It may be easy to forget now, but in its heyday the Game of Thrones television series was one of the biggest successes of the century. It became essential viewing for anyone wanting to keep up with pop culture or water cooler talk at the office. More than that, though, Game of Thrones was an adaptation of much-loved source material with very dedicated fans. Inherent in the task of adapting a popular series is the difficulty of navigating expectations and fan theories while creating something new.
The sixth season was notorious for dividing fans of both the Game of Thrones show and books. While much of this does come down to differing interpretations of the cast of characters in Westeros, the bigger issue most fans had was how rushed the later final season felt. Game of Thrones was a very costly show to make and took a great deal of time and energy from all involved in making it. The individual factors that led to the last season feeling so rushed are somewhat debated, as some feel it was due to decisions by D.B. Weiss and David Benioff while others cite choices made by HBO. Regardless, trying to adapt a book that hasn't been written yet poses even more challenges, as without an established canon, any new material made is even more open to interpretation-based criticism. However, a video game has a chance to deliver in a major way, fixing the mistakes of past games and the show itself.
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Character development happens at different rates depending on the media in question. Episodic narratives, such as TV, are generally seen as having more time and room for character development, as it is a long-form of storytelling, meanwhile films usually have less time for individual characters. Long-form storytelling does seem better suited for Game of Thrones, with its enormous cast and sprawling, in-depth history,and this helps explain the series' initial success. However, video games are another medium with even more room for character growth.
The range of games set in Westeros already available is pretty varied. The name of the TV show sets up one of the biggest overarching themes of the A Song of Ice and Fire books, which is that the pursuit of the Iron Throne is very much a calculative and methodical game. As such, there is a handful of strategy-based game adaptations of Game of Thrones, but there are only two prominent full, narrative-driven gameplay experiences of the world of Westeros, that being Telltale's 2014Game of Thrones and a 2012 game of the same name developed by Cyanide.
While Telltale's Game of Thrones was praised in particular for its choice-based play, both Cyanide and Telltale were criticized for having less impressive gameplay and graphics. What made the TV show successful is that it not only had a rich narrative, but it was also a spectacle. The world of Westeros is one of high fantasy with mythical creatures and supernatural events. As such, it should be a spectacle in any visual medium, and no game has yet captured both the narrative and visual elements of Game of Thrones. Thus, the series is rife with material to create a compelling game with a strong narrative and visual elements.
None of this is to say that the previous game adaptations of Game of Thrones aren't good, but simply that there's much more potential. On top of this, gaming also offers a different medium through which the mistakes of the TV show can be remedied. One vital aspect games can implement is choice-based play, like Telltale's Game of Thrones. This mechanic leaves a lot of room to allow for different interpretations and a variety of endings. This alleviates the burden of predicting the contents of The Winds of Winter while still giving fans the opportunity to enjoy new Game of Thrones material.
As so-called 'event TV' (as in, a show that must be watched as soon as it airs to avoid spoilers) fades into the distance with the rise of streaming content, a game creates a perfect opportunity for Game of Thrones to regain its contemporary relevance. With the prequel TV series House of Dragon coming out next year, the pros and cons of telling this story through television will again become all the more apparent. Games offer a lot more time with each character than most TV shows do, so a larger-scale Game of Thrones video game might be the perfect place to expand the world of Westeros that has captivated so many.
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