Speedrunner sacrifices precious time to perform Alan Wake 2’s musical number during their run

Speedrunners usually skip anything in games that can shave valuable seconds off their runs – from cutscenes to entire levels – but one record chaser sacrificed precious time to perform Alan Wake 2’s now-iconic musical number. 

Anyone who’s played Alan Wake 2 knows that moment, where the otherwise oppressive game gets a little jiggy in a classic song and dance section. The scene has become so memorable, the game’s creative director jumped on stage at the Game Awards to perform the number and Final Fantasy 14’s famed composer recently gushed over it. 

During her speedrun of the metafictional horror game, streamer Tainted Tali chose to let the section play rather than skip it to reach a faster time. But in an even more iconic turn of events, she stood up on stream to perform the entire number along with a crew of backup dancers. “Yes, this absolutely lost us time, but it was worth it to showcase the game,” the streamer said on the website forever known as Twitter. Enjoy it below. 

“It’s definitely on the longer side, and there’s a lot of waiting,” she says in response to a viewer on social media. “But I love the game so much it doesn’t really bother me.” Tainted Tali isn’t alone in that sentiment, as our Alan Wake 2 review gave it five stars and we also wrote about how it’s the perfect example of how to do dual protagonists right.

The bizarre sequel still has more surprises in store, though, with two expansions that will tease future games in the Remedy Connected Universe. Speaking of, Alan Wake 2 recently became the studio’s fastest-selling game, which has helped Control 2 and the Max Payne remakes ramp up development.