Movies and TV series adapted from video games are becoming the next big trend. This only makes sense considering there have been shows and films adapted from just about any type of media, and video games still have a lot of untapped potential in that department. There are so many stories and characters begging to be put on the big screen and experienced by general audiences.

That being said, there needs to be a change going forward when it comes to video game adaptations. There’s still an issue that Hollywood can’t seem to get past, and it’s that filmmakers never seem to want to actually adapt the story of a game; they always want to change the plot to whatever they want.

The Uncharted video games are known for their cinematic storytelling. When the live action movie was made, however, they told a brand new story that uses scenes from a variety of the games. Werewolves Within is easily one of the best movies adapted from a video game and should be watched by all, but it takes place in modern day with regular humans rather than in medieval times with magic being used. 

The recent Mortal Kombat focuses on an original character who has never appeared in the games and never features the Mortal Kombat fighting tournament. The Monster Hunter movie follows US military soldiers being transported into the fantasy world rather than just having everyone be from the world of the game. The Assassin’s Creed movie focuses on characters never before seen in the games. The Borderlands film is missing half the main cast of the original game, uses actors who are decades older than their characters, and altered the story.

This list could go on and on. If this reads like bullet points, that’s because of how many examples of this there are. Even the more successful ones like the Sonic the Hedgehog movies fall into this by focusing far too much on the original human characters. This isn’t to say that any of these movies are bad because of this. Some are absolutely fantastic while others are certainly worth skipping. It’s just weird that so many prove that filmmakers are afraid to fully embrace the source material when it comes to video games.

Obviously, things are changed for any adaptation regardless of what it’s based on. That being said, it still needs to match the story that inspired the project and actually feel like the source material.

Books are adapted to movies without the story being lost all the time. One would think that the best way to go about any adaptation would be to put the story on screen. Imagine if Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter were handled the same way video game adaptations were. Legolas would be tasked with carrying the One Ring and battle Smaug to do so. The Weasleys wouldn’t exist, but Harry Potter would battle Professor Quirrell in the Chamber of Secrets after bonding with his rival, Draco Malfoy. The references are there, but the story is lost.

Video game movies and TV shows can be good and can be successful. The Last of Us is evidence of that. These folks in the entertainment industry just need to get past this problem of holding back from embracing the source material. 

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