Five Nights at Freddy’s, with its notoriously extensive and complex lore, is constantly evolving and being theorised on. As a loyal Game Theory subscriber since 2016, I am very aware of the game’s back-story, so I have a lot of reservations going into the movie. It has a great cast, surprisingly good animation and lighting, however, the plot was confusing, with a mixture of characters from multiple games despite meaning to be based on the first game. There was a lot of gore which is true to the games, however, it didn't feel all that at home in the horror genre, and was lacklustre when compared to the anticipation aspect that the games focus on.
The Minecraft Movie is possibly the least accurate video game adaptation, with it being live-action while the in-game world is animated. The film became more of a meme than anything with the viral 'chicken-jockey' moment. It isn't true to the game which is difficult to do as Minecraft is a sandbox game; an example of a good adaptation of Minecraft is Minecraft Story Mode which was released both as a game and as an interactive animated movie on Netflix. The characters live within the Minecraft world which diverts from typical single-player gameplay, however, the story is true to the mechanics of the game and the audience participation brings it a few steps above the 2025 movie.
Until Dawn is a good movie with an interesting concept, if only it wasn't based on the game. The movie's premise is that each night a group of friends must survive different horror genre themes where they are stuck in a time loop. This deviates from the games which operates in a butterfly-effect system where death truly matters, as there is no regeneration as there is in the movie. The game takes place in one night, while the movie is continuously reviving its characters. All of the nuance and psychological aspect is lost, a game deeply set in the horror genre has been butchered and gored-up to create a shadow of its former self in the form of a movie, there is little true understanding of the horror genre as there is in the game. Many fans of the game were left confused and disappointed as this adaptation is so different; it is its own movie, if there was no connection to the game I'm sure the reception would be far more positive. However, when making a game into a movie adaptation the details should be considered rather than glossed over and reconfigured.
A speculated future video game adaptation is Life is Strange, which is a multiple choice game, with each choice leading the player to an entirely different gameplay but it ultimately has two possible endings: save Chloe or save Arcadia Bay. The idea of an adaptation has faced a lot of backlash due to corrupting the original point and charm of the game wherein your choices will have consequences. The main issue is that by making it a movie it will essentially enshrine that version of the game in canon and would invalidate any other play throughs and the impact of the choosing aspect will be lost as the movie will become the 'correct' ending. Although Life is Strange was speculated to become a movie adaptation, in September it was announced that it would become a Prime Video TV show.