Call of Cthulhu
The survival horror game Call of Cthulhu does not directly take the plot from a book, but is based on the Cthulhu Mythos, which was created by American author H. P. Lovecraft.
The Cthulhu Mythos originated in a short story from the 1928 book Weird Tales by H. P. Lovecraft. It is a universe of cosmic horror, where ancient god-like beings exist. Humanity cannot comprehend these beings, as knowledge of them leads to destruction and madness.
The most well-known being is Cthulhu, a giant monster with an octopus-like head, trapped in a death-like sleep in the sunken city of R’lyeh. When it awakens, it would destroy humanity.
After H. P. Lovecraft’s death, the Mythos continued to grow, spun further by the stories of other authors.
Initially, the pen-and-paper role-playing game was inspired by the Mythos and was published in 1981. In 2018, the game Call of Cthulhu was released, which combines elements from the Cthulhu Mythos with survival and RPG elements.
Players take on the role of former soldier and private detective Edward Pierce, who tries to uncover the death in the Hawkins family. The horror is primarily built through psychological elements, not through jumpscares.
Within the game, players can encounter the beings of the Cthulhu Mythos and grapple with the forbidden knowledge around them. Elements of cosmic horror recur frequently and humanity’s reaction to the existence of these beings is reflected in the form of cults.
Lies of P
The book that inspired the game Lies of P is probably the oldest on this list. In 1881, the Italian author Carlo Collodi wrote the story The Adventures of Pinocchio. It’s about the wooden puppet Pinocchio, who was carved by Geppetto and comes to life.
He desperately wants to become a “real boy” and embarks on a quest for humanity. Every time Pinocchio lies, his wooden nose grows a little longer. This continually lands him in trouble on his adventure.
Lies of P obviously does not center on a wooden puppet as the protagonist, but on the character P. P is a mechanical fighter puppet, created by Master Geppetto, a puppeteer, and has the desire to become human. He too sets out in search of his identity.
Lies of P places the story of Pinocchio in a Gothic-Steampunk world with mechanical puppets. The action RPG is a Souls-like, employing mechanics from the Souls games and is thus perceived as difficult, but it was not developed by FromSoftware, but by the South Korean game studio Round8.
