Chapter 1 - An Overdue Return
In the pleasant, reasonably well-kept living room of my small, comfortable home, I sat down on the sofa with a warming mug of strong, milky coffee and booted up my Nintendo Switch. As the main menu flashed into existence before me, a new icon caught my eye. It was bold in its simplicity; a name encompassed the otherwise black image, with a silhouetted man standing within the capital letter ‘A’, flashlight in hand. The name was instantly recognisable, yet I hadn’t seen it in what felt like years. It was Alan Wake.
My mind was instantly thrown back to the year 2010 when I was a scrappy 21-year-old holding down a part-time retail job while just starting what would ultimately be a fruitless three-year course at university. I remembered that Alan Wake had been released on the Xbox 360 to critical acclaim, and the game itself had a strong impact on my life. It starred a seemingly ordinary man — the titular protagonist and writer — who embarked on a desperate search for his missing wife, Alice, in the small mountain town of Bright Falls. He soon discovered that the town held dark secrets and a penchant for the supernatural.
It wasn’t your average action-adventure game. Split into chapters and presented as if it were ripped straight from the mind of its own hero, Alan Wake had flavours of Stephen King and Twin Peaks in equal measure, and this resonated with me deeply, ultimately shepherding the game into my top ten of all time thanks to its remarkable ability to tap into my own passion for quirky horror. It was the combination of this and the slick, intuitive gameplay that made Alan Wake a firm favourite among 360 owners, but, besides a PC release in 2012, the game was ultimately doomed to remain on a single home console.
So why is it here? Why is the Alan Wake icon on my Nintendo Switch? I had to know, I had to find out. Ah yes, Alan Wake was remastered for modern platforms in 2021, making its way beyond the Xbox ecosystem after its developer, Remedy Entertainment, broke away from its partnership with Microsoft and teamed up with Epic Games to launch a revamped version of the game. It also, to my delight, included the two extra DLC expansions: 'The Signal' and 'The Writer', making this as much of a complete package as I could hope for.
Nevertheless, I felt apprehensive. Would it live up to the memories that resided in my mind? I took a deep breath and entered the world of Alan Wake on Switch.
Chapter 2 - Visual Nightmares
I woke up on a deserted road, the darkness of night creeping in. A lighthouse stood in the distance, fog gliding through the air. As I gazed at the environment around me, a feeling of deep concern grew in my mind. The world looked the same and yet wildly different. The fauna looked softer, almost muddy, with jagged edges. Trees that once swayed in the wind now stood motionless, like cardboard cutouts dotted around a cheap film set.
I looked down at my own body and gasped in horror. The same effect that was warping the environment had apparently affected me too. My arms looked as if they were built by Lego and my clothes jittered as I moved my limbs. I ran my hands through my hair. It too had lost its lustre and I could only imagine how bizarre it would appear to an outsider looking in.
As I progressed through the town of Bright Falls in what would ultimately be a 10-12 hour search for my wife before the credits rolled, I was horrified to discover that the visual downgrades I stumbled upon at the beginning of my journey appeared everywhere else. It was even more apparent during the day when I would encounter friends like my literary agent, Barry Wheeler, along with new faces like Carl Stucky and Deputy Grant. They looked blurred, their faces obscured not from the dark presence that would befall many of Bright Fall's inhabitants, but from a Nintendo Switch port which, somehow, makes them look worse than they did a dozen years ago.
When I faced off against the Taken — the plight of Bright Falls and my primary enemy during my journey — the visuals became even worse to the point of almost becoming incomprehensible at certain points. How I made it through alive is beyond me.
Chapter 3 - Necessary Compromises
Yet somehow, I did make it through. Despite the jarring filter that had been applied to my vision, I was still able to face off against my enemies, a flashlight in one hand and a gun in the other. It felt easy to aim and when those moments occurred where I did need to run away, it at least felt smooth and comfortable; if I were to put it in a different way, I’d say that my frame rate ran consistently. Take from that what you will.
The audio also sounded exactly as I’d remembered it. Manuscript pages dotted around the environment would kickstart a burst of narration from yours truly, and the residents of Bright Falls are all charismatic and endearing in their own way. Music would inexplicably play in the background as I faced off against the Taken, yet its presence made the moments all the more intense, spurring me on to reach my dear wife, Alice. Between chapters, licensed music from the likes of established legends such as Roy Orbison and up-and-comers Old Gods of Asgard would bring comforting relief from the exhausting treks through the darkness and fog.
It was the same experience I’d remembered from all those years ago, then, but it looked severely downgraded. A byproduct of the lesser hardware found in the Switch, perhaps, although I had hoped for so much more. Still, something in my mind told me that newcomers to the experience probably won’t notice all that much, or simply won’t care. After all, the visual flaws, as disheartening as they are, felt ultimately like necessary compromises to ensure stable performance for this remastered version on Switch.
As the credits rolled on my time in Bright Falls, I exited the game feeling satisfied, yet with an intense longing for a more visually pleasing experience; one that I knew was already available elsewhere.
Epilogue
I put my Switch aside, my experience with Alan Wake finished. As I sat and allowed my thoughts to marinate, I came to the conclusion that, even with the visual drawbacks present on the Switch, it nevertheless felt like a complete package, with steady performance throughout, and controls that felt natural and intuitive. A welcome return for a literary icon, even with some significant imperfections.
I turned to grab my mug of coffee. It was gone.
Conclusion
There's absolutely no doubt that Alan Wake Remastered looks pretty terrible in places. There have been some severe drawbacks to make this game run competently on the Switch: the swaying of the trees, while hardly a defining feature on paper, actually played a huge part in shaping Alan Wake's visual identity and atmosphere, and now they're static. The game plays exactly as you remember with consistent frame rates throughout and intuitive controls, but if you've played Alan Wake Remastered on a different platform, then you need only apply if you're a hardcore fan of Remedy's creation. Newcomers, however, should definitely consider checking this out if the Switch version is your only viable option, and if you can accept the considerable visual compromises.
Comments 67
So Alan Wake...Demastered?
I might consider getting this next Halloween if it's on sale. I've always been interested in the Alan Wake series myself for being a horror game with a big focus on story and this seems like a passable enough port (though I'll probably get it on PC over anything else if I'm looking for the best experience).
Also, I really want to see this 'solid, stable performance throughout' in action because from what I've seen online, this port is anything but.
So, I'll buy it at sale in 6 month time, when it's patched and ready to be played.
I hope it gets patched soon because those visuals are the scariest part of the game. I mean, I wasn't expecting Xbox series or Ps5 quality but as it stands now, even the 360 version looks better! Way better in fact. Muddled textures, still trees, almost no real time shadows cast from your flashlight, the list goes on and on! Still a great game but really looks like crap.
Just beat chapter 1 yesterday and yikes is the performance rough, which is even more laughable considering how old it is and all the excellent ports of much newer games released this month. Got it ridiculously cheap so I don't feel robbed or anything but it's best to avoid it until a patch is released
N needs to get that Switch2 out.
Who is buying these smeary poorly performing ports?
And yeah; it should at least look/run as good as the 360 version or even the old PC version.
Yea, what do you expect? To be on par with Playstation.
The rumored switch 2 will also have a shocking downgraded visuals apart from first party of course. No need getting your hopes high.
So it seems I'd be better off finding a used XB360 version for 5 bucks.
This almost looks like a scrapped Wii port 😆 I also loved the way this review was written up. Very well done.
This game needs patches. Also Switch Up already showed the frame rate is all over the place as well on top of the huge visual downgrade.
If it was just visuals as the issues I would buy, but they need to improve the performance.
The screenshots in the eShop look super clear. It is utterly disgraceful of Epic and/or Remedy to deliberately deceive customers in this way.
@EliSweetG Seeing as this is a remaster of a 12-year-old game that was released on other platforms just last year, we decided to have some fun with the format here.
If you're after a standard review of the remaster, I can recommend a couple here:
Pure Xbox Alan Wake Remastered review
Push Square Alan Wake Remastered review
Was interested, then saw some gameplay, it looked bad. Not RE Revelations 2 on the Vita bad, but still, far worst than it should. When you look at Alien Isolation on the Switch next to this, you'd think they were on a different system. A shame, as I'm yet to play this and I like the genre, but the Switch port does not seem to best place to initially.
I don't understand...The Switch is supposed to be as powerful, if not more, than the Xbox 360. Why did this need to be downgraded?
@ChaoticIgnorance Probably the same reason Dark Souls Remastered on Switch doesn't deserve the "Remastered" monicker: Lazy third party porting 😞
An Xbox360 era game has no reason to perform so badly on the Switch. It lacks attention or talent on the developers/publishers side.
@EliSweetG The reviewer wasn't trying to sound cool. If anything he's parodying the style of Alan Wake. Lighten up.
I bought it for ridiculously cheap because they made a mistake in the Mexican eshop, listig it as 23.99 MXN which is about 1.2 EUR. So I played it out of curiosity (it's been since the 360 version that I got late in that generation that I last played this game), and if you WANT to and allow yourself to enjoy it, nothing will keep you from enjoying the Alan Wake game entirely on a handheld. If you want to hate it, and allow others their opinions to make you hate it, you'll find reasons to, and probably wont give it a chance anyways. As with almost anything almost anywhere at almost any time for almost anyone. I'm enjoying it, and it was definitely worth what I paid for it. Which is nearly nothing, but still, it's worth a low price for a low effort fun experience.
Gyro patch, some visual upgrades, and it's arguably good, even. The game is good and it runs fine, without cloud.
Wow, that's surprising, I didn't think it was a very demanding game. I get over 4 hours of battery life on Steam Deck with Alan Wake Remastered with graphics at max settings, and that's about typical with an older PS360 era game like this, even if it's a remaster.
Hopefully this means Switch will get a performance patch soon, it's a great game to play portable.
I have it on XSX via BC (digital and I have an old copy somewhere) so I'm good.
"Classic"...
sigh.
What I heard the last couple of days over the DF reviews of no man’s sky and Mario vs rabbids on nintendolife is that potability and gameplay are the only thing which matters. And now today all of a sudden Alan wake sucks because it looks like trash. Where was that same energy the last couple days. The inconsistency around here is mind blowing.
Well there is some consistent hate. Hate EA. Hate Activision. Hate Digital foundry.
I’ll give it a go on switch. I still have the original on my xbox360 anyway. I will wait on a patch though.
Considering I only have a switch I might still get it on switch. Hopefully they fix some of it’s problems.
Bought it yesterday and I'll buy it again if a physical version comes out. Can't wait until the second game releases too. I'll have a Series X by then.
I'll wait for a patch. i.e. I'll wait, forget about it and never end up buying it.
@Purgatorium haha same
@sixrings Probably something to do with the fact that the two games you mentioned are significantly more modern and ambitious. It's not surprising that Rabbids and No Man's Sky are pushing the Switch. Alan Wake is gonna be 13 years old in February and there is literally no reason for it to look the way it does. Like for real, this is an embarrassing showing for the developers of this port.
People will unfairly blame this on the hardware, and will conveniently forget that we just got some good ports such as Nier, NMS and Persona 5. This is definitely an example of lack of optimization.
Alan Sleep amirite?!?!!
Loved the review - never played the game, but I can totally see how the way it is written fits its style.
Having said that, the game sounds really good. Pity that they couldn't be bothered to port it correctly.
@KryptoniteKrunch At one point do we admit the switch has performance issues? Even first party games have problems.
It's a system that requires alot of sacrifice just to get a stable performance. I love the switch, but ill admit the trade offs just arent worth it sometimes.
Too much blurry and small resolution in handheld/undocked mode, so... Playing and enjoying this game in undocked mode - it's impossible. Hard pass for me. And hard pass for Switch Lite users as well, I think...
@Indielink Rabbids 2 is a downgrade visually though. In order to achieve a bigger world, it had to trade in the artstyle of the 1st game for a more flat one.
That's not ambition or pushing the switch. It's a dev recognizing the hardware limitations and having to streamline everything just to make it work.
Yeah I think I'm well over third party switch ports, the system is kinda crap now. Will likely only be playing switch exclusives until the next model, which for me is not a lot
@GoshJosh Even if some things aren't as pretty as the first Rabbids game it's still a much larger and visually more dense world with a lot of effects happening. Going for a more open world with a free camera is ambitious and pushing the Switch.
Alan Wake shouldn't be pushing the Switch at all and for some reason it looks and runs worse than the original release on much older hardware.
@EliSweetG well I, for one, enjoyed the charm of the review's unique format.
@NintendoByNature it might help if games were released playable on day one? I don't know. I ain't no fancy game dev or anything.
So, more like Alan Sleep on it...
It sounds absurd but I couldn’t see myself playing with static trees, how they animate is a HUGE part of the experience as people who’ve played it already would know.
I’m glad this port made its way to Switch, September-October has been stacked for the system. I never did get around to playing Alan Wake, I think I’ll just play it on Gamepass for now as it’s getting tiring having to always “settle” or “compromise” when it comes to Switch ports. Hopefully the game gets patched in the future!
@Slowdive If I recall they did the Genesis collection which i literally couldn't play due to input lag.
@Purgatorium and I'm no mathematician, but your numbers check out to me. So frustrating.
The Switch is looking like the N64 these days with all the blurriness and fog.
Here we go again with the downgraded visuals on switch talk. Just another reminder that the switch is like a senior citizen. Old and useless. Hey Nintendo fans your gaming machine is a prehistoric turd! So sayeth Nintendolife!
For a site called Nintendolife you'd think you guys would be a little more positive about Nintendo. Instead you're always reminding us how we are the bottom feeders of the gaming industry still clinging to yesterdays fan base. Poor Nintendo. No respect at all anymore unless we are talking about first party.
Trying to imagine what it would be like to be only able to play games looking the best they possibly could. Do you just set fire to your old consoles the day a new one comes out? Throw your PS4 into the sea, your GBA into a volcano, your SNES into the sun? Do you become incapable of enjoying a game made in 2017, 2010, 2000 or 1992 because it doesn’t have ray tracing or run at 120fps?
I like new games. I also like old ones. Often, neither is perfect.
Wait, What? Really? Even my old office laptop from 2015 (with an ancient GTX 850m) can run this game with reasonable settings and a stable framerate.
@Truegamer79 I sure hope you're a troll.
@Truegamer79 I agree with you mate. For a site that's 99% positive news, that 1% of negativity is just too much.
@Truegamer79 "Poor Nintendo"? The company is worth over a billion dollars, I think Nintendo will be fine.
@Truegamer79
He's not wrong about these visuals. They're definitely not the best the Switch has to offer. The recent ports of Nier: Automata and Persona 5 utterly puts ports like this in a less-than-stellar light. It's still a playable version, but it just feels like they dialed it all down to make it run and called it a day.
@Rpg-lover
You do realize that this is a 360 game right? And this "remastered" version for the Switch is worse than that.
@Discokuningas don't get me wrong. I know it was released on the 360 and it's the porting team that messed up, however, knowing how Nintendo acts they'll still not learn from their mistakes. Watch them release another console with the same story over again (downgraded).
@Truegamer79 We're not talking about downgraded visuals to be mean to the Switch or Nintendo (which is an inanimate object and a multi-billion dollar company respectively, by the way), it's a fact. They've been downgraded. You want us to lie about it?
@vicviper001
Nah i wasn't trolling. I'm just sick of the constant reminders about switch being an old dog that needs to be put out to pasture. This site seems to love beating that dead horse.
I'm sure if they keep it up the switch pro will be announced next week.
If this goes Physical with patched up graphics...I'm down. The price is really appealing. (cough with NMS?)
so it is worse than the OG on 360. wow. the fact that the framerate drops as low as 12fps is insane, no wonder why it shadow dropped in the eshop, it is just a bad port
@Olliemar28 Well props to you for having some integrity and being honest about it. Don't let people like that bother you.
Considering bayonetta was a 360/PS3 game and runs really well on switch, this is a little bit of a joke. Alan Wake is up there as an all time classic game experience but somehow it's worse 10 years later. C'mon guys ...
@Fizza The game is very much a Stephen King inspired story.
Not much of body horror and gore you will find but a great atmosphere.
Also the game that ignited my love for Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds so there is that.
Well, for 1 us dollar that it costed me, I can ignore all those cons.
Playing it on Steam deck right now. Such a great game. May pick it up for Switch if it gets a cart release.
Wow thats ugly!! Worse then PS2 graphic, who will buy this mess?
@Truegamer79
Cry some more. The Game looks worse then PS2 graphic, you need to get new glasses cry baby.
@RasandeRose How likely is a patch? I was interested in this game as far back as when I had a GameCube, but no way am I buying this mush. 🤷🏼♂️
@ga3tr0n
They should just do it like with that Ark-game. Scrap this version and make a new one from scratch. This version seems just o be too far away from decent for a couple of patches to fix it. It's probably a mess.
How the !"#¤ can it be a downgrade to a game that was released on a console that's 18 years old!? It makes no sense.
I have never played Alan Wake on any system until I got it for the switch. I don't care if the trees aren't swaying. This reminds me of comments I used to read on the Usenet that people would complain that Mortal Kombat on the SNES wasn't any good because the ears on the elephant weren't flapping in the background. Who cares? You can still fight and rip people's heads off.
I have only finished the third episode and I picked it up for 14.00 and I am perfectly happy with my purchase. This is a fun game. I'm a big fan of the Resident Evil series nd it is not nearly as good or even close to it, but if you are an action/adventure fan and can get it cheap, pick iot up.
The one gripe I have is the "Bug" when you are trying to reach the top of the mill. If you don't make it and drop the pallet and will block the stairs. There is no way past it. You have to start the episode over again. Other than that, I like this game a lot.
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