Dan

never heard of it

RocShemp

Looks good. Too bad James McCaffrey passed away, because I suspect we might've had Max Payne - err - Alex Casey as a playable character as well.

Decker

DLC for Alan Wake and Control were really disappointing. Not sure I'd buy this expansion without seeing a review first.

Dan

Picked up playing Alan Wake 2 again since I had barely put any time into it when it first came out, and apparently I bought the digital deluxe edition at the time, so I guess I’m lined up to get the DLC when it’s released later today.

i have to say, though, I think I played through what felt like the most frustrating chapter of a game in a long time. For those who’ve played, it was the section where Wake is trying to get to and through the subway tunnels. It was a total chore. I’m really hoping the rest of the game picks up speed now and feels more satisfying, or I’ll dread getting through the rest of it just to get to the DLC stuff, which looks fun to me.

OldBoy

you should check it out. has some ties to this game, well, the first at least. it's generally an ok game. just a bit above average.

RocShemp

Dan

Nah, this is one of those times where OldBoy is taking part in the joke.

Music

OldBoy

not just taking part, but i am the joke.

Dan

According to the FAQ, it seems the Alan Wake 2 physical copy will not contain the entire game & DLC on the disc; a download to play any of it at all will still be required.

(For clarity, many limited physical editions that come out months or years after the original release contain complete versions of the games, such that absolutely no additional download is required. That is the ideal product.
Any time this is not the case, it means the disc/cart is either the first public build — which still works but tends to buggy — or an incomplete copy that will not launch without an additional download. .There are a few Switch games where that is the case. Alan Wake 2 seems like it’ll be the that way as well.)

lol. lmao, even.

RocShemp

Seriously? I thought the whole point of waiting until now was so the whole game would be on the disc.
Unless... Could they simply mean the inclusion of the remastered version of the first game? That is clearly stated to be a download.

Decker

I take it the game is on the disc, but not the DLC? Is that not what your understanding of the situation is. That seems pretty normal. Most Deluxe editions have the DLC as a download. Plus, of course the second set of DLC isn't out yet and won't be for a while.

Anyhoo, I saw that there was a free 2.5 hour trial for PS Plus Premium, so I downloaded and checked it out. I quite like what they've done with it. Their detective gameplay, the Mind Room, or whatever, works better than the similar one in Sherlock Holmes games. I'm pretty impressed so far. Strongly considering grabbing it now on PSN while it's 20% off (Regular and Deluxe). Physical media isn't that important to me with this game, and the digital copy will save me quite a bit thanks to Costco 10% off PSN currency (and no sales tax).

Most horrifying thing so far? Saga performs autopsies without gloves.

Dan

The game director (not Sam Lake) tried to clarify on a gaming forum, but made it worse.

Basically, he said the only download needed will be the second DLC and any other game patches that come out after the discs are pressed, which makes sense. But he also said that he shouldn’t have said anything because it’s not settled yet. In particular, Xbox discs have lower capacity than PS5 discs.

The rest of this is nerd shit: This goes back to the Smart Delivery stuff where Xbox, in their infinite wisdom, mandated that all discs must be compatible with the original Xbox One, which didn’t have a UHD drive. So that means the discs are 50gb max AND typically only contain the Xbox One version of the game, because they expect people with the Series X to just download the enhanced version. The version stuff doesn’t apply to this game because there’s no Xbox One version, but the disc capacity is still limited because Xbox doesn’t do games on 66gb or 100gb discs. Theoretically, they COULD with this game, but that requires a change in spec that they’re just not going to do when physical disc sales are already such a tiny part of the market.

So the PS5 version is more likely to not need a separate download, but if the fully patched game + expansion ends up over 100gb — even if compressed — then it will. Xbox will either need two discs for the same amount of data, or one disc and a massive download, but nobody wants to put a game on two discs anymore. The base game is 85gb!

In short: they probably shouldn’t have even bothered

edit: though I agree with Decker. On PS5 at least, put the full base game on the disc and if the DLC doesn’t fit, include the DLC & future patches as a download tied to the disc being inserted in the console. On Xbox, there’s no easy solution for the reasons I outlined. It’s either two discs or a mandatory download just to launch the game. Not great.

edit2: at this time, the full game plus the first DLC is about 93gb installed.

RocShemp

At $80, I'd hope for something akin to the Baldur's Gate III deluxe physical edition, with everything included on disc (2 to 4 discs in the case of BG3, due to it's size).

Decker

OMG, this is me right now. Loved the Sage stuff. Now wandering back allies with Alan and it’s like zero fun. I’m getting lost and have no idea what I’m expected to do. Feel like getting this game was a huge mistake now. I assumed I would be gun ho on the Alan level to solve whatever cliffhangers there were in the first game, but instead it’s just meandering, boring and hard to see anything.

The Questyen

If you are not opposed to it I would just use a guide that's what I did.