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What does “faithful” mean in an adaptation?
Faithfulness is not a checklist of reproduced scenes. It is whether the adaptation keeps the source’s meaningful logic: why characters act as they do, what pressures shape their relationships, how the world works and what emotional experience the story creates. A changed scene can still be faithful if it serves those things; an exact recreation can feel hollow if it preserves only the surface.
Craig Mazin, co-creator of The Last of Us television series, has criticized adaptations made by people who treat a game as popular intellectual property without understanding its appeal: “They don’t understand where the love for the game is.” That is his diagnosis, not a universal rule, but it points to the first task: identify what players value before deciding what to carry over. Sky’s interview with Mazin and Neil Druckmann discusses their approach.
Choose the approach that fits the game
Games differ in how fixed their stories are and where their appeal lies. A screen adaptation should respond to those differences rather than apply one formula to every franchise.
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| Source-game shape | What the adaptation must account for | A fitting screen strategy |
|---|---|---|
| Linear, character-led story | A shared cast, central sequence of events and relatively fixed outcome | Retell the central journey closely, while reshaping scenes and point of view for the screen |
| Choice-heavy role-playing game | Player-specific characters, faction choices, optional quests and varied paths | Use the world’s rules, conflicts and themes to tell a distinct story rather than pretend there is one canonical player journey |
TIME makes this distinction in comparing The Last of Us with Fallout: it describes the former as having a fixed central path, while Fallout offers choices, character builds, factions and optional quests that can produce different player experiences. TIME’s argument is that no single adaptation method suits every game; the method should showcase the particular source’s characters, world and themes. This is a critical reading of those examples, not a guarantee of success. TIME’s comparison of the two adaptations lays out the case.
When a close retelling fits
If a game’s identity is concentrated in a defined character journey, the adaptation can preserve its major relationships and turning points while changing how viewers encounter them. The Last of Us is a useful example: PlayStation Productions framed the 2023 task as retelling a beloved game story in a form that would work as television. Druckmann later described relationships, arcs and journeys as essential, even as the series changed viewpoint structure and expanded parts of the story. PlayStation’s production roundtable covers the adaptation, while Druckmann’s Sky interview discusses its creative choices.
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When a new story in the world fits
For a game whose identity is its world and the range of possible player paths, a new cast and plot can be more honest than selecting one playthrough and presenting it as definitive. TIME notes that the Fallout television series uses new characters and a location not previously explored in the games, giving newcomers and established fans a shared point of entry. That is one critic’s analysis of the series, not a formula every role-playing adaptation must follow.
Translate what mechanics do, not just what they look like
Gameplay mechanics exist to make a player participate: learning a system, making a choice, taking a risk or mastering a challenge. Television cannot simply reproduce that function by showing the same actions. It has other tools—framing, performance, sound, editing, pacing and consequences—and should use them to create a comparable dramatic effect.
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Turn player-controlled tension into screen suspense
In The Last of Us, Clickers’ sounds are both a threat and a way they perceive their surroundings. Naughty Dog’s production account describes the series using glimpses, reflections and the characters’ visible fear to build suspense, rather than asking viewers to control a stealth encounter. The source of tension remains recognizable, but the audience experiences it through the camera and performance. Naughty Dog’s account of adapting the infected and action for television describes these choices.
Make action change the story
Combat in a game may recur because players need opportunities to use and improve their skills. A television action sequence should earn its place by changing the characters’ situation or revealing something about them. Mazin put it simply: “When you have an action sequence, it should be singular.” Naughty Dog’s account says the show aimed to make action distinctive and tied to character and story, rather than repeat encounters just because they existed in the game.
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Respect the cost of injury
A game can let a player use a healing item and return to action quickly. A television story cannot make that recovery feel automatic without changing the stakes. Naughty Dog’s production account notes that injury works differently on screen because the show cannot rely on game healing mechanics. The adaptation must let wounds, exhaustion and risk matter in the story’s continuing cause and effect.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Let performances and scenes serve the same character truth
Faithful characterization does not require actors to imitate the game performances. Druckmann has said he wants television actors to understand the script and character, then interpret the role themselves: “We need you to not copy them; we hired you because we trust you as an artist to internalize the script and who this character is and make it your own.” That distinction allows a new performance to feel true to the character without reproducing another actor’s timing, voice or gestures. Druckmann’s interview about the second season gives his perspective.
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The same test applies to scenes. A scene or detail should move the story, reveal character, deepen a relationship or express a core theme. A memorable game moment may be worth keeping, but its familiarity alone is not a dramatic reason to include it. Druckmann has described adapting point of view for television while treating relationships and character journeys as essential, and has emphasized that scenes should express core relationships and themes rather than exist only because they are “cool.”
How to judge whether a change is faithful
When a screen version changes an event, mechanic or character, ask what the change does to the source’s underlying experience. Useful tests include:
- Character: Do the characters still have recognizable motives, and do their choices follow the pressures established by the story?
- Relationship: Does the adaptation preserve the emotional movement between the people at the center of the game?
- World logic: Do the setting’s rules and consequences still make sense, even when the plot is new?
- Interactivity: If a mechanic is removed, has the adaptation found a screen-specific way to preserve its tension, agency or consequence—or was that mechanic not central to the story’s appeal?
- Purpose: Does retained action, lore or a familiar scene develop character or theme, rather than merely signal recognition?
These tests do not make every change successful by definition. They make the reason for a change legible: the question is not whether a screen version is identical, but whether its differences preserve or undermine what mattered in the game.
Can a newcomer enjoy an adaptation without playing?
Yes. A screen story should make its characters and stakes understandable on its own terms; prior play can add recognition, but it should not be required to follow the plot. Sony Interactive Entertainment’s 2025 account of The Last of Us says viewers do not need to play the game to enjoy the show, while experiencing both forms can enrich the other. Sony’s interview about the game and television adaptation discusses that relationship.
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That balance matters because a screen adaptation has two jobs: welcome viewers who have never touched the source, and give existing fans a meaningful connection to it. The Associated Press quoted screenwriting creator Michael Tucker describing the appeal of The Last of Us in terms of character arcs, relationships and a story world that puts pressure on them. Those elements can reach beyond a particular game’s mechanics because the adaptation gives viewers the context needed to understand them. The Associated Press’s coverage of the adaptation includes Tucker’s comment.
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