10 Ambiguous Video Game Endings You're Getting Totally Wrong
9. Alan Wake
The Ending: At the end of the game, we see Alan sacrifice himself in order to save his wife, Alice. He dives into Cauldron Lake, where an ancient evil presence has been lurking. Alice emerges safely while Alan starts typing in an underwater cabin, saying that the lake is actually an 'ocean', in the game's cryptic final lines.
What You Missed: The answer to this ending can be found in the game's DLC, but many never played this extra content and were left perplexed by the game's ending.
In the downloadable episodes, we learn that Alan did actually defeat the dark presence, but his own mind has been fragmented in the process, leaving him trapped in a creation of his own imagination.
The two DLC episodes show Alan fighting back against a dark version of himself in order to try and return to reality. At the end of the second and final episode, Alan starts writing a book called 'Return', signifying his return back to the real world, where he will finally be reunited with Alice and his friends.