Warning: Contains spoilers for The Last of Us episode 3.There’s been a lot of talk lately around the idea of the video game adaptation curse being dead, and there are seven movies and shows that do a lot to prove that. For decades, video games have been plagued with adaptations that end up being met with terrible reception due to a combination of bad writing and poor visuals that don’t live up to the original game. Super Mario Bros. and Street Fighter are classic examples of this, but there are even shows and movies from the past few years that have enforced the idea such as Halo, Netflix’s Resident Evil, and, to a lesser extent, Sony Pictures' Uncharted.
Video games adaptations have often presented unique difficulties, likely because of how hard certain aspects of the medium are to translate into another, but that’s not always the case. While there are still plenty of bad adaptations being released, there are also many that have been able to find genuine success without having to become a cult hit first. Adaptations like those make it clear that the video game adaptation curse is nowhere near as big as it used to be, and these are the seven that best exemplify that idea.
Detective Pikachu
The first movie that works to prove the video game adaptation curse is dead is the Detective Pikachu movie. Just as the title implies, Detective Pikachu is a fun, kid-friendly detective story that manages to tell a good mystery without ever taking itself too seriously. Additionally, the effects used for the Pokémon are all incredibly faithful and incredibly appealing to look at. Something that helps with that is how much the movie enhances the looks of various Pokémon such as giving reptilian Pokémon scaly textures and depicting Pikachu with a furry body. It all comes together to give Detective Pikachu a visual aesthetic that far sures many of its contemporaries.
The biggest part of why Detective Pikachu was able to work, of course, stems from how little it was constrained by its source material. Rather than be an adaptation of the main Pokémon games, or even the Pokémon anime series, Detective Pikachu adapted a small spinoff story that many people likely hadn’t ever heard of. That meant that the movie could freely do its own story without needing to struggle with remaining faithful or worry about criticisms for diverging from the source material, and that allowed for the story to truly flourish.
Sonic The Hedgehog & Sonic The Hedgehog 2
Two more video game movies worth mentioning are 2020's Sonic the Hedgehog being more entertaining than most people expected and becoming a major hit in its own right.
The success of Sonic the Hedgehog created a lot of anticipation for Sonic the Hedgehog 2, and the movie more than delivered on that front. In addition to maintaining the same level of charm as the first movie, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 managed to effectively incorporate more characters and elements from the games, resulting in a movie that felt far closer to a full adaptation of Sonic and still succeeded at being a good story. Overall, the Sonic movies do a great job of adapting their source material, and the fact that it initially seemed like they wouldn't makes that even better.
Arcane
While the idea of a show or movie breaking the video game adaptation curse is mostly associated with live-action, animated works also count, and one example of that is League of Legends, Arcane’s story doesn’t necessitate having any knowledge of the games, so it ends up being perfectly accessible to anyone who hadn’t played the games. The quality of the story also helps, as from start to finish, Arcane succeeds in telling a dramatic story in a highly-developed world that gets the audience invested in every character and the struggles they have to face.
What helps to sell Arcane even further, of course, is the art and animation. Arcane uses a heavily stylized form of 3D art and animation with major similarities to 2018's Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, so in addition to every scene being beautiful to look at, the action always has an incredible level of fluidity and creativity with its execution, something further emphasized by the show’s great score. Netflix's Arcane show did a lot to exemplify just how far animation can go with its visuals, and that, plus its story, do a lot to sell it as a great adaptation, cementing its reputation as both one of the best animated shows in recent history, and one of the best video game adaptations to boot.
Castlevania
Another animated series that works to break the video game adaptation curse is Netflix’s Castlevania notably always features great visuals and animation that make every fight scene feel like a tremendous spectacle, something more than fitting for this kind of show.
Castlevania’s biggest selling point is its animation, but its story has plenty to offer, as well. The four seasons of the show tell a story that, while focused a lot on action and gore, also does a lot to develop a cast of characters that play well off of each other and are always endearing. This is true whether they’re a hero or a villain, but it works especially well for the heroes and goes a long way to make the ultimate ending to the series feel earned. Castlevania managed to have a great run, and with any luck, the sequel series will have the same level of quality.
Persona 4: The Animation
It's common to associate the idea of something breaking the video game adaptation curse with more recent projects, but there are plenty of older ones that contribute to that idea, and a great example of this is Persona 4: The Animation. While the anime doesn’t cover a lot of the dungeon crawling and social elements of Persona 4, it more than makes up for that with its writing. Not only are several storylines and character arcs greatly fleshed out in the anime, but there are far more comedic moments compared to the game that, in addition to always landing, do a lot to help the anime feel distinct from the game.
Persona 4: The Animation’s writing is its best selling point, and that best shows itself with the protagonist, Yu Narukami. The anime turns Yu, who shares a voice actor with Bleach's Ichigo Kurosaki, from a silent protagonist into a kindhearted goof whose bizarre behavior is a constant source of levity. Not only that, but the video game adaptation anime also manages to give Yu a good character arc about his growing separation anxiety, and the episodes that directly involve it are among the most dramatic and heartfelt in the series. Yu is undoubtedly the heart of Persona 4: The Animation, and that plays a big part in its success and overall charm.
Persona 3: The Movie 1-4
Following Persona 4: The Animation was the Persona 3: The Movie tetralogy, and it also succeeded at being a great adaptation. While the movies also had the problem of cutting out a lot of the game elements, the direction, courtesy of Tomohisa Taguchi of the Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War anime, definitely made up for that. The art excellently mirrored the game while also taking on a unique color palette, the animation allowed for many creative fight scenes, and the score had a great mix of old and original tracks. The result was a video game adaptation film series that had a wholly unique feel to it and could more than justify its existence.
The biggest part of why the Persona 3: The Movie tetralogy worked so well is because of its protagonist, Makoto Yuki. Like Persona 4: The Animation, the movies give Makoto a unique personality, but whereas Yu was a quirky weirdo, Makoto, who shares a voice actor with Neon Genesis Evangelion's Kaworu, is a stoic, emotionally stunted loner scarred by tragedy. In addition to the great contrast with Yu, it also allows for a great arc of Makoto discovering his emotions with a tremendous payoff in the finale, even if the later games make it bittersweet. Even so, Makoto’s development is remarkable, and it makes the movies well worth watching.
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners
Another anime that works as a great Cyberpunk: Edgerunners. Studio Trigger is known for producing anime with lots of bombastic flare, and sure enough, Edgerunners is an action-filled romp with unique camera angles and animation someone wouldn’t see from other studios. Netflix's Cyberpunk: Edgerunners' story is also great with how it throws a cast of endearing characters into an unflinchingly dark world, yet always finds time for comedic moments and heartfelt levity, with David and Lucy’s relationship being a major source for the latter. It all comes together to make a show that serves as a great watch all the way into its tragic, bittersweet ending.
Something that especially sells Cyberpunk: Edgerunners as an adaptation is how its source material was received when it first premiered. Thanks to repeated delays, the controversy surrounding the production, and a finished product riddled with glitches, Cyberpunk 2077 had one of the most infamous launches of a video game in recent years, and even after numerous patches, the game was still divisive among fans and critics alike. With that in mind, the fact that Studio Trigger's Cyberpunk: Edgerunners was able to find so much success is even more impressive and further emphasizes how strong of a work it was from start to finish.
The Last Of Us
The last, and most recent, show that breaks the video game adaptation curse is HBO’s The Last of Us. The original game won people over for its heart-wrenching human drama against the backdrop of a zombie apocalypse, and the TV show has done a perfect job of capturing that. Every episode has recreated the game down to the last detail, and even when things are changed, the spirit of the source material is still kept alive. All of that makes it a rare adaptation that succeeds in giving people a new version of the original game and then some, giving it plenty to offer for old and new fans alike.
The only current major source of divergence comes from The Last of Us episode 3, and even that greatly plays into the strengths of the show. Episode 3 was devoted entirely to Bill and Frank’s relationship from the game, and while a lot of the details were changed, the episode still kept to the general spirit of the story, even enhancing a great deal with how beautifully tragic it all played out. If The Last of Us is capable of doing something like that so early into its run, then the rest of the show is sure to further cement the idea of it firmly killing the video game adaptation curse.