Alan Wake’s first chapter begins on odd footing. You start off viewing a live-action interview between Alan and the mysterious Mr. Door. Things don’t get going until it ends. If you need help figuring out what to do after, here’s our Alan Wake 2 – Initiation 1: Late Night walkthrough.
At the start of the chapter, walk to the TV and hold the activation button to start the live-action segment. Once you get through quite possibly the most awkward four minutes of Alan’s life, leave the stage and walk through the exit door past the cameras and drum set on the left.
Initiation 1: Late Night walkthrough and guide for Alan Wake 2
Go right until the end of the hall. The door is locked, so turn around and enter the door with the sign: Old Gods of Asgard. At the back of the room is a neon sign that reads: ‘665 Neighbor of the Beast’. Use the code 665 to leave through the exit door.
The studio loop and the first Final Draft video clip in Alan Wake 2
During your first run of the game, at TV to your left will flicker just as you enter the dressing room past the locked exit door. But if you’re playing the New Game Plus mode, Final Draft, in Alan Wake 2, the TV screen will change to the first new video clip, called ‘Spiral’. Originally, the screen would flash and shut off. However, the Final Draft will let you watch the full clip, which you can rewatch in the Writer’s Room once it’s available.
Leave the dressing room and go left. Down the hallway is a locked exit door, which you cannot unlock. Head right into the ‘Storage’ room on the way to the door. Make your way around to the ‘Stage’ door, activate it, and watch the cutscene.
The second studio loop and the Janitor’s Key
After the cutscene, the game will teach you about Alan’s Writer’s Room. It’s similar to Saga’s Mind Place, in which you’re able to view collectibles and figure out new ways to progress the story. It also contains a place to upgrade Alan’s abilities using Words of Power. There are no Words to find in Initiation 1, but keep note that you’ll be able to upgrade via the ‘Words of Power’ section of Alan’s writing desk.
Sit back down at the typewriter. You’ll be back in the guest room of the TV studio. A new interview awaits, this time with series creator, Alex Casey impersonator, and Max Payne’s face, Sam Lake. Finish the interview, and retrace your steps back to the locked exit door.
This time, 665 won’t let you open the door. Return to the Old Gods of Asgard room where the sign now blinks: 5-6-5. Use the code 565 on the keypad to leave.
Return to the storage room of death and go back to the door. This time, the door opens into a large break room. Follow the sound of humming to the ‘Janitor’s Office’ and open the door to find our friend and quite possibly the most aggressively Finnish person in video game history, Ahti the Janitor. Chat with Ahti, who calls you Tom for aggressively Finnish reasons I guess, and he’ll eventually give you the ‘Janitor’s Key’. The key unlocks the basement, which you need to head toward now.
The basement and the Angel Lamp
Go right after you exit the Janitor’s Office. Before you leave through the exit door, grab the map of the studio on the wall to your right. Now, continue through the exit door and go into the hallway across from you. To the right is the door to the basement. Use the key and go downstairs.
Walk forward toward the light and it’ll lead you to a room with a table. Grab the Angel Lamp off the table. Once you regain control of Alan, hold the activation button or key to use the lamp and remove the light from the bulb in the room. The Lamp is a tool that lets you progress through areas in Alan’s story. Light can be moved in and out of the lamp to create or remove obstacles, often changing rooms completely.
The exit and the first Writer’s Journey collectible
With the light now in the Lamp, a door appears on the wall ahead. Walk through and keep going until you reach a wall of fencing behind some pipes. Get close enough for the activation icon to appear and hold it down until you move the light from the Lamp to the bulb on the other side, removing the fencing. After you reach the other side, move the light from the Lamp back to the bulb to return to the exit door.
Head through the door and go upstairs. Hang a right and walk down the hallway. Ignore the staircase on the left; it leads nowhere. Progress until you reach a door under an exit sign. The room within contains a flickering TV. Activate the Lamp to start a cutscene. Once the cutscene ends, you’ve finished the Initiation 1: Late Night chapter of Alan Wake 2.
Note: Activating the TV in the room will unlock the first ‘Writer’s Journey’ video collectible, called ‘The Dark Place’. There are eight, discounting the new videos brought by the Final Draft update.
