It really isn't though. I'd love to see a single Lit book define ignorance as such. Is this guy an actual professor or a pop culture English student? It sounds nice, but this is quickly becoming I'm 14 and I am deep territory. Basically he's trying to say the famous adage: "a little knowledge is a dangerous thing." What. a. hack.
@@dxcSOUL >or a pop culture English student? Probably the second but no, he's absolutely right. 4chan types live in a bubble of their own because they are perfectly aware that if they try to debate anything they believe in, they get their ass kicked.
Wonderful, well thought and explored analysis. This is the game that inspired me to start my RUclips channel, Night Springs specifically. I’m glad this game has not been forgotten. Great stuff sir!
Chris Landy Yeah, there was so much about this game that couldn't be fully discussed without all the context that I did something a bit different and barely explained anything during the summary portion. Saved it all for afterward. So yes, there's a LOT of that. :P
Games As Literature Alan wake is my favourite game. I recently visited Washington state and the game imagery instantly hit me while in that scenery. Whats your thoughts on this game being made on the big screen by Stephen Spielberg? The reason I mention him is I feel he could nail the story tone as a director.
"Art created from a place of light, from knowledge and understanding and empathy and a desire to seek truth, can inform people and weaken ignorance and enact positive change. But art created from darkness, from stereotypes, from fear, can have the opposite effect. It can obscure truth, it can perpetrate lies, it can move people and society in a negative direction and literally change the world for the worse." This was worth the wait, you earned a really great conclusion here, and it came from a place of light. I can't help but think about this in the context of today, and the present dangers of creation born of ignorance. Can't wait for the next one, take as long as you have to.
@@JoshuaKane. Uhh... that klansman movie, the Star Wars sequels (people will contort themselves to believe incredibly stupid things if it's politically convenient. Protip: the concept of a "Mary Sue" is anti-woman in roughly the same way as it is anti-heterochromia), prooobably Fury Road because the main theme there is feminism and current Twitter feminist are awful, the Starship Troopers movie (it seems to have a fascist fanbase that formed an attachment to it out of pure contrarian doublethink), Nietzche and his general philosophy (there's shades of Nietchzeanism in every bad guy philosophy because it sounds cool and the nazis used it to justify their bullshit), probably Max Stirner (TLDR; morality is a "spook") but I don't think anyone who'll take that to it's obvious conclusion is smart enough to know who Max Stirner is. Also everyone online who claims to have Dissociative Personality Disorder online is malingering for attention. The version they're describing was made up by a 1973 book called Sybil. Apparently the real DID is caused by repeated extreme trauma in childhood, and episodes cause blackouts.
Watching this in 2021 and thinking to myself, "That was such a good game, wish i could play it again." Little did I know they just posted news about it being Remastered in the last 24 hours or so... haaah! A true Matrix moment...
This is by far my favourite videogame, and one of the few i can play over and over again whithout getting bored, even though many people claim that the gameplay get's tireying. But the reason i love it so much is the atmosphere and the story, and there were a few interesting new insights, even for a hardcore-fan like me. (I even play it at the moment on my second channel ^^) I highly recommend you to play the two DLC's, which aren't the "real ending" some people say (which is why i don't get that people criticize that this would be the only way to get the "real ending" of the story), they are more of a explaination of what happens to Alan now that he's trapped in the Dark Place, and also to show how much more surrealistic and creative ideas the developers have for the game. American Nightmare is also pretty good, but you can't compare it to the main game, there are a few interesting insides in what happened after Alan vanished into the Dark Place, but there is more focus on his evil doppelgaenger Mr. Scratch, who is one of the most interesting and psychotic videogame-villains since the Joker of the Arkham Games. I would love to see you also tackle these two/three "games", and i enjoyed your analysis fairly much :) (Also, yesterday was my birthday, so i see this as a nice present ^^)
9 years later and I still love playing Alan Wake on Saturday nights. If it's true that Sony is helping Remedy with getting Alan Wake 2 released that means Microsoft just missed out on keeping a great game as their exclusive
@@real6562 Remedy wanted to be on all platforms. They have a working relationship with NVIDIA and their newest game Control plays and looks 100x better on PC. This isn't a knock on consoles, it's just the truth. Their newer games including Quantum Break and Control both use Northlight engine which has extremely advanced lighting and physics. The environments are progressively more destructible between those games and if you watch a comparison of Xbox One X/PS4 Pro vs PC running Control, you'll see that the difference in quality is day and night. Point is, Remedy isn't switching to PS exclusives. Xbox doesn't want console exclusives either, but they are investing heavily in first party studios and new IPs with the new console. I think we'll get some big announcements next week - but they'll all be Xbox + Windows.
I hope someday you do a literary analysis on Control which ties in heavily to Alan Wake and gave us much needed lore and info on what happened in Alan Wake. At the very least I hope you review it.
I think the view of editors here is interesting; the Dark Presence is an evil force that twists Alan's work, and Barry needs to learn to back off and let Alan do his thing, essentially. There's no real positive depiction of someone actively shaping a work without being part of the creative process. Of course, I'm biased here (I dabble as an editor), but I think it's interesting to look at the implications of the writers' views through these portrayals, and what might be missing. Too much power to the editor (and bad intentions) can absolutely mean a work is turned away from its original purpose or refitted to be what the editor and not the creator wants it to be, but unrestricted freedom on a creator's side leads to messes like the Star Wars prequels or Mighty No. 9. All that being said, I definitely understand that most creators will come down on the side of wariness to bedgrudging acceptance of editors at best, because we do hack and slash away at their hard work. And of course I can't really know if the writers feel this way about editors; maybe the sequel would have had a scenario where the dangers of unrestricted creativity get explored. We can never really know, but I thought I'd toss in my two cents anyway.
how I took the ending was that the darkness got ahold of Alan right at the end and transformed/spread itself out to the world by turning itself into the ocean. that's why he sounds like that as he says "ocean".
This has to be one of the better written analysis out there. Thanks a ton for making this video. Alan Wake can be a really good game on a surface level but depending on how deep you wanna go, can be a masterpiece.
This is my first time seeing one of your videos. Alan Wake is one of my favourite games, both as an artist and a creative. I first played it when I was going through an awful bout of writer's block, where I was ashamed of whatever I tried to write. The game, as fittingly as you put it, shed a light for me on my work. It inspired me to keep going, for the better. I haven't seen much dissection of the story and its metaphors on this level, so it's great to see. And really just serves to make me appreciate it even more. Also, loved the way you ended the analysis on the period from the end of the game. Nice bit of editing there.
Hope you do a video on the sequel, loved your perspective on the game and it's one of the better Alan Wake analysis videos I've come across. Very thoughtful!
I don't know if this is ever explicitly stated in the original Alan Wake, but Alan actually started his job as a writer writing a few episodes of the Night Springs show (which features a lot more heavily in American Nightmare) - I always though that was the reason it was split into episodes, as a throwback to his first writing gig.
Anybody else here for Control/Control: AWE? Given the Alan Wake tie-in, plus news of Remedy working on a new game set in the mutual universe of Control + Alan Wake, I figured I'd pop in and see if there was any plans to cover it!
This is a really solid analysis given it's only of the game! I imagine the perspective warps if you add the DLC and the spin-off game into the mix and that's not mentioning the official comics, the mini series, the book "Alan Wake Files" and the This House of Dreams blog (probably not needing the novelizations perspective at all here) but I would love to hear that in depth view about everything put together. It surely doesn't answer too much, but some things definitely change. At least adds some history to the matter. Anyways, awesome video. I had a ton of fun watching it.
I’m only at the 13:30 mark but the double of Alan Wake is none other than Mr. Scratch (They go more into him in the DLC and American Nightmare) Wake also wrote a few Nightsprings episodes, Barry comments on it during the Anderson farm sequence when you come across one of the TV’s.
Whoa. This is the first video I watched by you and I am extremely impressed. It was comprehensive and tangible! I recently played the game and wanted a different ideology on the events that occurred. I'm about to play Control (also by Remedy) and heard there is a relation between the two games and wanted more context. SO STOKED NOW!
In American Nightmare Alan reveals the darkness has a lack of imagination which explains why the darkness relies strongly on stereotypes when using people
The gameplay Demo for Alan Wake 2 has the talk show host Mr Door making fun of the "Not a lake" line so I think they are aware of how theye left it off.
First of all..congrats on your video.. once again you showed what an interesting form of art games always have been.. secondly I am in no way an expert, so whatever i will say should be taken with a shovel of salt... so.. I think the ending of the game can be interpreted by the hidden in plain sight secret of the nature of Alan, A.Wake = Awake .. maybe this is why he gets prompted to wake up in the end.. moreover the ocean part is pronounced with what I would interpret as a darkness in his voice... In addition I would like to add the fact that the "enemies" are "stuck" repeating their menial tasks which lack art/creativity (oh yes.. I also want to add that sometimes I think that the game talks about creativity instead of art, the process rather than the final product) and then when light is shed on them they A.wake, but on the other hand Alan kills them or sets them free... which poses the question is everything in the game a reality or one of Alan's nightmares that was caused due to his writer's block flirting with his dark side (art for profit)... Again.. I don't claim expertise and I hope I didn't sound patronizing or arrogant.. Thank you again for all your videos...
Since Stephen King's multiple times stated that a lot, if not most, of his stories derive from his nightmares....Alan's Nightmare at the very start where Zane intervenes might be the source of Alan writing Zane into history. Still the detail remains that the bird leg cabin inhabited books and pictures of Zane.... OR, Alan was close enough for his nightmare to create parts of reality or his subconcious allowed Zane to return as a guide because of his nightmare, or both met since they were, so to speak, of the same "force", existing in the dark place only. Food for thought, Goth I love this game.
You also have to remember that Sam Lake (the writer of Alan Wake and Max Payne and the CEO of Remedy) is a poet and a writer as well, so this game is about his psyche as an artist. It's not a (Sam) Lake, it's an ocean (Remedy). So it's saying Lake's creations are a group effort.
I interpreted it more like the Dark Place being not a Lake (The Video Game Industry) but an Ocean (The Entertainment Industry as a Whole) hence why things from the dark place come into the world as a different medium, like live action sequences of Alan. And in the narative context, it's not a dark reality, but a portal to other realities. Basically Alan Wake set up a multiverse long before it was popular in video games.
Of course video games are a collaborative effort. But I don't think such a reading does well for Alan Wake, Sam Lake himself never specifically struggled creatively with the game alone, it was a joint frustration the whole team shared in the process of making it. Interviews make that clear.
I just finished this game for the first time. The whole thing hits differently as an artist myself going under art block, and you going deep into the game in that level brought me a better appreciation for the game!
Here's how you look at it: Everything and everyone that happens from the moment Alan met the Dark Presence in the Oh Deer Diner was written into Alan's book "Departure", and none of it would have occurred, otherwise. This means that Thomas Zane and Barbara Jagger are characters that didn't exist at all until Alan wrote them into existence. Thomas Zane is actually Alan Wake inserting himself into existence under a different name the way Alfred Hitchcock would insert himself into his movies. Conversely, Barbara Jagger is very likely an alternate version of Alice Wake, representing Alice's dark side and her more negative qualities. Note that Alice and Barbara never appeared at the same time. In order for one to exist, the other had to disappear.
Woah! That was quite an insight as always! Delving into the impact of artistry and further understandings of light and darkness. It's so good to finally see this analysis after such a long wait and I'm looking forward to more content. Keep up the good work and lets hope you find rest and inspiration much like Alan Wake did.
There’s two more episodes after you beat the game which ties up the ending and hints at a sequel. Once you have beat the game just open up the episodes menu and you have two more episodes to go through they are amazing!
I haven't played this game, much to my annoyance, but I'd like to hear at least a shout-out to Bright Falls. It's the webseires that is boiled down to a half hour short film, that is a prequel to Alan Wake, and it's amazing.
I know this is old and since the release of Control and the dlc, it pretty much affirms what's actually to Alan but let's say for a moment that this is it's own game or and take in as a metaphorical thing. the whole "Alan wake up thing" I don't think is meant to be a sequel hook more so that it's some form of meta-loop as a consequence/unintended effect of Alan sacrificing himself at the end but if Alan supposedly died at the beginning to save his wife then the story stops making sense so it's like he wrote another copy of himself to make the story continue somehow and make sense, thus forming a weird recursive reality that's kinda like that page where Adam picks up a page to read it that shows he picked up a page to read it that shows he picked up a page to read it that shows he- you get the idea.
Something else you could argue, is that the truth can also do more harm than good. Alan Wake 2 would have had another antagonist known as the “Bright Presence”, which could be a metaphor for how it wants things “Real”. Stories, fiction or non-fiction, have to have a sense of “unreality “ a way for us to get lost in what it tries to tell. The Bright Presence could have been something that wanted the story to be real to be true to life. It and the dark Presence don’t care for what Alan wants, only what they want. Alan Wake 2 could have had Alan become a Third Presence, one that understands what a good story should do and why it does it.
On the subject of DLC...I know some people think of the base game with all the DLC as the "full experience," but I don't see that as particularly fair to the developers, and it's a bit hypocritical to do so without viewing games made before the advent of DLC as incomplete. Despite inexplicably-popular belief, DLC isn't parts of the game hacked off before release specifically to be sold as DLC; it's parts of the game hacked off before release _because they didn't work yet_ and there wasn't enough time or money to fix them for the full release, a process which happens to almost every game and which happened before digital distribution gave that content a chance to be polished, expanded, and released (barring a sequel or expansion pack). A game without DLC is like the theatrical release of a film; it may or may not reflect the original artistic vision of whatever creative voice you're giving precedence over the myriad others, but it's the best compromise that could be made between all those creative voices and the resource scarcity which drives so much of our modern world. A game _with_ DLC is like a film where a bunch of the cut scenes and shots are polished, filled in with some new shots, and edited into the original with varying levels of smooth integration. The two are fundamentally different works, as much as the original and a remake are.
I think it depends on the game. Most games, DLC is just something extra, but in rare cases (The Last of Us and Bioshock 2 for example) the DLC help to clinch the point, or add something critical to the experience.
Timothy McLean I agree. With some reservations. That is how dlc SHOULD be considered, AND how it really was. But, marketing being the beast that it is, realized the audiences perception of dlc and capitalized on it, now cutting the content that doesn't quite take away from the core experience to sell it back to the audience as paid dlc.
A prime example of this shift was the change in the style of elder Scrolls "expansion packs" to dlc. Morrowind had expansion packs... blood moon was a whole separate story to the core game. And the tribunal was a small side quest really that wrapped up the other false gods. Skyrim... hearthfire, a homestead mechanic that should have just been in game anyway, and dawn guard gave skyrim one interesting faction at least. Although vampire factions were just a part of the core elder Scrolls game previous to skyrim. However the dragonborn dlc is where my argument falls apart as its very comparable to the tribunal dlc... what do you think?
Amazing analysis! By far one of the best examinations of this games story I've seen. Seriously though good job on this one, these videos work as great revision material for honing my analysis and storytelling abilities so thank you very much! :)
Now that Control is out. We're finding out what the (ocean) is. The moonshine that grants vision , the people of power that Odin speaks of. Odin, Tor, Alan, Thomas, and now Jesse, and Dylan are all people with ESP like Jack and Danny Torrance from the shining and Charlie McGee in firestarter
I was thinking the same thing, but he wrote himself out of existence so only some people even remember him. Alan meets him in a dream. The Anderson brothers think Alan is Thomas, Jesse Faden remembers reading his poem but she's also heard the same poem in her father's Old gods records.
that intro aged well (i mean the comments about no sequel and no cross platform release). and yes, i say it in a positive way, actually playing the remastered now in ps5
Coming back to this video after playing Alan Wake 2 makes me want to go: SHOW ME THE CHAMPION OF LIGHT!!! Edit: 36:45 OMG I am freaking out right now IYKYK.
Alan Wake's American Nightmare isn't a sequel it is an off shoot that is suppose to be an episode part of Night Springs. Also the ending is very clear. Alan Sacrifices himself to save Alice, that's why only Alice came out of the lake and not Alan, this is continued and finished in the DLC.
A really fantastic analysis. Got in to some really interesting points, especially about the nature of art and creativity, and how sources inspiration can affect the outcome. Makes me think about that in the context of Remedy themselves. I wonder how much of that is expressing their thoughts on their relationship with the industry they're a part of. They've had a pretty complicated relationship with publishers and the like over their existence. Although after Alan Wake, they probably went further down the path in to work that looks like it was influenced by corporate interest (i.e. coercion) than what they did before.
Thats a great book recommendation, but I would not call them a similar experiance. How do you draw such a correlation? Im genuinely asking, Im interested....are you going for a full blown its all a giant Whalestoe letter approach? Because if so fuck yeah, but I dont think my boy Al here is crazy. I think the darkness is real.
After finishing both Alan Wake and Control, so many people were talking about House of Leaves, so I picked it up a few days ago. I don't think it's a coincidence that Haunted by Poe plays at the end of Ep. 2. Her real name is Anne Danielewski, Mark Z. Danielewski's sister. Meanwhile the ARG for Alan Wake is called "This House of Dreams," which in the song Haunted, there are lyrics which say "This House of Leaves."
The whole thing is not pre-written by Zane, he just left a powerful weapon to destroy the lake. Zane is pretty much dead and the lake does its own thing. The lake just steals from every artist come across it. Like it stole the crows and thunder from the rockband brothers (who have Odin and Thor as inspiration). Amazing analysis dude, hope your can do more Remedy games or even Rockstar games
I LOVED THIS VIDEO! Terrific job!!! Missed opportunity not discussing the additional content (Both DLC's and American Nightmare) as they do provide much a necessity to the main story's inherent themes and complexities. Maybe revisit now that there's a remaster and more than indefinitely an Alan Wake 2 in the Remedy interconnected universe.
Given that we now have Alan Wake 2, how about a look at the complete package, AW1, AW-nightmare, AW2, and any bits of dlc you want to bother with, since it IS included in the complete edition remake, and since it IS on the disc... it's part of the product.
This is my first video with this gentleman, and that's because I've been digging into the Alan Wake rabbit hole. I'm going to check this channel out but I hope he has done more digging into Remedy's universe since this video.
Zain is basically to Alan what Virgil was to Dante. Another inspiration as Dante traversed through Hell as Alan traverses through the darkness. Ah, man the fact that we have to clarify everything we mean in order not to offend someone is so unnecessary. This was awesome. Thank you so much. I'm so glad they remastered this. Just a little disappointed that they didn't also give us American Nightmare, mostly to explore the location of the motel and diner, etc
I'm sure all viewers of the shuttle already have their copies of Alan Wake but if not the game was released at least on GOG with all the music and Licensing issues seeming to have been fixed.
The cliffhanger is no cliffhanger. It's referring to the player of the game (who plays as Alan Wake) to wake up from darkness (ignorance) to the the light (TRUTH or "art" as you have put it). The metaphor of the game (a lie or drama) is over and now the player must WAKE UP to the truth of its meaning.
I loved this dude. I’m binging your channel at this point. I’m trying to create a video game as literature class as a high school teacher, and the analysis style you use is great.
Email me if you want some help with the practical side of things! I taught a high school Games as Lit. class for two years a while back, I'd be happy to help if you need input. 😊
I'll admit. The metaphors in the game definitely give emphasis to the core message and you did an amazing job explaining those messages. Nice work Professor!
Yo boys the game control is based in the sam univers as Alan wake also a dlc is comming out for control called awe ant the art clearly shows Alan wake be seeing him soon
You, sir, are inspiring. I see myself in you when you are speaking, making small jokes and little irritation of repetitiveness. I am a teacher, was. You are continuously inspiring me to get back to it but I wont risk it. I am tired risking it. But thank you still for being somewhat of a mirror of me, of I was back then. Back when Life was forgiving. Sorry for the drama good sir, you are the most dedicated, concrete and excellent speaker I have seen here in RUclips. I hope you continue doing these and I hoe only good fortune befall upon you.
Also, Max Payne 3 was heart-wrenching! Don't insult that game for being "a departure". That opening sequence in Max Payne 3 is enough to make MEN weep - Its as heart wrenching as The Walking Dead Tell Tale Game (the first one), GRIS, and even SOTC.
I can't say I've had any interest in Alan Wake but I listened to this today while working and it turned out to be a fascinating analysis of what is clearly a game of great depth. Then I listened to The Poet and the Muse as you recommended and Wow! That was a beautiful song, I played it a good few times over. However you can now take your cleverly constructed and well thought out analysis of the game and drop it in a lake... Clearly the game was simply constructed as a home for that awesome song to live in.
"Ignorance isn't just the lack of knowledge. It is the twisting of it."
Best line ever!
It really isn't though. I'd love to see a single Lit book define ignorance as such. Is this guy an actual professor or a pop culture English student? It sounds nice, but this is quickly becoming I'm 14 and I am deep territory. Basically he's trying to say the famous adage: "a little knowledge is a dangerous thing." What. a. hack.
@@dxcSOUL >or a pop culture English student?
Probably the second but no, he's absolutely right. 4chan types live in a bubble of their own because they are perfectly aware that if they try to debate anything they believe in, they get their ass kicked.
“Nonexistent Sequel”
Boy do I have news for you
Wonderful, well thought and explored analysis. This is the game that inspired me to start my RUclips channel, Night Springs specifically. I’m glad this game has not been forgotten. Great stuff sir!
Bruh I remember Black box from back in the day where sketch comedy was the norm on RUclips, fun times but I am glad we grew out of it
"We'll talk about that later"
Andddd - new drinking game.
But a really good analysis on the game. Good job.
Chris Landy Yeah, there was so much about this game that couldn't be fully discussed without all the context that I did something a bit different and barely explained anything during the summary portion. Saved it all for afterward. So yes, there's a LOT of that. :P
Games As Literature Alan wake is my favourite game. I recently visited Washington state and the game imagery instantly hit me while in that scenery. Whats your thoughts on this game being made on the big screen by Stephen Spielberg? The reason I mention him is I feel he could nail the story tone as a director.
"Art created from a place of light, from knowledge and understanding and empathy and a desire to seek truth, can inform people and weaken ignorance and enact positive change. But art created from darkness, from stereotypes, from fear, can have the opposite effect. It can obscure truth, it can perpetrate lies, it can move people and society in a negative direction and literally change the world for the worse."
This was worth the wait, you earned a really great conclusion here, and it came from a place of light. I can't help but think about this in the context of today, and the present dangers of creation born of ignorance. Can't wait for the next one, take as long as you have to.
When/Where is this said???????!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?
@@mojo1829 I know this is a late reply, but it happens at the very end of the review. It was part of his closing comments.
Can anyone give me an example of a work of art that has literally changed the world for the worse , seriously? Besides "Barbie Girl" by Aqua
@@JoshuaKane. Various political propaganda can do that. As can "Barbie Girl" or "Baby Shark", of course.
@@JoshuaKane. Uhh... that klansman movie, the Star Wars sequels (people will contort themselves to believe incredibly stupid things if it's politically convenient. Protip: the concept of a "Mary Sue" is anti-woman in roughly the same way as it is anti-heterochromia), prooobably Fury Road because the main theme there is feminism and current Twitter feminist are awful, the Starship Troopers movie (it seems to have a fascist fanbase that formed an attachment to it out of pure contrarian doublethink), Nietzche and his general philosophy (there's shades of Nietchzeanism in every bad guy philosophy because it sounds cool and the nazis used it to justify their bullshit), probably Max Stirner (TLDR; morality is a "spook") but I don't think anyone who'll take that to it's obvious conclusion is smart enough to know who Max Stirner is.
Also everyone online who claims to have Dissociative Personality Disorder online is malingering for attention. The version they're describing was made up by a 1973 book called Sybil. Apparently the real DID is caused by repeated extreme trauma in childhood, and episodes cause blackouts.
Watching this in 2021 and thinking to myself, "That was such a good game, wish i could play it again." Little did I know they just posted news about it being Remastered in the last 24 hours or so... haaah! A true Matrix moment...
It’s also been on PC for like 8 years and can run on a toaster.
@@SaberRexZealot you think it'd run on my 486 powered toaster? I mean I could try but I'm dubious
And here we are couple days after part II released
Do cover the rest of the DLC and American Nightmare, please. This is one of my favorite series and I enjoyed your analysis.
This is by far my favourite videogame, and one of the few i can play over and over again whithout getting bored, even though many people claim that the gameplay get's tireying.
But the reason i love it so much is the atmosphere and the story, and there were a few interesting new insights, even for a hardcore-fan like me. (I even play it at the moment on my second channel ^^)
I highly recommend you to play the two DLC's, which aren't the "real ending" some people say (which is why i don't get that people criticize that this would be the only way to get the "real ending" of the story), they are more of a explaination of what happens to Alan now that he's trapped in the Dark Place, and also to show how much more surrealistic and creative ideas the developers have for the game.
American Nightmare is also pretty good, but you can't compare it to the main game, there are a few interesting insides in what happened after Alan vanished into the Dark Place, but there is more focus on his evil doppelgaenger Mr. Scratch, who is one of the most interesting and psychotic videogame-villains since the Joker of the Arkham Games.
I would love to see you also tackle these two/three "games", and i enjoyed your analysis fairly much :)
(Also, yesterday was my birthday, so i see this as a nice present ^^)
9 years later and I still love playing Alan Wake on Saturday nights. If it's true that Sony is helping Remedy with getting Alan Wake 2 released that means Microsoft just missed out on keeping a great game as their exclusive
They also lost insomniac...now they're out of exclusives...only halo's left.
@@real6562 Remedy wanted to be on all platforms. They have a working relationship with NVIDIA and their newest game Control plays and looks 100x better on PC. This isn't a knock on consoles, it's just the truth. Their newer games including Quantum Break and Control both use Northlight engine which has extremely advanced lighting and physics. The environments are progressively more destructible between those games and if you watch a comparison of Xbox One X/PS4 Pro vs PC running Control, you'll see that the difference in quality is day and night.
Point is, Remedy isn't switching to PS exclusives. Xbox doesn't want console exclusives either, but they are investing heavily in first party studios and new IPs with the new console. I think we'll get some big announcements next week - but they'll all be Xbox + Windows.
I hope someday you do a literary analysis on Control which ties in heavily to Alan Wake and gave us much needed lore and info on what happened in Alan Wake. At the very least I hope you review it.
I think the view of editors here is interesting; the Dark Presence is an evil force that twists Alan's work, and Barry needs to learn to back off and let Alan do his thing, essentially. There's no real positive depiction of someone actively shaping a work without being part of the creative process.
Of course, I'm biased here (I dabble as an editor), but I think it's interesting to look at the implications of the writers' views through these portrayals, and what might be missing. Too much power to the editor (and bad intentions) can absolutely mean a work is turned away from its original purpose or refitted to be what the editor and not the creator wants it to be, but unrestricted freedom on a creator's side leads to messes like the Star Wars prequels or Mighty No. 9.
All that being said, I definitely understand that most creators will come down on the side of wariness to bedgrudging acceptance of editors at best, because we do hack and slash away at their hard work. And of course I can't really know if the writers feel this way about editors; maybe the sequel would have had a scenario where the dangers of unrestricted creativity get explored. We can never really know, but I thought I'd toss in my two cents anyway.
how I took the ending was that the darkness got ahold of Alan right at the end and transformed/spread itself out to the world by turning itself into the ocean. that's why he sounds like that as he says "ocean".
This has to be one of the better written analysis out there. Thanks a ton for making this video. Alan Wake can be a really good game on a surface level but depending on how deep you wanna go, can be a masterpiece.
You gave me a whole new insight to my favorite AAA game. One of the best analysis of any video game I have seen so far.
This is my first time seeing one of your videos. Alan Wake is one of my favourite games, both as an artist and a creative. I first played it when I was going through an awful bout of writer's block, where I was ashamed of whatever I tried to write. The game, as fittingly as you put it, shed a light for me on my work. It inspired me to keep going, for the better.
I haven't seen much dissection of the story and its metaphors on this level, so it's great to see. And really just serves to make me appreciate it even more.
Also, loved the way you ended the analysis on the period from the end of the game. Nice bit of editing there.
Just played Alan Wake for the first time and a few things went over my head so this was a cool video.
Hope you do a video on the sequel, loved your perspective on the game and it's one of the better Alan Wake analysis videos I've come across. Very thoughtful!
I don't know if this is ever explicitly stated in the original Alan Wake, but Alan actually started his job as a writer writing a few episodes of the Night Springs show (which features a lot more heavily in American Nightmare) - I always though that was the reason it was split into episodes, as a throwback to his first writing gig.
I've been waiting forever for this oh my god I love these analyses. Ever since I heard you were doing Alan wake I've been waiting it's finally here
Anybody else here for Control/Control: AWE? Given the Alan Wake tie-in, plus news of Remedy working on a new game set in the mutual universe of Control + Alan Wake, I figured I'd pop in and see if there was any plans to cover it!
Yep!
This is a really solid analysis given it's only of the game! I imagine the perspective warps if you add the DLC and the spin-off game into the mix and that's not mentioning the official comics, the mini series, the book "Alan Wake Files" and the This House of Dreams blog (probably not needing the novelizations perspective at all here) but I would love to hear that in depth view about everything put together. It surely doesn't answer too much, but some things definitely change. At least adds some history to the matter. Anyways, awesome video. I had a ton of fun watching it.
Absolutely amazing video and analysis
Poets of the fall made this game so creepy and beautiful
I’m only at the 13:30 mark but the double of Alan Wake is none other than Mr. Scratch (They go more into him in the DLC and American Nightmare)
Wake also wrote a few Nightsprings episodes, Barry comments on it during the Anderson farm sequence when you come across one of the TV’s.
Thomas zane's portrayal reminds me greatly of big daddies from Bioshock.
They said that they were looking into re-licensing the music, not that it "couldn't be renewed". In fact, you can now buy the game again on Steam.
This is absolutely one of my favorite games. Thank you for this.
Whoa. This is the first video I watched by you and I am extremely impressed. It was comprehensive and tangible! I recently played the game and wanted a different ideology on the events that occurred. I'm about to play Control (also by Remedy) and heard there is a relation between the two games and wanted more context. SO STOKED NOW!
In American Nightmare Alan reveals the darkness has a lack of imagination
which explains why the darkness relies strongly on stereotypes when using people
The gameplay Demo for Alan Wake 2 has the talk show host Mr Door making fun of the "Not a lake" line so I think they are aware of how theye left it off.
And now Alan Wake has a Remastered Game
Aaaaaand know I want to play Alan Wake again.
no, you don't
@@goombah8936 yeah you definitely do
No
@@real6562 yes
@@gamebond6248 yeah
First of all..congrats on your video.. once again you showed what an interesting form of art games always have been.. secondly I am in no way an expert, so whatever i will say should be taken with a shovel of salt... so.. I think the ending of the game can be interpreted by the hidden in plain sight secret of the nature of Alan, A.Wake = Awake .. maybe this is why he gets prompted to wake up in the end.. moreover the ocean part is pronounced with what I would interpret as a darkness in his voice... In addition I would like to add the fact that the "enemies" are "stuck" repeating their menial tasks which lack art/creativity (oh yes.. I also want to add that sometimes I think that the game talks about creativity instead of art, the process rather than the final product) and then when light is shed on them they A.wake, but on the other hand Alan kills them or sets them free... which poses the question is everything in the game a reality or one of Alan's nightmares that was caused due to his writer's block flirting with his dark side (art for profit)... Again.. I don't claim expertise and I hope I didn't sound patronizing or arrogant.. Thank you again for all your videos...
Alan Wake is on steam now for the few that still may not know
Since Stephen King's multiple times stated that a lot, if not most, of his stories derive from his nightmares....Alan's Nightmare at the very start where Zane intervenes might be the source of Alan writing Zane into history. Still the detail remains that the bird leg cabin inhabited books and pictures of Zane.... OR, Alan was close enough for his nightmare to create parts of reality or his subconcious allowed Zane to return as a guide because of his nightmare, or both met since they were, so to speak, of the same "force", existing in the dark place only. Food for thought, Goth I love this game.
Hey a quick update for those who are for some reason this late the game is now backwards compatible for Xbone
You also have to remember that Sam Lake (the writer of Alan Wake and Max Payne and the CEO of Remedy) is a poet and a writer as well, so this game is about his psyche as an artist. It's not a (Sam) Lake, it's an ocean (Remedy). So it's saying Lake's creations are a group effort.
I interpreted it more like the Dark Place being not a Lake (The Video Game Industry) but an Ocean (The Entertainment Industry as a Whole) hence why things from the dark place come into the world as a different medium, like live action sequences of Alan.
And in the narative context, it's not a dark reality, but a portal to other realities. Basically Alan Wake set up a multiverse long before it was popular in video games.
Of course video games are a collaborative effort. But I don't think such a reading does well for Alan Wake, Sam Lake himself never specifically struggled creatively with the game alone, it was a joint frustration the whole team shared in the process of making it. Interviews make that clear.
I just finished this game for the first time. The whole thing hits differently as an artist myself going under art block, and you going deep into the game in that level brought me a better appreciation for the game!
Here's how you look at it: Everything and everyone that happens from the moment Alan met the Dark Presence in the Oh Deer Diner was written into Alan's book "Departure", and none of it would have occurred, otherwise. This means that Thomas Zane and Barbara Jagger are characters that didn't exist at all until Alan wrote them into existence. Thomas Zane is actually Alan Wake inserting himself into existence under a different name the way Alfred Hitchcock would insert himself into his movies. Conversely, Barbara Jagger is very likely an alternate version of Alice Wake, representing Alice's dark side and her more negative qualities. Note that Alice and Barbara never appeared at the same time. In order for one to exist, the other had to disappear.
Woah! That was quite an insight as always! Delving into the impact of artistry and further understandings of light and darkness. It's so good to finally see this analysis after such a long wait and I'm looking forward to more content. Keep up the good work and lets hope you find rest and inspiration much like Alan Wake did.
There’s two more episodes after you beat the game which ties up the ending and hints at a sequel. Once you have beat the game just open up the episodes menu and you have two more episodes to go through they are amazing!
I haven't played this game, much to my annoyance, but I'd like to hear at least a shout-out to Bright Falls. It's the webseires that is boiled down to a half hour short film, that is a prequel to Alan Wake, and it's amazing.
Game is back up on Steam. For anyone who comes across this video in 2020. Its worth a playthrough. Its really cool.
When Alice says "Alan wake up" I feel like it means that the whole game was Alan's nightmare
The dlc confirms that it isn’t
Amazing dissertation. I've loved Alan Wake for awhile. Currently enjoying AW2.
Alan Wakes apparently back on Steam and the Xbox One store
Alan Wake 2 is supposedly coming :) And soon.
I know this is old and since the release of Control and the dlc, it pretty much affirms what's actually to Alan but let's say for a moment that this is it's own game or and take in as a metaphorical thing. the whole "Alan wake up thing" I don't think is meant to be a sequel hook more so that it's some form of meta-loop as a consequence/unintended effect of Alan sacrificing himself at the end but if Alan supposedly died at the beginning to save his wife then the story stops making sense so it's like he wrote another copy of himself to make the story continue somehow and make sense, thus forming a weird recursive reality that's kinda like that page where Adam picks up a page to read it that shows he picked up a page to read it that shows he picked up a page to read it that shows he-
you get the idea.
Something else you could argue, is that the truth can also do more harm than good. Alan Wake 2 would have had another antagonist known as the “Bright Presence”, which could be a metaphor for how it wants things “Real”. Stories, fiction or non-fiction, have to have a sense of “unreality “ a way for us to get lost in what it tries to tell. The Bright Presence could have been something that wanted the story to be real to be true to life. It and the dark Presence don’t care for what Alan wants, only what they want. Alan Wake 2 could have had Alan become a Third Presence, one that understands what a good story should do and why it does it.
Music rights issues were resolved u can buy the game all you want.
On the subject of DLC...I know some people think of the base game with all the DLC as the "full experience," but I don't see that as particularly fair to the developers, and it's a bit hypocritical to do so without viewing games made before the advent of DLC as incomplete. Despite inexplicably-popular belief, DLC isn't parts of the game hacked off before release specifically to be sold as DLC; it's parts of the game hacked off before release _because they didn't work yet_ and there wasn't enough time or money to fix them for the full release, a process which happens to almost every game and which happened before digital distribution gave that content a chance to be polished, expanded, and released (barring a sequel or expansion pack).
A game without DLC is like the theatrical release of a film; it may or may not reflect the original artistic vision of whatever creative voice you're giving precedence over the myriad others, but it's the best compromise that could be made between all those creative voices and the resource scarcity which drives so much of our modern world. A game _with_ DLC is like a film where a bunch of the cut scenes and shots are polished, filled in with some new shots, and edited into the original with varying levels of smooth integration. The two are fundamentally different works, as much as the original and a remake are.
I think it depends on the game. Most games, DLC is just something extra, but in rare cases (The Last of Us and Bioshock 2 for example) the DLC help to clinch the point, or add something critical to the experience.
Timothy McLean I agree. With some reservations. That is how dlc SHOULD be considered, AND how it really was. But, marketing being the beast that it is, realized the audiences perception of dlc and capitalized on it, now cutting the content that doesn't quite take away from the core experience to sell it back to the audience as paid dlc.
A prime example of this shift was the change in the style of elder Scrolls "expansion packs" to dlc. Morrowind had expansion packs... blood moon was a whole separate story to the core game. And the tribunal was a small side quest really that wrapped up the other false gods. Skyrim... hearthfire, a homestead mechanic that should have just been in game anyway, and dawn guard gave skyrim one interesting faction at least. Although vampire factions were just a part of the core elder Scrolls game previous to skyrim. However the dragonborn dlc is where my argument falls apart as its very comparable to the tribunal dlc... what do you think?
Amazing analysis! By far one of the best examinations of this games story I've seen. Seriously though good job on this one, these videos work as great revision material for honing my analysis and storytelling abilities so thank you very much! :)
He frees the darkness beacause he made the prison bigger. He turn it into a ocean opening its power and prison.
Now that Control is out. We're finding out what the (ocean) is. The moonshine that grants vision , the people of power that Odin speaks of. Odin, Tor, Alan, Thomas, and now Jesse, and Dylan are all people with ESP like Jack and Danny Torrance from the shining and Charlie McGee in firestarter
Awesome well-constructed video!
I thought Zane's story and his experience was created through the songs of Old Gods of Asgard...
I was thinking the same thing, but he wrote himself out of existence so only some people even remember him. Alan meets him in a dream. The Anderson brothers think Alan is Thomas, Jesse Faden remembers reading his poem but she's also heard the same poem in her father's Old gods records.
Old Gods of Asgard came after Zane.
that intro aged well (i mean the comments about no sequel and no cross platform release). and yes, i say it in a positive way, actually playing the remastered now in ps5
Coming back three years later to cordially request The Signal, The Writer, and American Nightmare. I just wanna hear you talk about Mr Scratch
Coming back to this video after playing Alan Wake 2 makes me want to go:
SHOW ME THE CHAMPION OF LIGHT!!!
Edit: 36:45 OMG I am freaking out right now IYKYK.
Alan Wake's American Nightmare isn't a sequel it is an off shoot that is suppose to be an episode part of Night Springs.
Also the ending is very clear. Alan Sacrifices himself to save Alice, that's why only Alice came out of the lake and not Alan, this is continued and finished in the DLC.
A really fantastic analysis. Got in to some really interesting points, especially about the nature of art and creativity, and how sources inspiration can affect the outcome. Makes me think about that in the context of Remedy themselves. I wonder how much of that is expressing their thoughts on their relationship with the industry they're a part of. They've had a pretty complicated relationship with publishers and the like over their existence. Although after Alan Wake, they probably went further down the path in to work that looks like it was influenced by corporate interest (i.e. coercion) than what they did before.
The real question is this: did Zane write alan or did Alan write Zane? It's never answered
The review was pretty good and raised some interesting points, but I will get back to it later!
so glad this game got a remaster; i never got into it on xbox but i just finished it in a day or two
Man, that´s was awesome! Great, really great analysis. Greetings from Colombia!!! please keep doing this type of things!
For a similar but, I think, more fully realized experience... I'd recommend House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski.
Thats a great book recommendation, but I would not call them a similar experiance. How do you draw such a correlation? Im genuinely asking, Im interested....are you going for a full blown its all a giant Whalestoe letter approach? Because if so fuck yeah, but I dont think my boy Al here is crazy. I think the darkness is real.
After finishing both Alan Wake and Control, so many people were talking about House of Leaves, so I picked it up a few days ago. I don't think it's a coincidence that Haunted by Poe plays at the end of Ep. 2. Her real name is Anne Danielewski, Mark Z. Danielewski's sister. Meanwhile the ARG for Alan Wake is called "This House of Dreams," which in the song Haunted, there are lyrics which say "This House of Leaves."
The whole thing is not pre-written by Zane, he just left a powerful weapon to destroy the lake. Zane is pretty much dead and the lake does its own thing. The lake just steals from every artist come across it. Like it stole the crows and thunder from the rockband brothers (who have Odin and Thor as inspiration).
Amazing analysis dude, hope your can do more Remedy games or even Rockstar games
This is so enjoyable. You have officially become part of my watching regiment. Gracias for the dope content
You can get Alan Wake on Epic Games, now. That's a relief.
It's back on steam. I bought it in Feb 2020 after playing control
I LOVED THIS VIDEO! Terrific job!!! Missed opportunity not discussing the additional content (Both DLC's and American Nightmare) as they do provide much a necessity to the main story's inherent themes and complexities. Maybe revisit now that there's a remaster and more than indefinitely an Alan Wake 2 in the Remedy interconnected universe.
Given that we now have Alan Wake 2, how about a look at the complete package, AW1, AW-nightmare, AW2, and any bits of dlc you want to bother with, since it IS included in the complete edition remake, and since it IS on the disc... it's part of the product.
I'd be very interested in hearing your take on Control
This is my first video with this gentleman, and that's because I've been digging into the Alan Wake rabbit hole. I'm going to check this channel out but I hope he has done more digging into Remedy's universe since this video.
Zain is basically to Alan what Virgil was to Dante. Another inspiration as Dante traversed through Hell as Alan traverses through the darkness.
Ah, man the fact that we have to clarify everything we mean in order not to offend someone is so unnecessary. This was awesome. Thank you so much. I'm so glad they remastered this.
Just a little disappointed that they didn't also give us American Nightmare, mostly to explore the location of the motel and diner, etc
This is one of the few games where i think the DLC (Not Nightmare) is pretty essential to the overall story
Love that tie buddy
Heh, Remedy got the rights back... And the AWE DLC...
I'm sure all viewers of the shuttle already have their copies of Alan Wake but if not the game was released at least on GOG with all the music and Licensing issues seeming to have been fixed.
Alan Wake is back on Steam: store.steampowered.com/app/108710/Alan_Wake/
you should totally do Control now. after the final dlc, it seems like it was alan wake's sequel in a certain way
Great video man! I love this commentary/analysis to one of my all time favorite game stories
Great analysis! You most definetly deserve more exposure, really good content. Suomi mainittu, torilla tavataan.
The cliffhanger is no cliffhanger. It's referring to the player of the game (who plays as Alan Wake) to wake up from darkness (ignorance) to the the light (TRUTH or "art" as you have put it). The metaphor of the game (a lie or drama) is over and now the player must WAKE UP to the truth of its meaning.
Nah it was sequel/DLC bait
@@GravelordNEETo yes
This mightve been your best work yet. Which is definitely saying something.
I loved this dude. I’m binging your channel at this point. I’m trying to create a video game as literature class as a high school teacher, and the analysis style you use is great.
Email me if you want some help with the practical side of things! I taught a high school Games as Lit. class for two years a while back, I'd be happy to help if you need input. 😊
I'll admit. The metaphors in the game definitely give emphasis to the core message and you did an amazing job explaining those messages. Nice work Professor!
Loved this video , the only Remedy game I’ve played has been Quantum Break which I thought was amazing from a story and even gameplay aspect
It’s on PlayStation now 😁😁
Yo boys the game control is based in the sam univers as Alan wake also a dlc is comming out for control called awe ant the art clearly shows Alan wake be seeing him soon
You, sir, are inspiring. I see myself in you when you are speaking, making small jokes and little irritation of repetitiveness. I am a teacher, was. You are continuously inspiring me to get back to it but I wont risk it. I am tired risking it. But thank you still for being somewhat of a mirror of me, of I was back then. Back when Life was forgiving.
Sorry for the drama good sir, you are the most dedicated, concrete and excellent speaker I have seen here in RUclips. I hope you continue doing these and I hoe only good fortune befall upon you.
You really should have gone over the DLC because the DLC finishes that cliffhanger and finishes most of what's left.
To those looking to play: Alan Wake is on steam again :)
I just picked up Alan Wake remastered
This was awesome. Good to have you back man.
Also, Max Payne 3 was heart-wrenching! Don't insult that game for being "a departure". That opening sequence in Max Payne 3 is enough to make MEN weep - Its as heart wrenching as The Walking Dead Tell Tale Game (the first one), GRIS, and even SOTC.
"We'll talk more about that later" - Games as Lit. 101
In my defense, I have put a lot of effort into reducing that in more recent videos lol
You are underrated and now have another subscriber
Wonderful video and content about one of my favorite games. Keep up the good work my friend!
I can't say I've had any interest in Alan Wake but I listened to this today while working and it turned out to be a fascinating analysis of what is clearly a game of great depth.
Then I listened to The Poet and the Muse as you recommended and Wow! That was a beautiful song, I played it a good few times over. However you can now take your cleverly constructed and well thought out analysis of the game and drop it in a lake... Clearly the game was simply constructed as a home for that awesome song to live in.