Skip to content
Episode 236

Alan Wake (with Nick Coffman)

October 28th, 2026

2 hrs 22 mins 40 secs

Your Host
Tags

About this Episode

Support my work on Patreon- https://patreon.com/realdavejackson
Discord, Socials and more- https://linktr.ee/talesfromthebacklog

I somehow missed Alan Wake along the way. I remember playing the AWE DLC in Control, watching Alan's face superimposed on the screen, thinking "who the hell is this guyOHH Yeah okay they did those games too". I knew I'd need to play Alan Wake at some point, and here we are. This game is not good, but it's a hell of a lot of fun to talk about. Hope you enjoy the discussion! As always, no spoilers for a while- enjoy!

Guest info: Nick Coffman (he/him)

TIMESTAMPS

  • 0:00 Podcast Start
  • 0:18 Introductions
  • 4:30 Our Histories with Alan Wake and Remedy
  • 7:58 Top-Level Thoughts About Alan Wake
  • 12:57 Story Setup and Alan the Writer
  • 21:01 Stephen King and Art Come to Life
  • 29:24 Twin Peaks and Presentation
  • 38:58 Gameplay and Combat
  • 58:49 Metanarrative Fiction and the Creative Process
  • 1:03:16 Sound and Music
  • 1:08:28 Miscellaneous Thoughts
  • 1:12:46 Who Should Play Alan Wake?
  • 1:21:34 Nick's Writing and Podcasts
  • 1:27:50 Spoiler Wall and Patron Thank-Yous
  • 1:30:05 Spoilers- What Happens
  • 1:43:46 Spoilers- Art, Artists and Creativity
  • 2:01:17 Spoilers- The Signal & The Writer
  • 2:09:51 Spoilers- More Noteworthy Stuff

Music used in the episode is credited to Petri Alanko unless otherwise noted. Tracks used: Main Menu, Welcome to Bright Falls, Generic Battle 15, Children of the Elder Gods (Poets of the Fall), Manuscript, War (Poets of the Fall), Tom the Diver

Check out Dave on Geeks & Grounds discussing Look Outside: https://geeksandgrounds.com
Check out Dave on Date With Us discussing Doki Doki Literature Club: https://datewith.us

Cover art by Jack Allen- find him at https://linktr.ee/JackAllenCaricatures

Support Tales from the Backlog