One of my main heuristics for if a videogame is worth playing is if it only works as a game. As in if you transported it out of the medium, it loses a lot. The adaption can still be good, hell, the game can still be good but I don't think they're interesting in the art form that is videogames.
My main example here'd be TLOU. The netflix adaption was pretty much a hit because of course it is. The story is entirely linear, it's very clearly subdivided into combat -> exploration -> story, allthough sometimes the order changes. It's all polished to a mirror sheen, the gameplay is fun, hell, the brutality ties in thematically instead of being a back-of-the-box selling point to edgelords (allthough it is also that) but functionally it could be a movie or a series and it is and it works.
So whats your videogame that only works as a videogame, and most importantly, why? I think Disco Elysium is the free bingo square for this community on this one and the reasons are endless, but I'll start with something that surprised me recently: the new Hitman games.
They have movies but they're shit, all the comics and tie in novels I assume are for people into hitman lore because the story isn't really anything to write home about - mostly existing to get you to next location - but the the experience of playing hitman can't be recreated in another format because the interactivity is such a big part of it. I mean sure, "shoot someone in the head" basically always works. It's one of my main criticisms about a lot of games I have that give you a whole host of options to tackle a mission which all pale in effectiveness to "have a bit of aim and do headshot with the starter pistol" but somehow it's way more fun to hoist rich dipshits by their own petard.
I've never played any of these games but could one not make a movie about one specific decision path? Or possibly a confusing multiple reality looper style one?
Deltarune specifically uses the medium of "video game" as a narrative device in ways that would translate poorly to film. Like, at one point an NPC tells you to go into the game menu and toggle an option that has (minor) story implications on top of being a funny bit.
Ok that's cool. Not my kind of game but i love meta stuff
just to take undertale as an example I think you could make a cartoon or something that stars the undertale characters but you could not reproduce the undertale storyline specifically in a narrative format without losing a lot of what makes it special because a big part of that narrative is the player making decisions that are inherent to the video game medium and inherent to the jrpg genre specifically and if you just portrayed those decisions as a character on screen making them it wouldn't evoke the same feeling in the audience as a player gets when they reach the twist at the midpoint.
I listened to the worst of all possible worlds episodes on undertale so i haven't played it but i do know the idea.
What if the movie was from the evil flower's perspective or a different main NPC?
I mean I think you could portray the narrative, what I'm getting at is more that the specific meaning would be lost and the challenge for the filmmaker would be that they would have to find a new meaning to create for the audience. that's basically the challenge of adaptation of any work.
I'm being a bit annoying on purpose so i apologize if it's grating but does the adaptation with a new meaning still qualias an adaptation to a new medium?
I would say yes. Pretty much any adaptation has to answer the question, "how do we make the core idea of what we're adapting work in the new medium". The aspect of undertale that would not translate at all is the bullet hell mechanics, which ties into my thesis I posted elsewhere in the thread about video games being an outdated name for a kind of mixed media digital format.
I think this is why i've got such a bug up my butt about this discussion. Thanks for using the words good
I've learned that a lot of these "media adaptations" have trained a lot of consumers (not necessarily fans) to be put off by the idea of a new perspective on the same themes and topics of the original work. So many people lose their shit when an adaptation isn't 1:1 beat for beat, or if the "lore" has to change to meet the parameters or limitations on what's possible outside of video games. So when a new perspective challenges the original perspective, it's just not good or even hated. Capitalism cannot allow such risks.
I don't know much about Undertale/Deltarune but a simple perspective change most definitely can work as a standalone project simply because it's not trying to recreate something so interactive such as a video game. But who is willing to try it? And who is going to watch?
In my opinion, encouraging people to seek new perspectives can remedy a lot of this negative outlook on media but it's going to take a lot of effort.
Life is all about perspective after all.
I'm being a bit intentionally cheeky in this thread but yeah this is kind of my point.
You can make a movie about a game without it being a let's play featuring all the mechanics, in fact most wouldn't call a let's play a movie. Something about the game has to be changed to make it into a new medium or else it'd still be the videogame.
It's a bit of a ship of theseus thing, how many pieces of the game can you adapt before it's not an effective adaptation?
There is so much potential in the idea of interactive movies that even something such as a "rogue-like" movie theater would be kinda fun depending on the movie.
Doing collective quick time events, dialogue options, item pick ups , or even simply choosing which direction to go would be really cool. If you wanted to be fun and creative with it, different seating arrangements can determine which part of the narrative you vote on. Or collective screenings can shape a community story that is specifically created by that group. I'm imagining things like this can foster discussions and leading to new perspectives by asking the question "Oh, how did your group's run turn out?"
Unfortunately this would only work in a society and culture that isn't pushing greed and individualism at every angle of our lives.
Like that one black mirror episode?
Many such cases
Favoring one specific decision path removes the element of player choice and consequences that is core to the narrative, so no, not without losing a significant part of what makes the narrative meaningful.
So confusing multiverse/timetravel movie it is!