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Alan Wake is finally getting along-awaited sequel in 2023

Otto Kratky
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Control developer Remedy Entertainment made a surprise appearance at this year’s Game Awards to announce a sequel to the cult-hit game Alan Wake. Simply titled Alan Wake 2, the game is set to release in 2023.

Alan Wake 2 Reveal Trailer | Game Awards 2021

In a teaser trailer, Alan Wake 2‘s namesake character appears bloody and much more grizzly, with gore smeared around his mouth. In the first game, Wake was a hapless writer thrown into a nightmarish world dominated by evil creatures made out of darkness. Wake’s iconic flashlight, which he used to fend off the creatures, was also absent from the trailer, with the character instead holding up a dimly lit lamp.

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According to Sam Lake, the creative director of Remedy Entertainment, Alan Wake 2 will be a far cry from its predecessor. Instead of being action-oriented — in the last game, Wake blew enemies away with a shotgun — Alan Wake 2 will be a survival horror title, leaning more into the game’s terrifying traits. It’s also not clear how deep Alan Wake 2‘s ties with Control will be. Remedy revealed that the two games exist in the same universe, meaning a potential crossover could be on the way.

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Fans looking forward to the game will have to wait to hear more about it, though. Lake said that Alan Wake 2 is early in development and that Remedy likely won’t be able to show off any of the game until summer 2022.

Alan Wake was also recently remastered, launching this past October across all platforms save for the Switch.

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Otto Kratky
Otto Kratky
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Otto Kratky is a freelance writer with many homes. You can find his work at Digital Trends, GameSpot, and Gamepur. If he's…
Alan Wake 2 is proof that more PC games need a potato mode
Alan Wake 2 running on the Samsung Odyssey OELD G9.

Alan Wake 2 is one of the most beautiful games I've ever played -- and it's the frontrunner for the most demanding PC game you can currently run. For as impressive as the game is, from its path-traced reflections to the extensive use of Nvidia tech, it's so demanding that some otherwise-powerful PCs won't be able to post playable frame rates.

It's clear developer Remedy set out to create a certain atmosphere with Alan Wake 2 that can only be captured with photorealistic visuals. That said, Alan Wake 2 is  proof that more PC games need to adopt a stripped-back graphics setting, even if that means sacrificing a part of what makes the game special.
What in the world is a potato mode?
A potato mode is something so easy to run that you could run it on a potato -- not literally, of course, but that's the sentiment. It's a kill switch graphics option that will only be used by a small fraction of PCs, but it can help the least powerful (and least expensive) rigs at least run an otherwise demanding PC game.

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I wish I loved Alan Wake 2’s most creative gameplay feature
Saga doing a deduction in the mind place.

Among all the marketing material and features shown off leading up to Alan Wake 2's release, nothing got me more excited to return to Bright Falls than The Mind Place. More than the focus on survival horror, the mix of live-action and in-game cinematics, or simply getting to conclude a story I began over a decade ago, the idea of a metaphorical space in which I -- or rather FBI agent Saga Anderson -- could visualize and construct the clues I was collecting to piece together the darkly magical mystery presented captivated my imagination most.

What we ended up getting wasn't quite what I hoped for. Created as a clever space where players could piece together the game's driving occult case, the space doesn't leave as much room for smart deduction as I'd hoped. For as much potential for this space had to elevate Alan Wake 2 on both a narrative and gameplay level, it felt like a missed opportunity during my playthrough that only slowed the sequel's strong momentum.
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Alan Wake sitting at a desk with a typewriter.

Alan Wake is a famous writer, but neither he nor the new protagonist Saga are known for being particularly fond of nursery rhymes. Whether or not you fall into that category as well won't matter because Alan Wake 2 hides some very valuable rewards behind puzzles disguised as these small children's poems. Solving them involves a little bit of exploration, deductive reasoning, and then putting all the right pieces in place. This is one of the many optional cases in the game, and these rhymes are hidden across all the major zones in and around Bright Falls. If you're stumped on any of these nursery rhyme puzzles, here are all the solutions in Alan Wake 2.
All nursery rhyme answers
There are 17 total nursery rhyme puzzles to find and solve in Alan Wake 2, broken up into all the different major locations. Whenever a puzzle involves placing dolls, make sure you pick up the dolls after solving it because they are needed for other puzzles in that area as well.
Cauldron Lake nursery rhymes

The first rhyme puzzle you will come across is in the campsite you can access after the flooding has been removed. Cross the bridge and look immediately to the left. The solution is to take the Crow doll off the table and place it on the drawing of the sun.

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