while Alan-TV writes. If the latter is true, the brief flashes from the TV show concurrent brief moments when Alan-TV breaks the spell and sees his work as a living creature. The real Alan still sits in the sunken cabin typing away. Alan-Game doesn't discover manuscript pages because they were blown away by supernatural winds, he discovers them because the real Alan wants him to find them, possibly to make the story more interesting.
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Apr 9, 2017 01:27
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Alan always microwaves his meals thoroughly. He doesn't wait the one minute for it to cool, though. Barry is the best. I'd love a spin-off with Barry fighting the darkness, where he doesn't actually fight because the darkness stumbles like a stooge to it's own demise every time.
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May 24, 2017 19:27
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BioEnchanted posted:Tort CJacobs posted:Retort You also have to note that Cynthia and the Well Lit Room are parts of Alan-writer's story. Real Cynthia, the one met in the diner at the beginning may not be the same Cynthia. Alan-writer may have changed the person into a character to interact with Alan-character. Cynthia's first appearance does lay foundation for her character to be justifiably paranoid, but does not completely establish the trait. In her first appearance, she just appear to be some "crazy" old lady, telling people to be careful in the dark because, paraphrasing from memory, "you can hurt yourself in the dark". The game leaves enough doubt that I find fascinating. Much like other parts I've discussed, I feel this is an important detail in the story that becomes more interesting the more you dwell upon it. Unfortunately, I don't think many people took the time to view the game's story from a perspective other than a vehicle to move Alan from fight to fight with a bit of intrigue. Either Cynthia, at the beginning, knew enough about the Dark Presence to have already constructed the Well Lit Room and monitor the town's lightbulbs as a defensive, or she is just an eccentric, whom Alan-writer incorporated into his story because it made sense. Through the TV glimpses, we have heard Alan-writer saying that this mysterious power still has rules. Alan-writer needed a character to guide Alan-character at this particular juncture and the story dictated that the most likely candidate is the unsuspected crazy lady. We have enough clues--her early wariness of the dark and the luminescent paint that reveals her involvement--to not doubt her being a character who would maintain the Well Lit Room. Even though her appearance borders on being Deus Ex Machina, it still fits within the grander scheme of the story. Whether, and if so to what degree, Remedy intentionally wanted the game to mock story telling conventions, Cynthia's appearance makes sense. Alan-writer completely changes real people to fit his needs in the story, which may or may not be the most horrific aspect of the game. Cynthia may have also been this aware of the Dark Presence before Alan-writer's involvement. Alan-writer may not have constructed all of Bright Springs' backstory. After all, he found the box of Thomas Zane's writing before he encountered the Dark Presence in the lake. In this case, Alan-writer must've been made aware of Bright Springs' history. This adds another layer, having Alan-writer more aware of the world than Alan-character. Alan-character, for whatever reason, had to be made clueless. Cynthia could've been just another character made paranoid by an earlier encounter with the Dark Presence. She could've become Bright Springs' silent protector after Thomas Zane's disappearance. The Dark Presence did exist before Alan-writer jumped into the lake and out popped Alan-character, but the degree to which the Dark Presence existed remains questionable. Alan-writer may have unleashed more of the Dark Presence's influence in an attempt to write a fun story.
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Jun 1, 2017 01:01
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What you said at the end of the video is the same reason why I really liked the story to this game. The story can be taken at face value, but once you start exploring the possibilities, so much more opens up.
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Jun 7, 2017 03:02
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Why does the clicker take batteries? I always thought Alan's last line was a sequel hook, kind of. It has the usual implication toward a future sequel, or sequels, with Alan acknowledging the darkness is larger than once believed. Next, we could have the globe trotting adventures of Alan Wake as he solves mysteries with a cadre of kooky characters (somewhat like American Nightmare). And since the darkness and its powers over creativity are ill-defined, just about anything could happen in these potential sequels. Sure, one can draw parallels between the darkness and creativity. After all, the game's story encourages this. Maybe the darkness is part of mankind. Maybe it's the destructive opposite to the constructive creativity. Maybe Cauldron Lake is one outlet for this force without form that dates back to the forming of the world. Sadly, any speculation about the nature of the darkness and its relationship to the world or artists or creativity remains as speculation. The American Nightmare, from what I've seen since I've never played it, shows solid proof-of-concept for a franchise that'll never be.
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Jul 4, 2017 20:02
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I hope you come across a floating "pizza" that manifests a pizza with pineapples. Alan then exhales sharply and chastises himself for being a liar. Having never really seen the DLC (I played on the 360 and I rarely buy DLC) the reusing of assets seems fine. Resource-wise, I can forgive the developers reusing material for a ten dollar price tag. Gameplay-wise, it makes sense that Alan revisiting his memories would entail him revisiting familiar places.
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Jul 27, 2017 19:03
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