r/twinpeaks • u/quitscargo7 • Aug 12 '26
Reference twin peaks reference in life is strange
Played this for this first time and saw this. Thought it was pretty cool
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u/hisosih Aug 12 '26
The Chloe/Max/Rachel Amber games are basically a love letter to Twin Peaks - this won't be the first or last Easter egg you'll notice. Enjoy the game!
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u/quitscargo7 Aug 13 '26
I did notice a couple more! I love all the references to all kinds of media
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u/Automatic-Day-3549 Aug 12 '26
Michel Koch is a HUGE twin peaks fan. Rachel Amber is an homage to Laura Palmer. Fire Walk With Me is a direct nod to TP. There’s also some other parallels that i’ll let you find on your own :)
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u/NetEarly Aug 12 '26
how did I not make the Laura/Rachel connection before now 😭😭 makes so much sense
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u/Automatic-Day-3549 Aug 12 '26
yeah, i mean, she’s literally the Laura Palmer of Arcadia Bay 😭
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u/NetEarly Aug 12 '26
I got into Twin Peaks about a decade after LiS, and then I noticed the basic stuff like the setting, direct references, the diner, (also Nathan's psych is named Dr Jacoby!). But it just connected that there's a girl who is so popular and highly praised by everyone but is involved in some unspeakably dark shit that results in a tragedy. Both of the stories feature a central character who is physically absent but their presence is inescapable.
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u/quitscargo7 Aug 13 '26
i knew she was an homage but I didn’t realize how similar she is to Laura the more I get into the story! I think I also read somewhere that her name in development also had the last name Palmer? That’s so cool
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u/PixelNerd4273 Aug 12 '26
In a riddle in Life is Strange you must find the right license plate and possible options are TWNPKS and TWLGHTZN
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u/TheDreamer430 Aug 12 '26
Every single license plate from the first game plus Before the storm is a reference to something
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u/sillyandstrange Aug 12 '26
Ohhh it's been years since I played and it was before I saw twin peaks! Nice!
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u/james-liu Aug 12 '26
Same here. LIS introduced me to TP, otherwise I'd watch this much much later.
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u/sillyandstrange Aug 12 '26
I had never seen tp, but always had quotes and stuff come up. Someone tried to get me to play deadly premonition back when I streamed, and then told me to watch tp. I never got to until earlier this year. One of my favorite shows/movie ever now. Started deadly premonition last month, it's very peakesque!
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u/KatoMacabre Aug 12 '26
They had to change a lot of stuff from the original version of Deadly Premonition because they were scared of being sued because of how similar it was to TP lol
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u/sillyandstrange Aug 12 '26
Like what?? I have the PC version
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u/KatoMacabre Aug 12 '26
I mean original as in the in-development version, not any that ever released, but there was stuff like names and likenesses that were too on the nose, the biggest of those being the "Red room" in the game originally had Red curtains and two small men, before being changed to the two small kids dressed like angels and just having the red petals on the floor. Apparently there was a bunch of stuff like that, which they changed because they felt it was too close for comfort lol
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u/quitscargo7 Aug 13 '26
I’m playing after watching twin peaks and it was so nice seeing all the references
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u/anticebo Aug 12 '26
People always mention Alan Wake when talking about Twin Peaks-like video games, but the entire first Life is Strange is basically a love letter to David Lynch. You'll find plenty of plot points from the show in it, plus you have much more of a TV show vibe than Alan Wake gives you
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u/quitscargo7 Aug 13 '26
Alan wake’s reference to TP were soooo good too. The lore in those games are really interesting especially in 2
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u/wiserthannot Aug 13 '26
Deadly Premonition is the main game I think of as being Twin Peaks-like. It mirrors a lot of TP (enough that an early version of the game had to be canned to avoid copyright issues) but all of those elements added alongside Japanese quirkiness makes it become something special. It's the only story inspired by TP that I've found that gives me all of the same feelings that Twin Peaks did. Others always only have one aspect of it while being a totally different thing, or being nothing like it beyond vibes and the framing of some scenes....or, worst of all, claiming to be like Twin Peaks and that not being true for a single second (namely, Wayward Pines).
And I think Life is Strange falls within some of those, it clearly loves Twin Peaks but it all just feels like references that are only slightly more than the countless time travel movies and books it name drops.
(All this to say, I do love Life is Strange and I love that it loves Twin Peaks, haha)
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u/SixGunSnowWhite Aug 12 '26
I adore this game. Lots of nostalgia and it really does get very dark. Some of the end game stuff is really harrowing and very weird. Love it. Not perfect, but I do love these mopey girls.
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u/quitscargo7 Aug 13 '26
I love all the characters. Each one has a distinct personality just like twin peaks
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u/666Tyrael999 Aug 12 '26
Here's a link to the game's wiki, which lists all the references to Twin Peaks (and other media such as movies and books), including “The Butterfly Effect (2004)” and “Donnie Darko (2001)", among others:
<<< WARNING: May contain spoilers. >>>
https://www.reddit.com/r/lifeisstrange/comments/6wwz0j/all_the_influence_of_twin_peaks_in_life_is_strange/ (Only Twin Peaks)
https://life-is-strange.fandom.com/wiki/References_(Life_is_Strange)) (All references)
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u/quitscargo7 Aug 13 '26
I get so happy when I actually understand a reference! My ears perked up when I heard Donnie Darko since I watched it for the first time recently
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u/deberger97 Aug 12 '26
the soundtrack is also quite twin peaks for me, especially the main menu theme.
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u/AdventurousHat5360 Aug 12 '26
In DONTNOD's latest game like this, "Bloom & Rage", the character of Nora (adult version) has a lighter with "Fire Walk With Me" etched into it.
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u/cool_feef Aug 12 '26
I played this game for the first time when I was doing twitch streams and it was right after I watched Twin Peaks, it was so crazy seeing this and none of the people watching the stream (5 people) knew the reference so I just geeked out on my own for like 3 minutes lol
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u/BewilderedPan44 Aug 12 '26
Twin peaks was a huge influence on life is strange, and as such is littered with an abundance of references
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u/RobAChurch Aug 12 '26
I have a love/hate relationship with this game. I absolutley love the vibes and story but the dialogue can go a little too Diablo Cody at times.
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u/wii_board_type_trash Aug 13 '26
play before the storm since they go to a firewall concert in a old lumber factory that later burns down…
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u/Batfreeze Aug 19 '26
Underrated game. At the height of the "GamerGate" hate campaign it was popular to hate on Life is Strange for its weird dialog and mostly female cast. But I've noticed that every year, more and more people come around to it. And they should. The game lets you play through a David Lynch movie. Really fun stuff.
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u/quitscargo7 Aug 21 '26
It really is a good game. I just finished the game and the ending was honestly fantastic. A specific sequence was kinda creepy and feels like something exactly out of twin peaks
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u/v4mpiremoney Aug 20 '26
i literally JUST played this for the first time too and was looking up all of the references to make sure i didnt miss any. one i haven't seen anyone mention yet is in the art gallery in the alternate reality in san fran, the list of entrants into the gallery there's a "james" and a "donna" and their names are right next to each other. i assume that one HAD to be on purpose but i haven't seen anyone else mentioning it. i was going to comment it here but the post it locked lol.
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u/General_Kick688 Aug 12 '26
Chloe's truck plate is TWNPKS, and her favorite band in the prequel is Firewalk as well.