The Struggle of Accepting Your Limitations in Alan Wake 2

Caution: Spoilers ahead. It's recommended to play Alan Wake 2 before proceeding.

Although Alan Wake 2 is often captivating, there are moments that can be a bit uncomfortable. However, these aren't the wild and exaggerated scenes where cheesiness and tackiness merge with murderous intentions (you know the one I'm referring to). Instead, Alan Wake 2's humorous and peculiar moments draw inspiration from exceptional tales like Twin Peaks, utilizing absurdity and surrealism to enhance the human aspect of the story. It's when Alan Wake 2 becomes too serious that it becomes somewhat difficult to digest.

The feeling of near-goofy grittiness is truly encapsulated by a unique location known as the Oceanview Hotel. It exists in an alternate reality called the Dark Place and is not defined by its physical presence, but rather brought into existence through various forces, including the writing of Alan, our protagonist. His intention is to liberate himself from the Dark Place by utilizing its power, which has the ability to transform art into reality within the Dark Place itself and the real-world town of Bright Falls, Washington.

As you venture through the Oceanview, it undergoes constant changes. These alterations are a result of Alan's encounters with "echoes," which can be described as a combination of half-remembered story ideas, literature he has read or written, and glimpses of real-world events. Discovering these echoes enables Alan to create new scenes, reshaping the Dark Place to align with the narrative he crafts. However, his manipulation of the story takes a menacing turn when the Oceanview becomes a stage for a cult play, seemingly orchestrated by the cult itself. Gradually, Alan's inspiration unleashes a murderous rampage within the Oceanview, transforming it into a macabre setting, strewn with lifeless bodies, and drenched in a deluge of blood. It resembles the infamous Overlook Hotel, where elevators unleash torrents of blood through its corridors.

The sense of fear this gives off is lacking.

Frankly, The Oceanview comes across as amateurish. It stretches believability within a reality that has been completely reshaped by fiction and revolves around a neo-noir detective narrative centered on, and I emphasize this, a cult that idolizes Alan Wake.

The cringe is the whole point here. It has been noticed by others for quite some time now that the writer within the story, Alan, might not be all that great at writing. He may be popular, but his actual skill may be lacking.

Interestingly, the fact that Alan is a mediocre writer and that his mediocre writing reflects the mediocre world he finds himself in is a brilliant representation of the game's main conflict and its deeper thematic message. Alan has been desperately attempting to use his writing to escape the Dark Place for over ten years, but he just can't seem to succeed. One would think that after all this time, he would start to question why.

Alan Wake 2 revolves around the concept of dashed expectations and the realization that one's abilities may not measure up. Specifically, it delves into the realms of writing, video game development, and the creation of art in general. This theme is the focal point of Alan's profound journey, and it serves as the core struggle that Remedy Entertainment and lead writer Sam Lake grapple with throughout the entirety of the game. The cringe-inducing moments purposefully punctuate this message.

In the initial installment of Alan Wake, our protagonist finds himself in a conflict with his own success as a writer. Weary of traversing familiar ground with a recurring character, he takes the drastic step of eliminating his long-established protagonist, only to be immediately confronted by a creative block. In his pursuit of creating something fresh, he experiments with various genres and flounders precariously. Ultimately, he ventures to compose a narrative engrossing his own life experiences, drawing not just inspiration but tangible content from the real world.

In a manner true to Remedy's signature style, this aligns with the overarching narrative of Lake and Remedy's circumstances during that time. Alan Wake emerged as a departure from the successful Max Payne games, transforming into a tale centered around the writing process, the longing to venture into new and captivating territory in the face of past accomplishments, and the ensuing frustration and anger.

Applying this same approach to the analysis of Alan Wake 2 uncovers Remedy grappling with various internal conflicts. It is evident that the studio has devoted significant thought to this game, as evidenced by the spin-off title Alan Wake's American Nightmare and the "This House of Dreams" ARG blog in 2012, as well as the references to many components that would later manifest in Alan Wake 2, found in 2016's Quantum Break. However, 13 years is a lengthy span of time, and expectations were incredibly high. Could Alan Wake 2 ever live up to these expectations? Were Lake, his co-writers Clay Murphy and Tyler Burton Smith, and Remedy itself capable of realizing their envisioned creation?

Alan faces the exact same difficulty, and the game incorporates these fears in its best features. When exploring the Dark Place's New York, especially the subway stations, you cannot help but notice that the usual signs providing information about trains and cautionary messages now display excerpts from Alan's manuscript. Amidst these, there are some that reflect Alan's unspoken fears onto the surrounding world. They resemble the inner self-doubts of any creator, declaring, "You're not talented, anyway."

Furthermore, there are signs that take it a step further by urgently urging Alan to take one crucial action: "Cease writing."

It is evident that the writers are using the game as a platform to explore their own personal issues in real time. This approach is truly ingenious, as Alan avoids addressing these internal voices that are externalized. He simply chooses to ignore them, much like a Westworld bot disregarding inconvenient information in a photograph. Those criticisms that indicate Alan's lack of talent hold no meaning for him. It begs the question, how can a mediocre artist recognize their own mediocrity, especially when they have achieved so much success?

The game tackles these concepts by implicitly acknowledging that dwelling on these thoughts and analyzing them from an outside perspective only intensifies them. It becomes an interactive depiction of imposter syndrome on the screen, blurring the lines between the character, the player, and the game's creators. Am I embodying the talentless artist, or is he a reflection of myself?

By watching all of the Writer's Journey videos, viewers witness small clips of Alan writing in the Dark Place, which are hidden throughout Alan's levels as collectibles. These videos showcase the gradual decline of his character throughout the story. Although they may appear to be madness, they actually convey a coherent message. Alan's struggle to create art and his feelings of inadequacy are highlighted, ultimately leading to his acceptance of these challenges. After attempting for 13 years to escape the Dark Place through various unsuccessful writing endeavors (such as Alan Wake's DLC stories, The Signal and The Writer, and Alan Wake's American Nightmare), he realizes that his efforts are doing more harm than good. The phrase "Stop writing" is not merely his inner voice reprimanding him, but rather his own realization of the destructive consequences of his failures. Let's take a moment to revisit Alan Wake 1, where we learn that Alan's writer's block, his inability to meet his own expectations, was driving him towards uncontrolled anger, which was ultimately affecting his relationship with his spouse.

In the final video of the series, we witness Alan forgetting his own epiphany due to the Dark Place's influence on his mind, and he starts a new draft, repeating the same self-destructive and inescapable cycle he has been trapped in all along.

Alan Wake 2 delves into the complex themes of deserving success and self-doubt, alongside the internal struggle to create something profound and impactful. It acknowledges the inherent limitations of any creative endeavor, as it can never fully meet one's lofty expectations. This culminates in a pivotal revelation in Alan Wake 2, setting the stage for the intriguing "alternative narrative" in the upcoming New Game Plus mode. Despite its significance, neither Alan nor Remedy downplay this revelation in the present moment.

However, the pivotal change required for the story's resolution is Alan's need for a collaborator. In fact, as Alan Wake 2 concludes, it appears that he may require more than one collaborator.

The meta elements in the Alan Wake stories provoke curiosity about the process of creating both Alan Wake and its sequel, and whether Alan's journey mirrors that of Lake and Remedy. Alan Wake 2, despite its melancholic conclusion, presents a hopeful notion of Alan's willingness to collaborate with others. His partnership with Saga Anderson enables him to craft a satisfactory ending for Return, the story unfolding within the game. Moreover, the post-credits scene hints at future collaborations between Alan and his wife, Alice.

The game portrays Alan and Alice's relationship in a way that highlights Alan's dominance, both personally and artistically. Their joint endeavors, such as Alice photographing Alan for author endorsements, seem more like token gestures rather than genuine collaboration. It is only through Alice's artistic expression, as she metaphorically exorcises Alan from her work, that she finally reaches the artistic heights she has long desired. For them to achieve true artistic partnership and potentially save Alan's life, it becomes evident that Alan must undergo personal growth.

And that's precisely the crux of the matter. The notion that Alan is a mere hack appears to stem from the mindset of an individual in dire need of personal growth. After all, in the first game, Alan portrays himself as somewhat self-absorbed and obnoxious. However, it is throughout the course of that narrative that he undergoes a transformation, evolving into someone not only willing to face peril for the sake of others but capable of making self-sacrifices.

Nevertheless, Alan still has some maturing to do, as exemplified by the Oceanview Hotel—a place where not only do gruesome murders occur, but they are executed in such a ludicrously excessive and macabre manner that they border on the realm of campiness. In his narrative, Alan seemingly incorporates Saga and her family without giving much genuine thought to the repercussions this inclusion would have on them. It is Saga's intervention, rather than Alan's, that ultimately rescues her daughter, Logan, and her partner, Alex Casey (or so it is intended). Alan requires collaboration because others bring forth diverse perspectives that he needs in order to craft the art he yearns to produce.

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Alan Wake 2 challenges the popular notion of art, which often portrays a tortured genius single-handedly creating masterpieces through sheer willpower. This game takes a different approach, highlighting the importance of collaboration and the influence of relationships on our creativity and lives.

The story of Alan Wake 2 revolves around a mediocre writer who grapples with his limitations and strives to transcend them. It delves into the struggles faced by artists, such as imposter syndrome and the fear of attempting to create something exceptional, only to possibly fail. Perhaps Alan, and all of us, must learn to let go of expectations in order to achieve true success.

Editor's P/S

Alan Wake 2 is a game that is both fascinating and frustrating. On the one hand, the game's exploration of Alan Wake's struggle with his own limitations as a writer is both compelling and thought-provoking. On the other hand, the game's execution of this theme is often heavy-handed and cringe-inducing.

The game's most cringe-inducing moments come when Alan Wake is confronted with his own mediocrity. These moments are often played for laughs, but they also serve to highlight the game's central theme of dashed expectations. Alan Wake is a man who has always believed in his own greatness, but the events of the game force him to confront the possibility that he is not as talented as he thought he was. This is a difficult realization for anyone to come to terms with, and the game does a good job of conveying the pain and frustration that Alan Wake feels.