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meowskywalker t1_j9pxpnz wrote

Arcane is an excellent show, but as someone who never played LoL how much of it is actually an “adaptation”? Does the game somehow explain that Vi and Jinx grew up raised by Vander and then we’re separated and taken in by various factions in the criminal underground, their eventual reunification marred and eventually ruined by the affection Vi has for a pretty young cop lady? Or is it’s like “Vi and Jinx are sisters who hate each other, now fight!”? It’s a hell of a lot easier to “adapt” a game which contains little to no plot (though admittedly the three mortal Kombat movies and a tv show and a weird web series suggests you can still fuck it up even then.)

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Chlodio t1_j9qxer4 wrote

It's an adaptation of trivia. Each champion has like 200-word background lore, and the show is essentially an adaption of Jinx's and Vi's lore.

The main lore of LOL revolves around two factions resettling their differences by playing a game in which they possess powerful individuals (like Jinx and Vi).

So, a proper adaptation of LoL would be Hunger Games mixed with Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (in which the Rock plays the game character, Dr. Bravestone who is possessed by a nerdy high schooler).

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ilessworrier t1_j9reqjw wrote

>It’s a hell of a lot easier to “adapt” a game which contains little to no plot...

That's like saying, it's much easier draw a figure with no model. Unless, what you meant by "easier" is that there're less restrictions and more freedom to come up with something original.

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Escaho t1_j9tlyrn wrote

That's definitely what they meant, that it's easier to create an original plot involving two (or more) central characters when each character's background, personality, and physical appearance have already been created.

In Arcane, the writers had free reign in writing story lines as long as they stuck to the basics of the lore (Vi and Jinx being sisters; Vi acquiring her gauntlets; Jinx going "crazy"; both being at-odds with each other), including the lore of other characters added into the show (Jayce developing hextech and becoming a leader; Viktor eventually ending up as he does in the game; Caitlyn becoming Sheriff of Piltover; Ekko developing his 'powers'; etc.).

In The Last of Us, the video game is the story line. It tells the entire thing from start to finish. The story of Joel and Ellie in the first season must start with Joel meeting Ellie (Point A) and end with the decision Joel makes at the end (Point B). There is no room to maneuver there for the writers, other than how the story gets from Point A to Point B (and they've cleverly added in some flashback material to flesh out certain characters and some key questions surrounding the infection).

While Arcane is certainly exceptional in its creativity, its aesthetic, its marriage of action and dramatic tension, and its engaging cast of characters, it certainly had an easier time offering something new for viewers compared to The Last of Us.

With that said, I think both are exceptional.

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