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[derFeef]

If you look at the gameplay trailer from 2009 on the CE bonus disc, you see that they've changed the game quite a bit since then too. They completely changed the way Alan reads the manuscript pages, the HUD is different, and almost everything that happens during that video doesn't happen in the full game. Some things are similar, such as the level design, but other stuff have been completely scrapped/changed. Would be interesting to see how much of the rest of the game they've changed since last year.

Maybe it's just me, but it seems that the facial animations are better in that video as well. Perhaps they had finished facial animations back then, but decided that they didn't like much of the game so they changed it again, meaning they didn't have time/money to make new facial animations for what they've changed. Could be why the facial animations are suddenly better towards the end of the game as well.

The scene with Rusty is very different. It looked like it appeared very early in the game at this stage, because of the turotial-like hints and so on. But no, the facial animations are at the same level imo.

 

[LordPhoque]

Anyone think gamewise it fell apart abit near the end, the little bridge bit and then the last boss screamed unfinished to me. I liked the gameplay and the paceing to that point the end boss was all kinds of fail imho. I was enjoying the game and played it non stop over the weekend then it just seemed to start to fall apart abit. The story was good the voice acting and charcters were great and the setting was spot on, i think and i cant believe im going to say this given how long it took to come out but it couldve done with a bit more time to really nail the end 3rd of the game.

This fits perfectly for the game on your avatar :lol

But yeah, more seriously, chapter 6 was disappointing. Though I liked the village with the church a lot, probably my favorite location of the game. Chapter 4 was my favorite in terms of plot developement.

 

[JimmyRustler]

I don't know if I buy that Zane was fictional by the way and invented by Alan, as thatconflicts with the lantern lady's history, a very real person.

I can't imagine Zane to be fictional. After all he is the one who created the darkness with his poems - or so we are told in one of the TV-flashbacks. What is assume is that most of the other things we are told about him are not true.

 

[Pooya]

I'm the flaming eye of Mordor! haha!

 

[derFeef]

I'm the flaming eye of Mordor! haha!

:lol
His Night Springs quotes are even better. But he really cracked me up when he aped Alan with the cardboard.

 

[AndyMoogle]

Has anyone played through the game with the commentary track on? If so, do they go in depth with the story or do they just talk about the development process and such?

 

[Foliorum Viridum]

All of Barry's discourse was fantastic. Best character in the game, easily.

There's lots of interesting interpretations here. I'm undecided about how "real" Alan and Zane were, and who created who. I quite like it being left amiguous, though, if I'm honest. I guess it goes full circle with the first line of the game about the nature of horror and not explaining it.

 

[Peff]

Has anyone played through the game with the commentary track on? If so, do they go in depth with the story or do they just talk about the development process and such?

I've played through half of chapter 3 and so far, while interesting, they've never stated anything "behind the scenes" about the story. They do make the obvious links (like the light being Thomas Zane, what Mott is after) but it's mostly about the gameplay and setting. Then again I do imagine that'll change when the twists start coming up.

 

[randomwab]

Got my artbook in the mail today, and just read through it. A lot of interesting points, such as hinting that we'll see Nightingale, Zane and the lighthouse location/Rain Cove brought back for DLC/Alan Wake 2, as well as some levels that were mostly complete but cut that they'd like to bring back. One in particular involving a forest fire seems like it was finished, but they couldn't fit it in after various story changes.

Just to clarify some story stuff from the final game, they state that Nightingale witnessed a supernatural force several years ago, the same that he lost his partner to and that this was the source of his mental breakdown. They also make clear that Zane is actually still alive, trapped in the darkness at the bottom of the lake.

 

[conman]

Just to clarify some story stuff from the final game, they state that Nightingale witnessed a supernatural force several years ago, the same that he lost his partner to and that this was the source of his mental breakdown.

Yeah, this is in the manuscript pages, as well. Perhaps related to the 1970 events with Zane.

They also make clear that Zane is actually still alive, trapped in the darkness at the bottom of the lake.

Hmm. Could be Zane down there writing away pulling all the strings in town. It always looked to me like the "cabin" where Wake is seen writing in the TV spots was some sort of enclosed chamber (water-tight room at the bottom the lake?). Presumably whatever "power" the water has is increased the closer one is to it. According to one of the manuscript pages, the Dark Presence was looking for a way to lure Alan Wake closer to (into?) the lake. Diving in after his wife would be a good way to do that.

His wife is the one who convinces him to go to Bright Falls in the first place, and she is also the one who tries to convince him to write once they get there. Is she lured there by the Dark Presence? By the promises of the pop-psychologist and his "clinic"? Or, to put this in psychological terms, is the "Dark Presence" just an inverted fantasy concocted by Alan's animosity towards his wife?

 

[Peff]

Well, there goes one theory. Maybe he can influence people to write too after all.

Hmm. Could be Zane down there writing away pulling all the strings in town. It always looked to me like the "cabin" where Wake is seen writing in the TV spots was some sort of enclosed chamber (water-tight room at the bottom the lake?). Presumably whatever "power" the water has is increased the closer one is to it. According to one of the manuscript pages, the Dark Presence was looking for a way to lure Alan Wake closer to (into?) the lake. Diving in after his wife would be a good way to do that.

His wife is the one who convinces him to go to Bright Falls in the first place, and she is also the one who tries to convince him to write once they get there. Is she lured there by the Dark Presence? By the promises of the pop-psychologist and his "clinic"? Or, to put this in psychological terms, is the "Dark Presence" just an inverted fantasy concocted by Alan's animosity towards his wife?

I think it's all the work of Emil Hartman, Zane's former assistant. He knew of the power that Cauldron Lake has, and all he wants is to get his hands on someone who can write things into reality as well. The question is, why does he go for Wake instead of anybody else? Maybe there's another link between Alan and Zane he knows that we don't... DLC, please

 

[derFeef]

Well, there goes one theory. Maybe he can influence people to write too after all.



I think it's all the work of Emil Hartman, Zane's former assistant. He knew of the power that Cauldron Lake has, and all he wants is to get his hands on someone who can write things into reality as well. The question is, why does he go for Wake instead of anybody else? Maybe there's another link between Alan and Zane he knows that we don't... DLC, please

Pretty much :lol I am out as far as the theorys goes. None has satisfied me. Can not wait for non-EU GAF to shine some light on it as well.

 

[Majora]

What ties my head in knots when I try to understand the story of this game is that everything that is in the manuscript which comes true is stuff Alan has created. I have to keep reminding myself of this. So when he writes about Mott hunting him down on Hartman's behalf, for example, that is all created by Alan prior to the events happening, it is not happening independent of him, because it is written in his manuscript. This then starts begging the question as to why he wrote that in particular and why he acts surprised when he seems Mott in the photograph at the lodge. When we read that Hartman was Zane's assistant is that real, or is that Alan projecting his anger at the thought of seeing Hartman into his manuscript and placing blame on him? Hartman helping creative people at his lodge seems true, in that it's occuring before Alan gets to Bright Falls and starts writing. But Alan then writes in his manuscript stuff that makes Hartman basically a villain when he could be perfectly innocent.

My brain is fried. I just don't know what is meant to be real or not. When Alan's manuscript talks about the tension between Rose and Rusty, is that just invented by him for the sake of the story? Because he only met them once and he knows nothing about them beyond the fact that Rusty drinks loads of coffee. When we see what the other characters think and hear, I find it really hard to accept that they are not the characters thoughts, but what Alan is telling the characters to think. Our understanding of the story rests on a narrator projecting ideas and thoughts and actions onto these people. Has Alan just taken people that he saw before Alice's kidnapping and projected ideas onto them for the sake of the story or to help him?

Did he see Cynthia, for example, in the diner fussing about the lights, and then fabricate an entire plotline about her going round leaving caches and painting signs in order to aid his escape? Is everything in the story taken from what Alan sees before Alice disappears and he embellishes and elaborates to make the story?

My brain just...can't...take it :lol I just don't understand what is meant to be real (in that it would happen/happened irrelevant of Wake) and what is only occuring because of Wake's writing.

 

[deathberry]

So let me get this straight...

[Stephen King + plot holes] x Tidus (FFX) = Alan Wake

...?

Spoiler

shits & giggles people, don't start flaming. But you know deep down this is true.

 

[eso76]

so, i've been reading on threads that you eventually find Alan is actually a bad writer.

Ok, I finished the game and i can't recall anything suggesting this.

So i'm guessing this is based on the writing in manuscript pages ? do we really have to pretend those are straight from a book Alan would write ?
Oh, come on they had to keep them extremely short and simple because you have to read them in the middle of the action, they just need to tell you what's going to happen in 30 seconds and no more than 10 lines, they obviously had to sacrifice some 'literature'.

 

[Saty]

You can hear the call between Alice and Hartman in the clinic message recorder where we learn why Alice brought Alan to Bright Falls. He was being very aggressive in NY and Alice was worried about him, almost wishing for him to raise his hand on her if it would have helped.

 

[conman]

so, i've been reading on threads that you eventually find Alan is actually a bad writer.

Ok, I finished the game and i can't recall anything suggesting this.

A "derivative hack," yes. But "bad" is completely subjective. The dude's published six novels in seven years, and each one has outsold the previous and been a huge bestseller. I don't know any "good" writers who've ever accomplished such a thing. Besides, if all of the things that happen in the game come from Wake's imagination, we know he doesn't have an original bone in his body. Nearly everything in the game comes from other writers' and filmmakers' works.

If Wake isn't a bad writer, then the folks at Remedy must be laughing their asses off at us.

IMO the best sense of Wake as an author is in the television interview. He's meant to seem like more of a celebrity and a personality, not a writer--the sort of role reserved for people like Nicholas Sparks. I took that to be a major reveal in the game's plot. That and learning that he's an alcoholic and treats his wife like shit. Reminded me a lot of the twist in Memento.

Regardless, I don't think it's really important whether he's a good or bad writer. The point is that Remedy is trying to imitate the style and flavor of horror genre fiction. Doesn't matter if it's very good. Just has to be convincing.

 

[derFeef]

So Alice is taking Alan to Bright Falls and Hartman because of his temper, and not because of his writing block, actually? Hm, Hartman then tries to take advantage of Alan. But how can he do that, or be sure he writes the stuff he wants - Alan is suffering from a writing block in the end.

 

[Peff]

So Alice is taking Alan to Bright Falls and Hartman because of his temper, and not because of his writing block, actually? Hm, Hartman then tries to take advantage of Alan. But how can he do that, or be sure he writes the stuff he wants - Alan is suffering from a writing block in the end.

I assume he wants to be his "editor", much like the Dark Pressence was during the week in the cabin (this could explain why Alan writes about people he doesn't know, it's Barbara Jagger telling him information in order to keep the story real and grounded), which means getting him to write what he wants and mold the world into his wishes.

 

[randomwab]

So Alice is taking Alan to Bright Falls and Hartman because of his temper, and not because of his writing block, actually?

I don't know really. I'm guessing Alice would have read Hartman's book having packed a copy and brought it to Bright Falls, and based on the excerpt in The Alan Wake Files, it seems that the sole reason for the clinic is to help artists overcome their block. It does mention that artists usually fall back into a nihilistic lifestyle, abusing alcohol and drugs and become disconnected to loved ones. Maybe she thought that helping him get over his writers block would solve some of the issues with their marriage?

 

[Pooya]

Is it me or Rose still looks zombie-ish in the ending video?
and what was the role of the FBI agent in all of this? He was pretty much redundant.

 

[Peff]

I don't know really. I'm guessing Alice would have read Hartman's book having packed a copy and brought it to Bright Falls, and based on the excerpt in The Alan Wake Files, it seems that the sole reason for the clinic is to help artists overcome their block. It does mention that artists usually fall back into a nihilistic lifestyle, abusing alcohol and drugs and become disconnected to loved ones. Maybe she thought that helping him get over his writers block would solve some of the issues with their marriage?

Yes, this is mentioned in the commentary: since Alice was Alan's muse, she felt a lot of pressure if he wasn't able to find the inspiration to write. She probably thought that if Hartman could help him write then they'd be happy again.

 

[randomwab]

Is it me or Rose still looks zombie-ish in the ending video?
and what was the role of the FBI agent in all of this? He was pretty much redundant.

Rose was definitely zombie-ish in the ending. I guess being touched by the darkness has messed her up, similar to Cynthia Weaver. The fact that she's holding a lamp reinforces it.

As for the FBI agent, he was basically there to show that Wake was never safe in Bright Falls. He has the darkness coming after him, but he also had the law following him too. He was being chased from both sides. The fact that he's in the ending, however, shows that they're setting him up for the future.

 

[AndyMoogle]

Is it me or Rose still looks zombie-ish in the ending video?
and what was the role of the FBI agent in all of this? He was pretty much redundant.

Rose is confirmed to be fucked up in The Alan Wake Files. She doesn't know if she's awake or if she's in a dream.

 

[MurkyZebra2417]

There was someone staying behind Rose in the End, was it the Lady or someone else? Looked a bit like a fucked up Alan to me ^^

 

[randomwab]

There was someone staying behind Rose in the End, was it the Lady or someone else? Looked a bit like a fucked up Alan to me ^^

Nightingale, if I'm not mistaken. Makes me wonder if he survived but can't go out in light like some of the other people touched by the darkness, or if he's dead/missing.

 

[Shake Appeal]

FIN.

This is largely what I got, though the discussion after it has raised some doubts and some questions that we'll hopefully see explored in DLC.

I am willing to bet, however, that if you took off Zane's diving helmet you would see Alan's face underneath.

 

[derFeef]

Hm.

Old Scratch or Mr. Scratch is a folk name for The Devil in the local legends of New England and pre-Civil War America.[1] The character is exemplified in the short stories "The Devil and Tom Walker" by Washington Irving and "The Devil and Daniel Webster" by Stephen Vincent Benet. It is possible that the local legends containing this name were influenced by Faustian stories brought to North America by German immigrants.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Scratch

 

[Cant0na]

argghh, it was making sense and coming together until chapter 5 and then chapter 6 and the ending just flipped the table over.......

for me this is the closest -

Since Alan never finished his manuscript, he now realizes that he can still prevent the story from ending as a horror where everyone dies. He has the darkness release Alice, but he remains imprisoned in the cabin to finish the story. He realizes that there is a lot of work to be done, but he now realizes what he has to do to stop the darkness (of which we're not really told). Mr. Scratch looks to be the person that will be interacting with people in the real world as Alan finishes his story. In other words, Alan will be writing about himself in his story. Mr. Scratch is the self that will be acting out what Alan writes.

now alan is trying to do the balancing act he talked about with the story since he wrote everyone back and gave them a "happy" life or he'll make the same mistake zane did.....

.....the balancing acts being the conflicts that will be dlc/sequel?

 

[AndyMoogle]

I got the CE Guide Book today, and I'm checking out the Alan Wake Illuminated book that comes with it. When I played through Alan Wake I really expected a bear to jump out at me during the second episode, but sadly that never happened. Turns out that they had actually planned to have wolves and bears in the game, and they even made some models and animations for them. But it turned out to be too much work.

There's a lot of cool stuff in this book (they had plans for a race track :lol). I really recommend getting the CE guide if you want to know more about the behind the scenes stuff. The guide book itself is neat too.

I did notice that some stuff in here is taken straight from the commentary track in the game, so perhaps some (most/everything?) of the stuff is from the behind the scenes videos on the bonus disc. I have yet to check those out, so I don't know.

 

[K' Dash]

At the biginning the light says:

"To it's ports I have been,To it's ports I have been, do you understand?"

wtf does that mean?

 

[Corky]

wait, so zane was the light in the beginning of the game? In the shape of the " creator " ?

 

[stupei]

At the biginning the light says:

"To it's ports I have been,To it's ports I have been, do you understand?"

wtf does that mean?

Water seems to be a pretty big theme throughout the game. The Darkness itself resides in a Lake and the Andersons both end up going slightly crazy and develop some of their best art while under the influence of alcohol made with lake water. Zane wears a diving suit which emanates the light we see at the beginning -- linking the two -- and he and the Darkness both seem to be residing there together. It says he embraces the fake Barbara and dives into the water, presumably trying to drown her just like the real Barbara had died. Zane then spends the years in between locked away in the very heart of the darkness, trapped underneath the water.

I think it's a reference to that. That he's stared into the madness the Darkness creates and now he lives at the center of it, entombed within the lake. Its ports like its harbor, the place it returns to and from which it sets sail.

This also relates to the bit where Alan says that he had written his own bridge across the water. In fact, could someone confirm what Alan's manuscript from Episode 6 says about this? I'll have to check. When he talks about creating his own bridge, I think he specifically says something about crossing the ocean, which is an interesting choice when referring to Cauldron Lake and surely must tie into his line at the end about it not being a lake but an ocean.

Also: did anyone else have a moment of wondering whether or not Zane had killed the real Barbara too? For some reason the part where we hear it as Alan draws closer to Diver's Isle at the end made me wonder. So strange that he imitates the real Barbara's death in the form of drowning but also uses this seemingly very personal means of eliminating her. I mean cutting out her heart would have to be pretty gruesome. Why not slit her throat or something more obvious? It seems like such a personal measure to take and I can't help but think about the fact that the real Barbara was unfaithful. Would be interesting if the darkness that was already inside them and beneath their actions -- like as another example, Emil's thirst for power or Cynthia's being glad when Barbara dies -- allowed the full darkness to take root.

 

[derFeef]

Also: did anyone else have a moment of wondering whether or not Zane had killed the real Barbara too? For some reason the part where we hear it as Alan draws closer to Diver's Isle at the end made me wonder. So strange that he imitates the real Barbara's death in the form of drowning but also uses this seemingly very personal means of eliminating her. I mean cutting out her heart would have to be pretty gruesome. Why not slit her throat or something more obvious? It seems like such a personal measure to take and I can't help but think about the fact that the real Barbara was unfaithful. Would be interesting if the darkness that was already inside them and beneath their actions -- like as another example, Emil's thirst for power or Cynthia's being glad when Barbara dies -- allowed the full darkness to take root.

Well, the hole in her belly does not come out of nowhere I think. One other thing we should make a sheet, or chart somehow, so we can say what is true, what is dream, when happend something and so on. That would be really helpful.

 

[stupei]

Well, the hole in her belly does not come out of nowhere I think. One other thing we should make a sheet, or chart somehow, so we can say what is true, what is dream, when happend something and so on. That would be really helpful.

Well Zane's version of events is that he tried to kill the Darkness that looked like Barbara by cutting out her heart, but she kept talking and squirming after. So he has an explanation for the hole in her chest -- which he references a lot, saying she has no heart, she's empty -- but I tend to think that Zane is in denial about a lot of things. Not too unlike Alan when he was locked away inside the cabin, half in a dream and half awake. I'm pretty sure that's Zane's entire concept of reality now. Is he alive or is he dead, is he conscious or is he dreaming, does he control the story or does the story control him.

 

[TheGoldenGunman]

Just finished the game. The story was muddier than I would have liked in the end, but here's what I got from it. Clearly, none of this is spoiler tagged.

Tom Zane was a writer in the 70s who moved to Bright Falls with his wife. His wife, his muse, cheated on him, and he succumbed to the darkness that was present in Bright Falls. When it tried to write itself free, using the form of his wife as a mouthpiece, he realised, and tried to destroy the darkness, or at least suppress it. When he worked out that the darkness made what he wrote manifest itself with form, bending reality, he decided to write himself out of history, with the exception of his shoebox and clicker. In his place, he wrote the young Alan Wake, a boy who grew up with Tom Zane's stories filling his life, taking the place of an actual reality. Alan met Alice, wrote books - presumably based on those Tom Zane had ideas for - and then, one day, ran out of the pre-created ideas that Tom Zane had written for the character. The writer's block was, essentially, Alan reaching the end of what Tom Zane had created for him.

So, the Wakes take a holiday in Bright Falls, and, as happens, history repeats itself. Alan is lured into a trap by Dr Hartman - who wants Alan in his clinic to further his career, to push his own profile and sell some books - but this only serves to confuse the matter of what is real and what isn't. Alan swiftly realises that the only way to fix what's happened - in that, he had accidentally and unintentionally begun to set the darkness free - is to rewrite it again. Not having a mind for plotting - as his ideas are gone - the best Alan can create is a facsimile of himself, the Mr Scratchy character, but he can free Alice. He writes Bright Falls into what he thinks it should be, an idyllic town where DeerFest happens, Tor and Odin dance around, and everybody knows everybody else. Alice is alive, and Alan writes that he died diving in to save her.

FIN.

Wow, what a very good explanation for what happened!

May I ask, where does it state that Thomas Zane's muse cheated on him? I don't recall it, but perhaps I missed a manuscript page or something.

I'd like to think that Alan Wake is real, and not a creation of Thomas Zane. I think this because the lake twists the creativity of all artists who are in Bright Falls, as shown with the Anderson Brothers. Unless of course the Anderson Brothers are also creations of Thomas Zane.

The whole Mr. Scratchy thing completely hit me for 6, I have no idea what the player is supposed to draw from that... I thought that perhaps Mr. Scratchy lives on as Alan, whilst the real Alan is stuck inside the Darkness until he can finish the manuscript.

Also at the end of the game we do not see Alan, the Sherrif or Barry, which makes me wonder what happened to them.

Finally the final words "it was an Ocean not a lake..." so mysterious. What can we establish from that? That Black Cauldron is not a lake but an Ocean? Or is it a metaphor for the darkness that surrounds Alan.

 

[Shake Appeal]

I'd like to think that Alan Wake is real, and not a creation of Thomas Zane.

Why can't he be both?

The whole Mr. Scratchy thing completely hit me for 6, I have no idea what the player is supposed to draw from that... I thought that perhaps Mr. Scratchy lives on as Alan, whilst the real Alan is stuck inside the Darkness until he can finish the manuscript.

This is my thinking too. Mr Scratch is the (possibly flawed) 'replacement' Alan sent back in Wake's place while he remains at the bottom of the lake (now revealed/rewritten to be an ocean?), balancing things in a way Zane failed. Reminds me vaguely of the 'evil' Cooper who returns from the Black Lodge at the end of season two of Twin Peaks. If I had to guess, I'd say future DLC or a sequel might be from the perspective of another character, most likely Alice.

Finally the final words "it was an Ocean not a lake..." so mysterious. What can we establish from that? That Black Cauldron is not a lake but an Ocean? Or is it a metaphor for the darkness that surrounds Alan.

At first this line annoyed me, and then the more I thought about it, the more interesting it became. I have two interpretations:

1. Alan is saying it in sort of a musing, creative way: he's decided to change the lake into an ocean in his 'rewrite', for purposes as yet unknown. It's notable that the lighthouse 'dream' he has at the beginning of the game (during which Tom makes himself known even before Alan arrives at Bright Falls) is obviously beside the sea.

2. He's saying it in a shocked way: either he's discovered the lake is in fact an ocean, or maybe is connected to the Pacific underwater, or he's saying it as a metaphor (wouldn't be the first time), and he means that the evil he thought was contained in or restricted to Cauldron Lake and its surroundings is actually far more widespread.

 

[Cant0na]

The whole Mr. Scratchy thing completely hit me for 6, I have no idea what the player is supposed to draw from that... I thought that perhaps Mr. Scratchy lives on as Alan, whilst the real Alan is stuck inside the Darkness until he can finish the manuscript.

Also at the end of the game we do not see Alan, the Sherrif or Barry, which makes me wonder what happened to them.

i think like you said; alan is still stuck inside the darkness finishing the manuscript and will use Mr. Scratch to play his role

in the last cut scene he says, "the scales have to be balance and there has to be light and darkness, cause and effect, thats where zane went wrong." because zane tried to bring back his wife without balancing the story of how she would comeback. it didnt make sense

sherrif, barry and Alan (played by Mr. Scratch) are involved in these balancing acts that alan is finishing now. these acts will show the events how everyone in the town came back and are back to normal. because if he doesnt balance it like zane and doesnt show a cause of how everything is perfectly fine, the darkness will live on and create more Barbaras and continue to feed on other artists.

Saying, "its not a lake, its a ocean" is his excuse to extend the story to add in those acts? (the acts being DLC/sequel)

 

[TheGoldenGunman]

Why can't he be both?

Good point!


And actually talking about the Light House... Alan never actually goes to the Light House in the game, even though it clearly has the most powerful light around. That could well hint at the Light House appearing in the game's first DLC, as the Light House is likely to be near the ocean.

 

[derFeef]

Good point!


And actually talking about the Light House... Alan never actually goes to the Light House in the game, even though it clearly has the most powerful light around. That could well hint at the Light House appearing in the game's first DLC.

?!

Also - I do not like the idea of being Mr. Scratchy - and why should Alan use him, as he got introduced by Zane - "ignore him" he said.

 

[TheGoldenGunman]

?!

Sorry I was far too vague. Lighthouses are usually by the Ocean / Sea so that's why I can see it being part of any DLC.

 

[Cant0na]

i dont know, it left alot to self interpretation. just wait for the first dlc, that should be a hint to where the story is going...

.......and then end with a even bigger wtf moment. sam lake's a bastard like that.

 

[AndyMoogle]

You go to the lighthouse in the first episode during the nightmare. In Alan Wake Illuminated it says that we haven't seen the lighthouse for the last time, which should mean that it will appear in the DLC.

 

[TheGoldenGunman]

Sam Lake is too cool. His appearance in the TV show near the end was really funny!

Thinking back at the story there are so many other different possibilities / theories:

Alan Wake is Thomas Zane's son: Could explain why Zane is looking out for wake, knows his childhood memories, etc. I would hate it if this happened to be true, but it's possible.

Alan Wake IS Thomas Zane: It could be that Alan Wake is just an alternate personality of Thomas Zane, which Zane writes as a result of being mentally affected by the Darkness, and as an attempt to escape the darkness himself.

Mr. Scratch has been living as Alan Wake for many years now: When we flashback to New York, we see that Alan is an alcoholic party-going celebrity jerk treaing his wife like crap. This is of course far removed from what we are told during the rest of the game, as it seems that Alan and Alice love each other very much and that Alice organised the vacation to cure Alan's writer's block. Something clearly doesn't add up here. So perhaps Mr. Scratch is the "bad" side of Alan's persona and they are at Bright Falls as part of some attempt by Alan to switch Mr. Scratch and Alan around again.

 

[Y2Kev]

So Thomas Zane is a big daddy?

I thought the whole clicker nonsense was so weird. I mean a lot of the story elements were weird. Like rockstar vikings. At some points I thought the game was almost parody or meta-joking (and other times it actually was).

I never actually thought the last line of the game might be literally interpreted. I just thought the idea of the lake--taking ideas and bringing them to life-- might have been considered so vast by Wake/Zane upon full exposure/discovery that it was best called an ocean and not a lake.

 

[Shake Appeal]

Just noticed that at the start of Episode 3, Randolph mentions Barbara Jagger is known in local spook stories as the Scratching Hag. This is also the name of an Old Gods' song, I believe.

And this may be obvious, but I only just twigged it: "Barbara Jagger" isn't a million miles from Baba Yaga. Just as Baba Yaga lived in a hut with chicken legs, Barbara Jagger lives in Bird Leg Cabin.

 

[Dries]

Dear Lord, this ending truly is one mind fucker. I'm still trying to put the puzzle pieces together. I think in the end Alan sacrificed himself to save Alice, hence the talk about ''balancing the scales'' and whatnot.

Also, what did those 3 white squares resemble just before the credits start rolling?

What ties my head in knots when I try to understand the story of this game is that everything that is in the manuscript which comes true is stuff Alan has created. I have to keep reminding myself of this. So when he writes about Mott hunting him down on Hartman's behalf, for example, that is all created by Alan prior to the events happening, it is not happening independent of him, because it is written in his manuscript. This then starts begging the question as to why he wrote that in particular and why he acts surprised when he seems Mott in the photograph at the lodge. When we read that Hartman was Zane's assistant is that real, or is that Alan projecting his anger at the thought of seeing Hartman into his manuscript and placing blame on him? Hartman helping creative people at his lodge seems true, in that it's occuring before Alan gets to Bright Falls and starts writing. But Alan then writes in his manuscript stuff that makes Hartman basically a villain when he could be perfectly innocent.

My brain is fried. I just don't know what is meant to be real or not. When Alan's manuscript talks about the tension between Rose and Rusty, is that just invented by him for the sake of the story? Because he only met them once and he knows nothing about them beyond the fact that Rusty drinks loads of coffee. When we see what the other characters think and hear, I find it really hard to accept that they are not the characters thoughts, but what Alan is telling the characters to think. Our understanding of the story rests on a narrator projecting ideas and thoughts and actions onto these people. Has Alan just taken people that he saw before Alice's kidnapping and projected ideas onto them for the sake of the story or to help him?

Did he see Cynthia, for example, in the diner fussing about the lights, and then fabricate an entire plotline about her going round leaving caches and painting signs in order to aid his escape? Is everything in the story taken from what Alan sees before Alice disappears and he embellishes and elaborates to make the story?

My brain just...can't...take it :lol I just don't understand what is meant to be real (in that it would happen/happened irrelevant of Wake) and what is only occuring because of Wake's writing.

this is also something I would really like to see cleared up. Did Alan ''control'' every life in Bright Falls by detailing their lives in his manuscript?

 

[Lostconfused]

And this may be obvious, but I only just twigged it: "Barbara Jagger" isn't a million miles from Baba Yaga. Just as Baba Yaga lived in a hut with chicken legs, Barbara Jagger lives in Bird Leg Cabin.

Nice catch there.

Personally I think the entire game should be considered to potentially be Alan Wake's "Departure". I guess after reading the dark tower novels by King its easier for me to assume that the whole thing is just a poorly written, very meta, horror novel.

Edit: Except more like a TV series that he wrote the script for or maybe its based on his novel.

 

[BluWacky]

Also, what did those 3 white squares resemble just before the credits start rolling?

They're ellipses - the "..." I put at the end of way too many sentences when I run out of things to say...

this is also something I would really like to see cleared up. Did Alan ''control'' every life in Bright Falls by detailing their lives in his manuscript?

Everything that happens after Alan wakes up in the car is part of Departure. Alan himself didn't really control it, in that the Darkness/Jagger was a fairly ruthless editor and changed the story to suit her own means; she's the one who added all the people being possessed by the Darkness etc. I would presume.

It doesn't make sense if you think about it particularly hard - Alan is only able to escape from the Darkness by writing himself an exit into the manuscript as we're told in Chapter 4, but not only does that happen but he writes in details of how he defeats and escapes absolutely everything including the denouement of the game despite not having previously been a character in it and yet the Darkness continues to fight him - but that's the idea, anyway.

Mr. Scratch has been living as Alan Wake for many years now: When we flashback to New York, we see that Alan is an alcoholic party-going celebrity jerk treaing his wife like crap. This is of course far removed from what we are told during the rest of the game, as it seems that Alan and Alice love each other very much and that Alice organised the vacation to cure Alan's writer's block. Something clearly doesn't add up here. So perhaps Mr. Scratch is the "bad" side of Alan's persona and they are at Bright Falls as part of some attempt by Alan to switch Mr. Scratch and Alan around again.

Don't buy this theory at all. The man's a smarmy git on TV, yeah, and clearly can get aggressive with the paps, but it's clear that he's supposed to be acting out of character in the Chapter 6 opening - hence why Alice is so forgiving of his standoffish nature. It's the book tour promotion that's affecting him. Unless it explains things further in the Nightmare manuscripts (I have no intention of replaying the game to find out!) we don't even know what Mr Scratch's personality or intention is, so it's hard to say what impact his existence has on anything.

 

[Lostconfused]

Everything that happens after Alan wakes up in the car is part of Departure. Alan himself didn't really control it, in that the Darkness/Jagger was a fairly ruthless editor and changed the story to suit her own means; she's the one who added all the people being possessed by the Darkness etc. I would presume.

It doesn't make sense if you think about it particularly hard - Alan is only able to escape from the Darkness by writing himself an exit into the manuscript as we're told in Chapter 4, but not only does that happen but he writes in details of how he defeats and escapes absolutely everything including the denouement of the game despite not having previously been a character in it and yet the Darkness continues to fight him - but that's the idea, anyway.

Well there is a split there. The Alan Wake that you see on tv says that he is going to write him self into the story as a character so he can change the ending of the story. The pre rendered cutscene tells you that Alan Wake the write subconsciously wrote his own escape, by having Thomas Zane cone in and free him, in the story that he was writing