Alan Wake 10 Years Later: 10 Moments Worth Revisiting Bright Falls For

Although the final confrontation with the Dark Presence is rather anticlimactic compared to the gauntlet the game puts you through to face it – just fire a handful of flares into a tornado and you’re done – the ending itself is more than worth the price of admission.

With the Dark Presence defeated and Alan’s plan coming to fruition in writing Alice out of its clutches, the ending nevertheless throws so many more questions at players through a series of strange revelations. Not only were we informed earlier that Alan has a doppelganger named Mr Scratch (who is more prominent in spin-off title American Nightmare), we also see in a telling shot that the Dark Presence is still very much alive but taking on a new visage.

However, to get Alice out, Wake explains, there must be sacrifice. In his case, it’s him who becomes trapped within the darkness of the cabin, with his last line “it’s not a lake, it’s an ocean” suggesting that the story goes a lot deeper than we could imagine.

While some might hate the ambiguity, it nevertheless gives players a lot to chew on.