All the connections between the games of The dark picture anthology
The 12th of May, Supermassive Games released the fifth game in The Dark Pictures series, Directive 8020, and the first episode of Season 2 of The Dark Picture Anthology.
A lot of people still believe that the games of the DPA are not connected. These people are stupid (sorry). The games are connected and I will show you all the connections that I found.
Let's start with the first game "Man of Medan"
Conrad's T-shirt: Conrad, one of the playable characters, has a Salem's T-shirt which sets the scene for the story of Little Hope, the second game, inspired by the Salem witch trials.
The newspaper: In the hull of the Ourang Medan there is a newspaper that mentions a lost expedition in the Zagros Mountains, which is discussed in greater detail in House of Ashes, the third chapter of the anthology.
The gas: The hallucinogenic gas in MOM (known as "Manchurian Gold") is heavily implied to be a military-refined version of the black saliva/parasite venom from the vampires in HOA. The black saliva of the ancient alien parasites acts as a potent hallucinogen. According to the game's collectible "Science Notes," breathing in the substance triggers extreme heart palpitations and severe hallucinations
The corpse in the casket: it has never been confirmed but it's heavily implied that one of the corpse in the chained caskek is an alien/vampire (or one of the parasites) of HOA that the government had taken for experimentation. That's why one the caskets is chained.
Let's pass to the second game of the DPA: "Little Hope"
The book: This book is about the witch trials. It can be found by Alex, Conrad, or Fliss in the Duke of Milan and by Anthony in the Clarke Family Home.
The magazine: In LH, a magazine mentions a certain Kate Wilder and her investigations into notorious murderers. Kate is one of the main playable characters in The Devil in me
I haven't found any other connection in LO
Let's pass to "House of Ashes", the third installment of the DPA
Nick T-shirt: Nick, one of the playable characters of HOA, wears a Chicago's T-Shirt. Chicago was the scene of countless murders (particularly around 1893) committed by H.H. Holmes.
A reference toJoseph Morello's book, "The Mind of a Killer", can be seen in Rachel's desk in her office. Joseph Morello is a supporting character in TDIM. He is a true crime author and he and his family were guests at the hotel prior to the protagonists.
AEGIS: AEGIS is a secret U.S. agency dedicated to covering up alien and supernatural incidents. It was supposedly created after the discovery of the Vampires hidden beneath the Zagros Mountains (maybe Lady Bradshaw and Ellis van Huyten were part of it) . During WWII, AEGIS obtained the Manchurian Gold, an hallucinogenic bioweapon made from Vampire saliva. In 2003, during the Iraq War, AEGIS funded Eric King’s Caelus satellite project to scan the Zagros Mountains. Believing they had found an underground weapons facility, a team of Marines and Iraqi soldiers was sent to investigate, only to discover an ancient Vampire temple after an earthquake trapped them underground. After the massacre, AEGIS recovered the survivors, gathered data about the Vampires, their alien origins, and their parasite, then covered up the entire incident. In 2019, a group of students and pirates discovered the SS Ourang Medan while searching for “Manchurian Gold.” After becoming trapped aboard the ship, they contacted the U.S. military. AEGIS forces later arrived, covering up the incident by either killing or detaining the survivors.
Star Map: A Sumerian star map. The constellation is etched on a rock, and can be found by Jason or Nick in the temple. Mary Hodgson discovered that the creatures come from the Cetus constellation. The exoplanet Tau Ceti f is located in this constellation.
Gas Maskes: In MOM, the gas mask is a crucial item that allows Brad to avoid the ship's hallucinations. In HOA the shepherds in the farm above the temple wore a similar gas masks to avoid getting infected by the creatures
Little Hope: Anyone who has played HOF may have spotted a cameo of Eric and Rachel. We can see them in a flashback during the game, they were travelling for their honeymoon, and they took a break in a diner near the town of Little Hope.
Manny Sherman: Sherman was mentioned in the War Newspaper, which references his 1999 death sentence and subsequent execution. Sherman was the mentor of Granthem Du'Met, born Hector Waylon Munday, the villain of TDIM.
Let's pass to "The Devil in me", the fourth game of the Anthology
Foghorn corkboards: Two papers pinned to a corkboard. The first is a timesheet for those who worked on the foghorn. One of the people mentioned on the Foghorn Corkboard is Jeff Kolchek, who has a similar name to Jason Kolchek one of the main character of HOA.
Connie: Connie the dog is a reference to Conrad of MOM (Julia called him like that sometimes).
Crash Plaque: A memorial of the sinking of the ship "SS Cassiopeia" on May 1, 1907 is a reference to the spaceship "CDC Cassiopeia" in the game. Cassiopeia is also the name of a large colony ship made for the purpose of travel to Tau Ceti f in the game Directive 8020.
Custom Mask Email: A printed thread of emails about the purchase of a custom mask. It can be found by Kate or Jamie. Beside the paper can be found a magazine titled "Future Vision: Countdown to Mars". This is a reference to D8020.
We've arrived to "Directive 8020" the first episode of Season 2 of The Dark Picture Anthology.
Corinth: Corinth is the same company which made the trucks on the Ourang Medan the ship of MOM. In this hold, the chemical bioweapon Manchurian Gold is stored.
The stasis fluid: the fluid used in the hypersleep pods is the X-1172 fluid found at the end of House of Ashes inside the cocoons.
Tau Ceti F: this exoplanet was the homeworld of the vampire of HOA (Probably the bat aliens were at war with the lifeform). It's coordinates were found in the crashed ship, which led directly to the Charybdis mission. Furthermore, the FTL technology is salvaged from the crashed ship is named after Ellis van Huyten, one of the archaeologists of the Zagros expedition.
A vampire's skeleton and an alien parasite appear in tanks of stasis fluid in the Corinth HQ on Earth. Judging by the dates They were certainly taken from the temple.
AEGIS: They are the organisation with whom Williams is in contact on Earth. It is present as the group interrogating the survivors in the end.
Reincarnations: Cernan, one of the playable characters of D8020, mentions having memories of being a soldier in a Middle Eastern cave, and a police officer on a pier. He is a buddhist so he believes in the power of reincarnation.
The Curator: Cernan, and Simms dreamed of a ferryman, clad in black, who is bringing them in the afterlife. Also McNamara (a character who doesn't appear in the game because he's already dead) dreamed of this man in a bowler hat who is following him. Williams revealed that he knew about this phenomenon, which AEGIS have been investigating for years.
