Multi Alan Wake

[Tommy Boy]

I keep seeing Alan Wake 2 get nominated for a ton of game awards this year. I never played Alan Wake 1 and have no idea about anything about it, except for that it's supernatural and "its own beast". I was finally able to play Control last year for the first time (not realizing it's in the same game universe) and had a blast, up until I got to the Alan Wake DLC and had no idea what it was about. Despite that, I thought Control was an 8/10 - great story and really fun powers.

For those of you that played Alan Wake 1 - is it worth it for me to go back and play the game before I play Alan Wake 2? Or should I just watch one of those game cutscene movies that shows me all the story elements?

I loved Control and likely would enjoy AW2, but I think back to the time I almost played Mass Effect 2 before I played 1, and how terrible that would have been. I don't want to make that mistake here if I don't need to, but will totally skip AW1 if it's dated and going to be hard to get into

 

[GwJumpman]

Alan Wake 1 is a little bit of a slog (he's not a fast jogger and he gets tired if you jog too much) but I think it's a must if you want to play 2. There's just so much density to the setting they built in 2 and to get the most out of it you need to be aware of the events of the first game to be able to appreciate the game to the max.