Alan Wake & Control: The Complete Timeline (What You Need to Know to play Alan Wake 2!)

[@SuggestiveGaming]

Tell me what you’d like to see me cover next!

[@clarencej4730]

Tekken or maybe another fighting game if you’re brave enough

[@TerranPersoid725]

“Amnesia”, please! I love that franchise, and would love to hear you talk about it.

[@geotb07]

The full story of Max Payne

[@Pandajo]

MORTAL KOMBAT!!!!

[@Pandajo]

POKÉMON

[@Arealdruid]

It is really cool how Control tied it all together. There was something about the marketing of Control that made it seem like just another generic shooter/puzzle game when it came out, and I had a terrible PC, so I had just written it off for years. I ended up getting it free and just added it to my "Games that I own, but am never going to play" list. Eventually I got a nice gaming PC and wanted to test it out, so I finally downloaded Control. I played it for a little while just admiring how good it looks, and soon found myself immersed in the world. After I finished it, I was just kind of sitting in shock that a game I had written off as something that I didn't think looked fun ended up being one of my favorite games ever. Control is kind of an imperfect masterpiece. The gameplay loop can get a little stale, but the world they created constantly drives that desire to uncover more, and when you finally uncover everything the game has to offer, it throws in the curveball and connects to a world outside of itself.

[@yggdrasil4986]

⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠@@alphamineron It’s cool if you want to support a multi-million dollar company, I’m sure they love it. However, telling others what they should do with their money is just rude. Obviously he had a hard time even buying a good PC, supporting a big company might not be at the top of his priorities. Just saying.

[@TetsuShirenai]

​@@alphamineron It's very clear what you're implying, you're not subtle. Just incase you genuinely don't understand what's wrong, your comment sounds very condescending. Starting a question with "Don't you think you should" makes it sound like you're expecting a specific response from someone. Then following up with "It's your choice but *_I_* did that and more" makes you sound like you're trying to make them feel bad for not spending their money. It's fine if you didn't mean it to come off that way, just saying that a lot of people interpret it like that.

[@dormantlime215]

@drobon3w962 For me, I had known about Alan Wake and seen the game played through- but had the exact same experience with Control as OP did. The marketing was not good, grabbed it for free (the epic game store itself posted it as a free game); never got around to playing it. Heard about Alan Wake 2, got hit with the Harald of Darkness bit while watching some game clips- immediately booted up Control and snagged a duo sale copy of AW2 + AW Remaster. Everyone I've talked to about Control wrote it off the same way- the marketing felt like some generic puzzle game with a ray tracing showcase. It's good to see so many people revisiting things.

[@collinhalverson4681]

@drobon3w962 Same! I'd beaten Control before and started Alan Wake but never finished it, but that performance and hearing that AWII is more survival horror set me on the path to finishing AW and beating Control again before playing the AWE DLC. Currently more than halfway through Control now. Can't wait to play AWII.

[@DJFIRESTONE92]

I had a super similar experience except for it being alan wake. I got it as a free download back in the day. I wasn't super excited about it, and then it gripped me

[@SomeRandomGuy2112]

I’m sorry but the subtle shot of Optimus Prime in the power plant at 40:32 is absolute comedic gold. “Alan crosses a yard of transformers” this is not getting enough credit for how good it is.

[@vzerby]

Cool fact that wasn't included: Sheriff Sarah Breaker is an Agent of the FBC and her Night Spring codeword she shares with people is a network of other Agents. The reason they're stationed there is because of the events of Cauldron Lake in the 70's left lots of Altered Items as well as lots of AWE (Alter World Events) being traced at Bright Falls constantly. You can find proof of this in Control in a memo, Frank Breaker was a retired FBC agent that did regular reports and then had his daughter take over.

[@VanitasSentiment13]

Is it the AWE DLC or base game

[@Magicman1625]

The crazy thing to me is when your playing The Signal DLC in Alan Wake if you find Sarah's cutout it's all about her leading a double life. They were hinting about this years before Control was even made 🤯🤯

[@drakenfist]

@@Magicman1625 The fuck!. Wow!.

[@Jupiter9999]

AWE DLC Alan Wake Expansion

[@Magicman1625]

@Jupiter9999 In universe it stands for Altered World Event but yes. 😂😂

[@LePoidyVine]

What I love so much about the Alan Wake games is that the way they portray it makes it seem like there is no Cause and Effect. It’s Effect and Cause.

[@lunaairheart8973]

I absolutely love Alan Wake and I'm so happy someone at least mention that Alice monologue. IT WAS DEVASTATING to me. I think it's pretty much a good showing of the scale of torture Alan went through for 10 years. Rest In Peace Brett Madden.

[@skaynne54]

Brett Maden ? Is it the original VA of Alan ?

[@thedarkness125]

​@@skaynne54she was the voice of Alice. She passed away after a fight with brain cancer in september 2020.

[@ScottDavid7]

Control is severely underrated

[@corning1]

Overrated

[@cj3670]

@@corning1 terrible take

[@beansfebreeze]

Properly rated. Story is good but gameplay is pretty shallow and clunky

[@_kenomajas]

That's Quantum Break. I tried to play it after Control, but the gameplay was terrible...@@beansfebreeze

[@flameblazerofdeath13]

One of my favorite games of recent times, so goooooood

[@crosscottonwood5984]

This was the REMEDY for my sadness.

[@andvan5171]

Man, i played Alan Wake when i was 15, and boy did it jolt me into a wonderful story. I forgot about it as i grew up. When Control was released I finished the game and holy smoly did it make me feel nostalgic. Mind blown.

[@fallenlulu1]

Banger video. Went super in depth on one of the most underrated franchises. Something worth mentioning though is that the song get you through the Ashtray Maze is "Take Control" by non-other than the Old Gods of Asguard

[@alezio299]

Not guards but Gods. Old Gods of Asgard

[@fallenlulu1]

@@alezio299 how did I not notice that typo lol

[@yggdrasil4986]

@@fallenlulu1 Tbf, The Old Guards of Asgard would also be a cool name, I feel like the Gods always get all the attention anyway.

[@sevin8378]

In case you didn't notice, the lyrics of "Take Control" actually tell the story of the Ordinary AWE and the events seen in Control (the game). They also tell Jesse's story in them from the first person. Now, considering the Gods of Asgard likely wrote the song sometime in the 70s on the Anderson farm (in proximity to Cauldron Lake), it can be assumed that the band and their song directly caused the events of Control 40 years before hand.

[@dahrigames8472]

This was an incredible recap! I love the Remedy universe so much!

[@xakira666x]

This is the best video about the story as you both go into things that are far more important to the story that a lot of other people left out

[@devpool_official]

I just finished Alan Wake 2. AMAZING game! It's been years since I played the original and I had forgotten a lot of it. I never played American Nightmare or even new about the web series or the comic. I also had never played Control. This recap perfectly filled in a lot of blanks and made me appreciate Alan Wake 2 even more! Never new the Spiral came from Control or the Tom Zane/Alan Wake doppelganger situation for that matter. Definitely caught me up on a lot of information and reminded me of the things I had forgotten, Cynthia Weaver being a big one plot point I had forgotten from the original.

[@KisukePM21]

Alan Wake would honestly make a fantastic movie/series akin to The Last of Us. It has plenty of stuff that blends something similar to Stephen King and a hint of Christopher Nolan’s films that I think would become a classic if done right.

[@dxcSOUL]

Nah. The story is more like a CW mini series. It's a gimmicky story that's more style than substance.

[@VanitasSentiment13]

That would be really cool. I'd prefer it as a show so they can take their time and flesh out some of the finer points of the story

[@grimrevan4660]

Alan Wake was inspired by Twin Peaks and it's creator David Lynch. The developers said so in an interview. If I'm not mistaken, I think the diner in AW is the same one from Twin Peaks.

[@criticalt3]

Let's just let a game be a game for once. Adaptations never live up to the source material.

[@grimhellscythe6998]

​@@criticalt3some do. Castlevania, DMC anime, the first tekken film, the tekken anime. There are good adapations. Mario's film alone proves you wrong.

[@erazzed]

I hesitated to watch this video just because of its length, but oh boy. This is probably the most complete and in-depth recap on the Alan Wake story. I didn't even know there was an Alan Wake web series... However, even though I played Alan Wake (and recently the Remaster) as well as Control incl. AWE there are so many things I missed and so many dots I didn't connect. The timeline really helped me to understand the chronology of the events and how they all tie together in Remedy's Connected Universe. Well done!

[@chadwolf3840]

This was phenomenal. I had played the game, but this helped illuminate a ton of things I half missed. Thank you!

[@SuggestiveGaming]

“Illuminate” I see what you did there

[@JvcksonBlvck]

Control is by far one of the most underrated games I’ve ever played. The notes and reports you find throughout the game are amazing and really tie the stories together. The ashtray maze is an absolute masterpiece in gaming.

[@evilloki85]

I went into Control blindly. The gameplay caught my attention and i always try not to spoil myself with trailers to preserve the sense of wonder. Also i love SCP. When i read one of the notes regarding the events in Alan Wake it was a HUGE WTF moment for me and it made me love the game even more.

[@MACULIBER]

My man Zane being the top wingman on this timeline

[@chryssmetzler2098]

When I had control for my ps4 I was running around offices and found a file that read "bright falls incident". I'm like oh shit control and ala wake are in the same universe.

[@jrodgers674]

Hey thanks man. It's been a long time since i played these games, and i missed some of the DLC. Out of all of the videos I watched on this subject this by far was the best at jogging my memory and filling in the blanks specifically in relation to the web series and comic that I never even knew existed. Mad Props on a job well done, and thanks again. Btw instant sub for something put together this succinct and still full of exactly the right information for this purpose. I will definitely be taking the time to browse your other content. If it's half this good, I suspect I will enjoy quite a lot of it. Cheers!!!!

[@HARBRINGERZERO]

Thank you for providing a concise summary of what happened since I never played the Control dlc but am all set to play Alan Wake 2. I had to search through quite a few bad videos first but eventually I made my way to yours, great video.

[@dennismylastname5031]

youtube hasn't had you guys show up in my feed for over a year, glad they decided to again! Thought you guys stopped making content.

[@simonsupersad1722]

i never got a chance to play the first alan wake but i did play control and plan to play part two. this was a great recap and connection video that i was looking for before i started my playthrough. great video, thank you!

[@jasina556]

Just play the remastered Alan Wake, it's great

[@stevepalpatine2828]

Have they fixed the controls because the original was clunky as hell and it had a lot of boring filler? Absolute brilliant story but the original Alan Wake was a chore to get through. If the remaster has smoothed the controls out I might get it before I play part 2 to refresh my memory because Control was great, it's just remembering how clunky it was putting me off.

[@slowtrigger]

@@stevepalpatine2828 it runs better and looks good but the gameplay is still tedious and dated.

[@jamesf4423]

@@stevepalpatine2828if you already watched the video and thus know the story there’s no point in playing it. I just replayed it and it was great, definitely worthwhile but not worth it besides the story which you of course already know

[@stevepalpatine2828]

@jamesf4423 Yeah I did play the 1st game when it came out, great story it was just clunky to play. I've just finished Alan Wake 2 I thought it was great. I think I liked Control better but AW2 has definitely solved the control problems the 1st one had.

[@jocelynryan5335]

Fantastic video. I was ecstatic to find out you covered this game universe. Looking forward to Alan Wake 2!

[@Slothisticated0252]

Great video, first time viewer and definitely impressed with attention to detail, most other channels make like 15 minute long summaries but this is way better!

[@RavenTM623]

Great story recap, but it's even better for the At the Drive-In reference!

[@willb4138]

I didn't know Optimus was in Alan wake, awesome!

[@dashnyamkhurelbaatar1318]

39:35 narrator almost laughed 😆 You guys always do fantastic job. Thanks for the digestible story timeline

[@SuggestiveGaming]

Glad you enjoyed it! Thank you

[@n0rmy001]

So much Twin Peaks essence in the writing. All the way back to Address Unknown. Mirrors are more fun than television!

[@EdDiE6421]

I’m so glad I invested in Remedy’s universe. It started with Alan Wake Remastered

[@johnfarmer888]

I enjoyed that remedy said that the FBC is a reference to the SCP foundation

[@joeAM11]

Lool that "At the drive in" reference. Peak music comedy. Nice video! :)

[@NotLaykin]

This timeline was so easy to follow and understand. I never played the first game or control, so thank you for making my life way easier 🙏

[@prod.byjoker3778]

With how similar Alex Casey was to Max Payne in terms of demeanor and design (he literally wore the exact same clothes Max did in the second movie during the first section with Alan in the Dark place), I feel like he might be a part of other media within the Alan Wake/Control universe, like a comic (because Alan Wake 2 had all its cutscenes in an American comic style).

[@TerranPersoid725]

I had actually coincidentally downloaded Alan Wake Remastered on the PS5 earlier today. I was worried that watching this may soil my experience, though I played it on the 360 a long time ago. These games are so confusing, though, that the extra few once-overs through the story may be necessary. 😅

[@Axel1790]

Control was the game that makes everything more cohesive, the words “Object Of Power” “Altered World Events” and “Places of Power” organize ALOT of things so it’s easier to understand, basically Alan Wake is in another Dimension because of this Altered World Event and is using An Object of power (the typewriter) as a weapon to try and escape, his Object of power is basically him playing God though, but his Doppelgänger keeps holding him back, he’s been in a match game for 10 years with him.

[@larsyxa]

Remember Max Payne is Probably Alex Casey.

[@MeggaMann_theBlueLion]

Best recap vid of the series yet. Paved understandable, music is great, narrative punctual. Intriguing. I hope they never make a movie or tv series. It’ll fuck up the lore. But I do hope they continue to make the Control and Wake\type games like movies and the DLC’s like tv series. Continuously expanding the lore with different characters connected in this verse. I just played this game 1st play through this week. Played Alan Wake beforehand didn’t like it. But after playing Control and seeing the lore to Alan, it blew me away how Remedy made games connect this way. And now I’m playing Alan Wake. The lore is incredible

[@SirSongi]

This channel is so great, im surprised its not more popular. This is fantastic.

[@ysgavsela421]

Loved that you mentioned "at the drive in"

[@ryanakahoward5246]

I saw what you did at 40 mins and 34 seconds....I SAW IT. LOL

[@BucketBytes]

😂 I didn't even catch this one when first watching

[@chief_mourner]

wow i never imagined how connected Control and Alan Wake 2 where. I couldnt get through Control but Alan Wake 2 was amazing.

[@chaseduvernay1056]

Fun fact: the music playing in the old house maze in Control is called - Take Control by the old gods of Asgard

[@sevin8378]

Even more fun, the song "Take Control" actually tells the story of the Ordinary AWE and the events we play trough in Control. It also tells Jesse's story in them from the first person. Now, considering the Gods of Asgard likely wrote the song sometime in the 70s on the Anderson farm (in proximity to Cauldron Lake), it can be assumed that the band and their song directly caused the events of Control 40 years before hand.

[@Daxelman]

I love the At The Drive In bits.

[@matthewboechler0505]

Beautiful recap!! Fully ready for Alan Wake 2 now! Thank you so much!

[@SuggestiveGaming]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@gariantroll2975]

I almost spit out my coffee on the transformers part. Hilarious little easter egg.

[@sageempires1232]

Wait, so I wasn’t imagining Optimus in the corner of my screen?

[@mrthaimaster]

Funny easter egg in the flashback scene with Alan in New York with wife during the snow storm it's during the snow storm with Max first outing.

[@ThyDankGaming]

Man the original release when i was a early preteen inspired me to make a similar themed book because how amazing the story is to me, then control had the tid bits hinting of 2 and then an announcement and i screamed in excitement. The last 2 nights after work have been pure nostalgia cause i had to day 1 purchase 2 😂 it wasnt regretted at all, genuinely feel a bit of fear playing it as they truly mastered the elements of digging into ones head. Alan wake/control universe is a underrated MUST play imo!

[@couriersix4252]

i love how the awe dlc for control made a report of a future altered world event happening

[@ZombiedWolf]

Thanks for the refresher. I had no idea Control was part of the Alan Wake universe. Cant wait to play Alan Wake 2 in like a year or so when it comes to steam.

[@MidnightLux]

Lol keep waiting, the game is being published by Epic haha

[@ZombiedWolf]

@@MidnightLux Epic is crashing and burning atm so I think I'll continue to wait.

[@MidnightLux]

@@ZombiedWolf waahhh wahhh I'm not downloading another launcher even though I probably have like 5 already installed, what a clown lol

[@Doggo-frencton]

Epic client works fine for playing games.

[@notdedsec_ck9383]

@@MidnightLux 🥱🥱🥱r u okay buddy

[@aShadowWizard69]

alan wake/control timeline? thats pretty pog

[@SWolfmoon]

What a fantastic video!! Thanks so much for this, I just finished my second playthrough of Alan Wake and DLCs in preparation for AW2, which I started yesterday. I have played through about half of Control abiut a year ago but never finished though I knew that there were story threads in Control from Alan Wake, as my partner has played Control (and all the other Remedy games) and has talked with me a little about the shared universes of Alan Wake and Control. I wanted to see what that connection was (as my partner is big on no spoilers lol), and your video informed me most brilliantly. I feel like I can go into AW2 fully informed of everything that happened before (like those comic book inserts about Sarah the cop's dad and Barry), and the entirety of Control up to and including the Alan Wake connection. I am off to play Alan Wake 2 without a trainer, as I SUCK at survival games, especially ones that include shooting...so WISH ME LUCK!!

[@mildlydazed9608]

I’ve had control since the definitive edition came out and only now have gotten around to playing it. Kicking myself for this pretty hard now

[@ShaneB0tw1n]

Thanks a lot for that huge work, very neat and comprehensive! I replayed AW1 and AW:AN myself, but didn't want to replay Control yet and this video was very helpful, including some additional materials like web tv series and comic that I forgot about.

[@zerrierslizer1]

i had no idea Alan Wake's game universe was this massive and well written. no i am actually looking forward to playing AW2.

[@SageGunsmith]

It's really good. You should play it.

[@n0rmy001]

44:00 When I saw this back in 2010 it really blew my mind. The depth of the writing and levels of meta fiction is finally being realised here.

[@Copebroo]

I think this is the best video to get caught up for alan wake 2

[@SandovalRoldanR]

Love Alan wake and control, love at the drive in. Cool video!

[@scoot8942]

After playing Alan wake 2 this video is so good thank you ! 😊

[@n0rmy001]

33:23 Alan writing himself into his own story is what Sami is doing. It's extremely metaphysical not just to do that but also to do that while your own creation is doing that. Very Inception-y.

[@loganjohnson7680]

Day 2 of asking for the complete timeline of the xeno saga (xenoblade and xenogear)

[@GreyPewPwn]

Wow dude best recap I've found! Recently started AW2 and it's a gd masterpiece! Hopefully other devs take note...

[@senciddimisin]

so much editing and time put into this video, huge respect. I wish you the best.

[@JTH_TheChief]

why was there an optimus prime model from ROTB at 40:30?

[@RafaelCabreraAzrael]

fucking love the "WALTER DIES" lmaooo

[@VoxPenumbra]

@SuggestiveGaming in honour of horror month please cover F.E.A.R

[@morallybankrupt1461]

Control is has one of the most interesting stories I’ve ever seen on a video game.

[@jasestu]

Woah, his Alan guy must have one hellva concussion with how often he keeps getting knocked out.

[@kellypanda4243]

Thanks so much for your video! I love Control, it's one of my favorite games ever and I've played it many times. ❤❤❤

[@ramvandamme619]

I love the At The Drivin Bit yall did. Good Stuff.

[@JoshGutjahr]

Awesome video thank you! Very helpful before i really get into Alan Wake 2 its been a blast!

[@Emmanuel_60200nine]

its funny how there was a chukle at Barry for having Chrismas lights same way I did on my first play through

[@TheLastoftheFourMKs]

The Ash Tray Maze was a fun sequence imo

[@woopiggrizzlies]

Man this just reminds me, Control is such a fantastic game, gonna replay when I finish Alan Wake 2. I pray to God we get to see a Control 2,

[@youmukonpaku916]

Itll be a few years still but yeah, control 2 is coming. It's near as confirmed as it can be. It's in the investor/stockholder reports.

[@controversialgaming1364]

Its confirmed, its coming for this gen

[@REfan001]

Remedy is probably one of the most underrated game developers

[@_Lady1011]

This was a great timeline recap, I thought it was fun that the song that helps Jesse through the maze was also an Old Gods of Asgard song and the throwaway line from Ahti that he had met the brothers at some point in time previously

[@sevin8378]

In case you didn't notice, the song "Take Control" actually tells the story of the Ordinary AWE and the events seen in Control. It also tells Jesse's story in them from the first person. Now, considering the Gods of Asgard likely wrote the song sometime in the 70s on the Anderson farm (in proximity to Cauldron Lake), it can be assumed that the band and their song directly caused the events of Control 40 years before hand.

[@roguewolf3006]

I'm excited to play Alan Wake 2! I first got into it with Control when it came out. I finished playing Alan Wake for the first time earlier today! I'm kind of glad I didn't play American Nightmare because of its repetitiveness and lack of affect on the story (as Mr. Scratch is still out there anyway). Can't wait for 2!

[@thedarkness125]

American nightmare is a short but game that is a different and failed attempt to escape the Dark place by trying to change the genre of the story to a more puply story similar to evil dead. In a way its just Alan Wake two in a different genre and it does indeed play into future games.

[@MrCurrybomb]

Thank you so much for putting this epic video together!

[@jasonmeister6988]

Hey thanks for this, this is big

[@MrThelonicus]

Thanks for the recap, gentlemen!

[@kimseniorb]

at the drive in

[@caczech]

It is going to be extra exciting to see Alan and Jesse meet for the first time in the event it happens!

[@patrickills22]

Praying so hard that we get a physical release or remedy collection physical. Anyway to get AW2 physical. I want to play this game so bad cuz I really love the universe they created here. It’s so entertaining and tangled together. Its even inspired me plenty to write my own stuff. Control really is one of the best games ever created. Its NieR level greatness

[@Shadierspider5e]

Dont forgot his alans appearance in dbd and fortnite are canon too

[@faerieknight2298]

Alan Wake was a fun game. Kind of janky at points, but overall fun. American Nightmare was a decent spin off too, with a bit tighter combat then Alan Wake. It's clear the devs had taken lessons from earlier games and used them to improve things. And control is a pretty fun game too, if a little repetitive at times. Kind of interested in Alan Wake 2.

[@itsNjDraws]

LMFAOOO Man's snuck in Optimus Prime there XD 40:33

[@IAmKry]

Absolutely choice At the Drive-In references

[@GrainOnTheGo]

I genuinely hope Quantum Break gets brought into the universe at some point. It seems like the perfect game to bring into the universe.

[@KryyssTV]

So the underlying plot seems to be that Thomas Zane became trapped within the Dark Place after trying to write his wife back into existance, being trapped himself he invents Alan Wake as a version of himself who will defeat the Darkness and rescue him. When this fails he writes that it is Alen Wake using the typewriter to defeat the darkness thereby becoming a decoy. Wake then realises that something as powerful as the Darkness requires a nemesis which is just as powerful and therefore writes the FBC into existance along with a hero in the form of Jesse who is trained to deal with a threat like the Darkness by facing the Hiss. In the DLC however we see the Darkness become aware of the FBC being written into existance and somehow manages to corrupt the story but ultimately fails.

[@Ulquiorro]

Guys this is so good, keep it up!

[@wreckingvi2265]

Great video.

[@orphenboy]

So glad aw2 is coming out finally

[@thepyrokitten]

After playing the first 2 hours of Alan Wake 2, you absolutely 100% called it.

[@irevisibel9237]

Thanks for the great summary!

[@n0rmy001]

I would like to hear Sami's take on a film like Inland Empire. This short film has that kind of vibe in a way.

[@DownStormAF6]

@40:34 Optimus Prime makes his Toasty appearance as Alan Wake has to cross the yard of TRANSFORMERS. Nice little detail!

[@coloursbetweeneyelids]

1:04:02 at the drive in reference feels like it was just for me

[@angelbless45]

Great video! TY!

[@Fallub]

Fantastic summary. Thank you.

[@Makeshift_Housewife]

This is exactly the kind of recap I was looking for!

[@loganwebb5449]

Excellent job on this!

[@joshmoreau6023]

i could never get into the first alan wake, but I always found the overall story very interesting. Going to give the franchise another go tonight!

[@ggs9556]

The beginning was super boring to me but I pushed through it and it get alot better