Books vs Games vs Movies : Which is the better medium for storytelling ?

The book is better than the movie….

I’ve heard people say this a zillion times and actually, I’m one of those people. But are books really better than their movies ? Where do video games come in this ranking ? That’s what I’m gonna be answering today.

I would say that each medium is effective at storytelling when its not copied from the other medium. I’m going to explain this through some examples. 

Books

The thing about a book is that it just gives you the scene in words, you imagine the picture all by yourself. Different people may imagine a scene in a book differently based on their imagination. So people who have vivid imaginations are usually the ones who love to read. 

• The Maze Runner trilogy.

In the case of books – The Maze Runner trilogy was really good. It’s one of my favorite book series actually. In my opinion the best of the three is the second one – Scorch Trials. But the movie adaptation of Scorch Trials was really different. And I mean that in a bad way. I mean the movie just borrowed some elements from the book and then took a completely different direction. Sometimes this may work. But in the case of this movie, it didn’t. In short the book was really good and the movie was really bad. And this is not just my opinion, but some of my friends agree with this too.

• Harry Potter

Sometimes movie adaptions do work. Take the Harry Potter series for example. Harry Potter too is one of my favorite book series. And the movies are really good too. Well, obviously not better than the books but really good otherwise.

Conclusion – 

I’m not saying that movie adaptations are bad, its just that they are never better than the book which is justifiable. Obviously you cannot include every scene from a 800 page book to a 3 hour movie. A majority of the book will not be shown in the movie which is understandable. So books may be considered a better medium for storytelling when compared to movies that are adaptations of books.

Movies

The thing about movies is that they don’t require too much of imagination to watch. In a movie you are made to follow a path which you cannot change or re imagine. Its like the movie makers have done all that imagining for you. You can see what is happening on-screen but you don’t get to know what happens in the minds of the characters. Like you might not know how he/she is feeling. Books do better to express those feelings. While reading the book you feel the struggle of the characters, their pains, joys etc. In a movie you can just assume those feelings on the basis of what you are seeing. 

• Star Wars

When I think about books and games that are based off movies, Star Wars comes into my mind. Star Wars was first released as a movie back in 1977. Since then it has lots of games and books based on it. Again, I’m not saying that the Star Wars books are bad but some things are just meant to be seen first, not read. Star Wars is one of them. Star Wars is known for its visual effects which obviously cannot be experienced in a book! The games are good too but watching a lightsaber battle in a movie feels cooler to me rather than playing it in the game!

• Superhero Movies 

The epic fights and action scenes in superhero movies are again more fun to watch rather than reading in a book or comic. I mean seriously would you rather watch the new Justice League movie or read a comic about the same ?

Conclusion – 

Sometimes the effects and acting in a movie are so good that it is better to watch it rather than reading a book about the same or playing a game. Star Wars is a great example of this. But like I mentioned before this is mostly true in the case of movies that have originated as movies ( I mean not adapted from a book or game).

Games

Games share some similarities with movies as they have cutscenes. But cutscenes are short and less. In some games you may be made to follow a specific path that you cannot change. Lets take for example the campaign of a Call of Duty game. You cannot change the ending or anything in such games. But there are some games that have multiple endings based on your actions, Until Dawn for example. In some games you are given multiple ways to approach a scenario, take Far Cry 4 for example. Games make you experience the scene. Well not in like real proportions. But you kinda know what the protagonist has been through because you are the one controlling him.

• Mortal Kombat

Mortal Kombat started out as a simple fighting game which is one of my favorites. It has 2 movies and a TV show based on it too. But they aren’t as good as the game. I’ll tell you why. Its because the story feels way more interesting when you’re playing it. When you finally beat that annoying boss after 30 minutes of pushing buttons on your controller, the cutscene that appears after feels better. It feels as if you’ve earned that cutscene. And hey, performing a fatality on your opponent after a hard fight feels better than watching it in a movie right ?

• Need For Speed

NFS is one of the oldest and most popular racing games. In 2014 there was a movie released of it. Some games are just for their gameplay. They don’t have much of a story. Racing games like NFS are a good example. So the movie was better in terms of the story because the games didn’t have much of a story there.

Conclusion – 

Games are an excellent medium for storytelling if the developers choose to have a story! They are like a mixture of books and movies because they include cutscenes which make you watch it and the gameplay make you experience it fully. There are some people who believe that games cannot have such a good story when compared to movies and books. If you’re one of those, go and play The Last Of Us. Then come back and tell me if video games can’t have great stories.

Overall each medium is great in storytelling. Each one has its advantages like getting to know the insights in books, the visual effects in movies, the feeling of self accomplishment in games. People have different tastes and personalities hence some may like to read books or watch movies or play games and find the other two boring, while there are some who enjoy all three!

Here’s a picture that I once saw on the internet related to this –

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Which medium do you think is better for storytelling ? Is the book always better than the movie ? Or are Video Games superior to both ? Let me know your thoughts!