Triple Creature Feature 11: Alan Wake 2, Dino Crisis, Signalis

Alan Wake 2

Monsters wear many faces. Alan Wake returns in this survival horror game following the writer who continues to face psychological horror beyond anything imagined in his books.
How long is Alan Wake 2?
When focusing on the main objectives, Alan Wake 2 is about 19 Hours in length. If you're a gamer that strives to see all aspects of the game, you are likely to spend around 32 Hours to obtain 100% completion.
Platforms: PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S
Genres: Third-Person, Action, Horror, Survival
Developer:Remedy
Publisher:Epic Games Publishing
NA:October 27th, 2023
EU:October 27th, 2023
JP:October 27th, 2023
Alias:Alan Wake II

Dino Crisis

Your most primal fears grab you on this new journey into survival horror from the creators of Resident Evil and Resident Evil 2. Suspicious and terrifying... the world's most renowned scientist has disappeared and you've been recruited to investigate on a mysterious, remote island. Suddenly, out of the mist appears a predator, which has haunted mankind's imagination for centuries... experience the pure terror!
How long is Dino Crisis?
When focusing on the main objectives, Dino Crisis is about 6½ Hours in length. If you're a gamer that strives to see all aspects of the game, you are likely to spend around 10 Hours to obtain 100% completion.
Platforms:Dreamcast, PC, PlayStation, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5
Genres:Third-Person, Action, Survival
Developer:Capcom
Publisher:Capcom
NA:August 31st, 1999
JP:July 1st, 1999

Signalis

A classic survival horror experience with a unique aesthetic, full of melancholic mystery. Investigate a dark secret, solve puzzles, fight off nightmarish creatures and navigate dystopian, surreal retrotech worlds as Elster, a technician Replika searching for her lost dreams.
How long is Signalis?
When focusing on the main objectives, Signalis is about 9 Hours in length. If you're a gamer that strives to see all aspects of the game, you are likely to spend around 13½ Hours to obtain 100% completion.
Platforms:Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Genres:Top-Down, Action, Horror, Puzzle, Survival
Developer:rose-engine
Publishers:Humble Games, Playism
NA:October 27th, 2022
EU:October 27th, 2022
JP:October 27th, 2022

I've played all 3 and I've only beaten 1 and that's Signalis. It's the only one from this list I enjoy. It and Tormented Souls are the best recent horror games.

Dino Crisis 1 may sound like RE with dinos when it's really just running away from dinos with lots of adventure game puzzles. It's almost funny there are people who remember DC1 being an awesome game and the ones who played are so lukewarm on it. It almost always invitablely ends with, "Dino Crisis 1 is an ambitious but boring game and 2 while simple is just way better".

Alan Wake 2 is a game that just annoys me upon it's mention. It took over a decade to come out and it's just an experimental indie walking simulator that has combat that wants to be a modern RE game. I wouldn't mind it so much if it wasn't made by Remedy. I never thought they would ever make a game with a protracted prologue. I just stopped playing it after a few hours. I know getting furthur into it would lead to a sunk cost fallacy.

I remember when Alan Wake 2 dropped, it quickly became one of my favorite survival horror games to this day. It really captures that Silent Hill vibe, and I’m glad I jumped into it when I did. What a wild ride. Totally a one-of-a-kind experience. Funny thing is, I played it without having touched the first game. But honestly, I think that’s fine, they do a decent job dropping hints and context from the original, so you’re not totally lost. Hope you all have as much fun with it as I did!

On another note: I’ve had Dino Crisis sitting on my emulator for nearly two years now. Been meaning to get around to it, and maybe now’s the time. Also been eyeing Signalis for a while, it looks super interesting, but I might hold off on that one for now.

Such a shame the original Dino Crisis ended up being more about puzzles (and not even good ones, just the same type that gets increasingly more annoying the further you progress) and less about survival horror, it starts off quite strong, also with the cheesy voice acting and everything. If there is one Capcom game that truly deserves a remake, it's absolutely this one. The sequel has shown that it's a lot more fun as a braindead shoot'em up, but I'm not losing hope of getting a genuinely good survival horror with dinos.

Such a shame the original Dino Crisis ended up being more about puzzles (and not even good ones, just the same type that gets increasingly more annoying the further you progress) and less about survival horror, it starts off quite strong, also with the cheesy voice acting and everything. If there is one Capcom game that truly deserves a remake, it's absolutely this one. The sequel has shown that it's a lot more fun as a braindead shoot'em up, but I'm not losing hope of getting a genuinely good survival horror with dinos.

Dino Crisis 1 was coined by Mikami as panic horror than survival horror but since the game wasn't all that good the term never stuck around. It's kind of amazing how every attempt at distancing itself from Resident Evil made it worse than that very game. Dino Crisis 2 hilariously enough was more in line with the "rollar coaster" mindset than the first game.

Dino Crisis 1 wasn't marketed it as "survival horror"

Here are two official ads literally marketing Dino Crisis 1 as survival horror:
https://www.mobygames.com/game/2822/dino-crisis/promo/group-62394/image-787834/
https://www.mobygames.com/game/2822/dino-crisis/promo/group-62394/image-691715/

Also Signalis is great. One of the best horror games in recent years.

I don't have bad memories with Dino Crisis (except for the painful backtracking towards the end) but I have to admit it was a long time ago. So why not replaying it?

Signalis is a fantastic game but I probably won't replay it. Even 2-3 years later my memories are pretty neat.

So I guess it leaves me with Alan Wake II, which is kind of ironic since I didn't really like the first game. We'll see.

Enjoy everyone!

Dino Crisis has been on my radar ever since seeing the iconic European cover art at a childhood friend's house and I'm really down to join this if I can. I only recently found out that it's available on GoG as well and I don't even have to emulate it like I always thought I would.
But I am playing Silent Hill 2 currently and I don't wanna play both survivial horror games in parallel. So I'm gonna hope I can squeeze both games into October back to back.

- Matt

I don't really have any interest in Dino Crisis or Alan Wake 2, but I did end up getting Signalis since it's on sale, it seems neat. I probably won't get to it for a bit, I may not finish it this month, but I'll definitely get around to it and post my thoughts here when I do. It seems a little inspired by Resident Evil which are some games I've been really enjoying recently.

I have finished Silent Hill 2 yesterday and started Dino Crisis today.
Played for almost 3 hours in my first session and the initial impression is a bit unsure but intrigued. Coming straight from Silent Hill 2 might also not help with that. lol

I don't like the map system much and the inventory limitations became apparent so quickly, it's wild. Like all the vintage survival horror tropes came in hard and quick with this one.
The dinosaurs also seem tough as fuck right from the get-go and since all combat is ammunition based in this game, I could see myself being softlocked really easily. I've already run extremely low on worthwhile ammunition. Doesn't help that there is emphasis on combining items to craft new ones all the time, which I don't care much for anyway.
I can't at all say if I'll actually see this through to the end but I'll give it an honest shot. Seeing the dinos roam around is still very cool and I'm looking forward to what they'll do with that throughout the game. It's a fun deviation from the usual zombies, ghouls, and abstract nightmare creatures that roam these classic survival horror games so often.



- Matt

What a great triple feature.

Alan Wake 2 is one of my favorite games of the last 5 years and my GOTY for that year. I 100%ed it which isn't something I normally do. Its about to release onto PS Plus and I'm happy to have an excuse to replay it.

Dino Crisis is a game that I never got to play originally. When it came to GOG, I bought it and gave it a shot. I found it a little frustrating with the ammo scarcity and level design. I gave up on it but maybe I'll go back and try again with a guide this time.

I've heard so much positive about Signalis. As a lover of the genre I've been meaning to play through it. I have a copy, just need to give it a shot.

What a great triple feature.

Alan Wake 2 is one of my favorite games of the last 5 years and my GOTY for that year. I 100%ed it which isn't something I normally do. Its about to release onto PS Plus and I'm happy to have an excuse to replay it.

Dino Crisis is a game that I never got to play originally. When it came to GOG, I bought it and gave it a shot. I found it a little frustrating with the ammo scarcity and level design. I gave up on it but maybe I'll go back and try again with a guide this time.

I've heard so much positive about Signalis. As a lover of the genre I've been meaning to play through it. I have a copy, just need to give it a shot.

My experience with Dino Crisis fits exactly with what you're describing.
It's not like I played that many classic horror survival games, but Dino Crisis seems one of the tougher ones in terms of combat and resource limits to me.
Definitely in part because there are only ammunition-based weapons. So once you're out of the very few bullets that are around, you are genuinely incapable of fighting.
Of course there is a focus on choosing your battles wisely, evasion over killing. But those dinos are also beefier than what I'm used to from like Silent Hill or whatever. lol
I probably would have done easy difficulty if I knew beforehand.
And I agree that the level design is kinda frustrating. Even with the map, it's incredibly easy to get confused because the room layout is just so messy.
I'm probably gonna start looking at walkthroughs soon. I've been playing for about 5hrs now and found my way through points of progression pretty well so far, but I'm stumped on what I'm supposed to do right now.

It does have some fun puzzles and cool action sequences. But I also find the game to overcomplicate systems to an unnecessary degree with things like the item crafting, inventory storage, and door locks.

- Matt

Alan Wake 2

So ps+ came out so just picked up Alan Wake 2

Just went down to the lake and found the body. Met the witnesses and the waitresses said that my daughter died although I just talked to her

So the writing is rather cheesy if I say guess that's by design. Bit too early to call it though as not much had happened although I do like the idea of the mind cases ATM. It's easy ATM but I hope they actually make it a series of puzzles

My experience with Dino Crisis fits exactly with what you're describing.
It's not like I played that many classic horror survival games, but Dino Crisis seems one of the tougher ones in terms of combat and resource limits to me.
Definitely in part because there are only ammunition-based weapons. So once you're out of the very few bullets that are around, you are genuinely incapable of fighting.
Of course there is a focus on choosing your battles wisely, evasion over killing. But those dinos are also beefier than what I'm used to from like Silent Hill or whatever. lol
I probably would have done easy difficulty if I knew beforehand.
And I agree that the level design is kinda frustrating. Even with the map, it's incredibly easy to get confused because the room layout is just so messy.
I'm probably gonna start looking at walkthroughs soon. I've been playing for about 5hrs now and found my way through points of progression pretty well so far, but I'm stumped on what I'm supposed to do right now.

It does have some fun puzzles and cool action sequences. But I also find the game to overcomplicate systems to an unnecessary degree with things like the item crafting, inventory storage, and door locks.

- Matt

I can also +1 this experience. Granted, I only played for about an hour last night, but I feel like I got enough of the gameplay loop to understand how the whole experience might be. I checked a guide to try and get a sense of how much progress I'd made, and it made me realize how much I'd missed because I didn't inspect the exact right spot on a shelf or pile of scattered documents. It's like a pixel-hunting point-and-click, except you constantly have a linebacker tackling you out of your chair and only two band-aids. It's impossible to backtrack anywhere without getting hit at least once by a dino, so backtracking often feels like both a waste of time AND resources, especially when you don't even know what you're looking for.

But I'm still invested, weirdly enough. Maybe I'll watch a longplay instead of playing it myself.

In the meantime, I think I'll focus on Signalis. Already played Alan Wake 2, and I highly recommend it for anyone on the fence. Meta satire has been done to death, but I think they found some fresh ways to mess with the player's sense of reality. If there's enough time left in the month after everything I'm planning on playing, I might do the DLC.

I just finished Signalis and got the Memory ending. I actually beat it last year on the Switch. This year I double dipped and bought the PS4 physical and played it again. Love it! Probably my favorite horror game. It's like those older Resident Evil/Silent Hill games, but from a top-down perspective and tank controls... that you can turn off!

I think a point of contention for some people with this game will likely be the story. To summarize with very little context: it can be a little confusing and unsatisfying. But I feel like that's sort of the "horror charm" with the story, and that's kind of why I love it. It's not satisfying, there's still loose ends that aren't solved and will never be officially solved. The mystery is what makes replaying it still fun for me.

Just finished Signalis, and here's my quick recap:

Pros:
Interesting setting and characters.
Enjoyable puzzle mechanics.

Cons:
Abstract, open ended story left me very unsatisfied.
Enemies respawn - which for a game that needs a fair amount of backtracking, is really not fun.

8/10 for me. Above average but not spectacular.