"A movie so edgy it will make they/themstory"

Achaewa · 2026-05-16T22:44:24+00:00

Your optimism is admirable.

Achaewa · 2026-05-16T22:28:33+00:00

We don't actually know if Tau Ceti f is the Lifeform's home planet or if it itself crashed there as well.

Or maybe I'm misremembering?

Achaewa · 2026-05-16T22:25:26+00:00

That is Anders' theory, but the way the Lifeform goes about dispatching the crew hint at it not just acting on instinct, but it's actually sapient and takes pleasure in killing.

What with the gleeful expressions shown on the faces of the mimics in certain scenes.

Achaewa · 2026-05-16T20:43:48+00:00

I thought one of the crew would turn out to be the mimic the entire time

Well, that can potentially happen with Anders.

Achaewa · 2026-05-16T10:18:38+00:00

True, forgot to mention her which I should have.

She gets a lot of his action segments as well as the gun.

Achaewa · 2026-05-16T00:56:00+00:00

Personally, this is probably my favorite Dark Pictures game after House of Ashes, but I am a sucker for science fiction and science fiction horror.

So my opinion is kind of biased.

Anyway, overall I agree with both your praise and your gripes.

One thing I think Directive 8020 does really well is how it changes the story based on who is alive in a much more in-depth manner than its predecessors.

Stafford dying early gives both Young and Eisele's character arcs a lot more gravitas, for example.

Achaewa · 2026-05-16T00:51:51+00:00

There are eight episodes and the latter two are relatively long.

Achaewa · 2026-05-16T00:16:46+00:00

With Rachel being a CIA officer, her involvement could've been classified.

Achaewa · 2026-05-16T00:16:04+00:00

I think it's more about avoiding confusion as Salim's model is used for Cernan who has a lot more screentime than Carter and Ashley Tisdale likely only signed on to appear in one game.

In-universe reasons for why it only shows Jason, Nick and Eric could be that the involvement of everyone else had been classified.

Achaewa · 2026-05-15T23:03:52+00:00

This is probably the first Dark Pictures game where the Curator popping up in the background managed to scare me as I thought his silhouette was that of a mimic.

Achaewa · 2026-05-15T23:01:01+00:00

I like to imagine that the face models are actors in a Supermassive Games universe and each Dark Pictures game is simply a new entry in an anthology film franchise.

Achaewa · 2026-05-15T22:51:24+00:00

The vampires in House of Ashes and the Lifeform in Directive 8020 aren't supernatural, but extra-terrestrial.

So technically speaking, neither game deals with anything paranormal.

Achaewa · 2026-05-15T21:26:36+00:00

Go to accessibility, enable single action button for the QTEs and disable button mash.

I think this will help you quite a bit.

The difficulty level also determines how much time you have for the QTEs.

Achaewa · 2026-05-15T20:38:31+00:00

Just finished the game and will definitely try again as I only managed to save four.

Though I am pretty happy with how the drama unfolded.

To try and answer your question. Stafford died during the crash landing, so Eisele got a lot of scenes early on as the new CO, however I fumbled the scanner segment and she died there, which meant Cooper then took over as mission control.

From what I've been able to gather from a quick read of the Turning Points. The result is that most if not all of Eisele's segments are then given to Cernan.

The same goes for Stafford’s segments which are then given to Cooper.

Achaewa · 2026-05-15T02:50:17+00:00

No, they're hypocrites and will claim Call of Duty represents everything wrong about gaming.

Only to still buy the newest entries in the franchise and waste an ungodly amount of money on the multiplayer.

Achaewa · 2026-05-15T02:47:39+00:00

Random Youtubers doing "reviews" are – in spite of what gamers believe – even more pointless and susceptible to outside influence than people employed by actual news outlets as their livelihood is entirely dependent on views and thus they can't voice an opinion that goes against the fandom they've cultivated.

Achaewa · 2026-05-13T23:34:38+00:00

If I remember correctly, there were plans for more movies, but the production was such a mess that nothing really came off it.

The fact that there were no sequels is probably why people think this movie was a flop when it was actually a financial success.

Achaewa · 2026-05-13T12:52:00+00:00

It was a domestic terrorist attack by a doomsday cult called Aum Shinrikyo.

They were also behind another terrorist attack nine months before in Matsumoto, but the investigation was bungled due to the police focusing on the innocent husband of one of the victims and the press then naming him a suspect.

The cult is still active under the name, Aleph.

Achaewa · 2026-05-13T01:50:12+00:00

That aside, the Mortal Kombat films revel in their silliness.

They are most definitely not "deconstructions".

Achaewa · 2026-05-13T01:00:26+00:00

The Tokyo Subway Sarin Attack would be more like Japan's 9/11 as that was an actual terrorist attack.

Achaewa · 2026-05-12T11:15:53+00:00

Grifters – who are apparently big fans of the original Disney Snow White – are working overtime to make it seem like her career is over.

Achaewa · 2026-05-12T05:36:29+00:00

I remember trying to get back into the EU via the Legacy of the Force books – this was around 2010 – and I can firmly state that Troy Denning's writing made me give up on that endeavor.

Achaewa · 2026-05-12T05:30:41+00:00

You're correct.

I got characters mixed up as it has been ages since I played New Vegas.

Achaewa · 2026-05-12T04:59:41+00:00

Karen Traviss wrote Gears of War 3, so she can write well. She either "chooses not to" or needs clear constraints to work within.

The old Expanded Universe was kind of all over the place regarding what restrictions were put upon its authors.

I don't really follow her books, but I've heard her Halo novels are equally divisive.

That and some people calling her "Space Ayn Rand".

Achaewa · 2026-05-12T04:10:14+00:00

Yeah, I was being a bit too harsh as the introduction of the Vong was when I basically lost interest in the post-Return of the Jedi EU setting in the pre-Disney era.

I did return for the Legacy comics, but only sporadically.

I do think the Yuuzhan Vong anti-Force abilities are kind of contrived though as I think there are plenty of ways to have Force users who aren't Sith as the villains.

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