Summary
Alan Wake 2is masterful in its presentation. The sequel’s visuals are terrific from a fidelity standpoint alone, but where they become truly unique is in the blur of mixed media and how surreal environments can be while interacting with the Dark Presence. Much of the sequel delineates itself from the original and, even thoughAlan Wake 2is only marginally more thrilling than its predecessor, there is a great deal of similarity between them that is a boon for fans of the first game. The sequel is also not framed like an episodic thriller anymore, but one feature deserved to return in some form.
Indeed,Alan Wakecenters on a famous author, but the game itself is structured like an eerie TV show. Episodes are bridged with transitional sequences and a ‘Previously On…’ segment before leading into the following episode. This made sense due to how the story was presented, and whileAlan Wake 2was structured differently, it is odd that the game that could’ve taken advantage of such a feature the most chose not to include it. Rather, instead of having a ‘Previously On…’ segment between episodes, it would’ve been appreciated ifAlan Wake 2had one in the menu for anyone uninitiated with the 13-year-old game.
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Alan Wake 2 Doesn’t Have an In-Game ‘Previously On…’ Feature
Some sequels have taken to including a brief, cinematic recap in their main menus as a way to instantly catch players up to where the story is, particularly for players who have not played the previous games in a franchise or have an incomplete memory of them. Even games likeGod of War Ragnarok—whose predecessor isn’t nearly as old—have had a story recap in the main menu.
The fact thatAlan Wake 2doesn’t, especially whenAlan Wake’s narrative events and conclusion are relatively convoluted, is a strange oversight. It’s not likeAlan Wake 2tries to retcon or dismiss the events of the original, either; the sequel leans on the original heavily in order to explain where Alan has been for the last 13 years, how Bright Falls has changed in over a decade, and what Alice’s fate was.
Alan Wake 2 Only Answers So Many Questions Between Its Dual Protagonists
Players thankfully don’t need to remember every fleeting detail aboutAlan Wake’s characters and interactions to try to comprehend what is going on in the sequel, but with every question answered there is another question asked. It would’ve been nice to have a brief recap to rememberwho Thomas Zane is, who the Old Gods of Asgard are, who Sarah Breaker is, and so on.
On the other hand,Alan Wake 2not having a meta-indulgent recap keeps the game feeling present without relying too much on the original game’s iconography and popularity, which is impressive due to Saga’s sequences largely taking place within familiar locales such asCauldron Lake and Bright Falls. Maybe the story wouldn’t have been presented any clearer than it already was, and since Remedy even takes a jab at its own “It’s not a lake, it’s an ocean” line inAlan Wake 2, it’s possible that rehashing those events any further outside the context of the sequel would’ve been cumbersome and unnecessary.
Players instead get to relearn what happened to Alan at the same time that Saga learns about it for the first time, and Alan’s patternable trek through the Dark Place’s New York City reveals to him what has happened to the world around him. Of course, an effort was made beforeAlan Wake 2’s release to catch players up, but this was done through external promotional and marketing means—an official Remedy YouTube video recap, as well as anAlan Wakecollaboration inFortnite.
Because the sequel ends in a cloudy position almost identical to the original, it will be interesting to see ifAlan Wake 2’s The Lake House and Night Springs expansionsattempt to bridge those gaps any further. In any case, Remedy’s shared universe may become a lot more complicated as it continues to evolve, and a recap here and there would be a warm welcome in each entry.
Alan Wake 2
WHERE TO PLAY
A string of ritualistic murders threatens Bright Falls, a small-town community surrounded by Pacific Northwest wilderness. Saga Anderson, an accomplished FBI agent with a reputation for solving impossible cases arrives to investigate the murders. Anderson’s case spirals into a nightmare when she discovers pages of a horror story that starts to come true around her.Alan Wake, a lost writer trapped in a nightmare beyond our world, writes a dark story in an attempt to shape the reality around him and escape his prison. With a dark horror hunting him, Wake is trying to retain his sanity and beat the devil at his own game.Anderson and Wake are two heroes on two desperate journeys in two separate realities, connected at heart in ways neither of them can understand: reflecting each other, echoing each other, and affecting the worlds around them.Fueled by the horror story, supernatural darkness invades Bright Falls, corrupting the locals and threatening the loved ones of both Anderson and Wake. Light is their weapon—and their safe haven — against the darkness they face. Trapped in a sinister horror story where there are only victims and monsters, can they break out to be the heroes they need to be?
