Video game adaptations have come a long way since the early 2000s, when almost all of them were ridiculed. With people like The last of us, To falland even Cyberpunk: EdgerunnerSince then, video game adaptations have become great media in their own right, not just because they capture the games they’re based on. But that’s the key to what makes a good adaptation, that it actually “adapts” something, and doesn’t just straight up copy the elements that made the games popular. The new show based on Amazon’s video game, Like a dragon: Yakuzais the perfect example, and graphic proof that we should overcome the obsession with adaptations you have to be like the game.

Like a dragon: Yakuza is based on Sega’s two-decade-old franchise of the same name. The Yakuza games are largely set in a fictional Tokyo red light district called Kamurocho, and have become well known for a unique brand of madness mixed with crime melodrama.

But a key ingredient of Yakuza games is how they were inspired by Japanese Yakuza genre films, like ContemptOr Drunk angel. Western fans may not be aware of the robust genre that has arisen around yakuza storytelling in Japanese cinema, and the Yakuza game series has always been heavily inspired by this cinematic story. This even resulted in Takeshi Kitano being cast in Yakuza 6 — one of the most prolific actors in Japanese cinema.

This is what makes Amazon Yakuza the series is so interesting because it feels like the franchise is really coming full circle with a live-action adaptation that liberally uses yakuza film tropes and ideas – things like a slow build that culminates in a massive battle, or two “brothers” having to fight a duel. You could list the parallels between Sega’s series and the genre all day.

NOW, Like a dragon: Yakuza is not a perfect series, it has many flaws, including a slow first episode and meandering plots. But if you look at many of the fan complaints online, it’s that the show doesn’t feature some of the “elements” of the game, like karaoke, a clunkier tone, missing characters, and changed plots.

But that’s exactly the problem with how we perceive and approach adaptations as a whole: thinking of them as a sort of checklist that should contain our favorites, our characters, our moments, and our gameplay ideas. Video game shows, movies, or anything else shouldn’t just be a list of everything we want, they should be different experiences that strive to convey the same meaning or feeling that games give us .

If you look Like a dragon like just not having what the game has, yeah there’s a lot to criticize. It’s a prestige drama that removes a lot of the levity of Yakuza, but it’s still there in small doses. Yes, character storylines are shifted and changed to fit a six-episode TV show, serving more as inspiration than translation. Yakuza, a mix of weird and serious, literally only works because it’s a video game – the series deliberately separates the serious main story from the bizarre side content. There’s simply no way to translate this mix to any other medium, because the fact that Yakuza is a video game is essential to its identity.

But what Like a dragon is right, it is this “spirit” that makes Yakuza special. At its core, it still manages to tell a heartbreaking story of found family and being forced to confront those you love. We also see Kazuma Kiryu’s struggle as he grows from a child to an adult, and how society left him behind while he was in prison.

These are all key elements of Yakuza storytelling, but grafted onto the bones of a drama. The series takes key plot points but twists them to fit its own story and themes, and that’s exactly how it should be – Like a dragon: Yakuza is a good show in itself.

I always wonder what the point would be in doing a direct adaptation: why do we even want the live-action games? It literally adds nothing to the series and its place as a work of art, just rehashing what we’ve always seen. A TV show or movie should be something very different. Even if an adaptation ends up not being good, I’d much rather its creators be ambitious and try something new. These games will always be there and nothing will change, but moving to TV or movies offers a chance to attract whole new fans and find a way to express what video games might not be able to do .

Some of the best recent adaptations have done just that. The last of us The best episode is a brand new story about the relationship between Bill and Frank, Cyberpunk: Edgerunners was such a success because it tells a deeply moving story that stands out from the game, and Esoteric used the basic structure of League of Legends to create an emotionally charged story.

Ironically, it’s kind of the same conundrum as Disney’s live-action remakes of its beloved animated films. Movies like Aladdin And The Lion King suffer because they try to imitate these animated films, without recognizing that the very fact that it is an “animated” film is the most important key. Disney’s live-action versions have largely failed to add anything new and meaningful, and we shouldn’t condemn video game adaptations to the same fate.

Video games are an interactive medium that you really get into, and other forms of entertainment just aren’t. For this reason, the entire structure of things should change, even if it means that your little detail or your favorite character is not part of the selection.

Like a dragon: Yakuza is broadcast on Prime Video.