Well it was episodic, very intense and eerie setting, I'm not scared by any games, but that rated T game put me in a creepy mood better than any M rated game has.

The combat and dodge system, lighting and use of light were all new, it definitely wasn't a typical TPS, as you had to be careful with your ammo, as it wasn't everywhere and you could easily run out. The flashlight was your lifeline, and the battery ran out quickly, so you really had to watch out.

I loved it top to bottom.

Episodic was nothing new, but their execution was really well done. I like how they treated it like a TV series. I was really never creeped out or scared, it just didn't have that affect on me. As far as combat, it was pretty standard, although using the flashlight to weaken the enemies first was new. I played and beat it, I just was expecting more. Particularly with the amount of talk/hype it received.

I loved Alan Wake but American Nightmare wasn't that good for me...more to do with the fact that it just didn't fit Alan Wake at all, just Microsoft's attempt to make it more action like to appeal to new fans

I just hope it wasn't cannon or that you need to play it because I couldn't get through it.

I hope Alan Wake 2 brings Alice into the picture and lets us play as her. Would be great for the first half of the game to see her trying to find the real Alan while on the run from Mr Scratch and in the process overcoming her deep fear of the dark.

Microsoft owns the publishing rights, they allowed Remedy to find a publisher for PC, as they don't consider that competition, as long as it's not on another console. The ball is in Microsoft's court so to speak.

@ Jek_Porkins

Have you got a source for that? cause I heard the same thing about Mass Effect, and that came to PS3 eventually.

As Markus wrote at Alan Wake’s official forum:

“I would like to make it clear that Microsoft funded the production of the first Alan Wake game, and while they were happy for Remedy to now self-publish on PC it is highly unlikely they would want to see the game on a competing console. While we do own the Alan Wake brand, Remedy doesn’t have rights to publish THE Alan Wake on PS3.”

http://www.dsogaming.com/ne...

Don't shoot the messenger, the publishing rights are Microsoft's alone, I'm sure if they felt the IP was worth enough they could buy it, I mean Remedy sold Max Payne for less than $50 million, so I'm sure Alan Wake could go for less, that is if Microsoft didn't buy the developer outright.

it was the other way around , AW had that date set it was RDR that need a new date & chose the same date AW was releasing, so it was RDR that hurt AW.

Don't forget both musical score/soundtrack and sound design.

The soundtrack (along with Brutal Legend) is perhaps the best this gen. Great mix of old and new, mainstream and eclectic, each song perfectly fit with the ending of every episode.

Atmospheric ambiance, subtle dialogue between side characters, and enemy combat sound effects were all top notch.

It extended into the American Nightmare too. Remedy and Poets of the Fall deserve a ton of credit.

No, not likely at all

The first TLOU game was in my top 5 games of all time. Like "The Joker", it didn't need a sequel.

It was brilliant.

Agreed. The first one didn't get anywhere near as political as the second one that dipped heavily into woke territory. Gamers don't want to be preached to, they want to live in an alternate reality where they don't have to live in life, they want to experience something else, have fun

That used to be their thing, like their trademark. With Crash Bandicoot, Mark Cerny interestingly, then the head of Universal Interactive, advised them to sell the IP as they did Insomniac with Spyro so when Sony bought them, they didn't really own the IP and funny enough, Microsoft now owns the IP. Jal and Dexter was next but the technology has changed so much that with Uncharted, it didn't make sense to keep doing Jak and Daxter, Naughty Dog had already been built up and compromised of so much of the team of the original Crystal Dynamics, that's where a lot of them went was to Naughty Dog, which is part of why it bears so much a resemblance to Uncharted. Amy Hennig had just come off of Legacy of Kain.

So, yeah, The Last of Us, really, is about the only one they haven't moved on from. Druckmann's ego won't let it move on, and he'll milk the cow dry rather than leaving it a legacy. "Always leave them wanting more" is the key in entertainment, but yes, traditionally that's how they've done things. Fans beg for more Jak & Daxter and Evan Wells and Christoph Balestra knew to keep telling them NO