Honestly, people should give more credit to Remedy

[Zkuq]

Like 'em or not, but I think you've got to give them credit for doing things their way rather than the safe way. Of course indies to the same as well and probably even more so, but release high-budget games like Remedy's is still a fairly bold move. I think that's quite valuable in an industry that often tends to play it safe(r).

Personally I like their games, at least the few I've played. Alan Wake was definitely a memorable experience even with its flaws. Control was also memorable and quite different, even though I didn't feel like its gameplay quite reached its potential. Alan Wake II was way, way more polished than the first game, and generally better, but gameplay had certain design issues that became apparent if you did enough backtracking, e.g. if you were trying to really explore things properly, let alone try to collect everything. The story was also great and I'd say again very memorable, but I guess it's actually hard to remember things very clearly when the plot is quite a bit more convoluted than usual. I don't think it was difficult to follow, but remembering it isn't as straightforward.

I've also tried Max Payne, first the demo a really long time ago, then the full version maybe in the last decade or so. I didn't get very far in the full version though, because I wasn't committed enough to spend time making the game run more nicely with modern hardware (mainly resolution, if I recall correctly). I'd probably enjoy the game well enough, so I'm looking forward to playing it at some point.

I also own Quantum Break but I haven't had time to play it yet. I think it's currently installed though, should I want to play it.

Obviously I also want to play Control: Resonant as well, but I'm hoping for a GOG release and/or for the price to come down first. I kind of have to accept non-physical releases since PC is my main platform, but I'm generally less willing to pay the launch price for digital purchases.