Finally got around to KRZ and holy shit, surprise GOTY outta nowhere. The atmosphere and storytelling resounds with me in a way that few other things do. The closest analogue that I can think of is the wonderful podcast Welcome to Nightvale (which I haven't listened to all of) as well as, obviously, Twin Peaks (as well as some of Lynch's more surreal work). I was wondering if y'all have any suggestions for entertainment in any medium (books, podcasts, TV, games, movies) that share a similar vibe/atmosphere.

Incredibly stoked for the remaining acts of this game. Damned masterpiece of storytelling. It says something that I haven't really felt anything like I do when I play this since the first time I saw Twin Peaks.

Welcome to Nightvale is weird, in that it feels really familiar, despite being this mish mash of a bunch of stuff and it's not really like any one thing. It's part Twin Peaks, part X-Files, part "every conspiracy theory is simultaneously true", and part Lovecraftian horror.

Deadly Premonition has obvious nods to Twin Peaks.

Lone Survivor also has some Twin Peaks references, in between all of the Silent Hill references. I recommend it!

Also, maybe sorta Killer7? It's not strictly much like Twin Peaks, but it has some surreal moments that I think end up being on a similar level.

Alan Wake. Don't play the 2 DLC episodes though as they explain a little too much. Unless you are also going to play American Nightmare.

Seconding Killer7 as well.

Alan Wake: American Nightmare as well.

@theht: @corevi: I tried playing Alan Wake - really dug the atmosphere, just really hated the combat. I just kind of stopped playing at some point. I'll have to revisit it - should I continue playing through the main game if I do, or is American Nightmare standalone enough to just go through that and not have to engage with the combat system for as long? I love shooters, but MAN - the way that game plays just doesn't jive with me.

@bisonhero: Somehow haven't heard of Lone Survivor before now! While I never really enjoyed Silent Hill, I love the atmosphere of that series, so I'll definitely check it out.

@infamousbig: American Nightmare is much more combat focused. There are some FMV segments in that game that are definitely worth slogging through the combat for however.

I only played the first episode, but the reference I got out of Kentucky Route Zero was Kurt Vonnegut. There's his terse, almost matter-of-fact delivery that I recognize in the game. I also feel like these kind of magic realist scifi stories are absolutely in Vonnegut's wheelhouse. If you haven't, Slaughterhouse Five is incredible and Breakfast of Champions is pretty good too.

I want to second Killer7. I've been thinking about playing it again to re-absorb its wackiness. That game is much more than it appears. Sure, it's an on-rails shooter-thing, but the characters and plot will twist your brain the entire time, all the way up to the very end. In terms of Lynch, you could make a slight comparison to Mulholland Drive maybe?

Yeah Alan Wake plays like absolute dogshit, and as someone who forced my way through it for the 16 hours it's there for, I dunno if it's really worth it. American Nightmare is shorter, but there's more combat so I'd skip it completely.

The book House of Leaves is big on that surreal-but-grounded stuff. Gravity's Rainbow by Pynchon is in that vein too. The dude in this thread that said Vonnegut is bang on too.

There's really not many games that do what KRZ does though. That "weird shit is happening in an otherwise grounded piece of fiction but the characters don't react" thing is my favourite, I really wish more games did it. There's a lot of straight up surreal games out there (LSD, Yume Nikki) but not a lot of games that are just "off", if that makes sense.

I can see me beginning to ramble a bit, so I'll stop :)

The only game I can think of right now is The Dream Machine, another PC adventure game. It has a similar theme of a surreal/unsettling feeling invading normality. Good game generally.

@brodehouse: I've read that Kentucky Route Zero shares a lot in common with One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez.

Cormac McCarthy is also worth of checking out - the dialogue especially was very evocative of a lot of his stuff.

@infamousbig: If you think Alan Wake's combat is deal breaker, then Deadly Premonition might be best avoided. It also doesn't really have Lynchian storytelling, it just steals (and occasionally deigns to repurpose) parts of Twin Peaks entirely.

Perfect Blue is a very Lynch-esque animay film (and is also a superb film)

What about the combat didn't you guys like? I had a blast with it. Aiming was tight, movement felt smooth, having to dodge was fun and kept you on your toes, the guns felt impactful. The light mechanic also added some tension and a little more thought to the combat.

Any particular aspect rub you wrong or just all of it top to bottom?

Works stylistically similar to Kentucky Route Zero; finally, the field I spent all of college studying becomes useful!

You must understand that the influences upon KRZ are much more... theatrical than what it's being compared to here. A lot of it comes from mid-20th century American playwriting and there you're going to find a more similar style of dialogue. Certainly Marquez was the source of how the game takes the magical realism genre but I wouldn't say Vonnegut is the inspiration for the writing style. I'd say Arthur Miller is the most obvious point of inspiration as the stage in the mine in Act 1 is based directly off a production of Death of a Salesman. That said the reference to Waiting For Godot in Act 3 (Junebug quotes the play and the fallen tree set at the start of the act is a very clear reference) opens up the game's playwriting influences and there's probably a lot of other stuff I'm not catching. Concerning the setting I think Flannery O'Connor plays a lot into how the game views and shows the South. Actually with the way the game's gone since Act 1 Southern Gothic is probably a better genre descriptor for the game than magical realism. And look at me using literary genres to describe a video game. God, I love KRZ. Anyway the level design is also heavily inspired by theater. Just googling Death of Salesman setdesigns I found a lot that evoked the style of KRZ.

Actually, you know what, screw everything I wrote above. Here aretwo magnificent articles analyzing the first two acts of the game and do a disturbingly good job at knowing exactly what inspired the game.

@blackout62: Forum post of the year. Very informative! Thanks.

Serial has a similar appeal to Twin Peaks minus the supernatural elements. It's cool.

Also, definitely go read Thomas Pynchon. The Crying of Lot 49 has a lot of the same ticks, and Inherent Vice is about to be released as a film by the world's greatest director Paul Thomas Anderson*.

*currently working director, at least. And I'd probably vote for Leos Carax first, but it feels like Holy Motors will be his last.

Was searching for similar to the OP now the fourth episode is close. One book that strongly reminds me of KRZ is The Third Policeman by Flann O'Brien. Picked it up a few years ago when it was enjoying a resurgence in fame as it was featured in Lost. It's set in Ireland but strongly resembles the more surreal elements of KRZ, perhaps with both a more comedic and darker tone.