They are super great watches/listens. It's such a shame Argo and Robert fell out. I really wish we could have seen them collaborate again, they were both so instrumental to making Disco.
If gameplay is your concern then AW2 is miles ahead of the first game. It's a very competent survival horror game in its own right, on top of all the Remedy stuff.
If you didn't like the story then, well I dunno. It's not like it gets less convoluted.
It's not happening. Alan Wake 2 was not just a regular Epic exclusivity deal. Literally every other publisher refused to touch the franchise. Epic didn't just publish it, they fully funded its development. Given these circumstances, I can't imagine it ending up on Steam in the foreseeable future - if ever.
If you can't allow yourself to hold your nose and make an Epic account just pirate it at this point. It's an absolutely phenomenal game and not worth missing out on over attempting to show Tim Sweeney the middle finger.
I don't remember if I've recommended them to you already, but the 41st precinct podcast episodes with Martin Luiga and Argo Tuulik are also fantastic for more insight into both the times growing up and playing tabletop with Robert, as well as the making and writing of Disco itself.
There are 2 pretty massive Alan Wake easter eggs in Quantum Break actually! Sam Lake and co were working on ideas for the sequel in the background even when the publisher weren't interested.
Also I think the integrated TV show in Quantum Break taught Remedy a lot of valuable lessons for live-action work, that you can say they then perfected in Control and (especially) Alan Wake 2.
AW2 is worth it. Don't deprive yourself of the experience, it's a memorable one. I understand the hoops though, but trust me it's worth holding your nose and getting an Epic account. It's still to this day my one and only purchase on Epic, and I don't regret it one bit.
All that makes sense with Disco Elysium. Also I'm sorry about your eye, that must be an awful thing to go through. Very understandable with the eye fatigue and reading though. There is a lot of it, even after the voice acting update.
As far as heavy themes and all, I can't say much without spoiling stuff but I will say this: the game somehow does strike a strange kind of balance where it ends up feeling oddly hopeful, even in the face of nihilism. It slightly depends on how you play it, granted. The Communism playthrough for example is a lot more hopeful than the Fascism run (although the latter is also very interesting and doesn't play out the way you'd think).
I struggle with depression and self loathing and being unable to move on from the past and have struggled with addiction in the past, and Disco Elysium is one of the most cathartic experiences I've had in any medium of culture.
Is Returnal as hard as they say? I've heard good things, but I've also heard it's incredibly unforgiving and hard. I'm a little scared I won't be able to finish it.
Glad I didn't stay up for that. Felt kind of... meh? I haven't gone through and watched all the trailers but not a whole lot of announcements that made me really excited. Felt like the last couple of years were much more stacked in terms of reveals and trailers.
I wish more people realised this. Alan Wake 1 sold really poorly, but Sam Lake and Remedy had really really wanted to make a sequel forever and literally no other publisher would touch the franchise. They tried to talk Microsoft into it but got funding refused and had to make Quantum Break instead.
Epic was their only chance to get to do their passion project, it's not like I can blame them.
That's pretty much where I'm at too. Though the "Indie Award" has always had similar problems before, such as the Dave the Diver debacle. But even though you could technically argue E33 is an indie it felt really wrong to have it up against something like Blue Prince in the indie categories. E33 had a huge budget with A-list actors ffs.
I think you're spot on about Alan Wake, it has a cool story and some good ideas but feels pretty clunky to play. The sameness of the levels doesn't help, either. American Nightmare plays well if you can overlook the low budget of being an Xbox Live Marketplace game. Plus it has some cool manuscript pages and lore elements and Ilka Villi absolutely slays as Mr Scratch in the FMV clips. Very interested to hear your thoughts on AW2. For me it's by far the best game Remedy ever made, and probably in my all-time top 3.
Shame you're not clocking with Hellblade, it's a game I really enjoyed but it does have its shortcomings. For me all the elements kind of worked, and even though the puzzle mechanics weren't amazing I allowed the game to be carried by the concept pretty far. The whole "seeing patterns where there are none in reality" being another manifestation of psychosis was neat. Also if you do want to finish it, the game is very short so there is probably less of it left than you think if you want to push through. I did personally like the ending, but maybe not worth it if it's not clicking.
What made you bounce off Disco Elysium before? I agree with you that it's probably the best game of all time, but I also do see people bounce off it frequently. Always interested in hearing people's thoughts on it.
Looks like a meme template almost.