why original video games can never make it to the top

This is probably the most anticipated series earlier this year: The Last of We finally revealed to the general public, and what’s more, just in time in France on Prime Video. Adapted from the popular cult game released ten years ago, the series is directed by Neil Druckmann, who is already the creative director of the video game franchise.

The first episode is out and the reviews have received rave reviews, both from the press and the public. And it’s deservedly: the actors excel in their roles, the sets are amazing, the story makes a lot of sense and the stakes are very well set from the very first episode.

Those who have played the game are perhaps the most demanding segment of the audience, especially when we know that adaptations of video game franchises on the small or big screen have also made quite a mark in 7th history. as the 10th art.

But then again, Neil Druckmann wasn’t wrong. The adaptation is perfect, almost too bold we say. And at the same time, the advantage of dealing with games like Last of uswhich is very cinematic and linear at its core, it’s much more natural than adapting a platform game like sonic or one rail shooter as tea House of the Dead – never again a Uwe Boll film, never again.

First episode of Last of usa little over an hour, it’s almost a copy, word for word, picture by picture of… the game’s first hour. A parallelism that has not gone unnoticed by fans:

There’s definitely added, a bit more contextualization, strengthening of characters and relationships, but roughly speaking, the series seems to be progressing at about the same rate as the game interrogates. To finish the game Last of usif you go straight, don’t skip the cutscenes and have none the game has ended, you will take about ten hours. The HBO series is divided into nine episodes with an ending that’s about the same length – or maybe even a bit longer.

However, video games will always be more effective at sucking you into the story – and the emotion, as Zizou would say.

Please note that the following line contains spoilers from the first episode of the series and a fortiori since the first hour of the match Last of us.

Intro scene, let’s talk about it. Feared by those who have played the game, Sarah’s death was adapted into live action. Joel’s daughter being shot by a soldier is an event that will forever mark the character played by Pedro Pascal. In the series, the scene occurs after more than thirty minutes of intrigue.

In the game, right after a brief fourteen minutes, half the time it takes to cling to the characters so we end up witnessing, helplessly, this traumatic cinematic – and right before the title of the game pops up. However… the game is still just as effective, if not more so.

But additions to the series are welcome, whether it’s the intro scene that anticipates and scientifically explains cordyceps infection in humans or the small everyday life bits of Sarah’s last day. Empathy must be created and half an hour is needed in a series to then be able to shed tears – real gamers cried ten minutes before.

But video games inherently have something that the series never will: it’s a game. The medium is active unlike watching a series (and don’t talk to me about Bandersnatch). When you control, PS4 controller in hand, Joel holding Sarah, when you struggle through multiple QTEs against the first infected in a burning city, the immersion has its effect. You are directly connected to the character because you control it, you played your character.

So of course, when, after fourteen minutes, you lose control of the situation and witness the murder of your little daughter while banging on your now useless controller: you are going crazy. Because that’s the power of video games: you give up control and you take it roughly at the will of its creator.

Let’s be clear, don’t see any reproach on the series. For now, the first episode seems to be thanking the original work, and additions here and there are seamlessly integrated. I can’t wait to see the bias of the series as well as any additional explanation, even if I go platinum with the game and therefore do read all the little optional journal entries that teach us more about the lore of Last of us.

In fact, looking Last of us, it’s also to remember all the beauty of base games and even video games in general, of the immersive power that comes from holding a simple controller. And for that, thank you.