Alan Wake 2 | Ep. 1 – Prologue: The Cult & Return 1: Invitation (Saga)

A brand-new series begins, and we’re starting strong with psychological horror, strange cults, and flashlight-based survival. Perfect for a Wednesday night!

I’ve been wanting to play Alan Wake 2 since its release. I’ve completed the original game multiple times, and I’m forever recommending its novelisation, but the sequel’s original price kept putting me off. Thankfully, Penguin spotted it on sale and let me know, so I finally had the chance to return to Bright Falls.

Our first evening brought some technical problems, a murder investigation, plenty of exploring, and a rather unpleasant surprise in the morgue. Not a bad introduction to the series!

🔦 About the Game

Alan Wake 2 is a psychological survival horror game set around Bright Falls, a small community surrounded by the forests and wilderness of the Pacific Northwest. A series of ritualistic murders has brought FBI agent Saga Anderson to the area, where she begins investigating a case that seems increasingly difficult to explain.

Working alongside fellow agent Alex Casey, Saga discovers mysterious manuscript pages describing events that begin coming true around her. What starts as a murder investigation gradually becomes something much stranger, connecting the present-day events to the disappearance of novelist Alan Wake thirteen years earlier.

📖 Where We Are in the Journey

This is our very first episode of Alan Wake 2, following our previous adventures through the original game and Alan Wake’s American Nightmare. I’ve been particularly interested in seeing how the sequel develops the story and whether we’ll recognise locations from our earlier visits to Bright Falls.

AIDA has divided the playthrough into ten Wednesday sessions, with a short break over Christmas. Tonight we’re tackling the prologue, The Cult, followed by Return 1: Invitation, which introduces Saga Anderson and her investigation.

I’m playing on normal difficulty, and as usual, I intend to explore as much as possible rather than rush through the story. Whether the game intends to let me do that remains to be seen!

🌲 What Happens in This Episode

We hadn’t even properly started before encountering our first problem. The opening cinematic looked fantastic, but as soon as we gained control of our character, the game began stuttering badly on stream. I had to rearrange the capture setup, search through the available windows, nearly capture a notepad instead of the game, and eventually adjust the graphics scaling. I’d spent time getting everything balanced before starting, so it was slightly frustrating to have things go wrong almost immediately. Thankfully, we caught the problem right at the beginning, before making any real progress. Not quite the smooth start I’d planned!

With the nudity filter enabled for our unfortunate opening character, we finally headed into the woods. The atmosphere was immediately unsettling, with strange chanting, mysterious figures and a particularly unpleasant ending for the man we’d been controlling. He certainly wasn’t having a particularly good day! I was already impressed by how detailed the environment looked, although I still found myself wondering whether to investigate the side paths rather than follow the obvious route. Given that we had no proper equipment and some rather unpleasant people wandering around, following the light seemed the sensible option. The prologue soon introduced us to the strange figures responsible for the murder, setting up the mystery surrounding the Cult of the Tree.

The story then introduced Saga Anderson and Alex Casey, arriving at Cauldron Lake to investigate another murder. We first got a little insight into Saga’s family life through a phone call with her daughter Logan, who was watching Night Springs with her father while Saga was away working. It was also interesting seeing Alex Casey, particularly given the connections to Max Payne and our previous adventures through Remedy’s games. After arriving at Cauldron Lake, we discovered that the deputy who was supposed to meet us wasn’t actually at his post. We eventually found Deputy Mulligan, who directed us towards the crime scene and his colleague Thornton. The forest looked fantastic, and I was already comparing the surroundings with the locations we’d explored in the original Alan Wake.

Naturally, I couldn’t resist looking around as we made our way towards the murder scene. There were plenty of little details scattered throughout the environment, and I kept checking whether we could wander off the main path or find anything hidden. We also got introduced to Saga’s Mind Place, where evidence is organised on a case board and used to develop deductions. It took me a little while to understand the controls, and I kept calling it the Mind Palace, thanks partly to Sherlock Holmes. I was slightly disappointed to discover that the board wouldn’t allow incorrect clue placements, since that meant we couldn’t accidentally lead ourselves down the wrong investigative path. Still, the system was interesting, particularly Saga’s ability to profile people and gain additional information about the case. I also discovered that entering the Mind Place doesn’t actually pause the game, which could prove troublesome later!

Eventually, we reached the crime scene behind the old convenience store, where the body of former FBI agent Robert Nightingale was waiting for examination. Nightingale had disappeared thirteen years earlier, around the time of the original game’s events, and now he’d turned up with his heart removed. His wrists showed signs of restraint, his chest had been cut open, and there was evidence suggesting multiple people had been involved in the murder. Strangely, the killers had left both his heart and the restraints behind. There were also signs of people waiting around the area, including discarded beer cans and a disturbed tripod. It certainly wasn’t looking like an ordinary murder, particularly when we discovered that the previous victims had all disappeared around 2010.

The investigation involved collecting evidence from around the body, placing it on Saga’s case board and working through the available deductions. I spent a little time trying to figure out exactly where everything belonged, occasionally pressing the wrong buttons or returning to the wrong part of the Mind Place. Saga’s profiling suggested that Nightingale had emerged from Cauldron Lake before being captured, and that the killers had deliberately chosen him as part of some sort of ritual. He seemed to be more important to their plans than simply another unfortunate victim. There was clearly something unusual happening around the lake, and we still had plenty of questions about where Nightingale had been for the previous thirteen years.

Meanwhile, chat was providing its usual entertainment. Mr Smith was accused of being cheese, Happy Cat was defending her chocolate, and we were wondering how Penguin was getting along after he’d been unwell. Happy Cat was also busy feeding the mighty space elevator, while Mr V and Mr Smith compared notes on keeping their Dune bases powered. Frodo was apparently still making left turns in his racing game, which became an easy target for comments. Gary arrived to the usual leprechaun-related welcome, and Mr Smith promptly challenged him to a fight. Gary wasn’t particularly interested in accepting, although that didn’t stop the comments. There was also the usual discussion about tea, biscuits and whatever else the community happened to be getting up to that evening.

Mr Smith then accidentally selected “Reverse Eternal” from the jukebox. He’d only intended to check which songs were available, but ended up starting one instead. Since I didn’t want the music interrupting the game’s dialogue, I decided to spend the next couple of minutes exploring the scenery through photo mode. That gave us an opportunity to examine some of the impressive environmental details more closely. Gary wasn’t particularly impressed by the musical interruption either, especially when he wanted to listen to the story. Once the song finished, we returned to the investigation, although I was already getting rather distracted by how much there was to look at.

Back at Cauldron Lake, Saga’s profiling led us towards the shoreline, where we discovered barefoot tracks that appeared to emerge from beneath a large boulder. We also found a manuscript page describing Saga and Casey’s investigation, including details of their arrival and the murder. It was particularly strange because the writing seemed to know what the characters were doing, almost as though somebody was arranging events into a story. The page also suggested that something had been placed inside Nightingale’s chest, giving us another reason to examine his body more closely once it reached the morgue. Casey was understandably concerned about the implications, while Saga seemed determined to follow the evidence wherever it led.

We also had a Hunger Games round taking place in chat, with Frodo, Mr Smith, Mr V, Gary and several others joining in. Somehow, the result gave Mr Smith and me a joint victory, which naturally meant Mr V had another reason to put us on his infamous list. Mr Smith was particularly pleased about that achievement! The Pokémon hunting commands were also getting some attention, with Gary successfully completing a contract and Mr Smith later attempting to deal with a Chatot using a musket. Unfortunately, that particular contract didn’t go according to plan, and Mr Smith questioned why he’d been given a musket rather than something a little more effective.

Once we’d finished investigating the murder scene, the game wanted us to return to the car and head back into Bright Falls. Unfortunately, I’d spotted several other paths worth exploring, and I couldn’t bring myself to leave without finding out where they went. We ended up wandering around the forest, checking the map repeatedly and occasionally finding ourselves back somewhere we’d already visited. We discovered the Witch’s Hut, explored the surrounding paths and found a lunchbox containing a weapon-upgrade fragment. There were also locked areas and a suspicious container that we couldn’t open yet, giving us a few things to investigate when we eventually return.

Finding the upgrade fragment reminded me of our Control playthrough, where we’d managed to complete most of the game without realising how many improvements were available. We’d been wandering around using our starting equipment without properly upgrading our weapons, abilities or health, and somehow still managed to make considerable progress. Hopefully, we’ll remember to use the upgrade system properly this time! I was also curious about whether we’d eventually be able to explore some of the buildings we’d passed earlier, particularly since several places looked as though they might become important later in the game.

One particular distraction involved a solar-powered monitoring station surrounded by trees. I spent quite some time questioning why anyone would position communications equipment and solar panels somewhere with so many obstructions. The station appeared to be sitting in a heavily wooded valley, with the surrounding landscape potentially blocking sunlight and interfering with communications. Chat pointed out that solar panels don’t require constant direct sunlight, but I still wasn’t convinced by the location. It’s the same sort of thing that previously had me questioning the missing fire escapes around Diamond City in Fallout 4. I know these are fictional environments, but I do like the little details to make some sort of logical sense!

After a considerable amount of exploring, we finally returned to the car and travelled into Bright Falls. Around this point, newcomer baqar72 joined us after watching our previous Star Trek adventures, which led to quite a bit of conversation about Star Trek Online. We discussed ships, crew members, the current Lower Decks event and some of the unusual names people had chosen for their vessels. Mr Smith had his USS Mango, while Boaty McBoatface became another subject of discussion. I also explained how I’d been giving my Star Trek crew Scottish-themed names for comedy value, including the various Mc-prefixed officers we’d recruited. We even ended up discussing how the order of some Star Trek Online missions doesn’t always seem to match the order of events in the story.

Eventually, we made our way to the Oh Deer Diner, where Sheriff Tim Breaker was waiting with the witnesses. Before speaking to them, however, I became distracted by the posters, Coffee World advertisements and other little details scattered around the diner. There were notices about fishing equipment, safety courses, missing pets and the upcoming Deerfest celebrations. I was particularly interested in the Coffee World advertisements and spent some time using photo mode to examine the smaller text. There were references to the Mocha Moose, Drippy Man and the various attractions available at the coffee-themed amusement park. Some of the writing was difficult to read, even when zooming in, but that didn’t stop me from trying. I also had a look around the kitchen and bathrooms, with chat joking about freezing temperatures and checking for orbs. There really was far too much stuff to get distracted by!

Once I’d finished investigating the decoration, we finally spoke to Tammy and Ed Booker, who’d witnessed Nightingale’s murder. Tammy was researching a true-crime book about Alan Wake’s disappearance, which explained why the pair had been wandering around Cauldron Lake. They described seeing a naked man emerge from the water before encountering masked attackers armed with knives. The attackers were apparently shouting about the Cult of the Tree, giving us our first proper name for the group responsible. Tammy had also taken a necklace bearing the cult’s symbol, which she seemed rather keen to use in connection with her book. Saga’s profiling suggested that the Bookers were telling the truth and that their presence at the lake was connected to Tammy’s research rather than the murder itself.

Things became even stranger when Rose, a familiar face from the original game, recognised Saga and greeted her as though they’d known one another for years. Rose then casually claimed that Saga’s daughter had drowned, leaving Saga understandably confused. We’d only recently heard Saga speaking to Logan on the telephone, so the suggestion that her daughter was dead was particularly unsettling. Rose seemed convinced that Saga had simply blocked out the traumatic memory, while Saga insisted that she must have mistaken her for somebody else. Considering Rose’s history in the original game, I wasn’t prepared to dismiss that conversation quite so easily. Sheriff Breaker wasn’t particularly concerned, explaining that Rose had always been known for saying unusual things, but there was clearly more going on than we currently understood.

Our investigation then continued at the sheriff’s station, where Nightingale’s body had been taken for examination. The local morgue was rather dark, which prompted another discussion about why examination rooms in games and films never seem to have enough lighting. You’d think somewhere intended for examining bodies would be reasonably well illuminated! As Saga began examining Nightingale, we discovered additional defensive injuries, strange markings and signs that didn’t seem consistent with the circumstances of his death. The body was bloated and waterlogged, despite the evidence suggesting he’d been murdered elsewhere. There was also writing on the corpse, and Saga suspected that something had been placed inside his chest.

That suspicion proved correct when another manuscript page was discovered during the examination. The page described the Taken and their vulnerability to bright light, which was particularly interesting for those of us familiar with the original game. It was becoming increasingly clear that the supernatural elements we’d encountered previously were returning, although Saga and Casey still hadn’t quite come to terms with what was happening. I was also slightly distracted by the fact that Saga didn’t appear to be wearing gloves during parts of the examination. Given everything else we’d discovered about Nightingale, that probably wasn’t the most important concern, but it was another little detail I couldn’t help noticing.

Then Nightingale suddenly got up!

The supposedly dead former FBI agent attacked, Sheriff Breaker mysteriously vanished, and we found ourselves trying to survive in a darkened morgue. To make things even more awkward, Saga had left her gun outside in the hallway, meaning we initially had nothing useful to defend ourselves with. The manuscript page had warned us about the Taken and their weakness to light, so the immediate challenge was to make use of the illuminated safe areas while avoiding Nightingale. Unfortunately, my first attempt didn’t go particularly well. I moved at the wrong moment and ended up with our first proper death loop of the series. We had experienced an unpleasant scripted death during the prologue, but this one was definitely my doing!

On the second attempt, I paid closer attention to Nightingale’s movements and waited for him to wander away before making my escape towards the hallway. The safe light provided somewhere to hide while I worked out where he was going, and we eventually managed to survive the encounter and retrieve our weapon. Nightingale then disappeared, leaving Saga and Casey trying to understand what had just happened. The manuscript page had predicted the events in the morgue, Nightingale had somehow returned from the dead, and the sheriff had vanished without explanation. At that point, even the characters were forced to accept that this wasn’t an ordinary murder investigation.

The chapter-end screen appeared shortly afterwards, and I decided it was a sensible place to finish our first evening rather than continue into the next part of the story. We’d made it through the prologue and Saga’s opening chapter, discovered the Cult of the Tree, investigated Nightingale’s murder and experienced our first proper encounter with the supernatural. We’d also found plenty of locations and locked areas that I suspect we’ll be returning to later. I’m particularly interested in finding out more about the manuscript pages, what happened to Sheriff Breaker and why Rose seemed to know things about Saga’s family that Saga herself insists aren’t true.

We finished with our usual look at the upcoming stream schedule, including Crime Scene Cleaner, Cyberpunk 2077, Fallout 4 and Star Trek Online. There was also the small matter of some copyrighted music playing during the chapter transition, meaning I’ll probably need to download the recording, remove the offending section and upload it again. There’s always something to sort out after a stream! Once everything was wrapped up, we thanked everyone for joining us and raided into SargentRusty, who was playing VEIN.

For our first evening in Alan Wake 2, I’m really enjoying what I’ve seen so far. The environments look fantastic, there are plenty of little details to investigate, and the story has already raised some interesting questions. I’m still getting used to the Mind Place system, and I suspect my habit of exploring every possible path will make some of these chapters considerably longer than intended. Still, that’s part of the fun of playing through a game for the first time.

Next Wednesday, we’ll return to Bright Falls and continue Saga’s investigation. Hopefully, we’ll have fewer technical problems, perhaps a little less time spent questioning the placement of solar panels, and possibly even manage to avoid another death loop. No promises, though!

🎬 Watch the Episode

If you missed the livestream, you can catch the complete opening episode below, from our technical problems and first investigation to that unexpected encounter in the morgue.

Watch Alan Wake 2 — Episode 1 on YouTube

You can also explore the Alan Wake 2 Series Playlist or visit my YouTube channel for more gameplay adventures.

If you enjoy the episode, remember to leave a like, share your thoughts in the comments and subscribe for future videos.

🔴 Join the Adventure Live

Our investigation is only beginning, and there’s plenty more waiting for us in Bright Falls. Whether you’re helping me spot something I’ve missed, questioning my latest detour, or just joining in with the usual chat chaos, you’re always welcome.

Come and join us live on Twitch or YouTube. We’ll be returning to Alan Wake 2 on Wednesdays, continuing the mystery one chapter at a time.

🌐 Community & Links

The stream might have ended, but there’s always something happening in the community. Whether you’re looking for more livestreams, music or somewhere to chat between episodes, you’ll find everything here.

Live — Follow the next livestream and see where the story takes us:
Twitch | YouTube

Community — Join the conversations between streams:
Discord

Socials — Follow the latest news, videos and updates:
TikTok | Bluesky | Instagram | Facebook | Threads | X

Music — Discover more of my music between adventures:
Spotify | Apple Music

Support — Help keep the streams and other projects going:
Fourthwall | Teespring | Streamlabs

More — Explore my other projects, work and writing:
Business Centre | Download the Brochure | About Me | Blog

💀 No Heart, Still Walking

Our first visit to Bright Falls has certainly given us plenty to think about. We’ve uncovered a ritual murder, met some familiar faces, discovered manuscript pages predicting events, and learned that even removing somebody’s heart apparently isn’t enough to keep them on the examination table.

I’m really enjoying what I’ve seen of Alan Wake 2 so far, particularly the environments and all the little details scattered around the world. I’m looking forward to exploring further, although I suspect the game has considerably more unpleasant surprises waiting for us.

Next Wednesday, we’ll return to Bright Falls and continue Saga’s investigation. Hopefully, we’ll manage to avoid another death loop. No promises, though!

Thanks very much for watching, and have a lovely day.

— Dr Ravenholm