'The Last of Us': Why is it best videogame adaptation
What's the story
Any gamer would recall 2016 as a year of painfully bad adaptations—Warcraft, Assassin's Creed, and Resident Evil: The Final Chapter. But the scenario changed thereafter with the surge of good adaptations including 2019's Detective Pikachu and Sonic the Hedgehog. Until the flawless adaptation of HBO's The Last of Us earned the reputation of "best videogame adaptation ever." Let's decode how this happened. Spoilers ahead!
Series vs Game
Faithfulness to the source material has played a big role
Showrunners Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann took the hefty challenge of adapting a beloved 2013 game, well-cemented in gamers' minds. The team took liberty while staying true to the source material. The game has one of the most memorable openings, while the show elaborates on the happenings before everything comes crashing down, allowing us to spend ample time with Joel's (Pedro Pascal) daughter Sarah.
Deviations
Deviations from the source material also contributed to success
The biggest deviation came in the third episode which offered a completely different image of Bill (Nick Offerman). Bill is an interesting character in the game, but the showrunners focused on him being a hardened survivor, who is delicate, too. Another major deviation was the transformation of the character of Sam (Keivonn Woodard)—a young boy surviving with his older brother—into a deaf character.
Importance of deviations
Why these deviations were in fact necessary?
Social media is awash with endless debate on how creators deviated from the storyline. Notably, while keeping the original material intact, the creators have just added emotions. When Joel gives Ellie a boost before she lowers a ladder for him, or when Joel acknowledges to Tommy that he cares for the girl, are small gestures that added a whole new meaning to the storyline.
Cast
A perfectly chosen cast that delivered strong performances
Be it Game of Thrones, or The Mandalorian, Pascal has over the years shown his acting prowess and the ability to get into the skin of the character. It was Pascal's charm that endeared Joel to the audience. Meanwhile, Bella Ramsey's innate quality of capturing the intricate details of a character was widely appreciated. She portrays Ellie who is a pugnacious, hard-to-tackle young girl.
Technical aspects
Showrunners showed impressive control over technicalities
Apart from an incredible storyline, the game was widely lauded for its stunning visuals. Bringing a dark world to "light" quite literally, and making a post-apocalyptic world appealing to the eyes, is a task that was brilliantly done by the team in the series. Especially, the shift to Kansas City in Episode 4 and the grisly details that followed, were amazingly captured with brilliance.
Season 2
Season 2 has been confirmed by the creators
After the successful run of Season 1, the second installment was confirmed by the makers. Notably, the sequel of the game contains some truly gory sequences as the story advances on the evolution of the infected; the fans are excited to witness whether the showrunners will be able to capture the grisly details this time. Season 2 will land on HBO sometime in 2025.