This has been something I have believed for a while. Remedy has been a studio that has flown under the radar forever, but I truly believe that they are the best third person action narrative studio. Most people would give that crown to a studio like Naughty Dog or Rocksteady or other top tier studio.
Remedy outclasses them all while not receiving the acclaim or sales that those other studios have received. Alan Wake was a notorious underperformer due to a poorly timed release (it launched the same day as Red Dead Redemption). Alan Wake got good not great reviews even though it is one of the best games of last generation with one of the best characters and settings of all time.
Remedy released Quantum Break a few years later and that game received mediocre reviews and clearly did not sell incredibly well and was attached to a failing xbox one. The game is Remedy’s weakest game but is still a legitimately good game that still looks incredible today.
Remedy released Control last year and it was my Game of The Year for 2019. It is the best game setting this generation and is an absolute joy to explore. This game was yet another game that didn’t get the marketing it deserved and was likely a bit of an underperformer. The game recieved good not great reviews like Alan Wake.
Remedy is truly a special team. There isn’t anyone out there that makes games like they do, and their style is incredibly unique to them. Remedy has not been able to penetrate the mainstream bubble and never seem to be properly funded.
I hope one day they are able to gain mainstream success and find a larger audience, and hopefully get all the funding they need. They are incredible and are the best at making the “third person narrative” game that everyone clamors for, and are simultaneously one of the most overlooked studios.
I’ve absolutely loved their games since Max Payne 1. I hope they find the success they deserve but hate they are partnered up with 505. Still pissed at what they are doing with Control and now refuse to give them another cent for the DLC or re-release.
Being referred to as a lesser version of Naughty Dog is insulting.
I recently played through Alan Wake and while its age showed, the atmosphere was incredible.
Max Payne 1 and 2 seriously changed the way I looked at games when they came out. From the noir style to the incredible facial animations.
Control was my game of the year in 2019 as well.
I’m actually playing through Quantum Break for the first time now, just starting act 4, and I’m blown away with the amount of polish in the game. It’s a shame it didn’t get the shine it deserved. I think it’s more of a B+/A- game than the C+/B- critical averages it as received. The episodes are a bit iffy and the direction in them is subpar but they swung for the fences and hit a single there.
In a perfect world, Microsoft would acquire Remedy and they would never have to worry about a budget ever again.
Sam Lake is video game’s David Lynch and he’s up there with the narrative innovators of the industry with Neil Druckman and Hideo Kojima.
Are we talking about narrative or the gameplay in general? The gameplay in general is probably the weakest Remedy game. At least QB and Control had fun powers to mess around with but the flashlight mechanic in Alan Wake and the lack of interesting enemies made it a bore to play even on harder difficulties. I may go back to play it again someday since I still own it physically.
From a narrative perspective, I felt too much Stephen King influence and usually if I have no idea what’s going on in the plot, not even a vague idea even after finishing the game, it felt very forgettable.
Enemy variation is better than in any Naughty Dog game (big human, mini boss, flying vehicles tornadoes) and the twist with the flashlight made it hunting since you had to manage your inventory.
The story is more akin to Twin Peaks and a mix with some horror stuff. I don’t explain what happens but the plot is well thought out and had a great twist. Characters are charming and the atmosphere is unique. The game was supposed to get a sequel which it never got until… recently somewhat.
And I hate the Naughty Dog comparison.
Remedy stands for unusual storytelling.
(Time Travel, Mystery, supernatural)
Remedys settings are so much out of the norm and not found anywhere else.
Naughty Dog made Indianer Jones games and Zombie games. So the comparison is so wrong.
Also sayin something like they are a poormans Naughty Dog is just urrgh.
I don’t see them as the best. They have holes in their game. They come close but haven’t put it all together. What I believe they are is one of the most under-rated devs. When you look at their lack of commercial success in relation to other narrative driven AAA games, it’s disappointing. Sam Lake is one of my favorite story tellers in gaming. The imagination, creativity and art are all high level. They seem to get close but never seal the deal on gameplay.
Now that they’ve seemingly solidified their game engine and have improved their efficiency, would really like to see a big publisher give them a multi-game deal to see what they could pull off.
You’re entitled to your opinion, but it would be nice if you could elaborate it a little more. You said they’re the best 3rd person narrative studio but said nothing what’s so fascinating about that in their games. I’ve played all of the mentioned games, and even their best game which wasn’t even mentioned (max payne) and I like all of them, but still would claim the same thing. I agree they’re overlooked, as a studio and their output too. Quantum break is a great game, Control too, but their style is in a way weird. I can’t point to anything specific, but that’s how I feel. Anyway, I’m looking forward to replaying quantum break and control again on series x. I’ve played both of them on base xbox one so it should be amazing.
In my opinion they are the best original story tellers and easily the best world builders in the genre. Bright Falls and The Oldest House are two of the best settings I have ever played in a game. Their use of mixed media has been a bit mixed but when they nail it its unlike anything I see in games. Their lighting is gorgeous and their gameplay is legitimately fun.
Control was a great game. I may buy the Ultimate Edition on disc next year for Series X if they add in Ray Tracing since I didn’t play The Foundation and won’t play AWE.
However, I don’t see Remedy as the best third person narrative studio in the world. Remedy is great but Control did have a pet peeve of mine which is in so many damn games - too many notes and documents to read. Whether it was about the world, the lore or whatever, just too many. I stopped reading these “collectibles” years ago in games.
I would not be opposed to Microsoft acquiring Remedy as they’re in my top 3 but with the recent Epic deal, I don’t see it happening.
Never played Alan Wake and wish it would get upgraded for Series X. Quantum Break was a great 8.0/10 while Control was also a slightly greater 8.5/10 for me. Great developer but to me, they’re not the best in this regard. Remedy still makes great games though.
I can’t say I disagree, but at the same time it feels like they always get so close to absolute legendary status and somehow fumble along the way, just being great instead of godlike. The first Max Payne was revolutionary, exceptional, but they followed it up with a criminally short sequel that crippled the chances of the series long-term. Alan Wake was fantastic, but also a far cry from the initial dynamic open world ambitions, and the DLC cliffhanger plus that weak XBLA sequel didn’t help the franchise at all. Quantum Break had its hiccups, most importantly a rather unimpressive TV show inbetween. Control is an excellent game buried under a lot of odd stuff, like the timed exclusive PlayStation content, the technical issues at launch, the news of the next-gen upgrade only being free for those who buy the re-release and so on.
They could be doing 9-10/10 games one after another, creating franchises that could stand several sequels that expand on the incredible worlds they created, but they always seem to make a misstep or two that gets them just that little short of legendary status.
Bro I’m a huge Xbox fan but this is ridiculous. I’m still pissed Remedy waited until they were indie to put a decently reviewed game together in the last 10 years. They have always had the potential, and Quantum Break sorely needs a sequel to improve that foundation, but Remedy are not the best at anything other than being disappointing because their games almost have “it”.
I’m not sure there’s a lot of devs out there that really focus on these types of games, are there? Idk if you’d classify them in the same way, but purely from the standpoint of “third person narrative”, I have to think Rockstar is probably top dog with GTA/RDR, not to mention the smaller stuff they’ve worked on like Bully, Manhunt, LA Noire, and Max Payne.
Remedy is solid, but I can’t help but feel like the games they put out are often overblown in terms of hype due to their technical prowess. The storytelling falls flat to me a lot of the time, and I can’t say much is memorable to me outside of “wow that looked great!” or “that was a weird game!” I enjoy the games enough, but I don’t know that they’re up there with ND, Rockstar, or even SSMS if they can put out another title on the level of GoW.
