Detailed Analysis - Environment & Collectibles
Environment - Bright Falls
Bright Falls, Washington. What looked to be a quiet but also lovely place to visit quickly turned into a nightmare for Alan back in 2010 as he found himself under pursuit by the Dark Presence and the Taken. During the day Bright Falls always felt safe but when the sun went down, the Taken were sure to follow with the dark howling in the night signalling their approach and always keeping us on edge. We never felt safe during the night in Bright Falls, even with a whole host of weaponry and the devs made sure to never let us forget it. In the previous game, we got to see many of the interesting sights in Bright Falls from Mirror Peak to the Anderson Ranch but we were never really allowed to explore to its full potential.
Now that we’re back in Alan Wake 2, the devs clearly made a list of things they would love to do better for this next chapter in the Alan Wake series. Expanding Bright Falls to the town, Cauldron Lake and the small extension Watery, Bright Falls feels very different from the last time we saw it as it seems the area has hit hard times and there is a fear about the town that is felt around every street corner. Fitting the nature of the horror story, Bright Falls feels much darker than the last time we saw it as if the light is being taken from the town to drown it deeper into darkness. Unlike the last time, even when you’re exploring the town during the day, there are many areas where the Taken still roam free and so close to the people so it feels like they are getting stronger and much less limited. Even as Saga walks through Cauldron Lake with the sun shining on her, as she descends deeper into the woods she finds the Taken waiting for her.
The town is sick, and Scratch is at the root of everything trying to break down its people and remove all light and hope from the town. Not only is Scratch's presence felt throughout every step, but the cult is never that far behind. Their mark is everywhere almost as if we've crossed into their territory and it feels like we are asking for a fight. The Cult is hidden, engrained throughout the fabric of the town and we always feel their eyes watching over us. Remedy massively overhauled Bright Falls to feature a few of the familiar locations we know, we can also see it's trying to open itself up to Saga as she plunges into the dark depths of the town's horrors.
Environment - The Dark Place
Not much is known about the Dark Place. The otherworldly dimension plunged at the bottom of Cauldron Lake is home to an ancient horror that hungers to be free and infect the world with its darkness. When Alan encountered the Dark Presence in 2010, he trapped it and himself in the Dark Place so as to save the town and his beloved wife Alice. Ever since then, Alan has been trapped in a sanctuary of sorts. Trapped in his writer's room, Alan has spent years trying to write a way out but the Dark Place is vast, it is empty and it vies to swallow Alan beneath the waves to keep him. His writer's room doesn’t have much as it is barren and completely cut off from the light. In his attempt to escape, Alan uses his writings to project himself into the Dark Place to find a way out from the vast darkness.
In a dark reflection of his home in New York City, Alan navigates the dark dimension that tricks him into thinking he is home but all the while he is nowhere near home. Taking inspiration from the real New York City the walls are littered with posters and graffiti to a larger extent and all with messages for Alan. All the while as Alan walks through the Dark Place, his fears come to the surface as we see Alice’s and even Scratch’s names on the wall, in this dark reflection of New York, never forgetting why he's here and what he's running from. While Alan may wish for company, he is never alone. The Dark Presence, a malignant entity, responsible for Alan's imprisonment hunts him seeking to destroy him all while the dark shades of Alan's mind manifest into dark shadows ready to destroy him if he comes too close. The Dark Place truly is what we would think of it, a dark pit full of nothing, seeking to destroy Alan and break his mind so that he falls victim to the darkness and becomes just another Shadow.
As Alan navigates this frightening world he comes across TV screens that seem to show him breaking down and frantically trying to get his words out, asking him to stop writing that they are in a loop that doesn't end. There is a modicum of hope. The Dark Place is malleable, a reflection of its denizens it can be changed in the most fascinating of ways. By finding story threads, Alan can change the Dark Place to fit with the genre of his writings all while unleashing new levels of horror that would shake anyone, but not Alan, not anymore. He has seen so much in the Dark Place and as he braves the nightmare, trying to find a way home he only has to realise that the only person in his way is himself.
Environment - Overlaps
Between the dying town of Bright Falls and the nightmarish landscape of the Dark Place comes the Overlaps. Small pockets where both worlds meet, these pockets of existence are like scars on the world as both Alan and Saga come across both instances in their respective missions. The Overlaps are where the Taken and horror of the Dark Place are perhaps strongest as Nightingale and Weaver drew Saga to the Overlaps before they attacked her. While the Overlaps themselves are interesting, perhaps what happens to them after Saga defeat a core Taken is what is most interesting. As Saga explores Bright Falls, much of it is submerged in water as if it is being swallowed up by the Dark Place and when the core taken in the overlap are killed the water recedes, giving life and hope back to the town as the Dark Place’s grip on the town is loosening.
Collectibles - Lunchboxes
During her investigation, Saga comes across many different objects in the town, all of which hold their own significant storytelling values. The lunch boxes are one such object. Alex Casey is a fictional character, written by Alan Wake for his series of best-selling novels. He’s also coincidentally the name of Saga Anderson’s FBI partner. A stoic and unimpressed man, he has a bit of a chip on his shoulder due to sharing the game name as a fictional detective. As part of a line of merchandising right, there was a series of Alex Casey Lunchboxes made that haven’t been made for some time but here they are in Bright Falls ready to be found. When Saga opens them she finds torn-up pieces of Manuscript pages, which on their own seem insignificant but thanks to Alan’s writings, Saga can strengthen her arsenal and power to fight the taken.
But who left the lunchboxes? That’s a question that while it’s not massively outright answered it does become pretty obvious. Rose Marigold. A huge fan of Alan Wake and his novels she was touched by the Dark Presence back in 2010. Seemingly recovered, Rose has not let go of her obsession with Alan Wake and even believes she is receiving messages from him, which given the nature of the Dark Place may not actually be a lie. Tearing up old manuscript pages and hiding them, she believes Alan has asked her to help the new hero of the story, Saga. While their narrative doesn’t get answered in this chapter of the RemedyVerse, the door is open for further explanations in the future.
Collectibles - Manuscript Pages
Returning are the manuscript pages. A staple from the last game, the manuscript pages Alan found in 2010 were based on a novel, “Departure” which he had no recollection of writing and they were pivotal in helping him combat the Darkness that was plaguing the town and now it’s Saga’s turn. Finding pages of a new manuscript “Return”, Saga finds the pages scattered throughout Bright Falls and tries to collect the pages to discover the full breadth of the horror story. Sadly however, their inclusion in the game yet again is purely contextual as they help to fill in a few of the blanks in a few character's stories but ultimately they don’t really lead anywhere as the horror story draws our attention away from these pieces of lore in favour of furthering the horror story.
Collectibles - Nursery Rhymes
Not only is the FBI the only Federal agency in town but so to is the FBC. As far as the public is concerned the FBC is just an obscure branch of the Government that no one knows anything about but their presence in Bright Falls is significant enough that we feel they know something more and in fairness they do. As they are well aware of some of the events in 2010, Wake also interfered with them back in 2019 and now they are in Bright Falls, preparing to weather the storm that is about to head their way.
While there are agents preparing to face the threat of the Taken, other agents have resorted to conducting interesting experiments. In an attempt to harness the power of the Dark Place, they have created nursery rhymes all over Bright Falls to warp reality, however, this doesn’t work how they plan. While the nursery rhymes are everywhere, the dolls needed to solve them are scattered, waiting for Saga to come and find them. As she works to solve the cryptic nursery rhymes she is confronted by various Taken and isn’t given much for her troubles. All we know is that someone is interfering with things they can’t possibly understand and if they are not careful, they will get innocent people killed.
Collectibles - Cult Stashes
The presence of the Cult of the Tree is everywhere. It is felt through every fibre of Bright Falls and this allows us many interesting clues as well. The Cult, in its nature, is essentially a spooky legend, created to dissuade people from going into the woods at night, lest they be hunted by the Cult. To make sure its members have plenty of supplies, they have set up cult stashes all over Bright Falls to make sure they can arm themselves. With each stash there is a cryptic riddle in order to find out how to open them and when they are opened, Saga can find a wealth of supplies but also strange messages. The Cult is clearly trying to dissuade people from entering the woods but why? If they are working for Scratch would it not make more sense for them to try and kill more people or turn them into Taken? As we discover near the end of the story, the cult's goal is less insidious than we once thought.
Near the end of the game, we are able to question one of the cult leaders, Ilmo Koskela. A respected member of the Watery community he is a man committed to protecting his people, which is where the cult comes in. The cult is actually a group of vigilantes dedicated to protecting the people of the town from the Taken. The murders that have occurred since 2010 were people who were all Taken and were simply killed to protect those not infected with the darkness of the town. While it’s a little far out, the messages in the stashes do support that as even though messages like “We Watch in the Night” and “The Cult is Everywhere” can be taken as threats, they can also be reworked as mantras to protect the citizens. Their storytelling value isn’t really important but much like the Manuscript pages, they are mostly contextual which is something Remedy is good at.
