5 Video Games That Were Based On Books

[CouldnoT]

Sometimes video games turn to books for source material, and on the flip side, some video game franchises have expanded into novel form.

 

 

 

Inspiration has to come from somewhere and finding something in which the source of inspiration was something as wonderful as a book or a game is definitely a good starting point. The greatest thing about this sort of deal is that once one is finished, the inspirational content can be gone back to and experienced.

 

It sometimes is useful in understanding the settings, unusual plot points, or just general mechanics within the game or book. Sometimes there are nods and Easter Eggs to fall back on that would have been otherwise missed without the source material. Then finally, sometimes it could lead to a new favorite story that would have otherwise gone unnoticed.

 

Video Game Based On A Book: Suikoden

 

 

Granted it doesn't carry over a lot from its source material, but Konami's giant series was initially based on the classic Chinese novel Water Margin. It's how the developers came up with the idea to include 108 individual characters. 108 is an incredibly specific number, so when realizing it is a nod back to Water Margin it makes a lot of sense.

It also keeps the revolutionary theme from its source material, and makes some of the design choices for the characters make a lot more sense.

 

Video Game Based On A Book: I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream

 

 

Talk about one intense set of horror games capable of putting all others to shame. I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream was a startle even for fans of the horror genre, and was definitely well received. It's almost always recommended when looking for a suitable game within the genre, and it rightfully deserves it.

 

What too few people know was that the cult classic was also based on a book with the same name, meaning someone actually published some of these ideas well before they were turned into a horrific giant.

 

Video Game Based On A Book: Assassin's Creed

 

 

Assassin's Creed is another series that has bled into every form of media out there, but it all started when someone out there decided to love the book Alamut and start a pitch to develop the spiritual successor to Prince of Persia.

 

Nowadays the series has practically nothing in common with the source material and has even inspired novelizations of its own, but it was still once upon a time an idea sparked by a book.

 

Video Game Based On A Book: The Witcher
 

 

Talk about a megaseries. The Witcher has found itself plastered across all forms of media, but it started out with a book series, which then became a game, which then became a Netflix series.

 

It shows that people out there are still interested in High Fantasy works, and they don't all have to be Lord of the Rings knockoffs to get attention. The books were amazing, the games were remarkable, and the Netflix series was...something.

 

Video Game Based On A Book: Bioshock

 

 

While also being a spiritual successor to System Shock, the ever-popular Bioshock could easily be renamed Ayn Rand's Philosophies and it wouldn't change at all.

 

Seriously, Andrew Ryan is essentially Rand himself, the entire city of Rapture is based on the exact same self-interest principles located within Rand's objectivist philosophy, and the game itself sparks the question of "Who is Atlas?" which in and of itself draws right back to Atlas Shrugged.

 

cbr.com

Edited July 4, 2021 by CouldnoT

[TLG WilliamS]