Since Alan Wake 2’s launch in late October, developer Remedy Entertainment has released a number of patches for the survival horror title to sand out some of its lingering rough edges. Now, Update 12 has rolled out for the game as well, and it brings a host of additional fixes and improvements.
In addition to several bug fixes, the update also makes performance optimizations on PS5 and PC, while addressing numerous issues related to the UI, animations, audio, and the case board. Several mission-specific bugs, some of which could potentially block progress, have also been fixed. You can view the full patch notes below, though do be warned that the mission-specific notes could contain some spoilers.
Meanwhile, Remedy has also said on Twitter that it is continuing to investigate crashes and lip syncing issues being reported by players in its Xbox Series S version.
Alan Wake 2 has received widespread praise from critics and audiences since its release, and with nominations across eight different categories – including Game of the Year – it’s the joint-most nominated game at this year’s The Game Awards, alongside Baldur’s Gate 3.
Whether the survival horror sequel’s critical success is being reflected in its commercial performance remains to be seen. It was recently reported by Circana analyst Mat Piscatella that the game did not rank in the top 150 monthly active users chart for the month of October in the US.
Alan Wake 2 is available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. Read our review of the game through here.
UPDATE 12 PATCH NOTES:
Global
- Made the player able to push certain movable objects that might block the progress when revisiting combat areas (just walk into them…).
- Fixed an issue where loading a save game during an enemy grapple would leave the player without movement controls.
- Fixed an issue related to the Nursery Rhyme doll “Father” disappearing if placed in the wrong location and the player saved their game.
- Fixed a rare issue where the player could not watch the Drowned video and thus was prevented from getting an Achievement / Trophy.
- Fixed an issue where auto-aim was not…auto-aiming correctly when Flashlight boosting a submerged Binder enemy.
- Fixed an issue where Saga couldn’t shoot or damage an enemy hiding in the bushes after throwing a flare at the enemy.
- Fixed an issue where interrupting a charged shot by quickly selecting another weapon and then re-selecting the crossbow would launch the bolt without player input.
- Fixed an issue where an Echo wouldn’t reset after the player leaves the area.
- Fixed an issue where the Dark Veil effect would be missing from Cynthia’s boss fight after reloading a checkpoint.
- Fixed an issue where the Wake insight at the Caldera Street station didn’t trigger.
- Fixed an issue where entering the Writer’s Room during an elevator ride played a real number on preserving the correct game state.
- Fixed premature notifications of Koskela brother’s commercials being available in the Mind Place (Good things come to those who wait.)
- Fixed Alan climbing next to the ladder when interacting with the ladder while opening a door.
- Fixed conversation interactions outside the Nursing Home not being consistently visible.
- After the Summoning boss fight, only Saga can pick up crossbow bolts (sorry, Alan)
- Improved the zoom function in Dioramas (such as Cultist stashes and Nursery Rhymes) and the Map.
- Optimized memory use to keep more cold, dead enemy bodies lying on the ground for added realism and spookiness.
- It is now possible to skip the Alice documentary.
- Corrected spelling errors.
- (PC) Made the GPU crash dialog more user-friendly with understandable error messages for non-Remedy engineers and QA.
- (PC) Fixed switching from full screen to window occasionally resulting in wrong rendering resolution.
Performance
- (PC) Fixed performance and visual issues with Nvidia DLSS Frame Generation enabled when changing from real-time video to 3D rendering.
- (PlayStation 5 Performance Mode) Optimized performance when aggressively walking stairs up and down in the Nursing Home.
- (PlayStation 5 Performance Mode) Optimized streaming performance globally but predominantly around the hallways outside of room 666 in the Oceanview Hotel.
Animations and visuals
- Numerous lighting and visual fixes and related improvements.
- Fixed Alan’s flashlight holstering animations when the writer is in a wounded state.
- Fixed Alan’s flashlight holstering animation triggering even without having a flashlight.
- Fixed weapon-switching animations to work correctly when Alan is healing.
- Fixed an issue where forward running dodge animation was playing for too long.
- Fixed an issue where interrupting the manuscript pick-up animation by combat can lead Saga to stay in a broken animation state.
Audio
- Added missing localized VO audio for French and Japanese languages.
- Fixed an issue where in-world videos (including Koskela ads, Wake insight’s, Alice videos, Darling videos, and Yoton Yo video) audio was sometimes out of sync.
- General audio fixes and improvements.
UI
- Fixed an issue where players could not select the inventory items on the far-right side of their inventory.
- Prevent the Shoebox from eating away players’ items when they were stacked erroneously.
- Hacked OCD UI indicators in the Mind Place not clearing their “new” status.
- Added “Restore to Default” option to the Control Key Customization Tab.
- Improved the brightness calibration UI.
- General UI fixes and improvements.
Case Board
- Fixed an issue where Saga could only access the Case Board after Profiling but not via other Mind Place interactions.
- Improved automatically placing clues for already solved questions to the Case Board.
- Fixed a wayward Bright Falls station photo being in the distinctly wrong location on the Case Board.
Mission Specific
INVITATION
- Hid interactions while dialogue plays around the Nightingale murder site.
- Fixed a case where Saga is unable to pick up the pistol in the morgue corridor after waiting for a far longer time than we expected.
- Fixed Nightingale’s profiling with “The heart! Where is it?” not skipping the entire sequence.
- Reduced chances of Nightingale ruining your day. Made the resourcing more generous for the Nightingale boss fight.
OLD GODS
- Fixed an issue where clearing the Mulligan and Thornton encounter didn’t trigger the end cinematic, thus blocking progress.
SCRATCH
- Fixed an issue where Saga could not communicate the plan to agent Estevez. If you are not in the Bright Falls area, you must come back to trigger progress with the plan.
- Fixed a case where players could miss a phone call from Tor, preventing getting a missing piece of evidence and thus blocking progress in the mission.
- Fixed an issue where the conversation with Estevez would drone on after leaving the Sheriff’s Station.
SUMMONING
- Made Alex Casey’s loot drops spicier by having him biased toward two-handed weapon ammo for Saga (“partners to the end”).
- Fixed a rare issue where a light array would disappear during the Scratch fight upon the player releasing the interaction button.
- Added more ammo for the mission’s Alan Wake section, making the trek to the parking lot somewhat more bearable.
WE SING
- Fixed an issue with the Plot Board.
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