Predicting the Best Adaptation Winner

This year, The Game Awards will feature 29 individual categories, and like many other awards shows, some viewers won't think all of them are strictly necessary. The Game Awards' Best Adaptation category tends to be one such category, with it often seeming like only one or two nominees actually deserve the Best Adaptation title, while the other three to four nominees seem like stand-ins.




Unfortunately, the same criticism will likely be voiced in the Best Adaptation category of the 2024 Game Awards. Once again, there are five nominees up for this year's Best Adaptation award, but three of them feel a little like they were just put there to fill the nomination list. So while in theory any of the nominees could win, in reality the race for this year's Best Adapted Game award is fought by only two candidates.

The nominees for best adaptation of The Game Awards 2024

  • Arcane
  • Stand out
  • ankle
  • Like a Dragon: Yakuza
  • Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft

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Arcane

The Game Awards did not have a Best Adaptation category until 2022, and despite releasing in November 2021 ArcaneIn his first season he won the debut trophy. An adaptation that goes beyond the video game source material. Arcane has essentially become a separate entity. Although its characters, world and certain plot points all have a strong connection to it League of Legends'Tradition, Arcane stands on its own and as such has become an incredibly successful show in its own right.


Arcane has just completed its second and final season and is as big a cultural phenomenon as the first. Arcane Season 2 has received acclaim from both fans and critics and has an excellent chance of winning the Best Adaptation category of the 2024 Game Awards thanks to its great animation, compelling story, top-notch character work and outstanding performances.

Stand out

Similar Arcanethis year Stand out The Amazon Prime show became a cultural phenomenon and enjoyed great popularity among both fans and the general public. In addition to breaking viewership records for an Amazon Prime Original show, Stand out was a huge critical success, as it captured the game's ironic tone and often absurd world remarkably well.


Amazon's Stand out is a rare adaptation that truly understands the source material and what fans want to see brought to life. Some exciting twists, great special effects, impressive attention to detail and charismatic performances ensure this Stand out a very good chance of winning the Best Adaptation trophy at The Game Awards this year.

ankle

Another record-breaking entry, ankle became Paramount+'s most-watched original series when it debuted earlier this year. A spin-off from the Sonic the Hedgehog live action films, ankle sees Idris Elba reprise the role of the red echidna, who is tasked with training the human Wade Whipple in his warrior ways so that he can win a bowling tournament in Nevada.


While critics praised ankleThe series received an overall mediocre response due to its performances and action sequences. Many criticized the series' over-reliance on human characters, its everyday setting, and its premise, which felt a little too similar to First sound Film.

Like a Dragon: Yakuza

Although it was originally intended as a single film, Like a Dragon: Yakuza was released as a 6-part live-action series on Amazon Prime back in October. Although the show technically has an original plot, Like a Dragon: Yakuza adopts many of the storylines and characters from Sega's first Yakuza Game, including main protagonist Kazuma Kiryu.

Unfortunately, Like a Dragon: Yakuza stands out on this nomination list for best adaptation due to its somewhat poor reviews. Although the series' performances were praised, aspects such as action scenes, tone, pacing, and writing paled in comparison to the video game's source material.


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Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft

While many video game adaptations are direct translations of the source material's plot and characters, Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft is notable for being a canonical sequel that continues Crystal Dynamics' story. Grave robber Survivor trilogy. Now a solo adventurer, Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft features the iconic titular hero attempting to retrieve an ancient artifact stolen from Croft Manor.

The critics were somewhat divided Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft. While some believed that it was a great adaptation that captured the adventurous spirit of the games and delivered an absolutely perfect characterization of Lara Croft, others felt that it was somewhat lacking in the animation and writing departments.

tomb-raider-the-legend-of-lara-croft-poster.jpg

Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft


Final prediction

Fallout show thumbs up

Ultimately, there are two clear candidates for the Best Adaptation category of the 2024 Game Awards. Arcane And Stand out consistently received much better reviews than ankle, Like a Dragon: YakuzaAnd Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croftand it's very likely that one of these two will take home the prize.

But figuring out which one is another matter entirely. Arcane has already won the Best Adaptation Game Award in 2022, and that could mean the jury is less likely to vote for it since it's already received its flowers. But that could just as easily mean that the jury is more likely to vote in favor Arcane because it is a known size that has already proven itself.


It also depends heavily on how the jury interprets the definition of the category. According to the Game Awards' official description, for the Best Adaptation category, the winner should be an “outstanding creative work that faithfully and authentically adapts a video game to another entertainment medium.”

Arcane is an absolutely stunning show that doesn't lack for great qualities, but in terms of an adaptation that “faithfully and authentically adapts a video game;” Stand out could be ahead. Stand out goes above and beyond in its world-building, not only adapting the source material and giving fans a few Easter eggs, but also continuing to flesh out the games' universe through important storylines. Stand out adds a lot of canonical lore, and while that could be argued Arcane is the better show, Stand out might be a slightly better adaptation, at least according to the Game Awards definition.

MORE: 5 categories missing from the Game Awards

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