But who is the dreamer?
There is no shortage of games that claim Twin Peaks as a primary inspiration, but the legendary TV multimedia experience is yet to take the leap into a full game adaptation. And it’s not out of a lack of interest in the medium from its creators. Twin Peaks writer and director David Lynch once started to work on a game that would continue the series called Woodcutters From Fiery Ships, and Mark Frost, Twin Peak’s co-writer, met with the creators of Link’s Awakening to give them a few ideas.
Then in 2019, both of them signed off on a Twin Peaks VR project, though it’s more of a collection of interactive sets than a full game. Anything where you get to play as leads Dale Cooper or Laura Palmer, interact with other characters from the show, and work to solve any of it’s many mysteries, has yet to materialize in all the years since the show’s debut in 1990.
The Blue Rose Team is looking to fix that problem with a short PS1-style demo game based on the franchise. Like the original Resident Evil, it uses fixed camera angles to establish the strong sense of place, and the occasional moment of disorientation, that is part and parcel of any true Twin Peaks experience. Playing it is less like a stressful, survival horror romp and more like a point-and-click adventure, which also makes a lot of sense. Though the show and corresponding movie had some action scenes, the heroes of Twin Peaks are more likely to solve their problems through deduction and communication than gunshots and stabbings.
The aesthetics are also a perfect fit for the subject matter. Like with the City of Lost Children for the PS1, taking Lynch and Frost’s uncanny reality to low-poly character models and stiff-but-fluid animations just makes sense. After all, this is a show where people regularly move and speak backward and then reverse their actions. Being transformed into some simple geometric shapes before skating around a sheriff’s office with tank controls is not the weirdest thing most of these folks have ever done.
After having played the demo, in all its FMV cut scene glory, I was immediately left wanting more, which is exactly what Twin Peaks is supposed to do to a person. Seeing as the two primary musical artists behind the show, and many of its beloved actors, died after Twin Peaks: The Return was released in 2017, continuing in live-action without them wouldn’t really be Twin Peaks anymore. But in games, dreams can become reality, and people can live forever.
Let’s Rock.
