5 Video Game Adaptations We Really Want To See

Here are our suggestions for Video Game Adaptations that should hit the small screen.

With HBO's The Last of Us being a smashing success and breaking records left and right, we've been thinking about what other games could be brought to TV shows next. There are many games out there with amazing stories that would do well on TV and streaming services worldwide.

So here is ESTNN‘s list of video games we'd love to see adapted on TV. To make it a little more fun, we won't suggest anything that is either based/influenced by TV/movies/comics (sorry Ghost of Tsushima) or anything that already got adapted in some shape or form.

ESTNN's Most Wanted Video Game Adaptations

1. Dishonored

Just because of its unique aesthetic alone, the world of Dishonored deserves to be adapted into a TV show. Be it animated similarly to the brilliant Arcane which is based on League of Legends, or turned into a full-on prestige TV drama.

You wouldn't even have to follow the plot of the games either, the world of Dishonored still has many more stories to tell. The mysterious Outside has his cursed fingerprints all over the poor citizens of Dunwall and the world beyond.

But we'd lie if we didn't want to see Corvo's be realized on the small screen. Especially with the added context and background we have on him from the sequel. A TV show could also give us some insight into his mind during the events of the first game and make him more of a character like he was in the sequel.

Dishonored already has everything HBO loves! Violence, a troubled father figure coming to grips with his responsibilities in a political drama that pits the rich and powerful against the poor. And then there's Billie Lurk's and Daud's story which pits them against supernatural powers far out of their control.

This writes itself! And give Arcane Studios some love while you're reading this, and play the Dishonored games.

2. Final Fantasy XIV

Technically we're breaking our rules here. Final Fantasy had a movie with Spirits Within that, while called a Final Fantasy movie, has no ties to the game franchise at all. And there are also two tie movies with Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children and Final Fantasy XV: Kingsglaive.

Since every mainline Final Fantasy is its own thing, we're just gonna ignore this. And we don't even need to make up something, a few years ago, there was the idea of a Final Fantasy XIV TV show by the creators of The Witcher thrown around.

And we can't think of any better place than Eorzea finding its way to the small screen.

The critically acclaimed MMORPG is a rich and developed world that still has many stories to tell. So why even adapt the player's journey to becoming the Warrior of Light? Why not use the game's expansive lore to make an anthology series focusing on the world of Hydaelyn and its people?

You could base it around a ragtag group of adventurers getting involved with the higher powers. Or focus on smaller characters, similar to the small stories you can read on FFXIV's webpage.

But if whoever is potentially making this show is going to adapt the game's story in an abridged story. Do us all a favor and cast Joe Dempsie as the Warrior of Light! He's familiar with the role and looks the part.

3. Bloodborne

The setting of Bloodborne, FromSoftware's masterpiece, would make a perfect backdrop for a TV show. And instead of setting it during the events of the game, you have the show explore the characters and happenings that led to the downfall of the City of Yharnam.

Unlike other games that live under the Soulsborne banner, Bloodborne's story is almost wholly explained within the context of the game. It makes it perfect for an adaptation because it doesn't have to rely on the cryptic descriptions of other games in FromSoftware's recent catalog.

Just imagine a show that follows the exploits of Gehrman, the first Hunter as he and his colleagues slowly discover the mess they've created. From the creation of the Hunters Workshop to whatever led to the total collapse of Yharnam's society.

And the show could end with the player character, the good hunter entering Yharnam in the hope of finding a cure.

There are so many characters to explore, which, thanks to the immaculate work already done in the game, would be so easy to flesh out. And if there's any aspiring screenwriter out there or you just want to know more about Bloodborne, read the fantastic Paleblood Hunt written by Redgrave.

4. Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together

While we're unsure if you could adapt Tactics Ogre, the grid-based strategy RPG as a TV show. The drama between the characters and the story is perfectly suited for television.

Live-action or anime, doesn't matter, Yasugami Matsuno's, even as it stands today, makes many modern titles and prestige TV shows look like they aren't even trying. Even the former titan and landmark show Game of Thrones only comes close to the gutwrenching twists Tactics Ogre throws at the player.

Denam's journey from bright-eyed revolutionary to battle-hardened warrior is the kind of tale everyone can get behind. In the game, the narrative twists and turns really hit because the player's actions are what drove those events.

In an adaptation, we could explore Denam as a person who struggles to keep his head straight in a world all too keen to just leave him behind. It would also open up the opportunity to explore the side characters by interweaving them into the story.

Unlike any other games and shows of its type, Tactics Ogre's biggest strength in its writing was its ability to humanize every person you came across. And that should easily translate into a TV show.

5. Kenshi

While Kenshi is the underdog on this list, that doesn't mean it isn't deserving of a TV adaptation. Its status as a niche survival sim, set in a world that is so unlike anything else out there, already sets it apart from everything else on this list.

Kenshi happens when you take Mad Max, Western, Samurai movies, and Sci-Fi and set it in a strange place where moral values can only carry you so far. And that's why it would be perfect for an anthology TV show.

The world of Lo-Fi Games RPG is a blank canvas in the game and could also serve as a blank canvas for a television series. There is everything from cannibals and slavers roaming vast deserts, and monster-invested swamps with the occasional leftovers of ancient, very advanced civilizations to holy empires.

Why not use this background to tell the stories of several unrelated characters as they get into mind-boggling scenarios? The story of the show could be based on retellings of recent savegames. Kenshi already exists as an engine to tell interesting stories, so why not make use of it?