Very creative, but a bit hard to believe. Perhaps the timescale of how long they were stranded there could have been increased a little bit.
Very creative, but a bit hard to believe. Perhaps the timescale of how long they were stranded there could have been increased a little bit.
Yet, on the other hand, they seem mystified by things like which plants are edible, or the yellow fungus on the computer circuits, or the intelligent mind-power beasts. Stuff that should be top-level knowledge, I'd think? So do they understand the planet or not? Clearly a lot is known about the esoteric workings of the planet, but weirdly the BASICS of the place are a total mystery to them.
And yeah, the biology of the planet is both supremely alien yet also amazingly perfectly suited to incredibly specific use cases: this creature doubles as a gas mask, this other one is a personal flying machine with handlebars, reach inside this one and it'll inflate into a personal balloon guaranteed to hold your weight.
If I turn off that part of my brain, I enjoy letting myself get caught up in the "LOST"-ish mysterybox-ness of it (LOST, in space!).
The trick/explanation/excuse I've been using is that we know our characters are explorers and experts, so maybe the life on this planet isn't as "alien" or "unknown" to the characters as it seems to us.
I've had survival training, I know how to identify certain useful plants or recognize tracks from animals in ecosystems I don't live in, so I tell myself that it must be like that from their perspective. Which lines up, seeing as the character's don't seem to react that strangely or shocked to most of what they see. Even one of them says that their goal is to not only survive, but _thrive_ here until rescue.
Highly recommend it, the trailer gives a good sense of the vibes without giving away too much.