Day 201 of posting a Daily Screenshot from the games I’ve been playing until I forget to post Screenshots

[agent_karyo@lemmy.world]

Beautiful screenshots! Too bad that it's going to take a while until it's released outside of the Epic store (on PC).

[cobysev@lemmy.world]

Epic just recently announced that they're never releasing it outside of their store. They're the exclusive publisher, so they have distribution rights, and their CEO Tim Sweeney is determined to snub his nose at Steam, even though Alan Wake 2 still hasn't earned back its production costs. It's a complete flop, but they won't extend to the Steam market to help sales.

Unlike other games, where publishers sign exclusivity contracts with Epic Games for a certain time period, Alan Wake 2 was actually published by Epic Games, meaning that Epic Games gets to decide what systems the game releases on. So it's not coming to Steam. Which means I'll never get to play it, because I'm never giving a penny to that awful store of theirs.

[massive_bereavement@fedia.io]

Should I play the first game before starting this one?

[mentaledge@sopuli.xyz]

You can. It's not necessary.

It ties a into stuff from Control a lot more, but even there you could play them in either order.

[agent_karyo@lemmy.world]

I read that article. I am in no hurry, I will speculate that it will eventually come to other stores.

[coelacanth@feddit.nu]

In my opinion, the reward for "doing the homework" is worth it. The Remedy games have become somewhat incestuous with their interconnected universe, but AW2 is - in my opinion - good enough that playing the preceding games first is worth the payoff. The only Remedy game I didn't play was Quantum Break, but that one is only tangentially referenced as they don't own the rights to the IP. Max Payne is explicitly referenced (though under a different name as Rockstar owns that IP) and having played Max Payne 1 heightened the enjoyment of AW 1&2 in my opinion.

Beyond that, the story of AW2 is a direct sequel to AW1 and while it's possible to play it standalone it will be somewhat confusing and a lesser experience I would say. The story also directly connects to Control, and having played that one first will again enrich your enjoyment of AW2. Plus Control is just a great game anyway.

[simple@lemm.ee]

100% disagree with the guy saying it's not necessary. AW2 is a direct sequel of the first game, if you don't at least watch a summary online you wont understand most of the story.

[walican132@lemmy.today]

Definitely. And play control if you want to get some extra references. I’m playing right now and this game is constantly putting a smile on my face. It’s great.

[mynameisatticus@lemmy.world]

It’s not required I’d say, but there’s far more of a Pay Off if you do. It, and its Spin off Alan Wake’s American Nightmare, lays so much of the ground work for the ideas seen in this one that the pay off is amazing to see

[mentaledge@sopuli.xyz]

They created an entire new character, who is just as new to the situation as a player who might not have played the first game, allowing a new player to step into the story quite smoothly, sight unseen.

Not necessary, is not the same as "it's worth doing". All "not necessary" means is that AW2 stands entirely on its own even for players who might not've player the first one, or Control.