With Alan Wake 2 finally getting that release date, you’re probably wondering about certain aspects of the game. Namely, the addition of a new character in Saga Anderson in Alan Wake 2 as a playable protagonist. No need to worry, as Gamespot has you covered.

Sitting down with Remedy Entertainment creative director Sam Lake, performance director Hannah Price, and actress Melanie Liburd, the group reveal just who Saga is, where she’s come from, and more importantly, her place in the story.

Obviously, given the journey of Alan Wake 2, the game’s story has changed over the course of the past 13 years. The team began thinking of introducing a co-protagonist “a few versions ago.”

“We wanted to be really, really ambitious with the story,” says Lake. “So having multiple points of view in the story, and having more tonal shifts with that, just felt like the right way to go. And out of that, Saga Anderson’s character was born. Even though this is called Alan Wake 2, this is just as much a Saga Anderson game. They are very much at the heart of the story–both of them.”

At the start of the game, FBI Special Agent Saga Anderson arrives in Bright Falls to investigate the death of Special Agent Nightingale, the character from the first game who was obsessed with pinning a crime on Alan Wake. Nightingale’s death carries with it some mystery, as it’s apparently tied to ritualistic murder. This is where Anderson comes in. Thanks to her talents as a criminal profiler, she’s been called in to identify who might be responsible.

As for who would play Anderson, the team settled on Liburd, who appeared on Daniel Knauf‘s “Dracula” TV series, as well as “This is Us” and in Jennifer Reeder‘s Perpatrator. “We really, really, really, really, really wanted Mel,” revealed Price. “We just felt like she was gonna bring so much to Saga so when she came on we were all just delighted.”

As for Saga’s role in the game, Alan Wake 2 will effectively be split between Wake and Saga, though Wake is still very much the star of the game. “Once you start playing it, it makes sense why [Saga] appears and why she needs to be there,” says Liburd. “Because she does need to be there. Alan needs Saga, and Saga needs Alan. And that is the main thing that fans will understand when they see her.”

Alan Wake 2 will arrive on October 17 for the Epic Games Store, PlayStation 5 & Xbox Series.