Personally, I like a sequel that parallels the real world passage of time since the previous title. Alan Wake 2 realises every moment of the 13 year gap, and references it several times throughout the story, which added to the overall immersion. You really get a sense that time has passed for Alan, and that he has been trapped battling the darkness for all of that time.
When I first heard that you would predominantly be playing as a new character I was a little hesitant. My concern was that there would be a disconnect between the original and its sequel, would it ‘really’ feel like Alan Wake? But Remedy understood the brief. Saga has been written in a way that really allows you to connect with her narrative and goals.
The overall story feels very well written, by a team who really wanted to do justice to the characters and lore from the first game.
The NPC’s you meet during your journey are also fantastically composed. You really get a sense that they are established residents of Bright Falls and its surrounding locations. This is done well by filling the world with references to their existence, weather by laugh out loud commercials by the Koskela brothers or by observing an argument with two care home residents, one of whom simply refuses to wear clothes.
It is no real spoiler that the Gods of Asgard also make a welcome return, 13 years older and somewhat wiser. It felt like visiting old friends and I genuinely smiled during the scenes where we interacted. There were moments of joy but also a macabre veil of sadness. Again, they weren’t just placed there because they should be, they were woven into the story so impeccably that it just made sense.
AW2 achieves the same success as its predecessor when it comes to creating atmosphere and suspense and let me tell you, this game is scary. The anxious feeling of being in the woods as the sun set gave me the same unease that the original did and reminded me somewhat of the Blair Witch game. Weather in the heat of a battle, the moments before or even when nothing particular was happening, you were always half filled with a sense of impending dread. It is true that anticipation of death is worse than death itself, and the atmosphere here is perfect. There were also a few jump scares where things simply flashed up on the screen when you didn’t expect it, which were a bit on the nose but never felt that they were used just for the sake of it. There were genuinely a few plot twists that I didn’t see coming and I definitely gasped on more than one occasion going into the second half of the game.
Without any spoilers the events on the beach just after the point of no return felt like I was experiencing something I just wasn’t worthy of, like being cradled in a pair of reassuring and warm arms whilst having my brow stroked and being told ‘everything is good in the world’.
The live action elements were well performed and often allowed for me to place my controller down and simply enjoy watching them play out, although they were never overused.
There are 19 chapters in total. Essentially equally split between Saga and Alan, and you can switch between each character and play them in any order. This isn’t a simple ‘play through the same chapter as a different person’, they each have their own separate stories and locations which drove the other storyline forward. This allowed for two different playstyles and it was impressive to see how progression with one character forged the path of the other. I really felt a sense of urgency toward the end of the game, I couldn’t just stop playing and leave these characters where they were, I had to help! The amazing music score assisted in achieving this, and once again I found myself listening in full to the songs that would play at the end of each chapter. And whilst these were largely unknown to me (no Roy Orbison this time around!) I felt I needed those 3 minutes to breath and compose myself for the next episode. To recondition myself to the calmness that would now come albeit momentarily.
I wouldn’t say this game is as challenging as the first in terms of combat, and I rarely felt overwhelmed. A couple of points required multiple replays but that was more down to my bad inventory management than anything else. There was still the occasional panic when I was down to my last flashlight battery, and you certainly don’t want to be running around the woods without it, but resources are quite plentiful if you take the time to look for them, and I finished the game with several first aid kits and flares still in my dusty shoebox. Ammo was also never a real issue, although I never had enough to store any away and still found myself counting bullets after an enemy interaction.
The mind place is also a new addition to this sequel. It works as a sub menu location (although the game is not paused while you are in it!). Essentially you can review all collectables; manuscript pages, TV ads etc. here, but where this really engaged me was the case board. During your exploration you will speak with people/discover evidence that you will need to correctly place on the case board to allow you to create deductions and ultimately progress your mission. Again, at first I was unsure how this mechanic was going to work seamlessly alongside the play style but by 1 hour in I couldn’t wait to add new evidence to the board. Again, this isn’t just placed in the game because Remedy wanted something different, it is explained and expanded upon and essentially becomes a vital part of the story.
There are 3 main hub locations for Saga. Completing certain main story objectives resulted in the flooding to a particular area receding, allowing earlier inaccessible areas available for exploration. This provided an element of further discovery. Unearthing a number of different tools as you progressed also allowed access to certain locked/chained doors, giving more of a reason to return to previous areas and I definitely felt a sense of an expanding world when I could access parts of the map that had been locked for half the game.
Collectables make a return but are no longer all required for full completion. Instead, the manuscript pages simply added to the story. Replacing thermos flasks we have nursery rhymes and stash boxes secreted around the world. Each requiring some logical thinking to resolve. Sometimes the answer was contained withing the cryptic note attached, whilst some required you to go searching for a key or a hidden code. These always felt fresh and again their existence was smartly weaved into the story. The rewards for completing rhymes were charms; another new addition for Saga that added certain buffs to the game. But these also came at a price. Often, elements of the rhyme would bleed into the real world. You complete a nursery rhyme involving a wolf doll and obtain a charm as a prize, but here’s a real life wolf or two to battle for your troubles!
Anyone who has played Control (and if you haven’t I suggest you do!) will definitely get a sense of the FBC presence in this game. This gets more obvious as you progress through the story, but never enough to become lost if you haven’t played Control. Personally I loved how the two games overlapped and I really believed they existed in the same world. This is not always easy to achieve and again is a testament to the developers and writers love for their art.
I unlocked 58 of the games 66 achievements during my initial play though, and without looking at their unlock requirements. The lions share of these were story related or will unlock with general exploration.
When a game is this good I am often saddened when I have no real reason to replay/new game + the story. I know some players were annoyed with the original games collectable achievements but man, I would gladly dive back through the story once more. Fortunately, with the addition of new game plus you can now carry over your items and collectables (albeit not until you reach the first shoebox), which allows you to mop up any missing items/achievements. This mode also includes additional manuscript pages and videos, including what is being referred to as the ‘true’ ending for completing it a second time. Whilst I don’t need to replay for achievements sake, I am definitely very excited to, which is testament to the quality of game that has been produced.
If I looked hard for any constructive criticism there were a number of occasions where I would walking over a stone or log and enter a slow motion state while I transitioned back to level ground. Never game breaking enough for me to shut the game down and I never got stuck, it just happened more than I would of liked, but I eventually learned to avoid these obstacles whenever I could.
I allowed myself to be fully consumed by the lore and developing story. Being a completionist I spend close to 40 hours in my first playthrough roaming around gathering all items and collectables in each area before progressing to the next one. I certainly felt value for my money with this play time. In an age when games are often delivered so poorly or broken it was refreshing to play something that you could feel the love in. During my nigh 40 hours of gameplay I never once noticed any glitches or crashes, pop ins of scenery or other syncing issues, the game feels robust.
At the time of drafting this review it popped up in my TA feed that Alan Wake 2 won the TA game of the year tournament and I was overjoyed to see this recognition. Alan Wake 2 is without a doubt the best game I played in 2023 by far. It was everything I could of asked for in a sequel to a game I held so fondly in my memory. 13 years is a long time to wait for a sequel, but if that is how long it takes to do it as well as Remedy did with this, then I will see you in 2037 for the next instalment!
5.0