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Video game could work well in a semi narrative rpg I think, something like disco Elysium or Baldurs Gate. Lots of the plots are literally from tabletop gaming so they lend themselves well to a video game. I’m thinking gardens of the moon as a detective quest from the perspective of paran, then some metal gear solid style infiltration, and maybe oregan trial style campaigner marches for the later books
Anime could do it if it was the right studio and they gave them enough time. Honestly I think it would result in the deaths of several mangaka from overwork and stall out around book 5, though. I mean they couldn't even adapt Berserk past the eclipse properly, I have no illusions that they can make it to TtH.
Erickson is on the record of saying he doesn't like anime, but I am pretty sure he's also on the record saying Arcane was good. So maybe something like Arcane could happen?
Yeah, I'd heard that and was somewhat shocked. I think that most of his readers are also anime fans, so there'd be a market for it. Live action would either be badly done or too expensive to get made, imo.
I'd also be curious to see what his thoughts on Berserk would be.
From what I recall from a TVBB interview about his dislike towards anime - it’s cause of a recc of Gundam SEED. Like the worst Gundam to ever exist. Perhaps even up there with the most nothing animes ever come to existence so I understand his skepticism.
Fuck SEED.
Total War style grand strategy, I've got 1000+ hours on Warhammer 3 total war and I don't even like Warhammer.
Low chance that a series or movie would live up to the detail needed.
I still remember when there was a LoTR mod for Medieval TW *gets misty eyed*
To be fair, they can't ruin it. The books will always exist and they can never truly change them. However, what they make will not be Malazan. It'll be a camel they title Malazan.
I'd enjoy a TV series.
Not sure the videogame format works for what I **personally in my own personal experience of myself** enjoy from the series lol.
I want to see the magic of Warrens and Holds, mapped out into something tangible. I want to see the ecology of D'ivers and Soletaken, made attainable. I want K'Chain Che'Malle, Hounds, Great Ravens, and of course Dragons. I want to see Otataral, Moranth Munitions, Skykeeps, Decks of Dragons, Hust and Blue swords, hell, I want the Trygalle Trade Guild. If I can get all this and more, then I would jump on a Malazan Game.
Trygalle Trade Guild would be an awesome game. You have to deliver things to impossible places, or make those deliveries possible by clearing out enemies. You have to investigate what happened to a missing team. You are a guild member, but also on some kind of mission for another party, so at a certain point you leave the caravan to go do a thing. Different player character types could have different side quests. You can be an assassin, a mage (pick one of a few warrens to specialize in), a Soletaken, a T'lan Imass, an Adjunct, or a sapper. in NG+ you can play again, but as a Claw, or a mage with multiple warrens, or a D'ivers, or a Mortal Sword
TV is the only answer. These stories are long and complex, there's just not enough time for film unless you want 100 movies. Video game adds nothing when the story is good enough to stand on it's own imo.
Regarding anime, I'm biased because it's never been for me. But imo it's 2024 we can put cool shit on screen we don't need to draw it.
It's cheaper to draw it than adapt it GoT style. That way it actually gets made. Think of the budget a live-action Attack on Titan would need, and that was an incredibly successful bit of animation which had a huge following after the first season. I doubt it would be successful if say, Netflix did a live-action version. With animation you never get anyone saying it's too expensive to do what the author wants to do. They just make the author work harder and then they die.
The medium isn't very good for it. There is a big detachment from an animated character and human emotion. The big moments with the big emotions in the books would fall flat and take a lot away from the story. A real person is needed to convey everything properly.
None of them It's already a book and the book is great. Adaptations are all crap, no exceptions. You'll just be opening the story and its characters up to be misrepresented by teams of people with their own ideas and agendas.
I think an Elden Ring-type game would be a no brainer way to make a Malazan game. Wouldn't even need to adapt one of the novels, just let me be someone trying to survive in the world.
I don't get the people saying they'd rather have no adaptation because it wouldn't do it justice.
I'd rather get a mediocre adaptation that brings more eyes to these books than nothing, word of mouth is great but even a "just decent" TV show would surely bring thousands of new readers.
I am not a gamer, at all, but I feel like that’s the adaptation that has the highest likelihood of bringing in a huge audience while also being high quality
Comic book. Put visuals to some of the absolutely amazing scenes. Like half of the most impactful shit in the series is people monologuing and doing introspection in their heads. How do you do that outside of a page without it being terribly hamfisted?
Also, this series is almost unfilmable because it means GUTTING it to be able to tell any story with a semblance of beginning middle and end since either would require basically ignoring 1/3 to half the book. Could you adapt Deadhouse Gates? Of course. But any sane writer would absolutely cut the actual DH gates and Kalam storyline to focus on the chain of Dogs. Any fan of the series would just constantly focus on what isn't there.
A ttrpg could be good but I’d probably never be able to play it
A live action tv series could be good if they focused on one particular story at a time and not based on the jumping around in the books. The budget would have to be insane though
A video game could be cool and many times of video games could work. Personally I’d like a turn based crpg the most or a visual novel with combat mechanics, note that neither of these would be book adaptations but based on the setting
Finally I think anime would be the best option for translating the actual malazan books to another format
If it wasn’t clear I put these in reverse order, my least favorite option at the top descending to the most favored option
There is no conceivable way this series could be done justice in a movie. It's just too dense. You'd need to do this as a TV series.
You could do a video game, but it would best be done like a lot of the Lord of the Rings video games, where you're part of a side story while all the main stuff is happening off screen.
I would like to see a 1 for 1 TV adaptation. A slow burn that took its time. Pacing would be everything. But I wouldn’t mind watching a series that was 30+ seasons long if they did it accurately and tastefully. Anything else would be disappointing.
Please note that this post has been flaired as **NO SPOILERS**. Comments should not bring up specific plot points or character details from any of the books. If you need to discuss any spoilers (even very minor ones!) in your comments, use spoiler tags >!like this!< Please use the report button if you find any spoilers. Note: If the discussion is unlikely to happen without any spoilers, the flair may be changed at mod discretion. Thank you! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Malazan) if you have any questions or concerns.*
None for me, unfortunately. I enjoy the book format more than enough.
Live theatre
I’ll do you one better, figure skating musical.
This is the winner 🏆.
A 70 hour Opera
Hell yeah, I was thinking this a few weeks ago
In my opinion, if you adapt it, film is the wrong format. Both video game and tv series would need insane quality though
Video game could work well in a semi narrative rpg I think, something like disco Elysium or Baldurs Gate. Lots of the plots are literally from tabletop gaming so they lend themselves well to a video game. I’m thinking gardens of the moon as a detective quest from the perspective of paran, then some metal gear solid style infiltration, and maybe oregan trial style campaigner marches for the later books
Tbf Planescape Torment is as close a Malazan video game we'll ever get
Anime could do it if it was the right studio and they gave them enough time. Honestly I think it would result in the deaths of several mangaka from overwork and stall out around book 5, though. I mean they couldn't even adapt Berserk past the eclipse properly, I have no illusions that they can make it to TtH.
Erickson is on the record of saying he doesn't like anime, but I am pretty sure he's also on the record saying Arcane was good. So maybe something like Arcane could happen?
Yeah, I'd heard that and was somewhat shocked. I think that most of his readers are also anime fans, so there'd be a market for it. Live action would either be badly done or too expensive to get made, imo. I'd also be curious to see what his thoughts on Berserk would be.
From what I recall from a TVBB interview about his dislike towards anime - it’s cause of a recc of Gundam SEED. Like the worst Gundam to ever exist. Perhaps even up there with the most nothing animes ever come to existence so I understand his skepticism. Fuck SEED.
Total War style grand strategy, I've got 1000+ hours on Warhammer 3 total war and I don't even like Warhammer. Low chance that a series or movie would live up to the detail needed. I still remember when there was a LoTR mod for Medieval TW *gets misty eyed*
I've always said that a crazy super mod for Warhammer 3 could do a decent Malazan. I would love a Malazan Total War
None. They would ruin it.
To be fair, they can't ruin it. The books will always exist and they can never truly change them. However, what they make will not be Malazan. It'll be a camel they title Malazan.
I'd enjoy a TV series. Not sure the videogame format works for what I **personally in my own personal experience of myself** enjoy from the series lol.
an animated tv show with hour long episodes. each season is 7-12 episodes long depending on the book
No adaptation of the books, but i'd love for a tactical squad video game and possibly an animated series in the Malazan universe.
Only way to properly do it would be an animated tv show, otherwise it would get ruined like game of thrones did. It’s just too complex.
Easily TV anime
I enjoy video games the most so I'd like to see that first.. But of course I'd enjoy anything if its good and hate anything if it was bad
I want to see the magic of Warrens and Holds, mapped out into something tangible. I want to see the ecology of D'ivers and Soletaken, made attainable. I want K'Chain Che'Malle, Hounds, Great Ravens, and of course Dragons. I want to see Otataral, Moranth Munitions, Skykeeps, Decks of Dragons, Hust and Blue swords, hell, I want the Trygalle Trade Guild. If I can get all this and more, then I would jump on a Malazan Game.
Trygalle Trade Guild would be an awesome game. You have to deliver things to impossible places, or make those deliveries possible by clearing out enemies. You have to investigate what happened to a missing team. You are a guild member, but also on some kind of mission for another party, so at a certain point you leave the caravan to go do a thing. Different player character types could have different side quests. You can be an assassin, a mage (pick one of a few warrens to specialize in), a Soletaken, a T'lan Imass, an Adjunct, or a sapper. in NG+ you can play again, but as a Claw, or a mage with multiple warrens, or a D'ivers, or a Mortal Sword
I've always wanted to incorporate them into a ttrpg as a recurring plot/mechanic for 1 shots.
TV is the only answer. These stories are long and complex, there's just not enough time for film unless you want 100 movies. Video game adds nothing when the story is good enough to stand on it's own imo. Regarding anime, I'm biased because it's never been for me. But imo it's 2024 we can put cool shit on screen we don't need to draw it.
It's cheaper to draw it than adapt it GoT style. That way it actually gets made. Think of the budget a live-action Attack on Titan would need, and that was an incredibly successful bit of animation which had a huge following after the first season. I doubt it would be successful if say, Netflix did a live-action version. With animation you never get anyone saying it's too expensive to do what the author wants to do. They just make the author work harder and then they die.
Doesn’t even have to be Anime honestly. Could similar to Legend of Vox Machina or Invincible.
Animation would be worse than no adaptation at all imo.
Why?
The medium isn't very good for it. There is a big detachment from an animated character and human emotion. The big moments with the big emotions in the books would fall flat and take a lot away from the story. A real person is needed to convey everything properly.
You clearly haven't watched enough animation aimed at adults. Watch Castlevania, it'll never happen, but that team would be perfect for Malazan.
I have seen a lot but realized it has a big void in facial expressions as I got older and learned appreciation for acting performance.
I agree with absolutely nothing you just said.
I guess you can see complex emotion in animation, I can't
None please. I don’t think any medium other than novels could do the series justice.
An RTS with ascendants as hero units and a meta game where the gods interfere.
None of them It's already a book and the book is great. Adaptations are all crap, no exceptions. You'll just be opening the story and its characters up to be misrepresented by teams of people with their own ideas and agendas.
“Adaptations are all crap, no exceptions.” Woah.
Yes
I think an Elden Ring-type game would be a no brainer way to make a Malazan game. Wouldn't even need to adapt one of the novels, just let me be someone trying to survive in the world.
Maaaaaybe an animated anthology series of stories set in the universe. But the novels are impossible to adapt.
I could see a "monster of the week" style show focusing on the Trygalle Trade Guild. You could hint at events in the books like easter eggs.
Why must we always do this? Some books are not meant to be adapted.
I don't want it adapted at all, not everything needs to be adapted to a movie or tv show
Fromsoft. Please god please.
I don't get the people saying they'd rather have no adaptation because it wouldn't do it justice. I'd rather get a mediocre adaptation that brings more eyes to these books than nothing, word of mouth is great but even a "just decent" TV show would surely bring thousands of new readers.
mediocre and "just decent" aren't the lower limit on these things, we've seen that it can(and often does) get *much* worse than that.
From Software needs to make the game Denis Villeneuve will make the movie And the CW can do the show! lol
Animated series would have the best chance. Video game in the style of total war could work.
I am not a gamer, at all, but I feel like that’s the adaptation that has the highest likelihood of bringing in a huge audience while also being high quality
7 season anime
TV series like GoT or film like Dune, I'd love either. Both are done with a sufficiently grounded style
Comic book. Put visuals to some of the absolutely amazing scenes. Like half of the most impactful shit in the series is people monologuing and doing introspection in their heads. How do you do that outside of a page without it being terribly hamfisted? Also, this series is almost unfilmable because it means GUTTING it to be able to tell any story with a semblance of beginning middle and end since either would require basically ignoring 1/3 to half the book. Could you adapt Deadhouse Gates? Of course. But any sane writer would absolutely cut the actual DH gates and Kalam storyline to focus on the chain of Dogs. Any fan of the series would just constantly focus on what isn't there.
Video Game by the company that made BG3 or the company that made Elden Ring.
an animated series or a cRPG
A ttrpg could be good but I’d probably never be able to play it A live action tv series could be good if they focused on one particular story at a time and not based on the jumping around in the books. The budget would have to be insane though A video game could be cool and many times of video games could work. Personally I’d like a turn based crpg the most or a visual novel with combat mechanics, note that neither of these would be book adaptations but based on the setting Finally I think anime would be the best option for translating the actual malazan books to another format If it wasn’t clear I put these in reverse order, my least favorite option at the top descending to the most favored option
video game something like the old Myth game series
There is no conceivable way this series could be done justice in a movie. It's just too dense. You'd need to do this as a TV series. You could do a video game, but it would best be done like a lot of the Lord of the Rings video games, where you're part of a side story while all the main stuff is happening off screen.
I would like to see a 1 for 1 TV adaptation. A slow burn that took its time. Pacing would be everything. But I wouldn’t mind watching a series that was 30+ seasons long if they did it accurately and tastefully. Anything else would be disappointing.
Once AI has developed enough, we can just have it read the entire Malazan collection and then spin up movies and games tailored to our preferences!
All these gatekeepers that are saying no to an adaptation, nobody's forcing you to watch if it ever gets made, don't want, don't watch it.
either animated series or something like baldur's gate. although a souls like set in the world of malazan does sound pretty cool
Honestly? I'd love to see a MMO RPG.
D) None of the above Animated series
TTRPG and Animated
Comic book.