Remedy's long-awaited sequel is finally happening and coming soon

Alan Wake 2 Release Date, Trailers, And Everything We Know So Far

Remedy's long-awaited sequel is finally happening and coming soon

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Thankfully, there are more than a handful of Alan Wake nerds on the team, so even though we have just the single trailer to go off of for now, we've actually already given it tremendous scrutiny as we scanned for clues regarding what the sequel could have in store for us. You can read our findings here, where we broke down 20 clues you may have missed in the Alan Wake II reveal trailer.

Alan Wake II story theories

Part of the fun around Alan Wake--or really any Remedy game, for that matter--is theory-crafting to solve for its enigmatic universe. Where we last left Alan depends on how much you played, as the main game, its final DLC, its 2012 XBLA spin-off Alan Wake's American Nightmare, and even the narratively tied-to-the-hip Control all reveal more about Alan's current whereabouts, as vague as they admittedly each are. Chronologically, it's assumed that where we see him in Control's second DLC, titled AWE, marks his last known location.

That location is still seemingly The Dark Place, a metaphysical prison of sorts into which he dove to save his wife Alice at the end of the 2010 original. Alan's been seeking a way out ever since, and has maybe been growing stronger while he's searched for an exit. In the Alan Wake II reveal trailer, Alan is armed with a magical lamp, emitting light but not plugged in. As he did with his "Clicker" in the original game, Alan seems able to imbue objects with power, though why and how is still yet to be revealed. As he's been a long-term, uh, "guest" of The Dark Place, it's likely that he's grown more accustomed to it and can now make it work in his favor in some ways.

Sadly, his strange and sinister doppelganger, Mr. Scratch, seems to still be going strong too. In the reveal trailer, we hear a lot about "monsters," perhaps as the game's way of evoking the boogeyman or the monster under the bed that lurks in darkness, given how obsessed with light versus dark it is. By the end of the trailer, we seem to get a glimpse of the game's murderous boogeyman, Mr. Scratch, whose name derives from the noise we hear when Thomas Zane first tells Alan that he will be replaced in the real world by the lookalike while he's in The Dark Place.

What's Mr. Scratch been doing all this time? Well, assuming American Nightmare is still canon, he was at one point killing people, though time seems to behave differently in The Dark Place, so it's unclear how long Alan has really been gone.

In Alan Wake II, we can surmise that players will take on the role of the titular grumpy novelist once more as he works to escape The Dark Place and reunite with his wife. But the tie-ins with Control, the presence of Mr. Scratch, and the unclear fate of Bright Falls--where the first game takes place--all add variables to this currently unsolvable equation. As Jesse Faden said in Control, one can reasonably apply here too; "This is going to be weirder than usual."

Who is Saga Anderson?

One of the big surprises revealed in the PlayStation Showcase Alan Wake II trailer was the arrival of Saga Anderson, a new character in the mythos of the series. Actress Melanie Liburd, whose likeness and voice were used to bring Anderson to life, portrays an FBI agent who arrives in the town of Bright Falls and quickly discovers that something sinister is lurking in the dark. Players will switch between Wake and Anderson throughout the sequel, and Lake added that this new character has a pivotal role to play in the story of Alan Wake II.

Like Alan, Saga can fight back against the darkness by burning it away with light and using more traditional weapons to take out enemies that were previously cloaked in it. Remedy is using her backstory to flesh out the gameplay, hinting that there will be new investigative elements when players are controlling Saga.

Why is Alan Wake II a digital-only release?

Remedy has multiple reasons for why you won't be able to purchase Alan Wake II on disc. These range from how a large number of people buy digital games exclusively, the availability of consoles without disc drives from both Sony and Microsoft, efforts to keep the cost of Alan Wake II down, and a desire to avoid a large day-one patch for physical media owners. Could this change in the future? Anything can happen, but Remedy said for now, "there are currently no plans to release Alan Wake II on disc."

Alan Wake II preorders

Now that the game has a confirmed release date, Remedy has shared more information on the digital versions that'll be up for sale. You can check out more details in our Alan Wake II preorder hub, but for a quick summary, preorders will earn you a couple of in-game bonuses, including an "ornate revolver skin" usable by Alan and a Survival Resources Pack usable with the game’s other playable character, Saga.

It's worth noting that on PlayStation and Xbox, the game will cost $60, but on PC via the Epic Games Store, Alan Wake II will cost $50.

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This story originally appeared on: GameSpot - Author:Darryn Bonthuys,Mark Delaney