Classic Literature as Insipiration for Video Games

[Mutatis-Mutandis]

If you haven't heard, there is a new video game coming out called Dante's Inferno, and you guessed it, it is is based on Dante's epic poem, The Divine Comedy.

As far as I know, this is the first direct video game adaptation of a classic piece of literature. Sure, the God of War franchise bases a lot on Greek mythology (and is not the only game to do so), and there are many games with a historical context, or games that even refer to literature, but Dante's Inferno is the first to claim total inspiration from a piece of literature, and that it is from a centuries old poem is rather daring. No other game has done this, barring a Robin Hood or Hercules (or something along those lines) game I'm not aware of.

Now, the game developers do not claim to be making a exact adaptation, they are taking many liberties. You have to if you want to turn Dante's poem into a hack and slash game. They are basing the story of the game on it--a man chasing his lost love through hell. Most of the inspiration comes from the vivid imagery of the poem, as the hero (who they have named Dante for the game) traverses the circles of hell.

Now, some are undoubtedly going to look at this in disgust, and think it is disgraceful because of what they are using Dante's poem for. The only reason I will think it is disgraceful is if the game turns out to be a piece of crap, something that seems unlikely from what I've seen of the game. I think this is a great idea actually. If anything, it will make kids (and adults) aware of the poem, and maybe it will even lead some to read it. And maybe some will enjoy it. And maybe some will go on to read more literature. A lot of maybes, sure, and probably unrealistic, but it could happen. I think making people aware of the literature is something positive in of itself.

So, there are two things I wanted to bring up for discussion. First, what do you think of classic literature inspiring video games? Good idea, horrible idea? And second (and this one could be more for the gamers that must be lurking on these forums) what other pieces of classic literature could be used for video games? Modern sci-fi and fantasy doesn't count, as a multitude of Lord of the Rings games already exist. Ones that came to my mind are The Three Musketeers, The Odyssey, and as mentioned above, Robin Hood.

A demonstration for Dante's Inferno can be seen here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSr_vMOXEH4

[JBI]

My question is a) what will the game play be like, and b) who will the targeted audience be for the game. It isn't a fighting game surely, as Dante doesn't fight - it isn't a puzzle game, as Dante doesn't solve puzzles - what could it possibly be, if it is close to the text, and if it isn't, why bother with it anyway?

edit: this from wikipedia:

Dante's Inferno is based on the first part of Dante's Divine Comedy. The player controls Dante, a veteran of the Crusades who must chase his beloved Beatrice and free her soul from Lucifer. As his pursuit takes him through the 9 Circles of Hell, he must battle monsters and face his sins, his family's past, and his war crimes.

That's not just an insult to history, and to literature, but an insult to Italian culture. Sorry, I don't care how good the game play is, that's insulting to the history of the text - Dante was not even alive for the major crusades, the last one, which wasn't really one, taking place in 1272, when he was 7. But then again, the rest of the plot seems contrived, and essentially misses the whole purpose of the text, and what Dante stood for.

Perhaps though, the action fighting could be fun, but I doubt it - I bet the game is tedious, it certainly sounds tedious.

[Mutatis-Mutandis]

The game actually looks excellent. The gameplay looks very similar to the God of War series (should be in the video). The game looks very polished and well made. If you don't like the style of those games, then you obviously won't like it.

Like I said, the developers have already admitted that the most inspiration for the game comes from the poem's imagery. I don't see how it is insulting . . . it is basically an homage to the poem.

And it is targeted to the same audience that all video games are: gamers.

[islandclimber]

wow... that's pretty brutal...

How about a game for Crime and Punishment getting to run around as Raskolnikov would be quite interesting...

Or a Shakespeare game, where one got to play Characters from the plays... Extreme Hamlet! or Romeo and Juliet! ahh, what large corporations won't do for money...

I don't think this game will at all increase the number of people who read Dante... Or will really even increase awareness of his work... I just don't see a video game doing that...

[Mutatis-Mutandis]

I have no doubt that it will at least increase awareness of his work among gamers. The magazines, articles, and TV shows that have featured stories about the game have not at all been shy about highlighting the fact that it is based on the poem. So, really, it has already increased awareness, lol.

[islandclimber]

but everyone has heard of Dante, and the Divine Comedy (or so I would hope)... do you honestly think this video game will increase the number of people who read it?

[Dr. Hill]

I would play a Crime and Punishment game. It'd be like the Sims for several days and then a moment of Assassin's Creed, then the Sims for several days.

[JBI]

wow... that's pretty brutal...

How about a game for Crime and Punishment getting to run around as Raskolnikov would be quite interesting...

Or a Shakespeare game, where one got to play Characters from the plays... Extreme Hamlet! or Romeo and Juliet! ahh, what large corporations won't do for money...

I don't think this game will at all increase the number of people who read Dante... Or will really even increase awareness of his work... I just don't see a video game doing that...

You may want to take a look at this movie gag:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1N-BHH4B31A

[Mutatis-Mutandis]

In reference to islandclimber:

You may hope, but I really doubt that. I know most of my friends (outside of college) have no idea who Dante is or that the poem even exists. If I asked them who Dante was, most would probably say that guy with the big sword from the Devil May Cry games.

And, I do believe the game will increase the number of people who read it. Realistically, hundreds of thousand of people will play this game. Of all those people, I do not think it is a stretch to think some of them will seek out the poem, especially since it is in the public domain. Hell, the game itself might even come with the poem. I wouldn't be surprised if it did.

[JBI]

In reference to islandclimber:

You may hope, but I really doubt that. I know most of my friends (outside of college) have no idea who Dante is or that the poem even exists. If I asked them who Dante was, most would probably say that guy with the big sword from the Devil May Cry games.

And, I do believe the game will increase the number of people who read it. Realistically, hundreds of thousand of people will play this game. Of all those people, I do not think it is a stretch to think some of them will seek out the poem, especially since it is in the public domain. Hell, the game itself might even come with the poem. I wouldn't be surprised if it did.

It won't matter - the poem is still going to be significant whether they like it or not, or read it or not - millions of people will read it, as, quite simply, it has a language essentially based on it. What the game does, essentially, is cause confusion, by giving people a false portrait of Dante - Dante as sword wielding Crusader trying to save the sluttish Beatrice from the depths of hell or whatever.

I don't know though - personally I like video games to be 2d, and not require thinking. As soon as they turned 3d, they essentially lost any appeal they may have had for me.

[JacobF]

As someone who shares an equal passion for both video games and literature, I didn't revolt in disgust when I first heard about this game, but I didn't care for it either, and I still don't. Not only does it sound like a shameless cash-in on a classic work of literature almost to the point where it's a parody, but an unimaginative derivation of two well done action games, Ninja Gaiden and God of War.

So quite simply, it seems like a mediocre game. The best video games, like the best works of literature, have their own original universes and characters (from a single player perspective). Dante's Inferno doesn't sound like it has an iota of originality, other than the fact that it's the first game to claim that it bases itself off a classic poem.

So, there are two things I wanted to bring up for discussion. First, what do you think of classic literature inspiring video games? Good idea, horrible idea?

It's difficult to say because I've never observed any direct inspiration from classical literature in video games. I'm sure if you tried hard enough you could point out a game with deep characters, such as Grand Theft Auto IV or Mass Effect, and find character or plot parallels with classical works, but I think that would be purely incidental and I doubt that game developers have ever consciously drawn inspiration from classical literature (except for Dante's Inferno). I have, however, seen allusions to classics; the "vorpal sword" from Jabberwocky can be found in many fantasy games, for instance.

But games are above all a form of entertainment, so my knee-jerk judgment tells me that it's best to leave the classics alone, especially when the "inspiration" is so brute force as in Dante's Inferno.

And second (and this one could be more for the gamers that must be lurking on these forums) what other pieces of classic literature could be used for video games?

Since you have limited the definition of classics to exclude modern fantasy and sci-fi, I guess I have to revert back to my previous statement and say it's best not to "use" pieces of classical literature for video games. Many games get a lot of inspiration from science fiction and fantasy novels (Dune and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea come to mind), though the most impacting sources of inspiration for video games are movies.

And maybe some will enjoy it. And maybe some will go on to read more literature. A lot of maybes, sure, and probably unrealistic, but it could happen. I think making people aware of the literature is something positive in of itself.

I'm sure quite a few gamers will enjoy the game (it has flashy graphics!) but I doubt it will encourage them to read more literature. There are gamers who read and gamers who don't read. We live in a generally literate culture, libraries are available, so if the latter group really wanted to read they would be reading by now. I grew up with both video games and books: I learned about video games when I turned on my parents' Original NES, and I learned about books from finding my Dad's old Hardy Boys collection. Books inspire people to read, not video games.

[Adagio]

Hmm. I'm not sure about this one. I think the game itself, whether based off of Dante's comedy or not, looks awful.

As for the game bringing awareness to Dante's epic poem, well, it just sounds like a conjured up excuse. I mean look at the majority of films out there, most of the storylines are from novels. I have never, and I mean NEVER watched a film, thought 'yeah okay, that was awesome, now let's read the novel!', it just doesn't work like that. A huge part of reading a novel (especially those who aren't literature lovers) is the plotline's mystery - being revealed chapter by chapter. For example, look at The Lord of the Rings trilogy - the films make the story seem action packed and fast paced with that hollywood cringe for comedy. Let's face it the majority of society, whilst they may read, aren't literature lovers who would pick up The Divine Comedy, or Shakespeare, or Milton, or even Dostoevsky for a fun and entertaining read. It just doesn't happen. What on earth could make you possibly think that a game, whos audience is targeted at teenagers and video-game lovers, is going to attract anyone pick up Dante's poem? Come on now. Even if they did, after playing a slash-'em-the-****-up like that, they will be disappointed with the poet. I am a lover of films, I must say. Brokeback Mountain blew me away, I haven't read the book, but that kind of acting is superb and I could really enjoy the storyline. As a child I read, and adored, the Harry Potter series. Now I know alot of people on here slate them and against writers like Shakespeare, Dante etc. she doesn't compare. However, this author first started this passion that I have for literature. I remember when a new book would come out and you could guarantee that on that day thousands of children would be reading - with passion, with excitement, with fury and would understand the power literature has. Now look at these films. Children will no longer queue for a book. They won't be up until the late hours gripped with finding out what happens next. No, instead literature's pages are burnt as our 21st century technology proceeds to wipe it out. This game won't bring awareness; it will throw Dante futher into the shadows. All they have left is to turn it into a movie and completely destroy it.

It is a shame. Games used to be great. I mean look at the Metal Gear and Final Fantasy series - they are beyond awesome. I think gamers should stick to writing their own storylines, they work best that way. If it were up to me I'd ban these companies for turning literature into some kind of heartless trash. I cannot help feel sorry for these writers as their works of art are destroyed and distorted. I mean, it's absurd if you think about it, you don't get people reworking Monet's paintings and making money off of it, so why should people create a brutal (don't even get me started on the violence) retelling of an epic poem and collect their pay?

[Madame X]

It's difficult to say because I've never observed any direct inspiration from classical literature in video games. I'm sure if you tried hard enough you could point out a game with deep characters, such as Grand Theft Auto IV or Mass Effect, and find character or plot parallels with classical works, but I think that would be purely incidental and I doubt that game developers have ever consciously drawn inspiration from classical literature (except for Dante's Inferno).

Call of Cthulhu is shamelessly fashioned after Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos...not classical literature, per se. But then there's always Bible Adventures for, but not necessarily sanctioned by, the NES.

[lattywatty]

I think teenage boys (the game's target audience) couldn't care less about the origin behind the game (sorry for generalising; I'm a teenage boy myself!) so I don't think it'll increase awareness at all. In fact, I expect many won't even realise that it's from that and think that it's an original story.

As for other games that could work... Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde? It could be a mix of action, stealth and substance-mixing?

But any game deriving from any book would be emphasised a great deal and most of the time I expect the story will be lost along the way.

They could surprise us with an epic Shakespeare game though... who knows?

[Paulclem]

I think there is a lot of scope for the use of classic literature in games. There are already lots that have been mentioned already, and I could add James Bond on the PS2. Why not? Games andbooks target different audiences, and there's nothing wrong with that. The Divine Comedy game is just a setting really- though I speak with no knowledge of it.

Teenage boys grow up and develop new interests too. Who can say what will lead people to literature. It probably won't be a game, but no mater. They stand on their own reputation.