Video games have evolved a lot in recent years, becoming a form of high art unto themselves. In particular, narrative games like The Witcher 3 and Uncharted 4 have received widespread acclaim for their phenomenal writing, representing a trend in games where story, character, and dialogue are as important as graphics or mechanics.
Just as Hollywood is always chasing inspiration, it seems video games have have also come to a point where they are mining literature for ideas, as is indicated by games like the Batman: Arkham series and The Wolf Among Us, both of which are inspired by popular comic series. Keeping this trend in mind, here are ten graphic novels that deserve their own video game.
10 The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
The first entry on this list is the classic graphic novel The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen by Alan Moore, which he originally conceived of as a Justice League story set in Victorian times. The story has a team of literary heroes such as Captain Nemo, Mr. Hyde, and Mina Harker as they brush up against iconic villains such as Fu Manchu and Professor Moriarty.
The range of characters and powers would make this a great steampunk adventure game, while also offering some unique multiplayer options. The hardest part about adapting it would be convincing creator Alan Moore to approve.
9 Wytches
Horror games are hard to do right, but the graphic novel Wytches by Scott Snyder and Jock is perhaps the perfect story to be adapted into a narrative horror game. The story focuses on the relationship between a father, Charlie, who is a recovering alcoholic, and his daughter, Sailor, who suffers from panic attacks. After Sailor survives an attack from a local bully with a gun, the family relocate to a new town, but there are mysterious creatures in the woods which take note of the family, even breaking into their home.
This story mixes the vulnerability of growing up with the terrors of parenthood, combining real-life horror in a small town with supernatural elements. It has all the elements to make a great horror mystery game.
8 Wayward
Wayward is a comic about a group of young people living in modern-day Tokyo, struggling with new powers as they confront various monsters and spirits from Japan’s feudal past. As the old monsters fight for their place in a modern world, this new generation of young heroes grapple with coming of age as they are caught between modernism and the spiritual powers of the past.
The diverse group of characters have unique powers. The original protagonist Rori Lane, has an Irish father, a Japanese mother, and the powers to see the strings of fate and use kanji to perform magic. Other characters include Ohara Emi, who can manipulate plastics, the cat-spirit Ayane, and Shirai Tomihiro, who eats ghosts to gain physical strength. This would make for an amazing fantasy RPG with fun gameplay mechanics and profound philosophical nuance about Japan’s contemporary youth culture.
7 Bitch Planet
Bitch Planet is a dystopian story based on the “women in prison” subgenre of exploitation films. Set in a future where women can be jailed off planet for being non-compliant to the patriarchy, this series is already beloved by fans for its unapologetic attitude.
There are two ways this game could be adapted. As a survival game, this could force players to adapt to the horrors of prison, then stage a breakout. However, another option is to take the same premise as a cyberpunk action RPG, allowing characters to feel empowered by dealing more damage as they lash out at their oppressive captors.
6 Y: The Last Man
Y: The Last Man is the massively popular dystopian post-apocalyptic series by writer Brian Vaughan and artist Pia Guerra. After a mysterious event kills every animal on Earth with a Y chromosome, the only cis males left alive are a twenty-something-year-old English lit graduate named Yorick and his pet monkey. Yorick is accompanied by Agent 355 and Dr. Allison Mann who travel across the war-torn ravaged US with Yorick, trying to get him to a lab in San Francisco where he can hopefully be cloned.
This series is already being adapted into a TV show on FX, but it is rife with potential for an action-horror RPG. It also would be a great way to deconstruct the usual male video game heroes while posing major questions about society. Also, as Yorick’s greatest skills are his charisma and training as an escape artist, this could make for some unique game mechanics.
5 Black Summer
Writer Warren Ellis has written a number of sci-fi dramas about what real-life superheroes might look like, of which Black Summer is the most suited for video game adaptation.
The story focuses on a group of young men and women who augmented their own bodies and gave themselves superpowers, calling themselves “Guns,” as they are functionally living weapons. When one of their number assassinates the President, the rest are hunted down by the government. This deeply political series could be the next cyberpunk hit to dominate the cultural landscape as it perfectly bridges the gap between humanity and the post-human existence of superheroes.
4 Goddess Mode
Goddess Mode is another cyberpunk graphic novel, albeit one far less dark and depressing than Black Summer. It is also one of the last comics produced by DC’s Vertigo imprint.
What makes Goddess Mode so interesting is that it adapts classic cyberpunk elements of exploring class struggles through the ways technology dominates society while also presenting a supernatural demonic element. It involves over-the-top powers and sassy dialogue, but also a sense of helplessness at the brutality of economic hardships. The story even has gaming references written into the plot.
3 Pax Romana
The premise of Pax Romana is pretty straightforward: after time travel is discovered by a Vatican scientist, the Catholic Church sends a team back to ancient Rome to take over the Roman Empire with modern weapons and make the entire world a single Catholic empire. Upon arriving in the past, the leader of the operation is assassinated and infighting breaks out among the different factions.
This story could be turned into a light novel that emulates the comic’s unique visual style, but it would probably work best as a real time strategy game where players command Roman armies equipped with modern weapons.
2 Monstress
The Hugo Award-winning comic Monstress is a steampunk horror series inspired by a mixture of late 19th-early 20th Century cultures and the cosmic horror of H. P. Lovecraft. The story follows Maika Halfwolf, a teenage girl with ties to ancient eldritch gods.
The world of Monstress is a matriarchy in which the animal-like Arcanics are engaged in a war with the humanoid magi known as Cumaea. This would be ideal for a dark fantasy RPG and lends itself to a really twisted magic system.
1 Lazarus
The final entry on this list is Greg Rucka and Michael Lark’s Lazarus. In the near future, the world has been completely privatized as the world’s richest families have taken over everything. Each family has a guardian, their Lazarus, who fights for the interests of that family.
While the main character of the comic is the Carlyle family’s Lazarus, Forever Carlyle, it would be far more interesting to see a game that followed a different Lazarus within the world. The series would be at its best as an techno-thriller that mixes action and stealth elements in the manner of Metal Gear Solid. A tabletop RPG for Lazarus already exists, showing the comic is a natural fit to be adapted into a game.
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