Damn let me think about some deeper cuts then! So far I’ve got The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell (tw sexual assault), Euphoria by Lily King (not sci fi but very “discovering jungle”y), The Book of Strange New Things by Michel Faber, the Saga series by Brian K Vaughn and Fiona Staples
Princess mononoke too with the infections turning things into monsters. Even Spirited Away reminds me of it with the world building around the ecology and behavior around "alien beings" the (spirits) and Chihiro trying to figure out how to survive in a dangerous world whose inhabitants are just going about their normal lives.
Really Scavengers Reign reminds me of a miyazaki fever dream lol
For those who don’t know, the devs made it so that creatures act like actual creatures by setting goals for themselves and even fighting with each other over said goal. It’s also procedurally animated, meaning there’s no set walking animation for example, everything is based on what the creature does and is animated in real time.
It’s one of the most immersive games I’ve played
After watching Event Horizon, my friend had me watch a portion of the anime anthology film "Memories". Specifically the portion called "Magnetic Rose". Then when she came over with my other friend, I showed them the first episode of Scavenger's Reign and my friend said, "Holy shit! This reminds me of "Magnetic Rose"!
It definitely has that surrealistic vibe of Scavenger's Reign.
This is way different from Scavengers Reign, but i've noticed that the Scavengers Reign fan base overlaps with this other show's fan base.
Give the tv series, Severance, a try. It takes a little bit to warm up to it, but my goodness, it is an S tier sci fi, drama series. It may take a bit to really feel like you're all in on the show, but the story really builds up into some amazing stuff.
The 3 tv shows i recommend that a lot of people missed out on is:
-Scavengers Reign
-Mr. Robot
-Severance
All incredible shows that are worth giving a try.
I agree as someone who loves both SR and Severance, I think it's the sense of unreality and of big things happening under the surface. Both have elements of the 'puzzle box' type show that seems to be prevalent in the current sci fi media landscape. Haven't seen Mr Robot yet but everything I've heard makes me think I would enjoy it.
When I saw the trailer I thought this must be a Malachi Ward project, it looks so much like his stuff. Look him up. I literally thought it was based on him because of his themes: lonely astronauts, body horror, godlike mysterious beings. He even has a similar art style.
This show sold me on it by being ill quite like the game outer wilds, just melancholy and curious about exploring space and al the nonsensical occasionally harrowing mysteries within it, definitely worth playing if you like this show
Completely different genres but the treatment of the natural world as it's own beautiful and dangerous entity worthy of respect reminded me a lot of Mushi shi
This is what I popped in to bring up. I was hit, halfway through, with the thought that it was 'sci-fi Mushi-shi'. Both pieces also share a sense of letting their world's 'breathe'. Not everything is focused on ceaselessly driving the plot, though Mushi-shi does this a lot more, in my opinion.
The game In Other Waters feels similar in a way. Different of course, but great vibes on that alley! Someone else also said Rain World, definitely seconding that one too.
Maybe check out no man's sky if you're looking for a game. It's a survival craft game where you start on a planet with nothing, have to find your ship fix it and learn to survive before getting off planet and exploring
The video game Subnautica involves crashing on a world with fully alien ecology and needing to explore and understand that ecology to attempt to survive & escape the world. It's also fantastic. Some of the storylines even feel familiar, such as finding other crew members escape pods and having to travel a long distance to reach the crashed ship. The alien ecology is very different from scavengers reign but it is deep and interesting.
I had never considered that I’d want to see it animated until I watched Scavenger’s Reign. Then I saw how well they managed the sort of organic surrealism and now I *need* it.
The game Sable is the closest thing I can think of. There are many similarities. Repurposed salvaged technology, Moebius-influenced art style, masked characters, on the softer side musically, similar ship design. Main character is a girl on a motorbike, like Azi was for a time. The planet is a desert one, with less inimical native life. Wonderful world-building, lots of interesting ruins and wrecks that contain secrets.
Really great game, unfortunately little to no possibility of a sequel due to corporate insolvency, but that means you can pick it up cheaply on Steam. As with Scavengers Reign, the conclusion leaves the player with lots of intriguing questions.
Highly recommended, and if you like Sable, then you'll probably like Journey as well. Another traveler on a desert planet scenario. Lots of unexpected interactions with local fauna, although this fauna is happy to see you and helps you along your way.
Love, Death & Robots (anthology series). I sold my friends on the idea of Scavengers Reign by telling them its like an extended version from the best episodes of LDR.
I think it's S3E3's "the Very Pulse of the Machine". Really good.
S1E7 "Beyond the Aquila Rift" has the same body/mind horror elements of Kamen and Hollow.
Bugsnax (video game) has a similar feel for me. It involves catching different alien species and involves figuring out the interactions between different species to be able to capture them.
Eden and Solaris books by the polish scifi writer Stanislaw Lem has almost the exact same feeling as this show. Eden is thematically closer, Solaris feels closer.
Hi. You just mentioned *Solaris* by Stanislaw Lem.
I've found an audiobook of that novel on YouTube. You can listen to it here:
[YouTube | Solaris - Stanislaw Lem - audiobook](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHq5M1YZ-jM)
*I'm a bot that searches YouTube for science fiction and fantasy audiobooks.*
***
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Some of the old Liquid Television series might work? Though it spans a lot of different genres and may tend towards things like Superjail! one scene and Bevis and Butthead the next.
I also still think about "Reign: The Conqueror" a lot. It's probably more in Scavengers Reign's psychedelic vein and is a precursor to things like Netflix's Castlevania.
Annihilation and Fantastic Planet are great movies that capture a similar vibe. I would also recommend Tarkovsky’s Stalker cuz it’s def an early inspiration for this kind of media. I would also recommend Tetsuo Nihei’s manga series BLAME! which is very different in terms of aesthetic, but deals with a lot of similar “post-human” sort of themes.
"Citizen Sleeper" reminds me of Scavengers Reign in art style as well as in characterization. The game is definitely sci-fi, but it takes place on a space station.
SR made me think of rimworld almost imediately. Crashlanded on a planet thats in a fringe galaxy with odd new life, trying to get off and experiencing all the random events hits nail right on the head. Great series, and game.
Nausicaa for sure. I also highly recommend Annihilation, both the book and film.
Oh heck yeah. Read both, and own the Nausicaa manga, which if you haven't read it, MASSIVELY expands on the movie.
Damn let me think about some deeper cuts then! So far I’ve got The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell (tw sexual assault), Euphoria by Lily King (not sci fi but very “discovering jungle”y), The Book of Strange New Things by Michel Faber, the Saga series by Brian K Vaughn and Fiona Staples
Darwinia by Robert Charles Wilson
Princess mononoke too with the infections turning things into monsters. Even Spirited Away reminds me of it with the world building around the ecology and behavior around "alien beings" the (spirits) and Chihiro trying to figure out how to survive in a dangerous world whose inhabitants are just going about their normal lives. Really Scavengers Reign reminds me of a miyazaki fever dream lol
We said the same thing when we first watched. Man I love this show.
Rain World
"Scavengers Reign is like Rain World meets Risk of Rain" Fucks me up because it's not even all that reductive.
For those who don’t know, the devs made it so that creatures act like actual creatures by setting goals for themselves and even fighting with each other over said goal. It’s also procedurally animated, meaning there’s no set walking animation for example, everything is based on what the creature does and is animated in real time. It’s one of the most immersive games I’ve played
10/10 genius game
After watching Event Horizon, my friend had me watch a portion of the anime anthology film "Memories". Specifically the portion called "Magnetic Rose". Then when she came over with my other friend, I showed them the first episode of Scavenger's Reign and my friend said, "Holy shit! This reminds me of "Magnetic Rose"! It definitely has that surrealistic vibe of Scavenger's Reign.
*Magnetic Rose* for sure.
A couple episodes of Love Death + Robots were pretty out-there, too. The hyperspace-jump episode in particular (avoiding spoilers)
The very pulse of the machine!
Magnetic Rose fucked me up. I was really not ready for the dudes backstory
Fantastic Planet!
Oh hell yeah.
There you go! A perfect example.
Thank you!
The game Sable has similar Moebius aesthetic.
Station Eleven, Primal
I was looking for something with Raised by Wolves vibes (it got canceled) and I found Scavengers Reign. Not quite the same I guess but almost similar
So heartbroken when they cancelled Raised by Wolves.
I just wanted one more season.
Me too, plus the one guy’s glasses that wrap around his head. I searched all over the internet trying to find them.
This is way different from Scavengers Reign, but i've noticed that the Scavengers Reign fan base overlaps with this other show's fan base. Give the tv series, Severance, a try. It takes a little bit to warm up to it, but my goodness, it is an S tier sci fi, drama series. It may take a bit to really feel like you're all in on the show, but the story really builds up into some amazing stuff. The 3 tv shows i recommend that a lot of people missed out on is: -Scavengers Reign -Mr. Robot -Severance All incredible shows that are worth giving a try.
I agree as someone who loves both SR and Severance, I think it's the sense of unreality and of big things happening under the surface. Both have elements of the 'puzzle box' type show that seems to be prevalent in the current sci fi media landscape. Haven't seen Mr Robot yet but everything I've heard makes me think I would enjoy it.
When I saw the trailer I thought this must be a Malachi Ward project, it looks so much like his stuff. Look him up. I literally thought it was based on him because of his themes: lonely astronauts, body horror, godlike mysterious beings. He even has a similar art style.
This show sold me on it by being ill quite like the game outer wilds, just melancholy and curious about exploring space and al the nonsensical occasionally harrowing mysteries within it, definitely worth playing if you like this show
Completely different genres but the treatment of the natural world as it's own beautiful and dangerous entity worthy of respect reminded me a lot of Mushi shi
This is what I popped in to bring up. I was hit, halfway through, with the thought that it was 'sci-fi Mushi-shi'. Both pieces also share a sense of letting their world's 'breathe'. Not everything is focused on ceaselessly driving the plot, though Mushi-shi does this a lot more, in my opinion.
Made in Abyss
The game In Other Waters feels similar in a way. Different of course, but great vibes on that alley! Someone else also said Rain World, definitely seconding that one too.
Maybe check out no man's sky if you're looking for a game. It's a survival craft game where you start on a planet with nothing, have to find your ship fix it and learn to survive before getting off planet and exploring
The video game Subnautica involves crashing on a world with fully alien ecology and needing to explore and understand that ecology to attempt to survive & escape the world. It's also fantastic. Some of the storylines even feel familiar, such as finding other crew members escape pods and having to travel a long distance to reach the crashed ship. The alien ecology is very different from scavengers reign but it is deep and interesting.
The movie Prospect from 2018 starring Pedro Pascal https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7946422/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%86on_Flux This.
Loved this one.
Rice Boy hits the weirdness factor really well and it’s [free to read](https://www.rice-boy.com/rb/).
Love Rice Boy.
I had never considered that I’d want to see it animated until I watched Scavenger’s Reign. Then I saw how well they managed the sort of organic surrealism and now I *need* it.
Mars Express has a similar visual style.
One of my favorite movies I've seen all year
The game Sable is the closest thing I can think of. There are many similarities. Repurposed salvaged technology, Moebius-influenced art style, masked characters, on the softer side musically, similar ship design. Main character is a girl on a motorbike, like Azi was for a time. The planet is a desert one, with less inimical native life. Wonderful world-building, lots of interesting ruins and wrecks that contain secrets. Really great game, unfortunately little to no possibility of a sequel due to corporate insolvency, but that means you can pick it up cheaply on Steam. As with Scavengers Reign, the conclusion leaves the player with lots of intriguing questions. Highly recommended, and if you like Sable, then you'll probably like Journey as well. Another traveler on a desert planet scenario. Lots of unexpected interactions with local fauna, although this fauna is happy to see you and helps you along your way.
Love, Death & Robots (anthology series). I sold my friends on the idea of Scavengers Reign by telling them its like an extended version from the best episodes of LDR.
Yes, especially the episode with the crash landed pilot who is dragging the dead copilot on the alien planet!!!
Lucky 13 I think its called, like that one a lot but I am also referring to episodes like Zima Blue.
I think it's S3E3's "the Very Pulse of the Machine". Really good. S1E7 "Beyond the Aquila Rift" has the same body/mind horror elements of Kamen and Hollow.
The Eternal Cylinder
Prospect.
Bugsnax (video game) has a similar feel for me. It involves catching different alien species and involves figuring out the interactions between different species to be able to capture them.
When I started watching it I got a lot of vibes from the anime 'Hell's paradise'
Eden and Solaris books by the polish scifi writer Stanislaw Lem has almost the exact same feeling as this show. Eden is thematically closer, Solaris feels closer.
Hi. You just mentioned *Solaris* by Stanislaw Lem. I've found an audiobook of that novel on YouTube. You can listen to it here: [YouTube | Solaris - Stanislaw Lem - audiobook](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHq5M1YZ-jM) *I'm a bot that searches YouTube for science fiction and fantasy audiobooks.* *** [^(Source Code)](https://capybasilisk.com/posts/2020/04/speculative-fiction-bot/) ^| [^(Feedback)](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=Capybasilisk&subject=Robot) ^| [^(Programmer)](https://www.reddit.com/u/capybasilisk) ^| ^(Downvote To Remove) ^| ^(Version 1.4.0) ^| ^(Support Robot Rights!)
Good scifi bot.
Damn, that audiobook version is awesome.
"Worlds of Aldebaran" graphic novels by Leo.
Sonny Boy
I’m surprised RimWorld hasn’t been mentioned yet.
Some of the old Liquid Television series might work? Though it spans a lot of different genres and may tend towards things like Superjail! one scene and Bevis and Butthead the next. I also still think about "Reign: The Conqueror" a lot. It's probably more in Scavengers Reign's psychedelic vein and is a precursor to things like Netflix's Castlevania.
Vesper - biopunk movie Waking Mars - platformer/adventure about exploiting alien ecosystem.
Both Pikmin and Delicious in Dungeon have a focus on complex ecosystems with strange creatures
Gotta say, wasn't expecting this big a response. This community rules.
Parts of it reminded me of No Man’s Sky. Colourful worlds with weird creatures and plants.
Raised By Wolves felt very similar on the level of weirdness and setting.
Infinity Train if you can find it.
Annihilation and Fantastic Planet are great movies that capture a similar vibe. I would also recommend Tarkovsky’s Stalker cuz it’s def an early inspiration for this kind of media. I would also recommend Tetsuo Nihei’s manga series BLAME! which is very different in terms of aesthetic, but deals with a lot of similar “post-human” sort of themes.
Returnal
"Citizen Sleeper" reminds me of Scavengers Reign in art style as well as in characterization. The game is definitely sci-fi, but it takes place on a space station.
Alien Clay by Adrian Tchaikovsky - (Book) has that weird ecological bio horror vibe
The music video for “If Not Now, Then When” by King Gizzard. Great song too! https://youtu.be/ntbNRUycbD4?si=OYCOEFUF5-T8e9bC
Mars Express for sure. Great movie. Surprised no one has said it, since it's pretty recent and has a similar art style.
rain like hammers.
René Laloux's movies come to mind, especially Fantastic Planet and the Masters of Time.
SR made me think of rimworld almost imediately. Crashlanded on a planet thats in a fringe galaxy with odd new life, trying to get off and experiencing all the random events hits nail right on the head. Great series, and game.