Loop and Spirals: The Echoes of Alan Wake
Alan Wake 2 is a marvel of a game. However, it owes its success to American Nightmare and here’s why.
The 2012 game introduced the then-unnamed Thresholds into the franchise. Soft places where dreams and reality blur together, where the dark place can trickle into our world. Alan Wake 2 further expands on them by giving each one a ritual that’s required to access them. Transforming them from a simple staging ground in AN into labyrinths leading into the unknown. From a lake to an ocean as they say. However, that is but the first of a few progressions I have uncovered.
At the end of AW2, the last words we hear are “It’s not a loop it’s a spiral”. This describes the Dark Place’s affinity for repetition and ceremony, and this was extensively explored in American Nightmare. Where Alan went through three loops, where he learnt and grew as a person after each passing. Finally emerging from that journey, a better man, victorious; or bluntly put on an upward spiral. In stark contrast to Alan Wake 2 where our author becomes desperate, thus proceeding down a grim path.
The Mr. Sctrach Connection in Alan Wake
Finally, I’d like to cover Mr. Scratch, the antagonist of both games. In American Nightmare he is the manifestation of every rumour and falsehood that has ever stuck to Alan. While in the 2023 game, he is the result of Wake succumbing to the influence of the Dark Place. The former reflects the weight of the man’s reputation, while the latter is his flaws coming to light. This proves that no matter how great the Champion of Light is, he can plummet and become the Herald of Darkness. Spiralling downwards. If that man has no hope, no love he can become his own worst enemy. His own devil, called Mr Scratch.
In conclusion, this is a few of the parallels I have identified between the two games. Mythical thresholds, repetitious rituals, and a certain Mr Scratch. These elements were all there in American Nightmare, but they fully bloomed in Alan Wake 2.
