During the Summer Games Fest 2023 Play Days, Remedy provided clips from their behind-closed-doors demo of Alan Wake 2 to members of the press to use in their reports and interviews. These clips featured conversations between Anderson and Casey, Saga's Mind Place, and the revised action.
At the time, we wrote about the collection of gameplay footage that was shared with the press, but with the clips being shared on the official channels directly, it gave us an opportunity to delve deeper into the scene.
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| Concept Artwork: Saga's Mind Place |
The Mind Place allows the player to explore Saga's thought process and provides a breather between the action. In an interview with GamesRadar+, Molly Maloney (Principle Narrative Designer) talks about the space saying, "the board is basically the visual presentation of Saga's investigation, so everything that goes on the board is what she thinks; when you're placing something on the board, that is now a thought that Saga has had. That is how she draws her conclusions." Jumping to the case board will also open up new paths in the game, too; a new waypoint or a conversation option. Interested in learning more about Saga's Mind Place? Read the full interview, HERE!
But the Case Board isn't the only thing available in the room, with players able to review manuscript pages, rewatch cinematics on the TV, peruse the map, and upgrade weapons.
Video Description: "Saga Anderson's Mind Place is a mental construct, where she works the case and sifts through the clues she found. The Mind Place can be accessed with a single button press at almost any point of the game. An important part of this is the Case Board, a visual representation of the investigation, where Saga makes deductions and gains new mission objectives. See it in action!"
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TRANSCRIPTION & VISUAL DESCRIPTION
Visual Description: Saga is inside her Mind Place, a large studio room with wooden panelling. It is minimally lit, with light only illuminating certain evidence boards and tables. To the left is a section marked with a gun icon next to a radio, and further back in the room is the indicator for a map. To the right is a collection of manuscript pages on a desk with a lit lamp beside them. In front of her is a large table with photographs. She ignores it, instead choosing to move to the back wall, to her "Case Board". The photographs and Post-it notes are lit by two mirroring lights. Written A4 sheets of paper mark the topics, with threads joining crime scene photographs, portraits, and post-it notes.
Visual Description: The topics include "Consistent with Prev. Murders", "The Victim? Victim ID'd Robert Nightingale. Former FBI Agent. Mental state questionable at time of disappearance", "The Killer(S)? Multiple assailants present. Messy scene. Crime of passion? Premeditated?", " Ritual Writing? Tattoos on body and heart. How did killers have time? Doesn't make sense...", "Anything to learn from the body? Cause of bloating unknown. Strange Tattoos on skin and heart. A page was placed inside chest cavity." "Cause of Death? Chest trauma is clear cause of death. Something was inserted." "Spontaneous or Pre-Meditated? Killers waited for the victim. Brought equipment. Murder was premeditated, but what was Nightingale doing out here?" and "Victim Came From...? Too many questions. Doesn't make sense. Asking wrong questions.
Visual Description: She narrows down to the bottom right of the wall. A posit note reading "What is the ritual" is linked using thread to other notes; "words on the heart?", "where is the heart?" and "Witch in Witch's Ladle?" A notepad page with a photograph of Nightingale's face appears. On the page reads the text, "The heart is somewhere in the general store.". She connects it to the "Where is the heart?" thread. A textbox appears stating that "There was an abandoned general store near the murder site."
Visual Description: The focus moves back from Saga's Mind Place to back to the Bright Falls gameplay. She is standing in the middle of the forest at night, rains hammering around her.
Saga Anderson: I need to check the General Store for the heart.
