10 other classic characters that deserve their own “violent, sexy Pinocchio game”
Finished killing puppets in Lies Of P? Intrigued by that final teaser? Let's search the public domain for more great candidates for a Lies Of… game
Games Features Pinocchio
A few weeks back, Lies Of P burst onto the gaming scene, forcing audiences to take a patently ludicrous premise—a sexy, lithe version of Pinocchio rampages through a ruined city, killing monsters with aplomb—far more seriously than they otherwise might. Players who completed this puppet’s journey (no small task, since the Dark Souls-inspired game is brutally difficult) were treated to a number of big plot reveals—including a teaser suggesting that developer Round8 Studios is determined to take this “public domain character fights monsters” conceit as far as it can go. (Take it from us: No Marvel after-credits stinger has ever tried to put so much portent into an image as obviously silly as ruby-slippered feet stepping into the carnage, while a mysterious mastermind tells his accomplices that they’ve finally located … Dorothy.)
The thing about Lies Of D (or whatever it ends up being called), is that, while it’s obviously a very goofy idea, it also … kind of kicks ass? Lies Of P was a clear statement that Round8 knows its stuff, both from a gameplay point of view and in terms of taking a bonkers idea like “murder Pinocchio” with the right degree of campy seriousness. Seeing that same ethos applied to L. Frank Baum’s Oz books feels like a good evolution, especially as we let ourselves imagine the game’s clearly horrific take on characters like the already pretty nightmare-inducing Gnome King.
But it also got us thinking: Why stop there? After all, the public domain is filled with beloved characters, almost any of whom could be handed a sword (or harpoon!) and set to work in a modern gaming landscape. And so we’ve put together this list of 10 public domain heroes we’d genuinely like to see get this treatment next (skewing away from obvious irony picks a la recent horror offering Winnie The Pooh: Blood And Honey, or those who’ve already been adapted repeatedly, like the Cthulhu Mythos or Sherlock Holmes) to try to pick out who the next big Lies Of star should be.
15 Comments
Sadly the only work that, to my mind, comes close to the frenetic chaos vibe of the original Pinocchio is probably Oz. The rest of these are fairly straightforward stories, with the possible exception of Don Quixote. The sequel should clearly be the Secrets of O: Behind the Curtain
I’m surprised they haven’t made a “violent, sexy” Red Riding Hood game. You play a scarlet-clad young woman, fighting her way through a city overrun by werewolves and other supernatural creatures. Or maybe you’re the hunter/woodcutter but I feel like they wouldn’t skip the chance to have a “sexy” female lead. Plus the red hood would be a striking visual. Mix in some other folk tales with similar themes and characters for variety. Seems like an obvious idea, though, so maybe it’s been done. I’m pretty sure there are comics that take that route, at least.
Well, Witcher 3 sorta did it.
Makes sense, like “Hansel & Gretel: Witchhunters.” I can already see the horny, kind of exploitive key art of a mostly bare leg covered in leather straps peeking out from under a red Assassin’s Creed-looking hood/cape thing.
The only way Hamlet would work as a game is if your objective was to somehow prevent every single thing that happens in the book, except the death of Claudius somehow. I’d be really curious to see how that played out.
I looked up the Elsinore game mentioned in the article and it seems like it’s almost exactly that, except following Ophelia and not Hamlet.You could definitely make some action games out of other plays though. Coriolanus could make a cool God of War clone. I could definitely see a horror adventure game based on Titus Andronicus working well too.
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Hit the Road
Animal Farm is in the public domain. I’d be on board for an Animal Crossing-type take on that.
Peter Piper Picked a Peck of Severed Heads
Notably absent: Dorothy. Huh.
Lies of P could be the hands-down greatest game of all time and I’d still never play it because the premise is so ridiculously corny. I cannot possibly take a gritty version of fucking PINOCCHIO seriously no matter how hard I try. In general, I can’t stand the whole “making a kid-friendly story/character not kid friendly” trope on the whole.
Pretty sure the various Castlevania games have Dracula covered. Even then, the Legacy of Kain games, a game I think was called Vampyr, Bloodrayne, and Vampire the Masquerade all kinda cover everything Vampire.
What we really need is a Gilgamesh game.
“Don Quixote knew the truth. There were real monsters, and they needed to be slain. He also knew there needed to be lies. In his darkest moments, he saw fire: True Inquisition, continent-spanning and continent-scorching, with mobs of men hunting monsters and thus becoming them. Lust for gold and earthly power — cynicism carrying a crown or crucifix — had produced more than enough monsters on its own.
“Some scholars scratch the surface and accept that monsters and magic were real. They accept that Don Quixote was an unsung hero. They are then content to declare that his great gift to humanity was that very luxury: the luxury of believing he was an addled old fool, and that he tilted only at windmills.
“That’s the thing about noble lies, though. Once they take truth’s place, how do you really know that the unsung were victorious — that their task was well and truly done?”
How have I never heard of Stardust the Super Wizard before now?How about a game based on “The Night Scrooge Saved Christmas”. The Skeletrex boss battle would be epic. He’s huge!
Only if your goal was to somehow stop everything that occurs in the book—aside from Claudius’s death—could Hamlet be made into a game. Really interested to see how that turned out.
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