Alan Wake Remastered is an excellent way for gaming fans on all platforms to play the Xbox 360 classic with updated visuals and performance. While there are many reasons that Remedy Entertainment would want more people to play the game, it seems like the remaster is setting some important things up for the future of the Alan Wake series and how it might possibly intersect even further with the events of Control, the studio's most recent game. Alan Wake was certainly popular when it was released, but the game is over 11 years old at this point and many fans might need something of a refresher. This article contains spoilers for the end of Alan Wake Remastered and Control AWE.
It's unclear what's in the future for Remedy, but the timing of the rerelease of Alan Wake paired with many of the references to it in Control begin painting a clear picture: Alan is coming back in a future title as a main character once more. While he certainly had plenty of screen time in Control's AWE DLC, it seems like Remedy wants to remind fans of and tell newcomers to the series what happened in the events of the game and where the story left Alan.
Alan Wake's Ending
The entire plot for Alan Wake has plenty of twists and turns, but the ending isn't as straightforward as most other beats in the game. Towards the end of the story, Alan discovers that he was possessed by the Darkness during the week following Alice's disappearance and that it was him who wrote the manuscript that he's been finding pages of all over Bright Falls. Like Thomas Zane before him, Alan had written a manuscript that was coming true before his very eyes, however, unlike Zane, was able to write an ending where he saves Alice from the Darkness. Unfortunately for him, Alan ends up being trapped at the bottom of Cauldron Lake with the Darkness as a result and doesn't seem to have a way out when the game ends.
Alan Wake Remastered's Inclusion of the DLC
The DLC for Alan Wake is included in the remaster and provides more background on what happened to Alan following the events of the story. Trapped with the Darkness, Alan begins descending further into madness only to be guided by Thomas Zane back to his sanity. One of the story's most important parts is included at the end of the second DLC, The Writer. Once Alan returns to his sane mind inside the extradimensional Bird Leg Cabin, he realizes that he needs to write himself a way out of his captivity, just like he did to save Alice.
The manuscript pages that Alan finds over the course of the main story are for a book he wrote titled Departure. Because the story he wrote ends with him trapped in Cauldron Lake, he begins writing its sequel, Return, once he makes it back to his right mind. The DLC ends with Alan beginning to write on the typewriter inside the attic of the cabin, but whether he makes it or not is more or less up to each player's interpretation.
'Alan Wake Will Return'
One of the most striking parts of Alan Wake Remastered is the final message shown at the end of the credits. Alan gets an Avengers-style stinger after all of the credits have rolled. One final message reads, "Alan Wake's journey through the night will continue." Before fans get too excited, it's important to note that this message is also displayed in the original game, so it's clear that Remedy had plans for the character following his first game. At the time, however, many fans assumed that the single line referenced the additional two DLC episodes that were released after the game came out.
The same message appeared in Alan Wake's American Nightmare, a spinoff sequel to the game that was interestingly absent from the remastered version. Because the spinoff launched long before Control was released full of references to Alan Wake, most fans didn't think much of the message and assumed that Remedy had moved on to other projects when Quantum Break and Control were announced. Following Control's release, however, Alan Wake has been entirely recontextualized and made that much more interesting. The ominous message about Alan's return becomes that much more intriguing when examining Control's AWE DLC.
Control AWE
Although he appears to Jesse in several visions over the course of the DLC, Alan doesn't actually make a physical appearance in Control AWE. From what it seems like, Alan is still trapped at the bottom of Cauldron Lake working on Return, but that doesn't mean AWE was completely barren of implications for the character. The plot of the DLC focused on Dr. Hartman and his relationship with the Darkness following the events of Alan Wake. After the "Bright Falls Incident" FBC officers visited the town to try and clean things up which is when they apprehended Hartman who was infected with the Darkness.
Jesse is forced to kill Hartman and deal with a mix of Taken and Hiss and eventually resolves the threat. Following Hartman's death, she gets contacted by Langston who says that there's a potential AWE report coming in from Bright Falls, similar to the one they received when the events of Alan Wake took place. The weird thing about it, however, is that it's set for several years in the future. Langston and Jesse seem to shrug it off as a glitch, but confirm that an agent is in the area. Alan appears once more to say that "it's happening again. A return."
Alan Wake Remastered is available October 5 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.