Sam Lake gets into the Mind Place of Alan Wake 2’s Saga Anderson

In an interview with Game Developer, Remedy’s Sam Lake and Kyle Rowley spoke at length about Saga Anderson, her importance in the story, and how the team went about creating this intriguing character.

Though Alan Wake 2 still tracks the story of the fictional famous writer who finds himself up against supernatural forces, the inclusion of Saga Anderson allows players to switch between two realities and experience the narrative from different perspectives. It was a bold move, especially considering how long fans have waited to finally spend some time with Alan, but judging by critical reception, the risk paid off.

Making Saga wasn’t easy, and finding her took more time than any previous game from the studio. Remedy had to get some help from narrative consultant Kim Belair of Sweet Baby Inc. who helped the studio refine Saga’s voice and perfect her character arc.

The birth of Saga Anderson

Saga, who is played by Melanie Liburd, was added to the game because the creators felt that players would benefit from having an outsider perspective on the supernatural shenanigans in Bright Falls. She contrasts well with Alan. While Alan tends to be dramatic and emotionally motivated, Saga is a cool-headed FBI agent who prefers to deal with facts.

She nonetheless finds herself embroiled in a reality-bending world and has to quickly learn how to defeat the Dark Presence if she wishes to save her daughter. To help her piece clues together, she has an internal Mind Place where she organizes the facts of the cases she’s dealing with. It’s a neat way to keep players in the loop regarding the game’s several sinuous plotlines.

Crafting Saga was a collaborative process, Lake explains. They would spend a lot of time discussing the character with Melanie who would also give her input regarding the direction the character should take.

Remedy’s first Black protagonist

Alan Wake 2 presents quite a few firsts for Remedy. It’s the first survival horror title from the Finnish team, and it’s the first title to feature a Black protagonist. Because of this, developers took extra care to ensure she wouldn’t be sidelined and she would have an equal amount of the game’s attention as Alan. As Lake explains, “a lot of thought and dedication especially went into Saga.”

There are also multicultural elements to Saga. As we learn in the game, she has Swedish ancestry, which is more than an incidental fact, as her story ends up intertwining elements of Nordic mythology. This made things interesting for Lake and the rest of Remedy, as they got to witness “these different aspects coming together to form a very unique and fresh character.”

Alan Wake 2 ends on an ambiguous note, leaving us with many burning questions. They’ll hopefully be answered in the upcoming DLC.