This Week in Games
Remembering David Lynch and His Influence on Games
by Jean-Karlo Lemus,
Welcome back, folks! Longtime readers might recall that back in October of 2023, I found an old copy of the Izuna: Legend of the Unemployed Ninja artbook from Japan. I had mentioned that artist Yoshida On had also made a doujinshi featuring some of his early sketches for the characters and how I likely would never get a hold of it. I was wrong on both accounts: it turns out, Yoshida On had made two Izuna doujinshi. And now they're mine. I have fully committed to being "The Izuna guy." I'm putting that on my resumé.
Looking Back on David Lynch's Influence in Gaming
Lynch's works all deal with the surreal, grounded in the iconography of Americana. He was a man who saw beauty in small towns with abandoned factories, ecstasy in the prospect of massive quantities of pie and a bottle of Coca-Cola. His staunch refusal to "explain" his movies invites people to engage with them. Despite the Dune adaptation being quite sloppy in the back half, Paul's surreal experiences with the spice as he hallucinates his hand and the moon bearing the marking of the mouse that would become his namesake nevertheless sticks with us. (Also, Toto's soundtrack for that movie totally rocks.) Even if you've never sat down to see a David Lynch work, you will find yourself recognizing countless visuals and moments—because much like the Akira bike slide, these visuals have stuck in the mind of artists and have been iterated upon countless times in the years since.
And oh yeah, David Lynch was huge in Japan.
Japan already had a bit of an interest in the Pacific Northwest, courtesy of the drama series From Oregon With Love, but for some reason, Twin Peaks hit with folks in Japan—arguably, far more than it did in the US! If you find yourself wondering what Japan got from Lynch's surrealist visuals, off-kilter dialogue, and fixation with Americana, congratulations! This is what the folks in Japan wonder when they see us obsessed with Japanese media.
Lynch's influences have thus understandably extended into video games, with many big-name franchises being touched by his particularities. One of the biggest examples would be The Legend of Zelda: the oft-overlooked Link's Awakening. Similar to Twin Peaks taking place in a small town, Link's Awakening took place on the relatively small Koholint Island, a closed-off island with a few scattered communities. Koholint Island inherited a lot of the strangeness from Twin Peaks as well, with plenty of bizarre imagery of its own: frogs dancing a mambo, a giant egg nested in the island's mountain range, and a curious old man who would only speak to people through a telephone. But the other important factor was the characters; Link also met the enigmatic Marin and her father Tarin, who would go on to inspire the ranchers Malon and Talon in the "main" Zelda games. Link's Awakening took Twin Peaks' dream-like setting to its ultimate position: the entire island of Koholint was a dream from the sleeping Wind Fish, and Link awakening it meant consigning the island—and all of its inhabitants—to oblivion.The spirit of Lynch's influence did make it into the "main" Zelda games, too. In a 2011 interview, Shigeru Miyamoto explained how Twin Peaks inspired Ocarina of Time's storytelling, by focusing on memorable characters with unique quirks and their strange interactions over world-spanning dramas. We see this with Malon and Talon, a humble farmgirl and her bumbling sleepy father, with bizarre characters like the street beggar who pats their lap, begging you to sell them things; the curious child who wishes to imitate Dampé the grave keeper (who himself is likely a reference to Danpei from Tomorrow's Joe); or even the curious ghost-seller who may have once been a Hylian soldier. This focus on quirky side-characters has been a part of Zelda ever since, giving us characters like Beetle the Salesman, the canon-clowns from Twilight Princess or even that weird hand that sticks out of a toilet.
Another series touched by Twin Peaks would be the Persona games. A lot of Twin Peaks dallied with Jungian imagery, which is Persona's whole bread and butter: the concept of a person's personage (who they are before other people), their persona (who they are internally) and their shadow (the aspects of themselves that they repress). Iconic to the Twin Peaks series is the Red Room, a curious space between spaces that the characters occasionally visit to take notes on something or brush with the supernatural. This one should already be familiar to you if you've played the Persona games: it's the Velvet Room. Much like the Red Room, the Velvet Room is a curious pocket space, a world-within-worlds inhabited by curious folks. Similar to the Red Room with figures like The Arm, The Giant, or The Singer, the Velvet Room is inhabited by unique figures. Central to them all is Igor, a withered old man who always serves to greet the protagonists as they enter the Velvet Room—and helps them in their dalliances with the titular Personas. There are many other attendants in the Velvet Room; you might be familiar with the blue-clad, blond-haired individuals like Caroline and Justine, Theodore, Margaret, and Elizabeth, but before them were other mysterious figures—like the songstress Belladonna, Nameless the pianist, and the Demon Painter.The Velvet Room has been far more varied in later Persona games, appearing as a massive elevator, the cabin of a large limousine, or even a prison, but its purpose is the same: it is a pocket-dimension, borne from the subconscious of the human mind. There, mortals from the waking world can encounter the beings that live within the sea of their souls, where one can curry favor with the enigmatic god of dreams, Philemon. Philemon hasn't appeared much in the later Persona games, but he's still around (hint: look for the blue butterflies). And as much as the Velvet Room might change, Igor is ever Philemon's loyal servant.
We can't talk about Japanese games influenced by David Lynch without bringing up Hidetaka Suehiro. Alias "Swery," Suehiro's games all touch upon that same sort of surrealism that Lynch so loved—because Swery, first and foremost, is a tremendous fan of David Lynch. He's made his love letter to Twin Peaks in the form of Deadly Premonition, a game about the FBI agent Francis York Morgan, as he goes to a small town to investigate the murder of a young woman. Along the way, he meets curious locals, socializes at the local diner, learns to enjoy a turkey-strawberry jam-and-cereal sandwich, and encounters all manner of strange supernatural goings-on. There's even a curious room Agent Francis York Morgan keeps visiting. Suehiro was very crushed to hear of Lynch's passing.
Deadly Premonitions' reputation gets a little overshadowed by its infamous performance; the game is notably riddled with bugs, which fans have taken as part of the experience. But in the category of a game that nabs the surreal nature of Lynch's fascination with small-town America, few other games come even close. Provided, tons of other games took inspiration from Twin Peaks. Earthbound and Earthbound Zero both capture Lynch's fascination with Americana, even if they play it for a more kooky vibe. Silent Hill is dripping with Lynch's surrealism, which is played up further for the horror of it all. The Japanese Twin Peaks fandom was getting shout-outs as recently as 2017 when Lynch recorded a message for fans as the series aired on the Japanese channel WOWOW.
Lynch was a humble man of humble pleasures, but his boundless creativity and fascination with the world leaves us with a gaping void now that he's gone. It's a tragedy to have lost him, but we're all the better for having had him with us.
Guilty Gear Strive: Dual Rulers Gets Trailer
We finally have a trailer for the much-anticipated Guilty Gear anime! Guilty Gear is bigger than ever, thanks to the success of Guilty Gear -Strive-, and it seems Arc System Works is finally capitalizing upon that with an animated adaptation! Let's take a look here...
That's a Guilty Gear, alright! The anime even looks to be using the current series aesthetic of 3D models textured like 2D models. The story seems to revolve around a brand new character named Unika, who seems to be against the rehabilitation of Gears. Within the world of Guilty Gear, Gears (genetically modified beings with absurd power) led to the start of a war called "the Crusade," thanks in no small part to a Gear known as Justice, who you might know better as Dizzy's mother—also, more or less Sol Badguy's wife, who is now still around as Jack-O'. Long story. Dizzy might be a Gear, but she's always been an extreme pacifist—and longtime Guilty Gear fans will know that not only did Ky Kiske end up marrying her, but they even had a son together: Sin Kiske. Dual Rulers will explore the conflicts stemming from Ky (a decorated war hero) marrying a Gear, along with societal fears of Gears being included in the populace.
Right away, you can see that a lot of series regulars are returning to voice their characters. Curiously, series creator Daisuke Ishiwatari isn't voicing Sol Badguy this time because it'll interfere with his current duties working on the actual Guilty Gear game. But Hiromi Igarashi (JACK-O'), Takeshi Kusao (Ky), and a few others will be reprising their roles from the game. Noteworthy is the return of Norio Wakamoto as everyone's favorite man in black, Johnny. But while Wakamoto still sounds smooth and cool as Johnny... I can't help but notice his age in his voice. He is 79 years old, but small wonder he's stepping away from a number of his other long-time roles like M. Bison or Castlevania's Dracula. All those years of shouting "BURR-R-R-AAAAGH!" have taken a toll on him. I don't want to think about Norio Wakamoto retiring, the man is a gift. But man, that day's gonna come sooner or later...
At any rate, the Guilty Gear anime is looking cool so far. Even Baiken is in the trailer, so folks don't have an excuse to not buy it. For years, neophytes would wonder where the Guilty Gear anime was, not helped in any part by Guilty Gear XX having an animated introduction. Come this April, we'll finally have an answer! Who knows, Uniko might even make her way into the games.
Palworld Celebrates Its First Anniversary, Offers Roadmap
It's been a year since Palworld dropped. While Palworld saw a precipitous decline in players as time went on and more and more of 2025's bigger hits landed, and even the recent updates like the Sakuramichi isles or Feybreak haven't gotten it back up to its early levels of hype, it still boasts a dedicated fanbase. In honor of its first anniversary, developer Pocketpair took time out to establish a roadmap for upcoming features.
All of the features sound neat; co-op crossplay will work well, given how spread out Palworld's players are across consoles. World transfers for Pals means even if you start over on a new server, you can import your Pals—useful if you're particularly attached to any. They're also looking into new ways to strengthen your Pals, which is always appreciated; anything to avoid a grind sandwich. There are other less-sexy-but-still-great updates like user interface updates, world placement improvements (putting ceilings on walls shouldn't be trigonometry homework), and adding new Pals or technologies to investigate. Chief among them is working on an "endgame" for Palworld: a final boss, including an ending scenario involving the World Tree.
A lot of people are still sore about Pocketpair's lawsuit, which—given recent updates changing how Palspheres work—seems to revolve around the games infringing on Nintendo's patents concerning Pokéballs and their use in Pokémon Legends: Arceus. Something tells me that's not that big of a deal, considering Pocketpair was able to release their rogue-lite OverDungeon on the Nintendo eShop. Neither company has said much about the case—which is business as usual for how these matters work. There will be news once there's news to be had.
Fire Destroys Retro Game Arcade in Osaka
Out of many beloved gaming locales in Japan, few were as esteemed as Osaka's Zarigani. A three-floor arcade chock-a-block with all manner of arcade classics, from CAPCOM to candy cabs, Zarigani was a notable highlight for retro-minded enthusiasts. Sadly, disaster struck this past week as Zarigani burned down in a fire—taking many of its priceless arcade machines and gaming memorabilia with it.
Gamers across both BlueSky and Twitter have taken the time to mourn the loss, sharing photos of the arcade in happier times. Provided, "happier times" is a bit of a misnomer; by some accounts, Zarigani was victim to external factors like economic downturns and a lack of clientele, resulting in difficulties keeping some machines in working order. Nevertheless, this is a powerful loss for game archival; arcades are already non-existent in the US and quickly vanishing across Japan as well. And with it goes an important part of gaming history and the ability to experience games in context; lest we forget, many classic games we enjoy like fighting games or beat 'em-ups were made as quarter-munching arcade machines. There's an art to arcade machines all their own, from their marquees to the many gimmicks one might incorporate into their experience—such as with Sega's Afterburner machine with rotating cockpit players sat inside, which Zarigani housed on their second floor.
ザリガニ燃えてしまったのショックすぎる。。
— toshibo|廃墟と写真|書籍『ゲーム旅』 (@JIYUKENKYU_jp) January 21, 2025
こんな時に便乗するなよって感じだけどレトロゲーが凝縮された本当に良いゲーセンだったのでやってた時の様子をみてほしい…なるべく無事であってください…。 https://t.co/zEWwyIJXMJ pic.twitter.com/XK3yHQT0QP
It's a pity to see all those classic machines and think of the countless people who must've enjoyed them across the decades. Hordes of kids on their way home from school, couples on dates, homemakers—all kinds of people from all walks of life. The upside is that the community these people make up can still come through; famously, Living Bird Store, another Japanese retro game arcade that burned down in April, saw a groundswell of support from people across Japan who sent in replacement circuit boards or other kinds of support. Even famed WWE wrestler Asuka rallied people to support Living Bird. Zarigani's story is ongoing; we hope this doesn't spell the end of this arcade.
Let's wrap up with some quick tidbits
That'll do it for this week. It's been a heavy week, even in the gaming industry. Even I'm feeling a bit enervated. But—that means it's much more important to find things to take part in. Last weekend, I visited Chronos Games & Gifts in Beaverton to enjoy some rounds of the Digimon card game. It was fun! The community is nice, the game is fun, and it's great to nerd out with other people. I encourage you to reach out to your local communities; check out your local game stores, explore your local game shops, and visit the library! It's a great experience, and you'll walk away glad. Be good to each other, I'll see you in seven.
This Week In Games! is written from idyllic Portland by Jean-Karlo Lemus. When not collaborating with Anime News Network, Jean-Karlo can be found playing JRPGs, eating popcorn, watching v-tubers, and tokusatsu. You can keep up with him at @ventcard.bsky.social.
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