Alan Wake 2 is the reward for doing your Remedy homework, I feel. Like sure, the game is good enough that you can probably enjoy it if you just watch a story summary on YouTube and jump in, but it really has a different level of impact if you not only played the first one and Control, but are also familiar with Max Payne and Quantum Break.

I think what Remedy are doing is so cool and I'm glad they're getting the recognition they deserve. It's also a drop dead gorgeous game and a great advertisement for their Northlight engine.

Game of the year for me, despite having played BG3.