Which PlayStation game deserves a novelisation?
WHEN HE’S NOT MASSACRING FREAKERS DEACON ST JOHN LIKES TO REFLECT…
With such a vast and well-realised world, and a hero who generally shouts his angst over the roar of a motorbike engine, I’d love to read On The Road… with Deacon St John. The Freaker hunter’s diaries would be a challenging read, and would make for a fantastic prequel- or sequel-set trip into the mind of gaming’s second angriest man™ as he comes to terms with the state of the world around him. There’ll be lost love rekindled, Boozer-fuelled hijinks, and insight into how Deacon has managed to overcome his hatred for the modern world by mastering the theraputic art of fuel tank painting.
STORY IS KING BUT HOW THAT STORY IS CONVEYED HAS GOT TO BE QUEEN.
I still have a lot of love for FromSoftware’s Déraciné, as imperfect as it is. After all, a story gradually revealed through item descriptions is a joy to unpick in a Souls game, working well alongside the trademark exploration and combat, but it holds up less well as the sole focus of a PS VR game. With Life Is Strange’s technically bad ending being more fully explored in comic book form and even Bloodborne receiving a graphic novel adaptation, perhaps Déraciné’s strengths could be elucidated through similar treatment… though I’d say that gothic fairytale illustrations are a must however you do it.
LET CONTROL’S NEW WEIRD INSPIRATIONS BECOME CYCLICAL.
Throughout the development of Control the team at Remedy has consistently cited the new weird genre as a key inspiration – specifically the likes of Jeff VanderMeer’s Southern Reach Trilogy (of which Annihilation was made into a film), and Mark Z Danielewski’s twistyturny House Of Leaves. Either author would do a cracking job of transferring Jesse Faden’s journey onto the page. I’d love to see VanderMeer tackle it, because the Southern Reach Trilogy does an excellent job of presenting the bizarre through the lens of drab-seeming paperwork and reports. It’s a match made in Area X.
JUDGMENT HAS PLENTY OF POTENTIAL TO BE A SUMMER HOLIDAY BESTSELLER.
Crime novels sell like hot cakes, and with the excellent Japanese/ British crime drama Haji/Giri having been on the BBC recently, I reckon I’d be far from alone in welcoming a novelisation of Takayuki Yagami’s detective adventures. Things like the drone races would have to go, but that would leave room for meatier side-stories, in which Yagami really delves into the lives of the people he’s following. And, of course, in print the authors would be more able to dip into the really gory or even saucy bits they can’t get away with putting into a game. Honestly, this could be a whole series of books.