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Jaicee on 16 January 2023
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the-pi-guy said:

I plan to talk more about how I thought about this first episode in a while, maybe tonight.

Jaicee said:

That said, the question emerges as to whether or not the existence of this show is merited.

I wanted to prod about this first. 

I feel like there are a lot of ways to answer that question. 

For fans of TLOU the game, does it have merit?

For people that don't game, does it have merit?

As a fan of TLOU, I mostly felt like I wanted to just return to the game. This did an amazing job of translating the game to a tv show. It feels worth watching to me as a fan, but it doesn't feel like I would miss that much if I were to just play the game. It's in a weird middle ground for me. I'm going to watch it, probably going to get it on blu-ray, and I'm certainly going to love watching the rest of it. But it doesn't replace the game in any major sense. If I had the choice of one or the other, so far it's pretty clearly the game.

But I also know people that don't game that game, and I'm absolutely thrilled this exists. Because I think this is a chance for them to get into the experience. And I think there's a chance for them, it might end up being the other around. Where they don't need to play the game, they might not feel the game has enough differences to be better, but they can still enjoy the world as part of the TV show.

When I'm evaluating the quality of a TV of film adaptation of a video game or game series, I have two simple tests:

1) Would I still like this show if the game or games that it's based on didn't exist?

2) Do I like it as much as or better than the game or games it's based on?

Based on a sample size of one episode, TLOU TV adaptation so far for me is the first game adaptation to television to even pass the first test. That means it's worth continuing to watch. It also means that your non-gamer friend or relative you might wish to interest in this story might actually be able to develop a genuine interest. The second test it has not yet passed for my taste though. However, the critics almost universally promise me that episode 3 will change my mind about that, so I'm eagerly anticipating getting to that one!

Last edited by Jaicee - on 16 January 2023