RSFlux

Let me explain why #AlanWake2 is a masterpiece, in which marriage troubles as seen through the lens of Jungian psychology are sold as a weird fiction horror. First, let's talk the mundane. Yes, I platinumed the game. I played it on Story mode because combat is not why you play Alan Wake. Although if you want a bit more of that survival horror vibe, I suggest going a step higher, as the Story mode is very easy. Which is great, because if I choose such a mode I want it to deliver what it promises. Visually, the game blew my mind and I am no stranger to great visuals. But one small feature impressed me more than even the moodiest forests. All major NPCs have entire conversations captured with motion and facial expressions. It's adds an incredible layer of immersion and believability to the world. Ok, the tech is great and the visuals are out of this world, but is Alan Wake 2 a great game? It is. But not because if offers the most engaging gameplay loop known to mankind. It doesn't, and never tried. Its strength is the totality of the experience that makes it a stand out title in what is one of the best years for video games ever. To me, it's actually one of the most important titles this medium has ever seen. For more reasons than one. Let's start with how the game is the game, the book, the movie, the musical and a therapy session and more at once. Previously, @remedygames tried to sell the Alan Wake universe through transmedia, a hot topic at the time. We got the book, we got the comics, we even got a web video series. With the sequel, the game integrates all of that into one coherent experience. It seamlessly merges various forms of art to offer an unforgettable experience. You know how art is sometimes defined as something that makes us feel blessed by the presence of better, more noble side of the human nature? This is what playing Alan Wake 2 feels like. You know this is not your good old regular video game. You feel it elevates the art form, and is a lighthouse for one of its futures. The other impressive aspect of it is that we all know this a dream chased and caught. The original Alan Wake didn't sell all that well initially, and we got @SamLakeRMD himself telling us in a famous 2013 video that even though ultimately the sales were fine, the sequel is not happening any time soon. For 99% of the games out there, this is the end. Like it was for my Bulletstorm. The sequel to a game the sales of which are average or worse usually never happens. But not this time. And not only Remedy brought Alan back, but they took it all one step higher, with their vision of the connected universe, and seeds for it planted in all of their games. Do you know how much work that is? Do you understand how many sleepless nights and how much stress it must have cost? Running a big studio on risky IPs? It's a Herculean effort. It's inspiring to any creator that believes in their vision despite the cost. But to be clear, believing in yourself in just the beginning. Remedy not only did not give up, they also did not take offence. They realized they just must do better. And with Alan Wake 2, they did. What about the story, then? Is it really marriage, Jung, horror? Well, as with many pieces of art, that's up for interpretation. The Jung's influence is beyond obvious, though. Even elements of Jung's personal life are fundamental to Alan Wake mythos. But of course it's his psychology work that shines in the game. As it was e.g. the case with Lynch's Blue Velvet, the story of Alan Wake is the story of the individuation process, in which a person becomes whole, integrating its Persona (Wake), Ego (Zane) and Shadow (Scratch). We're not there yet with the story, the process will reach its conclusion in Alan Wake 3 -- but we see it reaching an important milestone in Alan Wake 2. The game resonates with so many people because Sam Lake et consortes throw the most powerful story-telling spells at us: Jungian psychology, Jungian archetypes (Wake as the hero, Scratch as the trickster, Thor as the wise old man, etc.) and, most importantly, the monomyth, aka hero's journey. In which we have finished its second stage. I mean, that's not even up for debate. The stages of monomyth are Departure, Initiation and Return, and that's literally how the books that Wake writes are titled. But these are just story-telling devices. What is the story? You can, of course, look at the story without assuming any deeper layers. Hey, maybe it's just a fun weird fiction horror about a lake that's a portal to a dimension full of eldritch beings. There's this writer trapped in that portal, and since what he writes can come true, he needs to figure out the proper story for his escape. Cool! Or maybe the whole things is a metaphor for the struggles of marriage in which both sides do not feel individually happy. Alan does not want to be known only for his crime pulps, Alice has bigger dreams than making covers to Alan's books. This casts shadow on their marriage, especially considering Alan's Shadow. In the first game, this meant the disintegration of their relationship, making Alan realize what was his true key to happiness. The sequel deals with the attempts to reconnect ...and that is all I will say about it. Is it all perfect? It's not. There's many things I don't quite buy in the game, starting with the leitmotif of "in horror, there are only monsters and victims" and "the hero must always pay the price". I watched The Exorcist, have no doubt it's a horror movie with monsters and victims, and yet we have survivors and winners in it, too. Would you call Ripley a victim in Alien? Horror has many faces. Sure, sometimes everyone dies and that's it, like in The Blair Witch Project, but sometimes they all live and all ends well, like in The Conjuring. Anyway, I digress. And could probably for the next five hours, because Alan Wake 2 is this inspiring. Look, it is of utmost importance that you buy and play this game. It is really that good, unless you hate stories being an important part of the experience. Keep the dream alive.