Adaptation
Books and films based on videogames always suck. There have been no exceptions except, perhaps, for some obscure game based anime that have never been released in the West. Like, maybe, Kanon and To Heart.
What about vice versa? Amazingly, some designers have indeed met the challenge of going from a linear storytelling medium to a non-linear one. My circa-1990 Compute magazine collection gushes over the Dune games, Gateway, and Betrayal at Krondor, all of which are based on novels. More recently, X-Men Legends and the Xbox version of The Chronicles of Riddick has gotten very good reviews. And Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is better than any of the movies.
On early effort, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, adapted by the author himself, is still strong after twenty years. In fact, you can play a brand new illustrated version online. Or play the original at the author's website.
What makes them work? They borrow a milieu rather than a plot. They set themselves in the worlds created by their source material but their storylines are their own.
What about vice versa? Amazingly, some designers have indeed met the challenge of going from a linear storytelling medium to a non-linear one. My circa-1990 Compute magazine collection gushes over the Dune games, Gateway, and Betrayal at Krondor, all of which are based on novels. More recently, X-Men Legends and the Xbox version of The Chronicles of Riddick has gotten very good reviews. And Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is better than any of the movies.
On early effort, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, adapted by the author himself, is still strong after twenty years. In fact, you can play a brand new illustrated version online. Or play the original at the author's website.
What makes them work? They borrow a milieu rather than a plot. They set themselves in the worlds created by their source material but their storylines are their own.
posted by Dugan Chen at 10:25 AM
