All Alan Wake 2 Difficulty Settings, Explained

You can choose between three difficulty settings to experience the mind-bending narrative in Alan Wake 2. But if you’re uncertain of which one to go with, here’s an explanation of all the difficulty settings in Alan Wake 2 to help you decide.

Every Difficulty Setting in Alan Wake 2

As usual for difficulty settings in games, each one provides a tailored playthrough, hoping to hit the sweet spot for how a player wants to enjoy the experience. For Alan Wake 2, you can decide between Story, Normal, and Hard. Below are details of what each difficulty setting features:

• Story: Combat will not post a challenge. It will focus on mystery-solving and exploration.
• Normal: A balance between mystery-solving and survival. Combat is challenging, and using items and conserving resources is required to stay alive.
• Hard: Significantly ups the challenge in combat. It will force you to leverage items and become acquainted with the game mechanics to survive against all the odds.

Related: Do You Need to Play Alan Wake 1 & Control Before Alan Wake 2?

What Difficulty Setting Is Best in Alan Wake 2?

Every player is different, but for a first playthrough of Alan Wake 2, you can’t go wrong with playing Normal. From my experience with this difficulty setting, it’s an enjoyable challenge that manages to strike a mechanical balance between combat and resource management. 

You don’t feel pressured to optimize everything and can make some mistakes without being heavily punished. Of course, if you prefer the mystery side of Alan Wake 2, consider trying Story first. And for horror survival daredevils, Hard is sure to keep you on your toes.

How to Change Difficulty Settings in Alan Wake 2

During your playthrough, you could get the itch to switch up the difficulty once you get the hang of things. To do this, simply pause the game and select the Difficulty option. Doing so blows up a menu where you can switch modes whenever. If you’re in combat while doing this, you’ll respawn at a recent checkpoint before getting a chance to test the difficulty setting.

Alan Wake 2 Devs to Add a Nightmare Mode Post-Launch

Details are sparse, but developer Remedy Entertainment plans to add a Nightmare Mode with the New Game Plus feature set to release post-launch. Players can start this mode with all the weapons and upgrades unlocked in the first playthrough. It aims to put fans to the test, but it’s uncertain what changes players should expect at this time.

If you’re looking for more, check out if you need to play Alan Wake 1 or Control before Alan Wake 2.