An Analysis of Alan Wake 2 | Remedy’s Masterpiece

Today I decided to talk about Alan Wake 2 because I think it's possibly Remedy's best work and hasn't left my mind since I played it.
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• A Story Analysis of Al... -
Gingy's Alan Wake Story Analysis
• A Story Analysis of Al... -
Gingy's Alan Wake 2 Story Analysis
Work Cited- pastebin.com/ZSP09nyF
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patreon.com/Breezu
For Business Inquires: [e-mail]
Twitter: @ImBreezu
Second Channel: ‪@MoreBreezu‬
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Intro- 0:00
Part 1- 1:43
Part 2- 7:38
Part 3- 16:24
Conclusion- 28:22

[@GoboGames]

This is Breezu's friend, a few weeks ago he trusted me with his password and asked me to finish this video for him because he feared he did not have much longer left. Six months ago he was diagnosed with lung cancer and wanted to keep it from his audience in order to not get "pity points" on his videos so that he could truly see the reactions that his work garnered. He was very passionate about his youtube channel and enjoyed the production process and speaking about games he viewed as true works of art. He appreciated every person that took time out of their day to view his videos, even the videos he was less than proud of. He was a dear friend and he will be missed.

[@breezu]

I was not made aware of my death BeauTextUs

[@Keyh]

​@breezu you just forgot. Everytime the loop restarts, you forget.

[@breezu]

@bucky765 yea i'm fine, botexas is a good friend of mine.

[@brentloy131]

Damn I was feeling a type of way but ok

[@hithere5553]

@@breezurest in peace

[@TheKingerd]

Very, very thorough. Glad to see how much thought was put into this, with how much I feel beaten down by modern gaming it’s so refreshing to see a game like this unite so many people that have been hungry for substance in their games. Thanks Remedy, and thank YOU for putting this video out there.

[@Who1e]

Hell of a video my dude, it was so well written, look forward to what you’re putting out next

[@sophieflowers3745]

Absolutely loved this game

[@S0MATICS]

This was an awesome video 🔥

[@Jim222001]

The game is brilliant. My brother thinks the first is better. That the second one was corny due to the singing. I think that makes it even better. That the game pulls off like every genre.

[@ronthorn3]

I think the musical section is kinda terrifying in a weird way. Playing Alan Wake 2 on headphones is a total different experience, take that away and you lose half of the immersion in my opinion.

[@Mesfizzy]

Just like you, I felt this game was meant for me. A true culmination of all storytelling media. A thing of love. Thanks for an axcellent coherent analysis. Subscribed!

[@joecalabrese8979]

Great video brother! By far the most obsessed one ever been with a game.

[@czefix]

Amazing work, Breezu.

[@EvilPredator1738]

Another Breezu Classic!!!

[@HFamilyDad]

I must be dumb because I didn't perceive half as much as you did during my playthrough but I definitely agree its a masterful combination of all the arts. I play guitar so the only downside was they didn't sync the music to the video of Old Gods of Asgard' guitar player, this was ironic considering the guitar player in the video was Olli Tukiainen from the band. Regardless Poets of the Fall are my favourite band now, Herald of Darkness is awesome! Great vid thanks.

[@breezu]

It’s not that you didn’t pick up on things but it’s more just me looking too far into the game for my own good. like an english teacher type shit. also, i agree, Poets of the fall is really good

[@phillipeulee4441]

If Alan Wake 1 "fumbled", i don't know what Alan Wake 2 did. In my opinion Alan Wake 2 fumbled in many more ways than 1

[@jiopa]

I mean it's your opinion and I respect it, but i thought 2 was a once in a lifetime game. A story with that's fun in its complexity but beautiful in its relatability. Gameplay that has a singular goal: to tell a story in unique and interesting ways.

[@alexkristanas929]

The most gorgeous walking/ post it note simulator

[@natsuelric2153]

My first playthrough I did the first alan chapter, then I just finished Sagas story and came back to end it all with Alan. On final draft I switched after every chapter. Which way feels more organic to you guys?

[@merttuncer1788]

I thought Alan had far more gameplay than Saga. Saga's map was huge with no indicators while Alan's map was far smaller and denser. Most of Saga playthrough for me was running around and collecting things while Alan's campaign had pretty dense set pieces both in terms of combat and chase sequences.

[@HelloKolla]

Small question about Saga; I watched the opening chapter of Saga on yt and 2 things bothered me - first was that during the Nightingale scene, she wasn't wearing any gloves when examining Nightingale's corpse, and after Nightingale revives, kills many officers and dissapears, the cops and Saga are super nonchalant about what happened. Second is the mind place mechanic; the way Saga figures out answers to cases is straight up magical; she sits down, and a vision of the suspect she's never talked to before just tells her the answer. Is there an explanation for this?

[@Ghost_Director]

It’s discussed later in the game that Saga is a seer. A seer is someone who has supernatural insight into things so that’s how she gets her answers. As for the nonchalant part the deputies weren’t nonchalant they were extremely confused and in denial. As for Saga and Casey they knew something was wrong with the case since they found the first page.

[@TheKingerd]

Yes there’s an explanation for the cops thing you mentioned but it’s spoilery to mention here. And yes to Saga’s… abilities. That is something explained later in the story. As for the lack of gloves… lol no they just pulled an LA Noire 😂

[@HelloKolla]

@@TheKingerd wdym a LA Noire?

[@Bobert5674]

Great video, since the game was released I’ve enjoyed it immensely, such a piece of art and a step up in every way compared to the original. Can’t wait for the dlcs to continue to expand the story

[@MentalEdge]

Scratch isn't just really angry Alan. Scratch is Alan possessed by the dark presence. It possesses him when he loses hope after accidentally stopping himself from editing Return, thinking he had become Scratch, but he hadn't. That's when we see the dark presence enter him. That version of Alan, now possessed, is the one that stalks Alice, but he hasn't gotten out of the dark place yet. Once he did, the dark presence almost immediately got exorcised from Alan by the FBCs containment cell. All the interactions between Alice and Scratch happen in the dark place, not New York in the real world, Scratch never got that far. Alice didn't kill herself. She jumped back into Cauldron Lake to join Alan and help him get out. She doesn't get out along with Alan, but she helps Saga to get out after Scratch throws her into the lake. Time matters little in the dark place, two people who entered and left at different times, can still meet within it, across time. This is how Scratch (Alan possessed by the dark presence) can meet Alan (Alan from before he was possessed) and how he accidentally stopped himself from editing Return. It's how the Old Gods of Asgard can be in the band for the musical level despite entering the dark place after Alan got out, and how Saga can talk to Alan in the dark place when he is technically no longer there. When the Dark Place starts to expand out from the lake near the end, Alan re-enters it and works together with Saga to write the ending. The post credits scene shows that Alan survived the bullet of light (while the dark presence that was within him at the time, likely didn't), and he sees the real final video from Alice, where she admits that she created her art to mislead and motivate Alan in order to help him get out of the dark place. They are now both in the dark place. I may be wrong, it's possible that the Alice in the Dark Place is from when she was pulled in in the first game. Even though Alan got her out, he could still encounter that Alice across time, as she had been there before him. But I don't think this is accurate, as Alice in the videos speaks to Alan with knowledge from after she got out. Things like her interactions with the FBC. The video where she "kills herself" is the first, not the last. Because her work featuring Scratch was created in the dark place, after she entered by jumping in, not the real New York. I also think that Logan "drowning" is what really happened. Her being alive and well, is the fake reality brought into existence by the story. This is why when Saga calls David near the end, he picks up and acts according to the reality where Logan died. The dark place can affect Sagas memory of reality (her interactions via phone before that point), because she is near cauldron lake, but there is NO WAY it could affect David, miles away. But Logan isn't dead. No one who "drowns" in cauldron lake dies, they enter the dark place. This is why we can hear Logan's voice asking for help during the times when Saga is in an overlap. That's the real Logan, trapped in the dark place after drowning in the lake years earlier.

[@breezu]

Thanks for correcting me in some places! I genuinely don't know how I forgot to include details such as Alice and going deeper with the Scratch twist, I guess it must've flown over my head while revising my script. I also didn't even think about the possibility of her drowning in Cauldron lake, again must've flown past in post because this game really is a lot to try and sum down and analyze in 30 or so minutes

[@MentalEdge]

@@breezu I played with a friend, the two of us picked up details the other didn't which we then put together through discussion during the chapter songs. It's really the best way to play games like this, because you supplement each other by paying attention to different things, picking up more details in aggregate. I could gush about so many hidden things we chalked out during our play-through :D Tor even says "your daughter is alive" after you save him from Synthia, which if you realize that her "drowning" puts her in the dark place, is technically true. The game has a TON of false details that fall apart once you think about them, pointing to Logan being alive, when the real reality is that she did "drown", and Saga did lose David, but the story has changed her memories. I even think Casey becomes his real self after his encounter with Scratch in the forest, and that's why he remembers the reality that Logan drowned. It wasn't the story that changed him at that point, he was already changed. Scratch set him back to his real self when he did whatever he did to prepare Casey to be its next host. Rose was also clearly quite resistant to the effects of the story, as she consistently acted against it's effects (sending Synthias lamp into the dark place for Alan, leaving the lunch boxes for Saga, etc.), and she recognized and remembered Saga, recalling Logan's fate first of all. There's the cliffhanger ending with Saga trying to call Logan, and the lyrics of two of the chapter songs are pretty damning when it comes to Logan, as well.

[@ProBreakers]

I was very happy with how this game turned out after waiting all these years since the first game. I was also pleasantly surprised when I randomly downloaded Control to play and only once I got far into it did I realize they are connected :)

[@Ethius76]

dude what are your specs your gameplay is beautiful

[@breezu]

I played the game on an overclocked 3060 and Ryzen 5 5600x with 32 Gigs of 3200 Ram. I played on a mixture of low and medium with Raytracing turned to Low and DLSS on Quality got about 60fps with some dips into the 40s. The game is just really beautiful but demanding.

[@kaz3013]

dduuuude holy shit shit video masde me buy alen woke 2024 and now i am a SIGMA totally subscribe to this guy hes my main guy he my dude. Whatsup slime (my outro catchfrase) peace yall!

[@Voltaic_Fire]

This was a great video, a lot of great points covered and I too think Alan Wake 2 is a masterpiece, everything a video game can and should be. There are flaws though, or perhaps they're just gripes, such as the galling lack of conclusion or even meaningful progress in the story of Breaker vs Dor, the easily missable clue board pages _(I always ended with a few marked as "for later" which irked me,)_ the occasional falling through the floor, that sort of thing, and I personally would have liked to see more from the FBC but that is just a preference and may even be covered in the DLC. Do they detract from the experience meaningfully? No, but they should be mentioned even in a token effort at impartiality.

[@czefix]

20:35 is that shaking a bug or a frame gen mod?

[@breezu]

I had a bug where my screen was stuck shaking from a combat sequence lol

[@ronthorn3]

Playing Alan Wake 2 with headphones is a total different experience, take that away and you lose half of the immersion in my opinion.

[@faiz007ification]

Love the story, hate the combat. Story difficulty ftw

[@gurtbag]

Jumpscares: 4:14 8:35 10:25 11:20 20:44 22:10 29:40 Much love! 🥰

[@GlassThirdEye]

If someone tells me they won't play alan wake 2 because it's woke, I know that's a person I don't want to know. That might be the most ridiculous take I've ever heard.

[@rozar7673]

Fr, I argued with a guy with a spider man 2 profile who said the only reason Alan Wake 2 won so many awards was because it was woke and rigged, if anything, Spider-man 2 is 10 times more “woke” than Alan Wake 2, also I don’t see Remedy somehow rigging the awards by paying the Game Awards more money than one of the biggest gaming companies in the world, Sony

[@SirBonestick]

Hey guys me Bonestick here I did not watch this video so Imma drop a ike- Sincerely Bonestick xoxoxo

[@MrAjking808]

Nobody cares.. cringe asf

[@razoblicavanje4231]

"Ma$terpiece" to your wallet.😂

[@Voltaic_Fire]

I don't think people are saying it's woke just because Saga is black, or mixed, but because the character of Saga Anderson was recast from a white woman, that line about "another white man" during the ending didn't help.

[@aaronadethegamer]

That line was clearly taken from her fears about racism and colorism. It's the dark place, after all. What did you expect? It's a part of her fears, whether she admits it or not. The Dark Place is their to use her fears and shortcomings. Don't think to hard on it.

[@afroponix3414]

Trust me, I don’t think you need to accuse the commenter of thinking too hard

[@puroktahzeeb9355]

I mean I doubt that a 2 minute long easter egg in Quantumn Break 9 years before the actual game came out meant they finalized the casting

[@QwertzQwertz-hs5fn]

so bad story 1 from 10

[@stepforward7491]

I hate this video! Alan Wake 2 is NOT emphasis on NOT a masterpiece. This game does not even compare to the amazingly well put and interesting story and gameplay of control. being able to play as a hot woman with amazing powers and SCP inspiration unlike the lame boring Alan from Alan Wake and Alan Wake 2. All you do is be scared and investigate (boring). Now a REAL Masterpiece is hit game METAL GEAR RISING: REVENGENCE and Octopath Traveller II (not to mistake the horrible game Octopath Traveller). In metag gear rizzing you get to play as a COOL CYBORG and fight giant robots, and the music is so good it always play it on my YT music playlist at school everyday makes me feel like a sigma badass. AND octopath travller II is a masterliece because you can .

[@MrAjking808]

Sounds like you’re just a big weeb 😂

[@eatmerawww69]

i thought this was an analysis not a story recap . why waste my time man ? unliked and blocked

[@kaz3013]

did you watch the video

[@eatmerawww69]

@@kaz3013 yeah like half of it . i wanted some deep dive analysis not a 30 min recap of who alex casey is or who saga is etc . its stuff we already know . but its all good man sry i was a little harsh :) good luck

[@ryughvilgefortz7538]

this game was okayish, but lemme ber honest here, remedy gaming should have focused more on gameplay aspect of this game, otherwise whats the point? just go make movie or some abstract art, ffs, why we players should care about the graffiti details on the walls when we play as alan wake, and why should we even care about the band which played all the songs between the acts? i think sam lake being included in the dev team rly messed up a lot of things in this game such as priorities, every games nambawan priority should always be gameplay, no? alan wakes gameplay is even behind the original tlou on ps3, every thing else was rly good except the most imoprtant aspect of the game: the gameplay,

[@breezu]

Normally I would agree with you, sony games in particular are obsessed with trying to emulate film and forget that they are supposed to be video games but I feel like AW2 is different. The game doesn't have immediate action because it's trying to tell you that it's not the point of the game, it's a detective game. AW2 isn't trying to act as high art by replicating film and TV like sony games but rather using stuff like the the environment, the live action, and the band to enhance the story of a game and help immerse you in this never ending rabbit hole for both characters. If we were just talking about shooting, yes the game falls behind The Last of Us, but when it comes to every other aspect of the gameplay even down to just exploring levels, I think AW2 does a much better job at incentivizing the player to come back and explore these areas by having unlockables like the manuscript pages, an entirely different set of detective work for the pages and the lunch boxes and the fact entire weapons are hidden away. It's not earth shattering but it's plenty good, the only part that would be lacking would be the shooting but shooting guys isn't the point of the game, there are a billion other games where that is the point. TL;DR: I think the game has good gameplay it just it isn't an action game so of course there isn't that much shooting but that doesn't mean the game is forgetting to have gameplay, the shooting just isn't the main gameplay loop.

[@ryughvilgefortz7538]

@@breezu okay i hear u, but lemme try to respond ur comm: immersion and suspense was top notch the sound design was too good tbh, but i dont think the optional explorations was good, i better rush the main story than exploring, all thoose collectables did not do much to me, did not affect my playstyle in any way, i think i explored all areas and all those charms were shit tbh, and the absrudness of this game left me with mixed feelings, i could fanboy sam lake and cloud my judgement, but i wont do that shit, aw2 aroused more questions rather than answering them , like who is zane why ppl confusing wake with him, who's door, and etc etc, rn aw2 community is inflated with stupid fan theories, everybody is assuming everything nothing is clear, and i rly hate that, ppl been waiting 13 years just to get more unanswered questions rather than getting answers on aw, i know 2 dlc are coming but im not sure they gonna answer those questions or not, and if not we re gonna wait another decade maybe, yeah i hear u sam lake is rly good at what hes doing but his style is kinda awkward tbh, all those control absurdity is in this game also, even lightnings are the same, and wtf is alan doing? why does he need murder sites? i know hes progressing by writing stories but why does he have to? is not explained in any extent, and is that murder site writings are included in return or no? idk? and that guy zane is the biggest mystery no one knows nothing about him except cynthia loved him, but did she rly? we know return altered the reality right? wtf all this mess tbh? this game is mess bro

[@breezu]

I can see where you are coming from with the gameplay stuff as the collectables may not be everyone's fav, I found them enjoyable but a lot of the story stuff you bring up is explained within the game. Alan needs the murder sites to create the plot to the novel so he can escape the dark place and stop scratch. Thomas Zane has a lot of speculation but we know that he wrote Alan into existence after sinking the island in cauldron like in the 70s, people confuse him and Alan because they are one in the same in the grander scheme of the world and is also why they are visually portrayed by the same actor. Zane is using Wake to try and escape the dark place, learning from Alan's mistakes and repeats. Cynthia didn't love zane, she was taken by the darkness making her obsessed with Zane because the darkness took the form of Barbra Jagger, Zane's wife. It flipped what we knew about Zane in the first game on it's head and shows us the real Tom Zane.

[@deanblunted]

why should the main priority of a game be its gameplay? video games are just another medium for art where artists should be able to express themselves however they want without being confined to prioritizing one aspect of the game.

[@violau8550]

Oh no...not another paid youtuber to say AW2 is masterpiece. Never see a game get so much GOTY and MASTERPIECE in my life, not even real masterpiece game. Whoever say this game is Masterpiece is not a gamer.

[@breezu]

I wish I was paid to talk about how good this game is. But I guess I will have to settle on being a fake gamer, thanks for opening my eyes

[@violau8550]

​@@breezudude, even 1M subscriber game reviewer youtuber don't get more than 1k views and just 40 comments on "AW2 IS MY GOTY" video, so many people sick of these praise by amateur gamer who don't even know what is video game in the first place.

[@GamingGame-pq3xy]

Oh no... not another skibidi sigma saying that grimace shake isnt ohio! Never see a rizzler get so much gyatts and mr beast in my mewing. Whoever says this game is rizz is not from ohio!!!

[@breezu]

@violau8550 i strongly hope your are being ironic because there is a lot wrong with what you said

[@violau8550]

@breezu can't understand context of my comments? Yikes, how can you like AW2 if you don't even understand simple.comment. OK, then I tell you directly, in more simple terms. It means no people searching for AW2 praising video, the KZbin algorithm doesn't show what people interest the most, means no people really into AW2

[@Nick-GR]

lol... A "masterpiece"... hahahaha.. right.