Some top ones for me would be Brother: aToTS, Blasphemous, Portal, and FF9.
I think all of them would still be best in game form, especially Brother and Portal. A Blasphemous novel would be incredible though. I’d love to read detailed descriptions of the various enemies and bosses. You could also dive into a lot of the tragic miracles in more detail. Its the one I’d most want to read off my list.
Final Fantasy 9 would also work very well as a novel. The game already has a ton of dialogue, and the journey the main characters take would work well as the backbone of the novel. I feel like I can see the outline in my head, and how the story beats could be divided into chapters. A longer novelized version of some of the late Kuja and Garland scenes would make for great emotional drama. The game doesn’t feel rushed necessarily, but the game format does require you to keep it moving, even if it is a Jrpg.
The ones that are based on a novel in the first place. Like the Witcher.
Disco Elysium.
OpenTTD is an eco-thriller.
Skyrim is a bit of a gas station page-turner, unless you do side stories.
Cities Skylines is a novel about traffic jams.
Civilisation is a historical drama.
Yeah Skyrim’s main quest isn’t going to be flying off the shelves. You could definitely do a good novel set in that region and at that time though.
I think you’re underselling Civ! It would be the ultimate country crossover novel. A hell of a lot of work for the author but if they did it right it could be incredible. Read the next chapter to find out if Gandhi allies with Lincoln or Montezuma! Might actually work better as a comic or manga.
Whatever the hell is going on in:
- Factorio
- Magic Survival (mobile game)
- SimEarth
- Battle Chess
I would love to read the magic survival book
Some of the Fallout games maybe? The world would allow for a variety of protagonists and timeframes if you don’t directly follow a particular game storyline.
Yeah, the new TV series is making me think there would be some good possibilities for novels.
I suppose any of the games with a good plot and not-so-exciting gameplay - I’d probably go for “To The Moon” and the other ones from that series.
It’s the “RPGmaker” one where the two scientists can go into the mind of a dying person, then change the person’s memories so their dreams were fulfilled and they die happy… assuming the scientists get it correct.
If not the full plot, the premise behind it would make a great series of novels or a TV programme.
To flip the question around, I don’t recommend Alien: Isolation. While they’re are some interesting back story points about Amanda Ripley’s past and her mother, the rest of it feels like a descriptive text of someone playing the game.
Considering its merits as a meaty scifi story (involving realities, personas, and other relevant technological aspects) nestled within a 4-key rhythm game, I think vivid/statis would fare decently as a standalone novel, along with some tweaks to adapt and interpret the ARG-esque bits whenever possible.
Kind of a cheating answer: Lost Odyssey. Sakaguchi brought on a novelist for the game, and a big chunk of it is already in novel form. It’s great stuff, too. Easily the highlights of the game for me.
