Remedy’s latest full-blown survival horror Alan Wake 2 is certainly much darker than its predecessor. The visuals alone made me pause the game many times just to soak in the extraordinary artistic approach that’s honestly a technical treat for the eyes.
But there were more than a few things that bothered me throughout my playthrough regarding its narrative, not least of all my realization that Alan is a terribly dull and neurotic writer and that Saga is the true protagonist.
This Is Saga’s World And Alan Just Lives In It
I grew up loving the X-Files and devoured every episode that lifted the lid on all things supernatural and unexplained. While playing through the first part of Alan Wake 2 as Saga, I could see similarities between her and Dana Scully – both initially matter-of-fact and dogmatic, but their intensive approach to investigations and their ability to keep the viewer engaged is what really drew me in (while her co-agent Mulder was as interesting as a limp piece of toast on a rainy day – quite a lot like a certain Alan we all know).
Thankfully, Remedy didn’t allow Alan to dominate the entirety of the game this time around and even though I’m so grateful for this, it was still too much Alan and too little Saga. Saga is without a doubt the better protagonist of the two and, just in case you hadn’t cottoned on by now, I didn’t overly enjoy playing as him. Alan’s narrative feels kind of empty without Saga’s to piggyback off.
He’s overbearingly boring, clumsy, and so annoying that I think my eyes have permanently retracted into my skull from the number of times I had to listen to him harp on in ridiculous, ill-formed sentences like “Saga was back at Cauldron Lake. He was there too. Nightingale. Was, but wasn’t. A Taken. A creature of darkness“. Also, give it a rest about the bloody lake that’s not a lake, Alan. Take a breath!
Now, before you jump down my throat, I understand that Alan is on the verge of a constant mental breakdown while battling supernatural forces in the Dark Place, and of course, there’s empathy there for him, but Alan Wake 2 is, at its core, Saga’s story. She’s cool and level-headed when it comes to unraveling mysteries in the midst of learning about her own dark past and her weapon upgrades surpass Alan’s by quite a bit. Although they are both equipped with upgrades to their arsenal, Saga’s weapon upgrades are rarer due to uncovering lunchboxes with fragments in them, and she also has five guns to choose from, while Alan has only three.
For example: Saga’s pistol has a 12-bullet magazine by default which is double the capacity of Alan’s revolver, and she’s the only one who can add Fluid Motion to her Sawed-Off Shotgun which increases the reload speed (if you’ve used this weapon, you’ll know how important it is to get those bullets out fast) Saga also has the most impactful weapons in the game like the Hunting Rifle and the Crossbow, and once they are upgraded, boy do they pack a punch. Alan’s iconic Flare Gun which is unique only to him coupled with the Double-barreled Shotgun, on the other hand, isn’t partially lethal, although good at defeating the Shadows who are enemies of Wake’s that appear as normal people but with blurry shadows surrounding them. If you found those pesky shadow creatures tricky to take on, you’re not alone as our features editor Rob Zak threw down some words about the game’s dodgy combat, and how it fails to match the tactility of Remedy’s other games. Fighting Shadows in Alan’s segment really highlights these limitations.
When it comes to who takes the lead regarding the best mechanics, you’ve guessed it, Saga comes out on top for me. I much prefer playing as Saga than as Wake because the character interactions are more rewarding, and I love the exploration side with her, from looking for lunchboxes to the experience of connecting all the dots with her in the Mind Place like a true detective. Saga’s side of the story leans into crime investigation, with clever puzzles to solve around sinister environments that just work well for this type of narrative coupled with engaging dialogue that didn’t bore me. Her Mind Place is also far more aesthetically pleasing with its cozy Bright Falls decor that feels like a scene ripped from LA Noire compared to Alan’s malevolent Dark Place.
Give me a gritty and dark narrative, something along the lines of X-Files meets True Detective – allow my imagination to do the work. I didn’t need to be beaten across the head in a boss fight for 20 minutes by a scary naked dude or listen to Alan struggling to string together more than six words in any single sentence to enjoy this otherwise enjoyable mind-bending metanarrative – mostly thanks to Saga.
Alan Wake 2
- Franchise
- Alan Wake
- Platform(s)
- PC, PS5, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X
- Released
- October 27, 2023
- Developer(s)
- Remedy Entertainment
- Publisher(s)
- Epic Games
- Genre(s)
- Survival Horror