Books are usually the source material for every type of media out there. We constantly see movies, TV shows, and even games that take inspiration from books. Being able to bring a story to life is something incredible, and there are many popular games that took inspiration from books.
Games And Books
Taking inspiration from books is something common, as many TV shows and movies also do that. Video games are no exception, as The Witcher 3 isn’t the only game that did that, and other examples are games like Bioshock, Assassin’s Creed, and many others. It is common for some people to prefer the source material, as the book usually contains more information about the world, and it doesn’t have any limitations like screen time. However, this is something that doesn’t necessarily affect a video game. Being able to actually control a character while you play through the story, helps players become more immersed with the story. Books rely a lot on imagination, so for people who don’t have a vivid imagination, getting immersed when reading a book can be a challenge. However, instead of having to imagine the scenery, characters, and every other detail, the game is able to deliver you that already. So now people who played the game have a clear picture of how the characters sound and look like.
The Witcher video-game series is a popular franchise but it was thanks to The Witcher 3 that the game became extremely popular. It was such a big game, that it attracted a wide range of players, and even players who never heard of the game before played the game. The Witcher 3 became extremely popular, the game overall is amazing, but what really makes it stand out is the story, and how amazing it is. But what a lot of players don’t know, is that the games take inspiration from the book series from Andrzej Sapkowski. The books were already well-known, but it was thanks to The Witcher 3 that its popularity exploded.
Another bright side of having a game that takes inspiration from the original source is that The Witcher 3 gives control to the player so that your choices can have consequences in the future. While in a book you are introduced to a journey and you ride along, by playing the game you are the one who is in control. The Witcher game franchise doesn’t tell the stories of the book, it instead takes the world and characters from the book and expands upon them, so the three games would take place after the story of the books. So if you’re a super-fan of the games, and you wish to learn more about the universe, there are eight books that you can read, that will tell tales about our favorite witcher Geralt, and many of his stories.
Is It Worth The Risk?
When it comes to attempting to either adapt something or to create more of a well-known story, fans are always scared, as they are not sure if the result will come out well. The developers of The Witcher games, CD Projekt Red did an amazing job, as instead of trying to recreate the stories from the books, they simply built upon what already existed. They did an excellent job in bringing the characters from the books to life, and thanks to them, The Witcher is now more popular than ever. It became so popular, that it even received a Netflix show, and its new season is to be released in December of 2021, and unlike the game, the Netflix show is recreating stories from the book.
Like previously mentioned, The Witcher isn’t the only franchise that found success taking inspiration from books. The very first Assassin’s Creed was inspired by Alamut, a book written by Vladimir Bartol in 1938. It tells a story about a fortress that was controlled by a missionary and his assassins. It’s easy to see the similarities between the game and book already, and the famous quote from the game, “ Nothing is true, everything is permitted.” took inspiration from a quote from the book that says “ Nothing is an absolute reality, all is permitted”.
It is a challenging task to bring a book to life in the format of a game, but when it is done correctly, it becomes something amazing. Bloodborne is an outstanding game, even though it doesn’t directly try to adapt a story from a book, it is heavily inspired by H.P Lovecraft. Another game that does that is Bioshock, as the game explores the philosophies of the author Ayn Rand. You can find plenty of references to her work in the game, not only in its story but also in the names of certain characters.
The video-game industry takes inspiration from any source available to it, and it doesn’t run away from any kind of genre. Dante’s Inferno, a game that was released back in 2010, uses the concept from the Divine Comedy written by Dante Alighieri and uses elements from this epic poem to create a game with a lot of action, and an amazing story, as we follow our protagonist Dante as he needs to pass through the nine circles of hell to be reunited with his lover. There are other video games that are huge and show off signs in books too, the most famous World of Warcraft that has its currency WoW Gold mentioned everywhere, same with new Amazon’s game New World that has New World Coins written everywhere.
The Binding Of Isaac is a game that was released back in 2011, and the game is heavily inspired by the Bible and the passage about Isaac. At the time, this created a lot of controversies, because people found that the game was offensive to their religion and beliefs, but that didn’t stop the game from being released.
In conclusion, it is safe to assume that in the future, video games will continue to take inspiration from books, as not only is it a great source of material, but is also beneficial to both the game, and the writer of the book. Like in the case of The Witcher’s book, if it weren’t for the games, the books would never get to be so popular.
