Have you ever thought, “I could make an amazing game,” and started dreaming up all the features you would include in your ultimate creation? You likely envisioned some realistic elements based on your genre of choice, alongside ambitious ideas that could never be implemented without a budget backed by a AAA company like Rockstar or CD Projekt Red.

Why do we have these thoughts? Mostly because we’re passionate gamers who know what we love, and it often feels like developers miss the mark on what seems obvious to us. But every so often, there’s a glimmer of light in the darkness. After sifting through countless money-hungry, copy-and-paste style games, you stumble upon a gem that makes you think, “I love this,” and “I wish I had been in the writers’ room when they came up with this.” This game feels different, and unique, as though the developers had a story they were determined to tell, and they did it their way, without compromise.

Alan Wake 2 is one of those games.

Disclaimer: This article contains potential spoilers and is based on my initial eight hours with the game. I haven’t finished it yet, so consider this a first impression rather than a final verdict.

Fresh Concepts and Familiar Roots

When Alan Wake Remastered became free on PS5, I decided to dive in, especially after seeing the trailer for Alan Wake 2, which piqued my interest with its stunning graphics and horror elements. After thoroughly enjoying the first game, I eagerly jumped into Alan Wake 2.

It’s rare to find a game where every aspect feels like it was crafted with passion and care. Alan Wake 2 is one such game, where it seems everyone involved had a blast bringing it to life. Every piece of the puzzle fits together perfectly, with each contributor adding their own ingredients to a witch’s cauldron, brewing up an extraordinary work of art. And it shows!

Even though you’re scared out of your mind, especially in the beginning, you’re not just focused on beating the game. No, something calls to you to explore every nook and cranny, to appreciate all the small details that Remedy Entertainment wove into the story. “Yeah, there may be an enemy around this corner, and I’m down to my last shotgun shell, but I want to see what’s over here.”

This is how I felt the entire time.

While I can’t yet call Alan Wake 2 a masterpiece without seeing how the story concludes, there are so many elements executed so well that they deserve to be highlighted for fans of story-driven horror games.

The Mind Place: A Detective’s Sanctuary

We all know Alan Wake is a writer, but Alan Wake 2 introduces a new character named Saga, a detective drawn to Bright Falls on assignment. Without spoiling too much, Saga’s exceptional sleuthing skills come from her ability to enter what she calls her “mind place.”

In psychology, a mind place (or method of loci) is a mnemonic technique used to improve memory retention and recall. It involves mentally placing information in specific locations within an imagined physical space, like a palace or building, and then “walking” through that space to retrieve the information when needed.

In Alan Wake 2, Saga uses her mind place to do just that. Inside this mental room, she has sections dedicated to various tasks that help her piece together the mystery she’s unraveling. You truly feel like a detective as you sift through evidence, profile suspects, view maps, and even examine collectibles—all within the mind place.

The best description for this game for those who haven’t played would be a cross between LA Noire and Resident Evil. As you take out horrific figures with a limited amount of ammo, you have to retreat to your mind place to solve parts of the case to move forward.

One fascinating aspect is that time doesn’t stop when Saga enters her mind place; life continues in the real world, reminding us that deep thought doesn’t pause the events around us.

Alan Wake, on the other hand, retreats to his writer’s room, where he can manipulate his circumstances in real time—a feature I’m eager to explore in detail in my full review.

The Overlaps: More Than Just Scares

Alan Wake 2 does something special with its horror elements. While I’ll save the details for my full review, I want to highlight the “overlaps.” These aren’t just opportunities for cheap scares (though they capitalize on that), but they’re integral to the story.

After a while, the random pop-ups lose their initial shock value, but they remain significant because of how they deepen the narrative. The overlaps offer insights that go beyond simple frights, adding layers to the storytelling that I’m eager to uncover more of as I progress.

For a concept that isn’t widely used in gaming, the developers of Alan Wake 2 have done an outstanding job implementing it.

Music That Resonates

If you played the first Alan Wake, you’ll remember how significant the music was, with each chapter rewarded by a song that played before moving on to the next. Alan Wake 2 takes this idea and elevates it.

The beauty of the music in Alan Wake 2 is that it’s not essential to the gameplay—you could easily skip it and never realize what you’re missing. But the developers included it anyway, as a gift to the players. It’s not forced upon you, but it’s there if you want to take a moment to appreciate it. This small detail shows just how much the developers cared about the fan experience.

They’re Just Having Fun

There’s one part of the game where you play as Alan Wake as you attempt to find your way out of a studio. While you walk through, you are hit with big screens, lights, and awesome music playing all around you. At this point, the real acting cast of Alan Wake is performing a musical score right before your eyes, and I couldn’t help but take in every second of it.

Complete with choreography, and each actor selling the performance. It was a corky moment in a game that has no issue diversifying itself from the rest of the horror games I’ve played thus far. For a moment, I forgot I was playing a horror game. It was an entire music video where each actor sold the fact that they were performing and I loved every minute of it!

It’s rare to find a game where you can so clearly see the developers’ vision from the very beginning. Alan Wake 2 is a game where you can feel the love for the craft of game development resonating through the screen as you explore its many facets. It embodies the essence of pure, passionate game-making.

Such games need to be highlighted so developers know that this is what many gamers want and appreciate. Like the good old days when games came with booklets or maps, we used to hang on our walls as kids. Yeah, it might have been a waste of money for the company, but it was something many of us cherished.

I’m eager to hear how others feel about Alan Wake 2. Let me know your thoughts in the comments. And as always, thanks for reading. Stay Gritty, Gamers!