This week marks the tenth anniversary of Remedy's Alan Wake video game. As Control begins the release of its DLC, everything seems to indicate that Alan Wake should indeed make his return soon. However, Justfocus would like to point out that this analysis contains important spoilers on Alan Wake but also on Control and that it would be wise to finish them. For those who have never played Microsoft exclusive, Alan Wake tells the story of a writer who goes with his wife Alice to Bright Falls to find inspiration. Alas, he will find himself confronted with a series of nightmarish events from a horror novel he does not remember writing.
A sequel that will never come? Really?
Inspired by his literary (Stephen King) and cinematic (David Lynch's Twin Peaks ) models, Alan Wake was voted best game of 2010 by the famous Times magazine. Unfortunately, sales were disappointing according to Microsoft, despite an impressive number of pirated copies. Critics, for their part, cheered him. It also allowed many players to discover the Finnish rock band Poets of the Fall (who had already signed the end song of Max Payne II from the same studio). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0f_hewSrAH4 In July 2019, development studio Remedy picked up the rights to Alan Wake. But nothing concretely indicates a return as they result nothing from interviews with the employees of the studio.
"A few years ago we worked on Alan Wake 2 but things turned out differently. A lot of what we've done in the last five years has been to put us in a position where we have more control … the opportunity to decide what happens when the game comes out. Of course, we are always trying to build a franchise. We have spent so much time building this world. And when you can only leverage it for one game, it's a huge job. We have nothing against sequels, and we'd really like to continue working on Control. But of course, for that, the game must be good and serve as a springboard for us to make others. We're focused on that." (Thomas Pusha, Director of Communications)
Sam Lake, creator of Alan Wake and Max Payne, still seemed very motivated to want to give a sequel to his cult game. After all, the license belongs to him again. In addition, Control exceeds expectations in terms of reviews and sales. The game even won, a few months later, the Game Award for Best Art Direction. It thus became one of the winning games along with Death Stranding and Sekiro Shadows Die Twice.
"I want to do it. It is a curious thing. At this point, a lot of time has passed. I think the bar is higher on some points. You have to do it right, if you do it. Everything has to be in place, which is really hard to achieve. So a lot of things, for these big games to be Gold, have to be aligned. But I hope that one day… "
However, while waiting for the long-awaited return of the famous fictional writer, we see that Remedy is much too keen on its license.Indeed, the company does not hesitate to quote it regularly and by adding too many documents concerning it. The author with the flashlight is destined to return. But would it be possible to think that Remedy announced its return for a long time?
Alan Wake or the role of "The Writer"?
Alan Wake himself was entitled to two DLCs, more or less convincing, but which said a little more about the Black Lair. Let's focus on the second entitled "The Writer" in which Alan manages to overcome his madness since he is locked up here, after taking the place of his wife thanks to the help of the mysterious poet Thomas Zane. He knows then that the only way to escape this nightmare is to write again. "Return by Alan Wake" definitely marks the end of the game. In this parallel dimension where Alan is forced to write, he has only a few memories of his reality: the group Old Gods of Asgard (Poets of The Fall under a video game name), the poems of Thomas Zane and his past as a writer. Alice had escaped the Black Lair and Barbara Jagger's grip only because her husband had taken her place. And that would be in a way what the latter would seek to do too. With the exception that he wants to break the cycle by perpetuating it. And for that, he must put an end to this cycle of repetition already started by Thomas Zane in the past. 
Alan Wake's American Nightmare, canon?
Released in 2012, this game released on Xbox Live turned out to be more of a game using the universe of Alan Wake without making it a sequel. We find the writer in a script he wrote for the series Night Springs (Zone X in French). He finds himself confronted by Mr. Scratch, his evil double. For those who remember, this strange double already appeared in the last chapter of the original game. "He's Mr. Scratch. He will take your place while waiting for your return," Zane said as he asked the player to return to Cauldron Lake. In this spin-off, it is revealed that Mr. Scratch is an evil being, approaching a Patrick Bateman (the novel American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis). Remedy already presents him as a psychopath letting his madness speak in the teaser of the game. Alan would then have decided to revive this memory of writer of fantasy series in order to erase his double. His only hope, not yet being able to find the ideal solution to get out. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tm7zBV-I07s Alan Wake's American Nightmare is a nice game but not innovative. Indeed, it brings nothing new from the original game except for an Arcade mode, ultimately very dispensable. The soundtrack covers the band Poets of the Fall (still under the name Old Gods of Asgards.) Balance Slays the Demon becomes the main theme of the game. However this title contains a little surprise: lyrics deliberately said backwards telling: "It will happen again, in another town, a town called Ordinary". (It will start again, in a small town, a town called Ordinary). A detail that no one will pay attention to before the release of Control, Remedy's latest game. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJvgbNPhASo Remedy eventually abandoned its spin-off series dedicated to the writer and began producing Quantum Break on Xbox One.
Quantum Break, new work by Remedy:
"After Alan Wake, we went to Microsoft and presented our ideas on what Alan Wake 2 could be. But at that time, they weren't interested in doing exactly that. They wanted something new. And most importantly, they wanted us to create a new license for them." (Sam Lake, 2017)
This new game released in 2016 features Jack Joyce who sees himself able to master time. Taking up the gameplay of Alan Wake, the game promises to be a new beginning for Remedy. Note also the presence of actor Aidan Gillen (Game of Thrones) in one of the main roles. Critics are not unanimous but praise his "TV series" approach. However, Sam Lake would not be done with his writer. Proof of this is that he absolutely wants to mention it again via a fake trailer hidden in the game entitled: "Return". Suffice to say that many players believed to the end in a potential sequel, sometimes going so far as to think that Quantum Break would be a spin-off of the game. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VaDNGoVKfDw
Control, closer than it seems?
At first glance, the scenario of Control is very difficult to understand if the player does not take the time to find all the hidden documents. Jesse Faden becomes the new director of the Bureau in order to save his brother Dylan, who is being held somewhere in the supernatural building. Everything is invaded by a strange entity, the Hiss, whom Jesse must fight. This Hiss drives everyone to madness. The great scientists of the Bureau fail to control it and some fall at its mercy, not to mention the many "objects of power" hidden from the eyes of all to avoid immeasurable damage. Jesse has to find a projector using a spirit in her head that she calls Polaris. The player can find easter-eggs on Alan Wake, yet it seems to be more a direct connection to the game than a simple succession of winks hidden everywhere. First, the player can find several documents revealing that the Bureau launched an investigation in Bright Falls and found Alice. The player can even find a holographic recording of Alan in a secret area of the Panopticon. The author explains that he has never left the Lair for 10 years. In addition, his CV as a writer seems quite well known to the Bureau since his novel Alex Casey is mentioned by the characters and Night Springs would be produced largely by them. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWwwZxiD-Sk These easter-eggs seem to be only the tip of the iceberg. We even end up supposing that Control is a "sequel" to the 2010 game, that Control would ultimately only be Wake's attempt to write. In addition, in the documents, we learn that the writer could have been a potential candidate to be Director of the Federal Control Office. Indeed, he was able to seize the Rupteur, an object that would allow him to permanently eliminate the antagonist from his adventure.
"Ordinary" and the "Hiss".
Jesse and Dylan both grew up in a town called Ordinary, victims of a dramatic event. It is also the birthplace of Thomas Zane, who arranged for everyone to forget him, except for those who have to fight against the Shadow. In Control, Jesse is the only one who remembers him when she mentions him in an interview recorded by a psychologist who tells her that this poet never existed. Ordinary was also the name given to the unit of place in which a probable Alan Wake 2 , finally abandoned, would take place. Its location would be in Maine according to the game Quantum Break, which was also entitled to its share of winks related to the writer. Jesse eventually realizes that the Hiss condemns people to another reality. Dylan, himself trapped, explains, if the player persists for a long time in questioning him, that in his dreams because of the Hiss, he no longer knows if he is in reality or in another. When Jesse finds herself a prisoner of the Hiss, she finds herself in a completely different reality in which she must do an endless job as a secretary (which would correspond to the dream of Dylan then director). The player must manage to regain control of the situation while the young woman gradually sinks into madness. This is what happened to Dr. Casper Darling, who is missing but whose importance within the Bureau is well known. The player will never meet him, but can, thanks to a video recording in a hotel room, know his fate. His descent into hell pushes him to an exceptional dance reminiscent of Alan Wake's evil double. It would even be possible to suggest that the latter simply understood being trapped in a reality constructed by the writer and that he lost his mind! In short, a performance that is worth to the game, a nomination at the Game Award 2019 for the best interpretation. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EJufYOzp8U The Bureau is a victim of the Hiss because former Director Trench has activated the Projector, a powerful object of power. Just like Alan Wake did in the Cauldron Lake cottage with the typewriter. He then managed to put everything back in order thanks to the Breaker in a shoebox given by Zane. In Control, a document reveals that the shoebox was never found.
"Take Control"!
Finally, let's return to a very particular character: Ahti, the janitor who guides Jesse and seems to prevent him from succumbing to Hiss. It will be he, via an indeterminate place on the map resembling the gates of Valhalla, who will give the young woman the key to cross the Ashtray Labyrinth and find the Projector. This key is none other than his walkman broadcasting "Take Control" of the group Old Gods of Asgard (the best Gunfight of the year 2019) that Jesse seems to know well too, according to his reaction. The lyrics are by no means trivial and mention parallel realities, Polaris, Ordinary etc… as if everything was predicted… Moreover, in this strange Valhalla in which only Ahti can go, we discover that he is a fan of Finnish Tango (Sankarin Tango). Music composed exclusively for the game and which, translated, mentions a poem, but also a sentence for the least intriguing: "It's not a lake, it's an ocean. ". Replica that Alan Wake says himself at the very end of his adventure. Ahti could be the character that allows the author to guide Jesse to his exit door… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rIZDJhq5PA We are surprised to find that Control would be the paroxysm of Remedy productions and center of all their plots while waiting for the climax. It would be really disappointing if all this were just easter-eggs of a screenwriter too frustrated at not having given birth to his Michelangelo, as all this seems meticulously sought. We even find ourselves thinking that Quantum Break would be a first attempt to escape the writer. And that Jack Joyce's character would himself be a candidate for the Bureau's director. This could also have explained how Max Payne (license bought by Rockstar Games) draws his mythical power from bullet-time. Unless Trench's suicide represents a probable disappearance of Max Payne for the studio… An upcoming DLC for Control should arrive soon after The Foundation and fans are excited. Entitled "AWE", it is written with the same typography as Alan Wake and could finally act as the definitive return of the writer… or the ultimate proof that Control would be a sequel. This would be a great twist announcing a Remedy Universe, like what had done for example Split by M. Night Shyamalan for example. 
Whether this is only speculation or the promise of a real conclusion for Alan Wake, we can only congratulate the Remedy studio for having managed to design such a universe giving many questions but ultimately few answers. So what will be the studio's next game? In the meantime, a happy tenth birthday to Alan Wake… and get out of the Lair quickly, we are waiting for you!
Alan Wake Trailer (2010):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_6iHChUNhE
