Well, I overcame my FOMO about the side-quests and items I was unable to sweep up due to some little bugs and just played through to the end of the game.
The Final Draft is Alan Wake II's New Game Plus mode, and allows you to collect more Words of Power, more Manuscript Pages, and tackle the game anew with the non-story progress you made from the first game. There are also some differences - while the story plays out almost exactly the same way, there are a few differences, like new videos, a new intro monologue, and an expanded ending. It's the latter than I'm going to focus on here.
And, well, Spoilers, obviously.
It has been a couple months since I first played through the game, and so I think there were elements that I must have not remembered - for example, when Alan makes his way to the Valhalla Nursing Home, I had forgotten entirely about the fact that Casey/Scratch chases him through the medical center. Likewise, I didn't remember having to fight any Shadows as Saga in the bleary early-morning twilight version of Alan's "Noir York City." In fact, I managed to get killed there, which was pretty embarrassing (you have limited ammo and flashlight charges).
As before, Saga and Alan ultimately meet in the Writer's Room, where they collaborate on the ending to the story, Saga taking the Clicker and the Bullet of Light, and Alan finishing the manuscript. Casey/Scratch enters, but with the new ending and the Clicker, they're able to get the Dark Presence out of Casey and into Alan, and Saga shoots him in the head with the Bullet of Light.
There are some subtle differences - Alan gets a vision of his discussion with Saga, which Saga has as part of her profiling ability. And when the bullet is fired, Alan's monologue is not the panicked, weary, manic one that we got in the first ending, but one of awareness and contemplation.
Saga calls Logan, and things cut to black again while the phone rings...
But then we cut back to Saga, and Logan picks up! She's ok, and Saga promises to come and be with her soon. Then, furthermore, Alan wakes up.
The Bullet of Light appears a bit like a bindi on his forehead, and he proclaims that the ending worked - that Scratch has been destroyed, and he has emerged as a Master of Two Worlds - or rather, a Master of All Worlds. He thanks Alice for her guidance, and it seems we've got a happy ending here.
But what does it all mean?
As I see it, there are a few questions the ending raises.
The first: Is the Dark Presence truly gone for good? I suspect that's not possible - if the Dark Presence is just the Jungian Shadow, it's sort of just a part of human psychology and can't really be gone. But we might imagine that Scratch, the Shadow version of Alan, has been destroyed.
Now, granted, Barbara Jagger, when corrupted by the Dark Presence, was called the "Scratching Witch," and there have already been multiple versions of "Scratch" in these games. Perhaps we can consider the ending to be the definitive end of Alan's Scratch, though.
But where does that leave Alan as a character?
I actually think that Remedy has an opportunity here: this is a pretty good place to finish Alan Wake's story, but we don't lose much because, thanks to their now-connected universe, any of these characters - including Alan - could appear in other games. Already we see Ahti and Dr. Darling popping up in this game after debuting in Control. So, anyone here could easily be in future games (indeed, while they don't appear in person, Tor and Odin Anderson have a part to play in Control as well).
But with Departure, Initiation, and Return all completed now, Alan has undergone the Hero's Journey and emerged, as he is supposed to, as the Master of Two Worlds. Or, all worlds.
The next big question, though, is what happens to Alan?
Alan has had his confrontation with his shadow (and then some,) and as he has proclaimed himself, he's achieved his mastery. Does that make him, in a sense, like Mr. Door? Can he step from the Dark Place to whatever reality he chooses now? I'd assume he'll be able to get Saga and Alex Casey back to the real world, but does he go with them?
Or does he become the master of the Dark Place, which Mr. Door describes as the reflection of all possible realities? Perhaps it need not be so dark?
Finally, what has happened to Alice?
Alice provides photos that give Saga the Clicker and the Bullet of Light, but she doesn't appear in person, only leading Alan on through visions.
With his newfound mastery of all worlds, can Alan be reunited with her, or is he already, through the Bullet? Does she live in a metaphysical way in his head?
See, while Alice is definitely a benevolent presence in this game - arguably the game's "Big Good" - I have my own theories about her potential ties to the Blessed Organization from Control, which puts a little sour twist on things.
We still don't know what the deal is with Tom Zane or Mr. Door. We don't know what Mr. Door wants with Tim Breaker. We don't know what has happened to Dr. Darling.
We still have two DLCs coming for the game - Night Springs and The Lakehouse, which both might tie into the FBC, and the former likely having a lot to do with Mr. Door. I'm sure we'll get more questions than answers.
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