How to change playable characters in Alan Wake 2

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Close-up of Alan Wake and Saga Anderson

Need help figuring out how to change characters in Alan Wake 2? In this survival horror sequel, you’ll get to play as two different characters. To get the full picture of what’s going on in Bright Falls, you have the option of swapping between these two individuals as you go through the story.

One of these individuals is the titular character himself, best-selling author Alan Wake. The other person you’ll gain control of is brand-new to the series: FBI Agent Saga Anderson.

Learning how to change characters in Alan Wake 2 is an essential part of the game. But before we get into the details of the character-swapping feature, you may also be curious about whether the psychological thriller has a co-op mode or if it has an open world.

How to swap characters in Alan Wake 2

To swap between Alan and Saga in Alan Wake 2, you’ll need to look for a janitor’s bucket that has vapour around it. Once you’ve found one of these buckets, interact with it to trigger a cutscene that initiates the change between playing as Saga and Alan.

This next chapter in Alan Wake’s story takes place more than ten years after the events of the first game, and we get to see what the author has been dealing with since then. Meanwhile, Saga’s side of the story has her investigating a ritualistic murder that takes place in Bright Falls.

You can choose to go through one character’s side of the story first then go back for the other later on, or bounce between Alan and Saga as you go along.

Saga approaching a janitor's bucket in Alan Wake 2.
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When can you change characters in Alan Wake 2?

The ability to swap change characters is unlocked after completing a chapter titled “Haunting”. This is the third chapter in Alan’s section of the main story.

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Alan Wake 2 will start with a few chapters on Saga, and then automatically switch over to Alan. Once the option is unlocked, you can find the janitor’s bucket at the end of each chapter as an easy way to switch around.

So that’s how to change characters in Alan Wake 2. For more on the survival horror game, feel free to check out what the yellow arrows lead to and how to get the sawed-off shotgun.

For more articles like this, take a look at our Guides and Alan Wake 2 page.