Alan Wake was originally released on Xbox 360 in 2010. Side then even shared a ported and interconnected universe considering his story, but there was no sequel. Finally at the 2021 Game Awards, Alan Wake II was announced. That’s still a long way off, but a remaster of his Alan Wake of the original was created to appease fans, but also with the goal of updating character models and environments to take advantage of the power of today’s modern consoles. is. Alan Wake has never been on a Nintendo console before, so it’s an especially exciting time for Nintendo fans. So how does it work as a remastered classic on Switch hardware? The thing is, it’s absolutely capable, but unfortunately it’s missing a lot of what makes the game remastered in the first place.
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Alan Wake begins as the famous protagonist and celebrated author ventures into the sleepy town of Bright Falls with his wife to overcome two years of block as a writer. It is here that Wake experiences strange townspeople and living nightmares of faceless demonic people in a battle between light and darkness that comes directly from his own writings.Equipped with a gun and a flashlight. Wake intends to finish a story he doesn’t even remember starting. Each chapter of the game organically moves you to the next, giving you a genuine desire to know what happens next.
What was great in 2010 is still the same today. Little has changed story-wise, apart from some updated graphics and character models.The face models have been updated to more closely reflect the voice actors’ own face models. This update is definitely for hardcore fans and historians, as if you hadn’t played the original, you wouldn’t have known it at all. Otherwise, the voice acting and models look just as good as the original, not just in this remaster on other platforms. flows well.
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The weakness of this remaster lies in the details. Comparing his PC/console versions of the original and remastered, detailed improvements have been made, ranging from updated textures to small but impressive features like trees swaying in the breeze and other environmental movements. I’m here. In the Switch version, these details are almost completely lost. Textures look nicer, but generally look more on par with the 2010 version than remasters on other platforms. as well as most of the environment (other than the interactive ones). Given the fact that the remaster only brings FPS changes, redone cutscenes, visual effects, new lighting, and environmental details, it feels like the Switch model is missing a lot of the remaster’s differences. We got the models and cutscenes that were released, but the rest was left on the editing room floor. Switch owners will get many of the 2010 original’s blurry, hazy visuals, but now with an updated face model.
So, as an almost direct port of Alan Wake, I’m happy that the game itself works well. Controls were easy to manage and performance was solid. Using a flashlight to stun demonic shadow enemies and pairing it with a gun to stop them feels smooth. The action sequences create a tense and frenetic atmosphere, especially in the chaotic moments, but the mystery surrounding Bright Falls is genuinely intriguing. This is a psychological thriller that feels just as good today as it did then.
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Compared to other more powerful consoles, the Switch version of Alan Wake Remastered feels like a visual step backwards. The Nintendo Switch hasn’t struggled with it, but it had to make concessions. However, when compared to the original Alan Wake, the Switch port is perfectly comparable. It has similar gameplay and visual treatment to what we saw in 2010, which isn’t a bad thing, but you may not want to revisit it too often. Not necessarily a huge feat, but in the end it at least gave us another great way to play this awesome game.