Why Chosen Would Make a Better Video Game than Book

A few weeks ago, I posted my first book review on this blog, The Breeziest Epic I Have Ever Read,where I focused on what I took away from Decker’s YA Fantasy Epic. It wasn’t the worst book ever, but it wasn’t the greatest book ever either. I found it to be very disappointing and making itself appear to be stronger than it actually is. I don’t want to go into so much detail here because I would end up repeating the review. If you want a more in-depth view of what I think of this novel you can read my review here: http://charmingchum.blogspot.com/2018/03/the-breeziest-epic-i-have-ever-read.html, but finish this post first of course. Please, don’t go.

      Anyway, Chosen simply wasn’t working well for me as a novel, but when I was halfway through the book I realized: this story would make an awesome video game. It does sound strange, but I am sure I would’ve enjoyed Chosen much better if it were some form of open-world RPG. 

       Imagine a game where the world from The Lost Books is rendered in 3D and you could explore it.  Perhaps finding and carrying water to keep from getting the horde disease could be a mechanic in the game. Before going off and searching for the books the player would have to make sure he/she brought enough water to last until he/she reaches the destination. 

      The beginning of the story with the vague prologue reminds be a great deal of the ones I have seen in other RPG’s Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia andThe Legend of Zelda: The Wind Wakerare the first two that come to my mind. The first few chapters were the slowest part of the book with the elite kids searching around for the ball while Thomas yells at them to think, for the love of all that is pure and lovely just think!!! However, this could be the first tutorial in the game where the play is introduced to the early game mechanics, and Tomas explaining everything would be much more welcomed.  When the four new leaders are sent out to retrieve the cactus, would be where the majority of the gameplay begins. *Spoiler Warning* When the two main Roush show up they tell the new recruits what to do and how to do certain things, like how to defeat the evil black bats. As a reader, I was slightly bothered by this info dump, but this would be a good way to teach the player new skills in a video game. *End of Spoilers*

      Although the book is an easy read, I didn’t feel like it was a strong story on its own. However, the more I thought about itChosen could make a better video game. I know standards are changing, but for the most part, I have noticed many video games have shallow plots that can be partly forgiven with good gameplay. I think if Chosen were and RPG I may have enjoyed the story much more.