Transistor/Bastion
In 2011, Supergiant Games released Bastion, an isometric action-RPG about a young adult in a dying world whose adventures were narrated by a man with a disturbingly sexy voice. Last year, Supergiant released Transistor, an isometric action-RPG about a young adult in a dying world whose sole companion was a sword with a disturbingly sexy voice. It’d be wrong to say that Transistor is just Bastion with a sci-fi palette swap and a female protagonist, but the similarities between them are fairly solid. Instead of choosing one over the other for a film, why not opt to bundle them together, Cloud Atlas style?
The Wachowskis’ 2012 action/sci-fi film dealt with multiple lives spanning different generations, genders, and races. In one moment, viewers would see Tom Hanks and Halle Berry in 1849, and in the next, Seoul, North Korea in the year 2144. The Supergiant double feature could take a page from this as an animated film with two different art styles, alternating between the adventures of the Kid and Red in their respective worlds and showing how his actions affected hers. The subtlest connection between the two is Logan Cunningham, who voices the Old Man in Bastion and the titular Transistor. He can be the audience POV and provide insight into the minds of both protagonists.
Infamous
Superheroes are all the rage right now, so what’s another one to add? Sucker Punch’s superhero games have delivered plenty of times on the promise of fun powers and interesting characters. Combined with the fact that the Infamous games are drawn primarily from comics and had two tie-in comics, and it seems like a no-brainer for the series. In fact, the original game was optioned for a film back in 2009, but nothing has come of it as of yet. There is one angle they can explore, however…
Infamous 2 ended in two very different ways, with Cole McGrath giving up his life to save the world as a Hero, the aftermath of which we’ve already seen with Second Son. Sucker Punch tends to go with the good endings as canon due to reading trophy data, but fans were excited at the prospect of being able to continue the series as an evil Cole, going around the United States and starting new Conduits. A film about Cole’s further reign of terror would be pretty fun to watch. The lack of interactivity would be worth it if it meant he was wrecking shit with his army of Conduits in glorious CG action goodness. Hell, they could even throw Delsin in there as a bit of a continuity nod.
Disney Infinity
Yes, seriously, Disney Infinity. Never mind that the games are made up of different franchises that are owned by the ultra powerful Disney corporation. The success of the Lego Movie has already spawned a potential copycat in the form of an upcoming Minecraft movie. So at this point, a Disney Infinity movie seems like something that’ll happen within the next few years. No way they’ll skip out on that gold mine.
And you know what? That’d be awesome. Honestly, all the probable film would have to do is look at what made the Lego Movie a success and draw from that. The Disney library is as large and expansive as Lego’s, with even more locations to choose from. The classic Disney Animation formula would be fun at work here, with musical numbers that poke fun at the random characters showing up in the Disney universe. Have a Frozen number that transitions to Big Hero 6 and Star Wars. Have someone like Woody or Buzz just screw around and swap out the background environment! Get the Lonely Island to make an annoyingly catchy song!
No More Heroes
Suda51 is a name quirky auteur gamers know well. As the brainiac behind games like Killer7, Shadows of the Damned, and Let It Die, he’s known for his rather…odd tendencies, leave it at that. Perhaps the weirdest of these titles was No More Heroes, a Wii game where players had a laser sword that they could recharge by shaking the Wiimote. Yeah…that was a thing that happened. Still, Suda51’s jabs at otaku culture and fun combat made for two pretty solid games. Fans dug the quirky sense of humor and rather rewarding motion control gameplay that the games offered them.
A third entry in the near future seems unlikely, but there wouldn’t be anything wrong with a theatrical film. The odds of it are unlikely, sure, but given the recent trend of stylish action movies with goofy sense of humor, why couldn’t No More Heroes be made into a film? Travis Touchdown’s rise from loser to master assassin is classic “hero’s journey”, and add in the sprinkles of some naughty or oddball humor like Deadpool or Edgar Wright, and you’ve got a fun film on your hands. There’s an easy in as far as the marketing goes; it’s a dude with spiked hair and a laser sword, what more do you need? Maybe dial it back on that whole sword shaking thing, though.
Legend of Zelda Games
A Legend of Zelda Netflix series was sort of hinted at earlier this year, but nothing’s come of it since then. Nintendo hasn’t optioned any of their IPs for live action films since the disaster that was Super Mario Bros, and the less said about Pixels, the better. Still, if any of their stuff could work as a feature film series, the Zelda games would most certainly be it. Fans commonly say they want it as an anime affair, but there’s no reason it can’t be live action. After six Lord of the Rings movies, live action should definitely be considered for these movies.
A Zelda movie would be more than just an excuse to give the series the Lord of the Rings treatment it deserves. It’d be the chance to explore a new aspect of the Zelda universe and throw some curveballs to what fans have expected from the games. The mythology has stated that Zelda, Link, and Ganon are in a constantly repeating cycle of reincarnation. The games don’t always go into the relationship between the three, or if any of them are aware of this cycle; why not start with the three of them as friends and one of them looking to change their fate? This could even be the chance to show Link as a girl, something fans have been asking for for quite some time now. A female-led Zelda movie, along with a game to go out around the same time would be pretty badass.
Destiny
When screenshots of Destiny first came out, people said that it evoked feelings of Star Wars, and it’s easy to see why. The game and its expansions definitely give off that vibe, from the space opera music and environments to the alien races and terminology carved out through the grand lore. Granted, the writing didn’t properly get that across all too well, but they are taking steps to remedy that with the upcoming expansion. But that and future games won’t answer absolutely every question fans have about the world, so a movie would go a long way at clearing stuff up.
Characterization was one of the big gripes about the story in Destiny, namely that there weren’t characters so much as just dudes standing around and speaking vague cosmic claptrap. We don’t even have time to explain why we don’t have time to explain the issues with the Stranger. A film about the Stranger and the group of people she works with would be ideal. This would be a chance to actually show what makes her different from the Guardians and the different ways one fights the Darkness. Do they engage in covert ops? Provide relief aid for those on other planets affected by the Darkness? How do they gain the information on the enemy they do? These are all questions the film could answer. Failing that, why not show us the Collapse that started before the games? An epic alien vs. superpowered alien war would be pretty awesome to watch. Think Star Wars with the action amped up to 11. And of course, it needs to have the special musical treatment that only Marty O’Donnell and Paul McCartney can bring.
Like our list? Disagree? What games do you think would make great movies? Let us know in the comments below.
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