Detailed Analysis - RemedyVerse
FBC - World of Control
Back in 2019, Remedy released Control. An action-adventure game soaked in sci-fi elements which focuses on Jesse Faden. After spending much of her life searching for the Federal Bureau of Control, she finds herself fighting against an evil force, the Hiss. The only one who can resist the Hiss’ control, she is made director of the FBC and sets about restoring the FBC and being a different type of director. In 2020 Hesse ventures to an abandoned department of the bureau that has been taken by a darkness mixed with the Hiss. Jesse sets about finding a way to fight it and also comes across information on Alan Wake, an author who has been missing for 10 years by her time. Fighting, Jesse discovers that Wake allowed the Hiss into the bureau all so it would create a baptism of fire for the hero of a new story he was writing. When Jesse defeats the darkness, the bureau reports an occurrence but not for 3 years into the future.
Since then the FBC have taken control over a large portion of Bright Falls to try and find Alan Wake and contain the darkness coming out of Cauldron Lake. In charge of this assignment is Kiran Estevez, a by-the-books but also likeable FBC agent she is in Bright Falls to figure out what is going on and put a stop to it, but she was sent with a half-baked briefing and very little knowledge of what she’s meant to be fighting against. Bright Falls is at the centre of what the FBC call an AWE (Altered World Event) and the Clicker is an “Object of Power” that they’ve been sent to secure. While it’s not significantly clear if Faden sent them as the Esteves references that FBC HQ (The Oldest House) has gone dark, Jesse has likely spent 3 years in there unsuccessfully trying to open it up to the world, something she and Alan have in common. The FBC still have a larger role to play in Alan Wake 2 as there is a promised DLC entitled “The Lake House” which is another FBC facility set up in Cauldron Lake. Last Estevez saw it was overrun by the Taken with no survivors so it seems like once again, Saga and Alan will be heading into yet another horror story.
Another excellent detail to add is the inclusion of Ahti. A friendly but odd janitor in Control, Ahti proved to be an invaluable asset to Jesse as she worked to defeat the Hiss but also appears as much more. While his motives thus far have been nothing but benevolent there is a secret beneath his exterior that is no close to surfacing. When last we saw him, he gave Jesse a cassette with an “Old Gods of Asgard” song that helped her on her mission and then he went on “Vacation”. 3 years later, his vacation has brought him to Bright Falls where he is familiar with a few of the residents and has taken up residence. Normally this wouldn’t be all that shocking but incredibly, Ahti has also found his way into the Dark Place where he appears as an ally to Wake in his quest to escape the Dark Place. In the end, even though we don’t know his motives or true purpose, Ahti has access to knowledge and secrets that help Alan and Saga defeat the horror story in ways that we couldn’t fathom. What Ahti has to do with the future of the Remedyverse is unknown but it’s clear that he has an important role to play in the future and I for one am looking forwrad to finding put more.
Breaker's Investigation - Quantum Break
At the very start of Saga’s investigation, she discerns that the 4th ritualistic victim, Robert Nightingale was not only the victim of a heart removal but also she suspects that there is something that was put in its place. Meeting with Sheriff Tim Breaker she makes her way to the morgue where after reaching into Nightingales' chest she finds a manuscript page. Tim recognizes the page and tries to give Saga a binder full of them that have been found over the past few years but before he can, he disappears. I hesitate to use the word taken as it is used so often through these writings but there isn’t really another word for it. During Saga’s story, Breaker is again nowhere to be seen but during Alan’s story, he takes a supporting role in his story. Trapped in the Dark Place by the talk show host Warlin Door, Breaker has been trapped there for a while for an amount of time we can’t discern but long enough that he has established safe spots and placed supplies in key areas. While Tim is stuck in the Dark Place he has not been idle, he has been trying to figure out as much information as he can about Warlin Door and whatever he can remember.
Interestingly, Tim is also remembering things that might not be from him solely. Tim’s fascination with a red-haired woman is curious but is also steeped in the Remedy-Verse. Shawn Ashmore who portrays Tim Breaker is no stranger to working with Remedy. Portraying the main protagonist for the 2016 game Quantum Break, Jack Joyce was allied with a character named Beth Wilder portrayed by Courtney Hope, another actor accustomed to working with Remedy. Like Shawn Ashmore, Courtney Hope has portrayed more than one character in the RemedyVerse with the 2nd character being Jesse Faden, director of the FBC. It’s already been established that Alan has been reaching out from the Dark Place to other places that could hold the key to his escape, what we maybe didn’t fathom before is that he is also reaching out to different worlds, world beyond his world and the Dark Place and somehow Tim must be receiving fragments of the world beyond ours. While some might not see the point it’s actually Remedy’s next step in connecting all their games into a universe, following suit from the likes of Marvel, Star Wars and many other media franchises trying to build a universe and while these attempts might be tired, Remedy has built a foundation of trust and respect with its fanbase and has met our expectations many times and it’s exciting to see what comes next.
Door's Monologue - Connections to the RemedyVerse
Warlin Door is a very curious man. Introduced to us as just a talk show host, part of Alan’s delusions in the Dark Place. While Door himself doesn’t seem to be anything other than an illusion we know something is not quite right as he is directly responsible for taking Tim Breaker with his stoic image being what we see as Tim disappears. He appears several times throughout Alan’s attempt to write Initiation and he doesn’t seem to be of any relevance beyond Tim’s investigation. As we progress further through both Alan and Saga’s story, more and more questions seem to pop up revolving around Warlin Door. So who is this man/ Is he just an illusion, another victim trapped in the Dark Place or is he something more? Not much is known about the cheery-looking talk show host but the facade comes to a close as Alan begins making his final Draft of Initiation. Appearing in Door’s studio one last time, Alan meets Door as he emerges from the darkness, absent his notable smile. Dropping any past pretenses Door finally seems to have lost his patience with Alan.
While you wouldn't know it just going off his face alone, you can tell that at this point, Door is thinking of Alan as just a child breaking things. It's actually quite sobering when Door mentions just how unnecessary the loops Alan has been going through are showing Alan truly doesn't understand the nature of the Dark Place. The purpose of this seems to be a bit of a scolding as he continues to criticise Alan's carelessness, peeking into doors, trying to take what he needs and now it's endangered someone important to Door. As we've gone through the story we have found that Door is not only linked to Alan but to Saga as well. Even more interesting is that there is viable evidence to suggest Door may be Saga's missing father. Through conversations and info garnered from manuscript pages, there is reason to believe that Door may be Saga's missing father but he might also be much more. Door exhibits knowledge and a limited amount of control over the Dark Place and it would take someone discipline and time to garner that, with Alan having limited control over the landscape after 13 long years.
While we don't know what he wants or what his goal is, you can bet it won't be long until we find out. As Door leaves he gives Alan a final warning, play his role or stay out of his way. Whatever Door might be planning is hard to determine as we have very little info on who he is and perhaps more importantly what he is. It's not even confirmed if he's Saga's father but there is reason to believe this is the case. Whatever Door has planned it probably involves both Alan and Saga and it might not end well for either of them. What we do know is that Door represents a binding agent for the RemedyVerse, someone who might be the missing variable in linking everything together but the payoff for this will likely take time as future story DLC is not planned for a good few months but whatever the payoff is, I get the feeling it's gonna be brilliant.