The journey begins in Alan Wake: Remastered

We’ve finished Control, and now it’s time to start something new. The community voted, and though it was a close race at the end, one game emerged victorious: Alan Wake Remastered. Our next deep-dive long play puts us back in the Remedyverse, giving us another look at the eerie world featuring the Federal Bureau of Control. We’re starting our journey tomorrow at 9a Pacific Time right on the Intelligame Twitch channel.

Alan Wake originally released in 2010 for the Xbox 360. Since then, it’s been re-released for modern consoles with a visual refresh. We’ll be taking control of the titular character as he uncovers the mysteries surrounding his wife’s disappearance. All the while, events from his latest novel play out all around him…a novel he doesn’t remember writing at all.

I’m excited to learn more about the themes in Alan Wake, especially after spending time with Control. Our time with Jesse Faden exploring the Federal Bureau of Control led to all kinds of X-Files-adjacent discussions: governments, conspiracy theories, hidden horrors. But we also talked about finding personal fulfillment in work, mental health, the impacts of long-running trauma, and all the ways “power” affects our lives. I didn’t expect to have those discussions, but it certainly explains why it’s been one of my most-requested stream titles.

What mysteries haunt our writer?

This makes me really curious what will come up in Alan Wake. This is another third-person action game, though Alan seems like he won’t have the world-altering powers Jesse Faden did. I’m hoping this means a little more stealth and a little more horror… I’m not a big fan of gore, but I love the tension that comes from a good, scary game. 🙂

At the same time, I’m admittedly tempering my expectations narratively just a little. Control released in 2019 after Remedy had already released Alan Wake, Alan Wake’s American Nightmare, and Quantum Break. I don’t expect the storytelling to be quite as tight as Control’s, and I’m expecting there to be a few trope traps (game made in 2010 chasing after a potentially fridged wife? I mean come on).

That said, I think there’s a reason that people are so excited for Alan Wake 2. I’ve played some of Quantum Break, enough that I know Remedy likes stepping out of the box. Also, it’s not like Control came out of nowhere: they developed their style over time. Besides that, a game shouldn’t have to be perfect in order to be worth our time, especially when viewed through the lens of history. We’ll do like we always do: take the good with the not-as-good when it comes up, talk through it, and make informed decisions.

Make sure to tune in tomorrow at 9a Pacific Time at https://twitch.tv/intelligame for the beginning of Alan Wake Remastered! If you miss an episode, you can watch the video-on-demand segments as they release on YouTube. You can also watch full, unedited VODs on the Intelligame VODs channel.

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See you in the Remedyverse, Intelligamers.

-Josh