The Celebration Of Finnish Culture In Alan Wake 2

it was first of all proving that we can do bigger games in Finland there's this Finnish flavor in it that you you cannot really put your finger on it and I like it dearly they are kind of like cherishing our our our you know culture and what we are known for our quy little things and manners the sequel to the 2010 cult classic Allan Wake released on October 27th 20123 to near Universal Acclaim rare is the game that pushes boundaries of what's possible in game design island W 2 does exactly that it's an achievement in visual story and sound presentation uniquely blending them in ways previously unseen following the also highly respected control Allen W 2 is the first game to officially establish the remedy connected Universe a web of interconnected titles envisioned by the series creative director Sam lake with remakes planned for max pain 1 and 2 more Allen wake expansions an Untitled multiplayer project and plans for their next main title remedy ENT tainment is absolutely on fire and their namesake is starting to be grouped with the industry's most prestigious Studios much like CD project red is an Exemplar of Polish Cultural achievement in game design remedy has taken up a similar mantle for Finland my goal for this video is to show examples of and discuss how remedy celebrates aspects of Finnish culture in Alan way 2 and don't worry I won't be discussing any plot spoilers now some gameplay and locations will be shown in the b-roll so if you're sensitive to that kind of thing please save this video and come back when ready or if you want you can just listen and not pay attention to the visuals either way I'll be right here now if we start with basic elements of the environment this already gives us quite a lot to unpack one of the more prominent Inspirations for the Allan weight games is Twin Peaks and so naturally these games take place in fictionalized areas of Washington state that said my suspicion is that this setting doubly serves as a way for remedy to create environments closely resembling their Homeland Finland is a heavily wooded Nation with many Lakes mountains and rivers I highly recommend some light Googling here it's a really gorgeous place this aesthetic and style is felt all over the game in areas such as cauldron Lake for instance but the stunning scenery is always contrasted by a dark atmosphere that inherently feels unforgiving you might say both narratively and physically in the environment I think this is indicative of the notoriously long and dark Winters that Finland has now most of us take daylight for granted but for the Finnish people I would guess that the little amount of sunlight they get during the winter is absolutely precious and to be valued continuing with that idea it could be telling that in both alen weight games light as a concept is a central Motif it's portrayed through story and gameplay mechanics as a kind of scarse commodity and a valuable resource a form of protection you might say for instance the flashlight makes enemies vulnerable street lights or powered lit cabins are rare and they act as safe havens for the player now also in a nod to the log lady from Twin Peaks one character always carries a lamp with her at all times now when the Allen wake franchise hell actually in the entire remedy connected Universe no location pays homage to finish culture quite like the region of watery and Allen wake 2 watery shares a lot of similarities with the real life town of atoria in Oregon they were both small villages relying on fishing for survival ever since the local lumber Mills closed down but more importantly they both have large Finnish populations circling this back to the main idea finland's extensive Coastline and forests make fishing and logging inherently important industries for the country while watery fits right in with the Washington State setting in game it definitely feels like a recreation of the many fishing communities located in Finland at least to me the local club for the Finnish people in the town of watery called suomi Hall that actually exists as a place in in the real world town of aoria in game it's complete with ATI the janitor a fan favorite singing folk songs and corellian pies are scattered across the tables that's pretty cool now you know what shouldn't be watery coffee I agree ilmo a perfect morning for me to drink this coffee I'm [Music] holding oh [ __ ] this CU is [ __ ] sorry about that had to do it anyway did you know know that most years Finland consumes more coffee per person than any other Nation the average person drinks about four cups per day and just down the road from watery in the game is an entire theme park literally called coffee World coffee is prominently featured throughout both the games actually the first game famously has thermoses for the player to collect and this time around drinking from these thermoses in the safe houses is how you save the game I especially love this shot of saga and Alex Casey who I should mention is played by Sam Lake sipping from their mugs in unison and of course it really doesn't need to be said all this doubles zamage to Twin Peaks as well wait a minute wait a minute you know this is excuse me a damn fine cup of coffee I've had I can't tell you how many cups of coffee in my life and this this is one of the best now I'd like two eggs over hard the Costa brothers are important characters in the game but also they serve as vehicles for delivering finish culture to the audience in Alam W 2 a significant amount of their screen time is comic relief and much of that humor Sater rizes Finnish Society it's pretty subtle in the actual dialogue but the real Jewels here are the hilariously corny in-game commercials for their various business ventures they're just completely bananas and laugh out loud funny in a way that I haven't laughed out loud at a game in a very long time the theme of each commercial parody is an aspect of finished lifestyle there's one for coffee there's one for drinking beer there's one for summer cabin culture outdoorsmanship and a few others if you don't find them all in your playthrough I recommend seeking them out on YouTube they're definitely worth a few good chuggles Wolverine with am wow this is the best party ever than there's one scene early in the game where Saga the main character is speaking to one of the brothers and they abruptly turn their back and ignore you upon discovering saga's Swedish Heritage so between your name and the sweater I figured your family might be from Finland tooi Finland close my mom's family is from Sweden originally I don't know much about them beyond that the sweater is just something to remember Herby that's all I've got for the moment you know this isn't actually the only joke touching on cultural tensions around the Nordic belt of course I know these aren't meant to be taken seriously remedy is just poking fun at Old Antiquated prejudices in a very light-hearted and tasteful way hello there Saga Anderson hey Pine name won't make the man worse even a Swedish name I'm thank goodness Blum took the hammer away from him it's not tor's Hammer no matter what he keeps saying Blum has his moments even if he is a Russian Andy may you can't say stuff like that so hey hopefully I've helped expose some of the aspects of Finnish culture permeating Alan Wake 2 both celebrated and at times parody there's a lake of things I didn't touch on well no actually it's not a lake it's an ocean for instance Saga wears traditional Nordic sweater multiple in-game similarities to The Finnish Midsummer festival and someone much more qualified than me could make an entire video on the influence of Finnish music I really didn't want to go too deep because this game is truly special and it would be a disservice to ruin everything for you and I really do think that you should experience it on your own if you're interested since playing these games not only have they become two of my all-time favorites but for myself and I know many others it sparked an interest in finished customs and culture of which I previously knew nothing about think about that through video games REM ENT mment made me a 29-year-old American with literally no connection to the Nordic belt fascinated with their nation's culture in addition to making what is in my opinion the 2023 game of the year I think that's something worthy of immense respect please like And subscribe if you enjoyed this video and hey leave a comment with how your day is going or anything on your mind I'm always down for a chat you guys are the best I'm tell me this is Stars and sticks thank you for your time uh Nordic lore but but more and more growing older the phis mythology like you know my own culture has has kind of like crept in in more clear obvious way in Alan Wake 2 way more than ever before uh with with all kinds of ideas related to the supernatural related to you know just kind of the history of the area like asoria an example in the Pacific Northwest had a big finish [Music] IM

Channel: Stars And Sticks

Views: 14,577

Keywords: Alan Wake, Alan Wake 2, Finland, Finland Video Games, Finnish Culture, Remedy Entertainment, Scandinavia

Id: PMNxO25zEEI

Length: 10min 13sec (613 seconds)

Published: Tue Nov 21 2023