In an interview with Game Developer, Remedy’s Sam Lake and Kyle Rowley spoke at length about Saga Anderson, her importance in the story, and how the team went about creating this intriguing character.
27.10.2023 - 09:49 / rockpapershotgun.com / Saga Anderson / Alan Wake / New / Be A
You haven't even downloaded Remedy's Alan Wake 2 yet, assuming you're planning to, which means it's already time to start thinking about what you'll do once you've finished it. Apologies, the news beat is a cruel mistress and the present is always past, but in my defence, jumping irresponsibly around the timeline does make sense for a supernatural horror game that follows two characters through different dimensions.
Remedy's plans for the game include a chunky New Game+ mode, aka "Final Draft", which will hopefully arrive in late November, and two DLC packs, Night Springs and The Lake House. The first concerns Alan Wake's fictional in-game TV show, a homage to the Twilight Zone, while the second involves "an independent government organization" that can surely only be the Federal Bureau of Control.
Alan Wake 2's Final Draft NG+ mode unlocks a Nightmare difficulty setting and lets you start over with all unlocked weapons, Charms and Words of Power upgrades. Intriguingly, it also introduces an alternative narrative encompassing six new Manuscript pages and video content on in-game TVs, which is certainly a bigger draw for me in terms of NG+ offerings than the customary "we replaced all the rats in the first dungeon with arch-demons". There are also "a few other surprises", dot dot dot, and Remedy are putting together a Photo Mode, though it sounds like this might arrive separately to the Final Draft stuff.
As regards the expansions, Night Springs is tentatively pencilled in for late spring 2024, and sees you playing through episodes of the titular TV show as "several familiar characters from the world of Alan Wake".
The Lake House has no release period as yet, and sees you exploring a weird secret research facility set up by the aforesaid government spooks. It consists of two separate adventures and by the sounds of things, will star the main game protagonists Saga Anderson and Mr Wake himself. The research facility is built on the shores of Cauldron Lake, which features alongside Wake in Control's AWE DLC. Yep, this sure sounds like a crossover. The question is, will it lay the foundations for Control 2, announced in November last year, which Remedy's Mikael Kasurinen described as "a leap into the unknown"?
Woof, I'm seriously getting ahead of myself. Let's wind back the clock to Alan Wake 2 at launch. Katharine is reviewing it and is pretty impressed so far, pre-plotted evidence-matching sequences aside.
In an interview with Game Developer, Remedy’s Sam Lake and Kyle Rowley spoke at length about Saga Anderson, her importance in the story, and how the team went about creating this intriguing character.
Remedy Entertainment's revival of Alan Wake sees the developer bring back its winding, complex game about horror storytelling in a bold new way. Along with the return of the troubled, reality-bending writer, a new protagonist named Saga Anderson enters the horrifying and supernatural fray. But Saga's unique place in the main story pushed the developers to come up with a compelling way to structure the game's parallel stories and how best to portray the newest character.
The Oh Deer Alan Wake thermos has been sought after by franchise fans, but it has proven difficult to secure one. It was briefly restocked by iam8bit, but not many have managed to get one for themselves, as they have sold out in seconds.
The release of has been met with wide approval, praised for its strong storytelling and creepy atmosphere. Naturally, as a sequel to a game made in 2010, many wonder whether experience with the previous entries in the franchise is necessary to play or understand. Like many sequels, the story of directly follows the events of the first game, but the question of whether it's required to play other Remedy Entertainment games like is a bit more nuanced than a yes or no answer.
Fortnite Chapter 4: Season 4 has been one of the best seasons for Epic Games' battle royale in a while, bringing vampires, heists, and more to the game. But it ends this week, with Epic bringing players back to the Chapter 1 map for the next season of Chapter 4. Thanks to a new trailer released today, we know this throwback season is called Season OG, is a part of Chapter 4, and will be bringing with it a heavy dose of nostalgia.
The Manuscript Pages in Alan Wake 2 allow you to look deeper into the larger story happening in the game. These pages are scattered throughout the narrative, but some are well-hidden and hard to find in Watery.
Alan Wake 2 is a tale about the outrageous horror story Alan is writing, and much of it comes to life in Bright Falls because of the Dark Place. There are Manuscript Pages that you can find that detail significant parts of the story, and several appear in Bright Falls.
The Cult Stashes you find in Alan Wake 2 can be extremely helpful in keeping your supplies high throughout the course of your playthrough. There are several you can find while exploring Bright Falls.
Alan Wake Remastered has recouped its development and marketing costs around two years after it launched.
Instead of finding Manuscript Fragments for upgrades, the eponymous character will need to find Words of Power in Alan Wake 2. These Words of Power locations allow Alan to upgrade himself in multiple different special character trees. Each upgrade increases his strength in a different way — you can deal more damage, enhance your health, or make your weapons more powerful. It all depends on those Words of Power.
A good game over screen doesn’t just serve as a notice that you need to start over. In the survival horror genre, a well-crafted, properly terrifying game over screen should serve as a deterrent, ensuring you stay alive the next time to avoid seeing the bloody words ‘Game Over’ appear on your screen. And sometimes, like in Alan Wake 2, they could be so terrifying you never want to die again.
Arizona Sunshine 2, the sequel to developer Vertigo Games' well-received 2016 VR zombie shooter, is coming to PlayStation VR 2, Meta Quest, and Steam VR on 7th December — and there's a new gameplay trailer to accompany the news.