It helps a bit with those jump scares
Alan Wake 2 Jumpscare
It's a long-standing horror tradition to unsettle the audience by using jump scares – frightening images or short clips that break up the action on screen only to disappear as quickly as they came. It was the way to troll people online in the mid-2000s; play a normal video and then cut to a disturbing image with a scream over it that would blow out your eardrums. Alan Wake 2 uses them in spades, adding terrifying close-ups of Mr. Scratch with a loud musical sting. I think they are effective, but they are not for everyone.
Thankfully, in a recent Alan Wake 2 update (1.15), the developers have added a feature that allows the player to set these horror flashes. The adjustments are not robust, but you can now choose between low and normal picture and sound intensity.
I tested the new features by setting both picture and sound to low. Thanks to an additional chapter selection feature that was also included in this update, I was also able to jump to an area that I knew had a major jump scare – especially one that even got me. I started up a Saga chapter and headed to the Valhalla Nursing Home to talk to Cynthia Weaver, who you first encounter staring out the window. It's also the first time she makes it known that she's obsessed with a lightning jump scare.
