Alan Wake 2came thirteen years after the originalAlan Wake'‘srelease. It was impossible to imagine what the sequel was going to be for anybody who first played the debut entry back in 2010. The series, and Remedy as a studio, always give players the unexpected.
With this in mind, it is only natural to expect the nextAlan Waketo take fans places and show them things they could not have dreamed of, and gamers would not have it any other way. Still, Remedy should definitely take these things into account when crafting a follow-up to the 2023 survival horror phenomenon.
This article contains spoilers, so players should proceed with caution.
8Seeing Alice Wake In Person
Alice Wake is the hidden gem ofAlan Wake 2. Christina Cole gives an absolutely standout performance as the character, and she turns out to be a major player in the plot, delivering some of the most vital details of the story to her husband.
Alan Wake 3definitely needs to see her return if only to give the actress more time to shine. There is no doubt that she will be an important part of the Remedy Connected Universe. Hopefully, she will show up in person and not only on video screens in future games.
7Post-Game Content
While updates promise a photo mode, new difficulty settings, and a New Game+, there is not a lot to do after beatingAlan Wake 2. It is hard to complain when the story is this beefy and gives players so much to think about, but some extra gameplay content would have been nice.
TakeMax Payne 2for example. They had both the New York Minute mode and the Last Man Standing minigame.Alan Wake 2’scombat is decent enough to warrant a survival mode to let players engage in combat after the credits roll.Alan Wake 3could take a cue fromResident Eviland have a mode similar to Mercenaries.
6More Control Crossover
Remedy has stated its ambition to have most of its games take placein the same continuityand clear evidence of this shows up in bothControlandAlan Wake 2. While the games should take care not to solely be about the novelty of crossovers, there does eventually need to be a moment where it all comes together.
CouldAlan Wake 3be that moment? The Federal Bureau of Control’s role inAlan Wake 2is already proof of the concept working well, so taking it just a step further by having Jesse Faden or Casper Darling show up only seems logical.
5More Enemy Variety
If there is one thing people point out as a fault of theAlan Wakeseries as a whole it is the lack of enemy variety. InAlan Wake 2,Saga and Alan’s foes generally go unchanged except for the human Taken and the wolves. Players eventually face off againstlarger forms of the Taken, but they do not feel different except for the large hammers they swing.
Defeating them is always a matter of lighting them up with a flashlight and then lighting them up with bullets.Alan Wake 3should find new forms of Taken to use against the protagonists.
4Physical Release
This fact might go over some gamers’ heads who are already fully invested in a digital gaming infrastructure, butAlan Wake 2did not come out on disc. It is only available for download. The plus side is that it remains $60 in an age where many Triple-A titles are now $10 more expensive.
With this game’s success and what we can only imagine is an even brighter future for the company, it does not feel like too much to ask for a sequel to get a physical release. Some gamers still like having a collection they can keep in their living room. For preservation’s sake, it is advantageous to have something physical to play on a console, even if it will be without updates.
3More Side-Quests
Alan Wake 2has exploration and areas that are off the beaten path where collectibles wait for players to find them. However, it does not have proper side-quests that expand the lore.
Given how open Bright Falls and the Dark Place are, it feels like a total missed opportunity, especially sinceControlhad some interesting bonus missions that took players to different cornersof the Oldest House.Here’s hoping thatAlan Wake 3gives players optional missions to flesh out the world, assuming it similarly has open environments like the second game.
2A Smoother Launch
As well-received as the game has been, it is impossible to ignore some of the technical hiccups players encountered in the early days of the game’s release. Remedy is commendable for the speed with which they have fixed many of these bugs and glitches, but it would be better to not see them at all.
With a larger budget, the developer can hopefully squash more of these issues before launch day, so players do not experience them at all. No game is free of bugs, but the more time and money a studio has, the closer it can get to a smooth experience.
1An Ending To Alan’s Story
Few video game characters who star in multiple titles really get a conclusion to their narrative.Solid Snakeis one of the few iconic characters whose arc is complete in their franchise. Maybe it will not happen inAlan Wake 3, but it is not impossible to imagine Alan actually receiving a proper conclusion to his story.
He deserves it after all the suffering he has gone through. It would also make for an impressive statement from the developer to have a character they created and saw through to the end and not milk for as much money as possible or give away to be developed by a different company.
