Jun 8th, 2018, 01:35 AM
I recently finished my reading of the third Resdient Evil book and, against all expectations, it was actually pretty good! It doesn't -it nor the ones on the series that I have read so far- surpass the source material at all, as to be expected from a derivative work... but they hold up pretty well, once you can look past the liberties taken to turn the games into books.
Reading thru these books (with four more in the horizon and the one based on RE: Zero being the best so far) got me thinking a little... while not particularly a good idea for some cases, turning widely-known videogames into novels can really help developing the characters without cramming the main story with details that would otherwise feel forced in terms of the design. And I think that's a potential goldmine for developers looking into deepening their characters without having to go and alienate the casual player with a million cutscenes and in-game reads.
In fact, I think characters like Billy Coen and Rebecca Chambers are far better explained on the books than they are on the games (where they come across as almost strangers, given how little focus is given to them and how general it seems to be). But is that very revelation that made me realize I was probably looking in the wrong place for the richest possible experience with a horror-themed game and that didn't involve actually playing the game... and that's because Resident Evil, while amazing as a game franchise, doesn't really have the depth or scope to be more than a re-telling of in-game happenings when novelized... but do you know what DOES have all those things? Silent Hill!
And yeah! After painstakingly jumping thru hoops just to get to a version of it, I found out that there's actually two books set on the SH universe, and one of them was even translated into English (oddly, the second one). Now, I haven't actually read any of those yet, so I can't actually endorse them but... don't they look like the poster children and prime candidates for novelization? The franchise is chocked-full with potential when it comes to widen and deepen its story... because, sure, you get your answers and there's some sort of closure to the stories of the games as you play them (although, I have only ever played 1 and 2) but they leave out so much for the sake of mystery that you can just about feel the need for a side-story such as this one to fill on the gaps.
I'll probably come back here and comment after I have read the books, just to see how wrong -or right- I was about those in the end... but in the meantime, have you ever read any novelizations and/or stories in which other games were based upon? I heard Dune's pretty good.
If so, what did you think?
Reading thru these books (with four more in the horizon and the one based on RE: Zero being the best so far) got me thinking a little... while not particularly a good idea for some cases, turning widely-known videogames into novels can really help developing the characters without cramming the main story with details that would otherwise feel forced in terms of the design. And I think that's a potential goldmine for developers looking into deepening their characters without having to go and alienate the casual player with a million cutscenes and in-game reads.
In fact, I think characters like Billy Coen and Rebecca Chambers are far better explained on the books than they are on the games (where they come across as almost strangers, given how little focus is given to them and how general it seems to be). But is that very revelation that made me realize I was probably looking in the wrong place for the richest possible experience with a horror-themed game and that didn't involve actually playing the game... and that's because Resident Evil, while amazing as a game franchise, doesn't really have the depth or scope to be more than a re-telling of in-game happenings when novelized... but do you know what DOES have all those things? Silent Hill!
And yeah! After painstakingly jumping thru hoops just to get to a version of it, I found out that there's actually two books set on the SH universe, and one of them was even translated into English (oddly, the second one). Now, I haven't actually read any of those yet, so I can't actually endorse them but... don't they look like the poster children and prime candidates for novelization? The franchise is chocked-full with potential when it comes to widen and deepen its story... because, sure, you get your answers and there's some sort of closure to the stories of the games as you play them (although, I have only ever played 1 and 2) but they leave out so much for the sake of mystery that you can just about feel the need for a side-story such as this one to fill on the gaps.
I'll probably come back here and comment after I have read the books, just to see how wrong -or right- I was about those in the end... but in the meantime, have you ever read any novelizations and/or stories in which other games were based upon? I heard Dune's pretty good.
If so, what did you think?