I really don't know what happened. I was enjoying the hell out of the game all the way through Chapter 4, the pacing was awesome, the combat was fun, the plot was great. Then during Chapters 5 & 6 I just stopped enjoying it for some reason.

I'm really bummed out, I wanted to love this game so much. I've thought about it for a while, and I think I've narrowed it down to two reasons:

1) The tension was gone when it stopped being scary. I realize Remedy has said that it's not a survival horror game, but it's got literally every aspect of a survival horror game, except for the fear. I'm not trying puff out my chest and brag about how I wasn't scared by the game, hell, it took me about 2 months to play through Dead Space because of how much it scared me. Earlier on in the game the atmosphere alone was fantastic, but little by little I realized all this tension created by the lighting in the game would never result in a scare, and as such, all the tension was sucked out of the game for me. It's like a horror movie that repeatedly sets up a jump scare for 30 minutes, yet never comes through. Eventually I just stopped being effected by it.

Also, I don't mean to harp on this point, but even the combat lost all the excitement once you started getting completely stacked. I really wish they would have implemented more occurrences where you had extremely limited ammo, or none at all. All the terror of being ambushed by 2 giant chainsaw dudes is gone when I've got 8 flashbangs and the flare gun.

2) I think the plot really lost steam after chapter 4. I don't know what else I expected, but the plot really lost me 2/3 of the way in. The stuff with Zane, Cynthia and Barbara never seemed to be explained very well, and I thought the whole concept of Alan writing Zane into his story, and Zane writing Alan into his story got so convoluted I still don't really know what happened. As the credits were rolling, I couldn't believe that was all there was to the story. I know they'll probably flesh it out with the DLC, the story on the retail disc really needed to be more self sufficient. 

Anyway, I doubt you all care, I just wanted to rant a little bit and see if anyone shares my disappointment. I honestly believe if the game was just scary, I would have enjoyed it all the way through. It just seems like such a weird design choice to basically make a survival horror game, and then not make it scary. Fear really covers up for the combat in most games like this, and when you remove that aspect you end up with weird 3rd person shooter.

I played it on Hard by the way, it was still easy as hell. When will developers start to unlock the hardest difficulty from the start? Hard is becoming easier and easier.

I haven't played Alan Wake yet, but to compare it to Dead Space - that game wasn't all that difficult either and yet you finished it?
I had much the same experience with the horror nature of Dead Space initially (I refused to play it alone and in the dark), but eventually I got used to what was going on. I guess the game was solid throughout, so the loss of the scare factor was only a minor issue.
The more I hear about Alan Wake, the more I don't want to spend full price on it.

The game is just awesome.Sure,the story is pretty convoluted,but if you ask me,they are just setting up for a sequel.There are a lot of loose ends to tie up,so I'm going to bet my money on that.

" I haven't played Alan Wake yet, but to compare it to Dead Space - that game wasn't all that difficult either and yet you finished it? I had much the same experience with the horror nature of Dead Space initially (I refused to play it alone and in the dark), but eventually I got used to what was going on. I guess the game was solid throughout, so the loss of the scare factor was only a minor issue.The more I hear about Alan Wake, the more I don't want to spend full price on it. "

You didn't think Dead Space was hard? Playing through it on hard the first time through was pretty damn hard. I think I died maybe 15-20 times, and the fights were always intense as hell.

I'm starting to think I just came in to Alan Wake expecting something Remedy never set out to accomplish. They basically made a survival horror game with a much much better story than the average survival horror, but removed all the scares. Maybe that's just not for me.

I have to disagree with you. 
The story only picked up speed for me at chapter 4. The stuff with Zane is wicked cool and all the different ways the game plays with the idea that the events occuring are those that Alan himself is writing (as well as Zane) is really tightly controlled and smart. 
The story isn't convoluted, it's very well made actually.

This game is the perfect example of why storytelling in games doesn't have to be as linear as the gameplay. It was a very rich experience with just enough unresolved and ambiguous ends to make it comparable to a very respectable novel.

"

I have to disagree with you. 
The story only picked up speed for me at chapter 4. The stuff with Zane is wicked cool and all the different ways the game plays with the idea that the events occuring are those that Alan himself is writing (as well as Zane) is really tightly controlled and smart. 
The story isn't convoluted, it's very well made actually.

"

"@ThatFrood said:

"

I have to disagree with you. 
The story only picked up speed for me at chapter 4. The stuff with Zane is wicked cool and all the different ways the game plays with the idea that the events occuring are those that Alan himself is writing (as well as Zane) is really tightly controlled and smart. 
The story isn't convoluted, it's very well made actually.

"

Maybe I'm just letting my disenchantment with the gameplay effect my view of the story. Maybe I just need it explained to me. Overall though, I thought the story went downhill once they reached the well-lit room, up to that point, I thought it was fucking awesome. "

" @sixghost:  I didn't try hard, but I'm going through Nightmare right now and I feel you should try it.  That would help with your first point.  It gets harder but not impossible.  All of the enemies take forever to lose their darkness and can take bullets like no other.  I think for the chainsaw guy, a flare gun barely takes off his darkness.  Ammo definitely feels like it's in less supply which would help with the tension.  Also a group of three enemies is a threat.  The small quick guy with the dual sickles that hits you twice, he can kill half your life by himself in one shot. "

" @sixghost said:

"@ThatFrood said:

"

I have to disagree with you. 
The story only picked up speed for me at chapter 4. The stuff with Zane is wicked cool and all the different ways the game plays with the idea that the events occuring are those that Alan himself is writing (as well as Zane) is really tightly controlled and smart. 
The story isn't convoluted, it's very well made actually.

"

Maybe I'm just letting my disenchantment with the gameplay effect my view of the story. Maybe I just need it explained to me. Overall though, I thought the story went downhill once they reached the well-lit room, up to that point, I thought it was fucking awesome. "

Dude! The well lit room was pretty tight. 

SPOILER WARNING: Click here to reveal hidden content.

Zane essentially wrote Wake's clicker into existence, which is a critical part of his childhood that pretty much led directly to his becoming a writer. The thing in the well-lit room was supposed to be a failsafe in case the darkness ever got out again... and that failsafe is Alan Wake himself essentially! What's even crazier is that Wake wrote Zane back into existence. The mind boggles.

"

" @ThatFrood said:

" @sixghost said:

"@ThatFrood said:

"

I have to disagree with you. 
The story only picked up speed for me at chapter 4. The stuff with Zane is wicked cool and all the different ways the game plays with the idea that the events occuring are those that Alan himself is writing (as well as Zane) is really tightly controlled and smart. 
The story isn't convoluted, it's very well made actually.

"

Maybe I'm just letting my disenchantment with the gameplay effect my view of the story. Maybe I just need it explained to me. Overall though, I thought the story went downhill once they reached the well-lit room, up to that point, I thought it was fucking awesome. "

Dude! The well lit room was pretty tight. 

SPOILER WARNING: Click here to reveal hidden content.

Zane essentially wrote Wake's clicker into existence, which is a critical part of his childhood that pretty much led directly to his becoming a writer. The thing in the well-lit room was supposed to be a failsafe in case the darkness ever got out again... and that failsafe is Alan Wake himself essentially! What's even crazier is that Wake wrote Zane back into existence. The mind boggles.

"

SPOILER WARNING: Click here to reveal hidden content.

I sort of understood that stuff, but it just raises a ton more questions. Did Zane write the clicker into Alan's childhood in the first place. If so, how does he know who the hell Alan is, or how he knew Alan would become a writer and travel to Bright Falls. Is Zane the father of Alan, or did he write Alan in to existence entirely for the purpose of dealing with the darkness. I could probably go on, but you get the point.

The problem with stuff like this is the same problem with Time Travel in TV and Movies. Once you introduce something this crazy, people can always raise questions like why didn't character X just do Y to solve everything. I just wish they got a bit more specific about Zane and Alan writing each other in to their story. Anyway, I admit I'm probably being too hard on the story, it's probably better than 99% of the other video game narratives these days.

"

"@ThatFrood said:

" @sixghost said:

"@ThatFrood said:

"

I have to disagree with you. 
The story only picked up speed for me at chapter 4. The stuff with Zane is wicked cool and all the different ways the game plays with the idea that the events occuring are those that Alan himself is writing (as well as Zane) is really tightly controlled and smart. 
The story isn't convoluted, it's very well made actually.

"

Maybe I'm just letting my disenchantment with the gameplay effect my view of the story. Maybe I just need it explained to me. Overall though, I thought the story went downhill once they reached the well-lit room, up to that point, I thought it was fucking awesome. "

Dude! The well lit room was pretty tight. 

SPOILER WARNING: Click here to reveal hidden content.

Zane essentially wrote Wake's clicker into existence, which is a critical part of his childhood that pretty much led directly to his becoming a writer. The thing in the well-lit room was supposed to be a failsafe in case the darkness ever got out again... and that failsafe is Alan Wake himself essentially! What's even crazier is that Wake wrote Zane back into existence. The mind boggles.

"

SPOILER WARNING: Click here to reveal hidden content.

I sort of understood that stuff, but it just raises a ton more questions. Did Zane write the clicker into Alan's childhood in the first place. If so, how does he know who the hell Alan is, or how he knew Alan would become a writer and travel to Bright Falls. Is Zane the father of Alan, or did he write Alan in to existence entirely for the purpose of dealing with the darkness. I could probably go on, but you get the point.

The problem with stuff like this is the same problem with Time Travel in TV and Movies. Once you introduce something this crazy, people can always raise questions like why didn't character X just do Y to solve everything. I just wish they got a bit more specific about Zane and Alan writing each other in to their story. Anyway, I admit I'm probably being too hard on the story, it's probably better than 99% of the other video game narratives these days.

"

Saying you didn't like Alan Wake then saying you were actually afraid of Dead Space puts all this all into perspective.

I fucking loved the game to death, but I agree with you that hard difficulty wasn't all that difficult.

" Saying you didn't like Alan Wake then saying you were actually afraid of Dead Space puts all this all into perspective. "

" Saying you didn't like Alan Wake then saying you were actually afraid of Dead Space puts all this all into perspective. "

" @HandsomeDead said:

" Saying you didn't like Alan Wake then saying you were actually afraid of Dead Space puts all this all into perspective. "

Why? "

" @HandsomeDead said:

" Saying you didn't like Alan Wake then saying you were actually afraid of Dead Space puts all this all into perspective. "

Umm I really liked Alan Wake and found Dead Space to be reasonably scary.... "

" @sixghost said:

" @HandsomeDead said:

" Saying you didn't like Alan Wake then saying you were actually afraid of Dead Space puts all this all into perspective. "

Why? "

Because Alan Wake tries something new and kind of clever, for a video game, and you don't like it meanwhile Dead Space hits its expected notes so often that it becomes tedious almost immediately.@wfolse1 said:

" @HandsomeDead said:

" Saying you didn't like Alan Wake then saying you were actually afraid of Dead Space puts all this all into perspective. "

Umm I really liked Alan Wake and found Dead Space to be reasonably scary.... "

Great. You're flexible. "

There's something to be said for a game that delivers a great experience while not changing too much. If you want to talk about tedious, let's talk about Alan Wake's combat. It's never evolves the slightest bit from the beginning of the game all the way to the end.

What do you consider to be new and clever about Alan Wake? It had a good story, but other than that it was a fairly mediocre game. I'd argue that Dead Space's limb severing mechanic was more innovative and clever than anything in Alan Wake.