Play it on: PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S
Current goal: Bring this journey to an end
It’s almost hard for me to believe that the end of Alan Wake II is here. The arrival of its second and final DLC, The Lake House, marks the end of it, which of course no doubt means more energy being put into other things at Remedy. As a wise man once said, “Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.” This is the way it goes. But what a ride Alan Wake II has been. Last year’s most electrifying game, it was one of two releases last year—the other being Tears of the Kingdom—that reminded me of what games can do, and why I love them so much.
From what I understand, The Lake House takes just a few hours to complete, but they seem poised to deliver just what I want from a conclusion to my time with Alan Wake II: mystery, intrigue, and hints of cosmic possibility. The architecture of the titular space, a Federal Bureau of Control facility in AWII’s Pacific Northwest environs, looks both reminiscent of the spaces in Control but also distinctly different, and I’m eager to explore its eerie hallways and see what sorts of things the Bureau has been up to here.
Yesterday, Remedy creative director Sam Lake posted this message on Twitter:
Of course, I can’t imagine how it feels to reach this point for the people who actually work on this saga, who endured the 13-year wait from the first game’s release to that of its sequel not as players but as writers and artists, waiting for the right moment, waiting for the pieces to fall into place, having to so often put plans aside or go back to the drawing board. But now, we’re here. It exists. It’s amazing. And this weekend, I will see how it all ends. With some coffee by my side, of course. — Carolyn Petit