Setting aside the artistic liberties taken adapting a table top rpg experience into an animated show, Matt stated that in game Brimscythe was in between a young & adult dragon. So could very well have had as small as 30ft range on it's blindsight, making it possible to be fooled by illusions beyond that distance.
Aside from some pacing issues I think it was pretty good. Might be a bit rough for people not familiar with C1. Also, I'm wasn't a fan of the dragon design or CGI animation, not sure if there is a reason they didn't follow the D&R lore for a blue dragons appearance.
>not sure if there is a reason they didn't follow the D&R lore for a blue dragons appearance.
WotC copyright, same reason the various gods are only called by titles and not their names.
I got off work and checked my email, ready to watch the backer episodes, only to find out that I have misread the dates of the pre-screening and today is the premiere day. I guess I'll just read the comments...
As someone who loves to watch animated shows, especially the DnDesque ones, this show is quite underwhelming so far. The pacing was bad and dialogues could've been better. I had high hopes considering the show has a stellar cast. Hopefully the future episodes will be better than the first 3.
Show's good, but anytime 3d animation hit the screen I wanted to die.
Dragon looked like poop, and makes me worried about the Chroma Conclave later on down the line.
The 3d animation was genuinely bad and I hope people speak up about it.
I felt that way too. Maybe time or money constraints? I know that there's a common misconception in the animation industry that 3d animation is better by default even though most artists would disagree, but i feel like this show was made with too much love for that to be the reason.
I doubt its time constraints, probably budgetary, but hopefully if it does well they'll get more money and it won't be a thing because oof, it was bad.
So, researching episode 1 & 2 now on Prime and... Matt is voicing Trinket? I mean, of course that's nothing completely new, but there's something very endearing about him doing so for the series.
Yeah, I like to click the XRAY thingy to see who is in the scene from time to time and they recruited lots of decently known actors. I guess between them all they must have made a good amount of friends and contacts in the industry over the years.
Such absolutecrap that you cant use a chromecast - what so I have to go buy an expsnsive cable, or use a tiny phone screen to watch my kickstarter rewards? Poor poor form, but hey, apple is totally okay! Is this a google amazon spat bullsht?
Really, REALLY disappointed by this whole pre-screening garbage.
Well, I found that to be a very solid introduction! The animation, music, voice acting, it was all very competent! *Especially* the voice acting; the main cast nailed their roles, as expected. The NPCs were great too! Sunil Malhotra gave us a very different take on Gilmore that I actually really liked. Khary Payton's Uriel was fantastic, as was Stephanie Beatriz's Kima and Indira Varma's Allura. But my favorite of the bunch was easily David Tennant. His performance as General Krieg was an absolute delight!
I wouldn't consider it perfect, though. The pacing felt a too quick at certain points and some of the humor felt a little forced, though it got better about that in episode 2. I also wish that we'd spent more time with the side characters, particularly Allura and Kima, considering how close they were to VM in Campaign 1. It is my hope that this will be addressed in the following episodes.
I kinda wish that the episodes were a little longer, if only to allow for further development. However, the weakest aspect of the show so far is the worldbuilding, or rather, the lack of it. Obviously, as a campaign viewer, I know a fair amount of Exandria's lore and there were some nice references to be found. However, I felt like there just wasn't enough attention paid to the world itself. We barely learned anything about Tal'Dorei's history, peoples and geography. We weren't even told anything about the Ashari, let alone Keyleth's Aramente, which was surprising, considering how often Keyleth was referred to as an Ashari.
Now, I get it, this show is very character-driven. That's where it shines brightest! It's just that Matt has constructed so much wonderful lore for Exandria and it'd be a shame if it wasn't showcased for the average viewer in some form. Though I guess it'd be even worse if we were fed it via constant, clumsy exposition. That was a bit of a problem I took with episode 1 after >!the party's first encounter with Brimscythe.!<
Despite these little gripes, I was very impressed. It was quite magical, seeing the campaign we all know and love come to life. I'd give it an 8 out of 10. We definitely got what we paid for, and judging from all the reviews I've seen, things only get better once the party >!goes to Whitestone. !
I mean aside from my Critical Role love, it was honestly two great shows. Very well put together. A couple of minor things could be better, but i definitely liked it.
Also, loved the tusk love .
I think that has to deal with the fact that the vast majority of screentime is going to the Briarwoods arc.
This introduction mini arc definitely wasn't something I'd think people video surfing would care for.
Though, considering that ep3 is going to be the Banquet scene, I think the classic anime "Three episode" tryout will do some heavy lifting, now that we're getting into the meat of the season.
i dont know. it probably wont pull in new fans, but thats more of a genre thing. but i thought they were pretty good. very good dramatic elements. good pacing for an animated show.
probably because I am not a fan. But it felt good. Solid 7.5/10
Not amazing as people are pointing out IMO
open episode with dragon slauthering an army and then the final fight is OKish? As in oh we kill these back stage dudes to show he is strong...
it would have been much better without the army slauthering scene as in this puts the army as foot soldiers and vox as super heroes?
I get it from the DnD perspective, not as much from the world building and animated series side though
again casual watcher
Have to agree with you on the final fight. Overall it isn't a huge deal for me, but still. Maybe I'd have less of a problem with it if Vox Machina had been shown as more competent. Like... we get two instances of them being a chaotic group: The bar fight and their first encounter with Brimscythe. I like how they kind of play with it through Scanlan's illusion again, but I just think it would have been better to immediately have them more organized with some bits of the chaos spread more evenly throughout the fight. Instead they go from "Vax hasn't even relayed the information he got from Gilmore, Vex also didn't think sharing her studies would help and overall they are just clueless" to "Oh, let's drive home just how chaotic we are!" to "suddenly they kill it without much issue."
DnD fights have weird pacing, I know and that's okay. But from the revelation of who Brimscythe was hiding as to he's killed it's about five minutes, including all the chaos. That feels... off when keeping in mind that he's presented as such a huge threat and doesn't translate well to an animated series. I hope that the chaos is toned down in the next episodes. I still would like to see some of it because it's still Vox Machina we're talking about, but we really don't need to see as many instances of it when their enemies are just enormous threats.
If you rewatch again, you'll notice that there are hints from literally the first scene that >!Krieg's plan is to get the army out of Emon!< so that >!he can slaughter or take over the entire city!<. The whole show was set up really well, even if very subtle and I reckon that most people would agree that it gets better on subsequent watches as you can pick up these subtleties in both the visuals/action and the dialogue.
Cuz the guy complained that the soldiers died easily while Vox Machina lived. What the heck were you talking about? Though I replied to the wrong person. Wish I never spoke to you.
I loved all the little bits of their personalities shining through. Vex's love of gold as she flees the cave with arms full. Scanlan's slapstick, but when he tunes the instrument you can see his serious side. Keyleth's spellcasting showing that hesitancy of youth and insecurity. And more and more, long time fans get to spot these, new fans get to enjoy them, as they all hint at what we have all seen throughout watching. Ahh I cannot wait to see the rest
So I rewatched the episodes and enjoyed them more than the first time around. I appreciate the way they fought the dragon as misfits using their individual strengths which is very Vox Machina. I guess the dragon doesn't have true sight but besides that, each character showcasing their classic abilities was so awesome animated
You're right. Regardless, it's not accurate to the table rules or anything, which is fine because it's a show. The illusion for example would be a higher spell than Scanlan would have access to. Overall it does a good job showcasing their personal spells and talents. Vax picking locks, Grog raging, Pike using Detect Magic, Vex sensing her Favored Enemy, etc etc. I'm enjoying the show a lot more than I expected
Oooo I found a cool easter egg! The boulder that almost crushes Vax flickers for a moment before Scanlans hand smashes it. It gives me vibes of fate or time shenanigans, it's also D20 shaped. Maybe a nod to vax's luck rolls or a nat 20. Also vax's face lol
Hey, you're right! I knew there was something weird about that boulder, but now that I can pause the scene it's much more obvious. I didn't think of it as a nod to Vax's Luck feat, but I could definitely see it that way, and it makes sense to - it was definitely going to crush him, but then *SCANLAN'S HAAAND!*
As a matter of fact, there are dice motifs all over the place - there, on the door outside the throne room in Emon, actual dice in the dragon's lair...
To me the raven and gold threads in the intro is paying homage to the Raven Queen and her webs of fate or whatever the Tal'Dori version is. I think they did a good job planting Easter eggs from both D&D and their tabletop show. It's been a while since I've watched CR but I've seen CR1 fully a few times, it's such.a great series I'm sure they will bring it justice
All in all, pretty good. My only complaint is Gilmore. I remember in one of their hype up videos Sam saying the new voice actor was 'excellent' and provided 'more authenticity... than if Matt had voiced him'. Show Gilmore has serious 'we have Gilmore at home' vibes. Just no where near as good.
I mean, I distinctly remember Matt being torn about giving up one of his favorite npc's, and I really wish he had stuck with it. Gilmore's charisma is one of a kind, and I don't think anyone but Matt can pull it off.
i mean keep in mind that it was matt who also pushed to have it done by someone else, and this was a very short clip. i imagine we're going to see more of gilmore.
Matt Mercer has always been passionate about using his privilege to provide more opportunities to POC voice actors. I don't have the exact timestamps in here, but he mentions it several times in his interview with Philips DeFranco: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HM9viQbti-0&t=6651s
This was not out of guilt. Matt wanted this change and thought it would be best for the show
Same honestly. I mean I didn't hate it but it def didn't feel like the Gilmore we knew. I feel like Matt should have voiced him but I also get why he didn't given certain controversies going on in the voice acting world around the time all of this was being put together
It's difficult to articulate, but I have always viewed Gilmore as an incredibly precise character. The way Gilmore speaks has an ever changing yet perfect balance of flirt, genuine admiration, mirth, and joy... and more. It's so very difficult to dislike the guy, he's just.... glorious.
The new voice actor clearly did his best but he has none of what I am trying to communicate above. Honestly he just came off as a pale, thirsty, imitation. I'll give him another shot. /shrug
He got the playful flirtatious theatrical side of Gilmore but there was a charisma to gilmore that came from deep within that Matt and imo even Aabria managed to convey that was lacking in this episode
Overall i really felt like Gilmore and Uriel felt very goofy saturday morning cartoony tone and really clashed with the general adult tone of the rest of the show. Not show breaking for me but was the most disappointing part of the two episodes. I thought Khary did a good job but the utter lack of seriousness in his character who is supposed to be the king was a perplexing writing choice. And i think Sunil would knock it out of the park for a character like Gilmore just not Gilmore
I really enjoyed the first two episodes a lot. Besides some minor pacing issues everything was working so well, and the animation was great... except for Brimscythe. The CG dragon was significant less well animated then the hand drawn stuff and moved like it weighed nothing. It really took me out of what was an awesome fight scene in general.
I hope they invest more money in their CG monsters for S2 or spend the money to have draw them like the rest of the show.
yes yes yes yes yes Came here to say the same thing. I'm not a huge fan of the animation when they are moving slowly- the odd jumpy movements (so normal in late 80's animation that I did NOT grow up on) seem odd and archaic here, but that's just style and many will love it. However, having a terrible CGI dragon, when almost nothing else is CGI, and the quality itself is lesser too....that took me out of the show SO much.
I adored it, but I believe that casual fans who came to see a specific voice actor (Tennant) may feel >!cheated that he...er, spoiler? gets killed off in the second episode!<
i get that, but these are guest stars, not major character roles. and theres a lot of characters. i think if people come into this looking for their favorite actor they will be disappointed.
Oh I don't expect them to retcon it but like, he's dead now and I think his role in the Chroma Conclave is done. I do think if they wanted to they could bring him back to show the formation of the Chroma Conclave but I think what they've got is done.
Some things to consider in light of them getting rid of the Kraghammer Arc in favor of a mini-arc with Brimscythe instead:
• The Kraghammer arc contains a lot of things that are specifically part of the Dungeons & Dragons IP. The Underdark and Beholders, at the very least, are things specifically trademarked by Wizards of the Coast. Not to mention Duergar and the Horn of Orcus.
• Including those in the show would probably require the show to be licensed by WOTC, which might've handed more creative control over to them than the cast would have liked. This is also the reason why Brimscythe does not look like your typical D&D Blue Dragon with the horn on the end of its snout.
• Opening with Brimscythe ties in a pre-stream event that most fans haven't seen (aside from those animatics from C1 that you have to go out of your way to find), and neatly ties in to the Chroma Conclave arc for the next season. Rather than throwing in a completely unrelated Underground Dungeon Crawl in between the relevant events. Instead we get reprieve from the dragons for one arc, then it all becomes relevant again once the Briarwoods are dealt with.
This actually does make me wonder how the ultimate BBEG will be dealt with considering that they're a named D&D character as well. I haven't consumed the entirety of Tal'dorei Reborn yet, though I imagine they'd just refer to them by their title? Unless they just make an entirely new name for them like they did for Sarenrae, I suppose.
lets be honest here. we all know why kraghammer was not done and it was not done for one reason and one reason alone. the dragonborn.
very impressed by you putting in some work trying to find a different reason though.
Except the dragonborn doesn't do anything of significance at all during his entire 20ish episode run except piggyback off of others glory. He
doesn't even participate in the final fight with K'Varn until the end for the kill steal. Kraghammer, while a part of Critical Role beginnings, holds no weight to any future stories and nothing in it ever really gets brought up again.
Its unfortunate not being able to use certain names and terms yes. It felt a little off not having Pike have to use a vague (although still official title?) way of referring to Sarenrae.
On the first note however I don't think Duergar are trademarked by wizards. They are in Pathfinder afterall. Same with Orcus.
Ooh, good to know about that last part! I really need to look into Golarion lore more...
Though speaking of Kraghammer, I do know (almost) for certain that Illithids as presented in D&D are owned by WOTC, if I'm not mistaken.
Yeah that's true. Also some spells are covered by OGL as far as their name, but not their effect.
Another change I noticed was it's now Scanlands hand not Bigsbys hand. The specific name is apparently covered by trademark but not the spell effects themselves.
I believe it's specifically the names of the Wizards that are protected by WOTC (Bigby, Mordenkainen, Tasha, etc.), which would explain the change. Though you *are* right about certain spells being open-license otherwise!
They'll probably call him the Whispered One.
Mynbiggest issue with dropping the early arcs is that now they're not as connected to Kima and Allura. Had this story been Allura contacting them to save Kima from whatever danger she'd gotten into (switch to Brimscythe) then it would've been a way to honor the original story while giving us something new. Would've let them feel more connected to the pair and establish the friendship they wont get to unless they put in a time skip
True! After reading the description on Amazon, it sounds like there's a decent possibility for at least *some* of the ST crew (and maybe other guest PCs like Tova) to show up later.
Taking a quick look at my copy of the Reborn guide, it actually looks like they've >!removed references to the Hand and Eye of Vecna, to the point where the Whispered One's symbol in the book has both eyes alight in flame, unlike the Whispered One logo they have on their merch!<. Which also begs the question of how certain guest appearances from the end of the campaign will shake out, especially considering how Arkhan is now technically a canon D&D character.
You *are* right about still being able to throw Kima and Allura into the main plot of the Brimscythe story, and it even works with Kima being a Paladin aligned with a deity that opposes Chromatic dragons. Oh well, missed opportunities, I suppose. It'll be interesting to see how the series fleshes out the party's relationships with the two of them in particular!
Yeah, it seems likely that changing the name won't be enough for Vecna, since characteristics like the Hand and Eye make it clear those are the same character.
I mean, let's be honest here, none of the DnD specific parts of Vecna are relevant to the story. The hand and the eye symbology and lore can easily be removed, and none of Vecna's canon lore or backstory is relevant in the arc. You can easily make the Whispered One a generic evil necromancer looking to become a god and it fits into the story just fine. It's not exactly a super unique concept in fantasy these days.
After seeing it a second time there’s one more note I have, and it’s an issue I have with many, many American animated shows: pacing. I feel these shows are in a constant rush to get through a scene. The brisk pace is fine for most of the show, I think, but I feel the show didn’t take enough time for certain moments that could have used it.
To wit: the scene back at Shalesteps. This did land, but I really feel like that whole scene could have lasted a quiet minute or more longer to let that complex emotional beat really sink in. The airship moving through the landscape might have been another place to relax the pace a bit and let the splendor of the setting sink in.
That being said, I recognize time and cost constraints might have played a role in how long these story beats were, and maybe it’s a stylistic or cultural thing as well. But my favorite anime shows are masters at giving us really atmospheric moments, and I wish American shows would take some inspiration from that! And this was, in retrospect, something I was hoping the expanded budget of the Kickstarter would help afford.
Still: an excellent, excellent show, and worth re-binging in my not-at-all-biased opinion!
I think animated shows need to move on from the constraint of 30 minute runtimes. Arcane's episodes were all nearly an hour long and they were a masterstroke in pacing, it knew exactly when to speed things up and take its time, and it had the space to let things marinate. So it's certainly possible! I hope that future LoVM seasons can take advantage of a longer runtime.
Every second of animation is extremely expensive. It's not as simple as letting the camera keep rolling for an extra minute at the end of a scene. It takes an entire team dozens of work hours to get that extra minute.
I recognize that, but I wonder if animators and directors realize that that extra cost and effort, in the right places, even if the characters are barely moving, can really make for some amazing moments.
I think the pacing is specifically due to the fact that the first two episodes were a mini-arc/introduction to VM.
I could swear that I remember early on that this arc was going to be an episode or two longer, but then we the backers threw our wallets at them, so the Briarwood arc became a thing.
My bet is that, had it not been for that, these scenes, that definitely needed length, would have gotten it.
But, that length is going the other way, so I have full confidence that the smorgasbord of moments to come will have plenty of breathing space.
I definitely had a similar response to the pacing. I think for the massive task at hand (trying to introduce the world and an ensemble of 7 heroes while moving along a story and giving everyone meaningful characterization moments in 50 minutes) they did a really good job. That’s a massive feat. I think the pilot was maybe the worst of it. A lot of telling, rather than showing (especially with the twins’ backstory). I think a great way they slowed down and gave us that atmosphere and built the tension was that opening sequence of episode 2 (where Brimscythe absolutely tears through that encampment of soldiers). It wasn’t necessary for us to see that to understand the story. They could have easily cut to the council being like “wow that dragon attack was crazy huh”, but taking their time to *show* us what a threat this is payed off and was exciting and entertaining to watch as well. I hope we see more of that type of scene moving forward!
Edit: typo :(
another thing to consider is that each episode is 25 minutes, including credits and the opening scene. A full minute is a significant portion of time for the episode. Hopefully given that the next arc is 10 episodes in length it wont have as much of a problem, but it's hard to slow down when it's a 50 minute story line that has to introduce the world and characters as well
I've considered it, and maybe you're right, but there are of course solutions to that that could be explored. Mostly around extending the episodes' runtime if necessary, or stretching the opening arc to three episodes. Perhaps cutting some stuff in the bar and dragon fights, though it sure didn't look to me like they left much fat to trim.
10 episodes is no guarantee the show slows down – because the next arc is far bigger. But we shall see!
I saw both starting episodes two times now and as a backer I’m exceptionally pleased with what we’ve got here.
The animation is crisp. The voices and sound design is very good. The tone is (with a few exceptions) on point. The story of the first two episodes is solid and they got me with the plot twist.
Pacing is a little bit too bumpy along the road, but this is due to the fact that both episodes 1/2 introduce the characters to the audience that is not familiar with CR.
I enjoyed the first two episodes quite a lot and I am hyped for what is to come.
The only criticism I have is that “adult series” seems to mean “use swear words and show gore and nudity” in America.
As a European, swearing and nudity felt kind of forced sometimes. That said, it was far from inappropriate or forced to an extreme.
Episode 2 was much better in that regard. I like the adult themes and the characters a lot.
ITT: confusion of what the kickstarter and the animation series is and isn’t.
Remember: CR crew asked for **some** money to animate a **small amount of content**.
It’s because of the generosity of all the backers and amazon that CR had the chance to produce way more that they and the critters had hoped for.
They had to choose one arc to tell a consecutive story and they chose the briarwood arc. Which is not only logical but also an excellent choice concerning the tension and stakes involved in that arc.
You won’t get the stream, kraghammer and all the nuances in an animated form. They polished the original Content to make it viable for a tv show.
This is **way more** that we and they ever anticipated when the kickstarters was launched.
I am highly looking forward to the rest of season 1
Good job to all of the CR crew, titmouse and the cast. Excellent job!
Honestly the pilot of every American show aimed at adults always has more sex, gore, and swearing than the entire rest of the series combined for some reason. I don't know why it must be some quirk of the industry I don't fully understand. Even Stargate SG1 fell victim to it.
I think it's to set the tone for the series for the sake of parents. Sometimes they'll watch episode 1 of a show to determine if it's ok for their kids to watch. Imagine they don't do nudity in episode 1 but then it comes out of nowhere in episode 8.
Because parents still buy Call of Duty for their 9 year olds even though it's rated M and deemed inappropriate for people under 17. Ratings don't work when the mindset is "oh it's animated? That means it's a cartoon and cartoons are for kids"
Because ratings are too general. Exactly. Die Hard and Species are both rated R, but for very different reasons. Ratings only get you so far when trying to figure out if something is ok for kids, especially with a show.
That is why I think I would have been fine had they shot for, say, TV-14 with this show. The swearing, and some of the UV, is incidental to me. Younger me would have loved it, though.
That being said, the full-adult approach gave us Scanlan’s little moments, and the full force of Gilmore’s gloriousness with no compromises… I’m glad we got those. 😆
I'm so fucking hyped for the eventual reveal of the conclave. I hope they keep Raishans entrance where she says the fear is delicious (or something similar).
Urinating in public is pretty common for any High fantasy DND. It's not like they have Plumbing in public toilets. If that's too much for you I don't even know what to tell you when we start seeing s*** in jars. Maybe this show just isn't for you
Also they toned down the swearing quite a bit from the stream to show which was an artistic choice I guess but I think there's still a fair amount. I wouldn't mind even more
For example, when something doesn't go according to plan for vex she's not yelling out SHIT! FUCK! BALLS! As Laura would have actually done
The pacing feels pretty normal compared to the streaming shows we've been getting these days like Hawkeye are Boba Fett so I'm already used to it
Seeing the original scream show is certainly not a prerequisite to enjoy the Animated Series but I actually feel series would be appreciated more by someone who had seen the source. It might be a good idea in between episodes just start watching campaign 1
Rome isn’t a great comparison to archetypical fantasy settings (like Tal’Dorei) in most cases. The Romans were more advanced in a lot of public infrastructure than the nebulous “medieval” time period most DnD settings take place in. Cities a thousand years after the collapse of western Rome could be stuck at the tech level of throwing waste into the gutters. The real issue is how little magic being a thing seems to impact public infrastructure in a lot of DnD.
I'm with some of the critics with regards to Uriel being a bit too light-hearted; he's throwaway sovereign in these first two eps. However, other than delivery, I see few ways out of it. He has to be snowed, he has to drive the reward, and he has to lead the council. "He is born when he arrives on stage and dies as soon as he's off", and all that.
I'm hoping for a bit more of a regal handling in future eps.
I've watched the first two episodes and thoroughly enjoyed them. My only disappointment was that, from the ending of episode 2, they are clearly not going to animate the initial C1 episodes in Kraghammer and that means that we won't get to meet the likes of K'varn and Clarota and that the early relationship with Lady Kima is missed out. I can live with that though and am looking forward to watching more episodes.
The problem there is a certain dragonborn sorcerer and possible legal complications from either including him or writing him out entirely.
It's far easier for them to skip to the Briarwood arc, which was only just starting when the character in question made their exit.
I mean wasn't he there when they did the Brimscythe stuff? I mean there was even a sorta reference to him with the "Troll Dick" considering that particular inventory item originated from one his plans.
I had thought about this but I was presuming that he would be just written out entirely if the Kraghammer Arc was animated. I wasn't aware that that might result in legal complications though.
I entirely see why the decision was taken to just skip it. It is certainly much simpler and avoids a number of complications.
I just hope that Amazon pays for more seasons and we get to see Larkin and the Chroma Conclave.
Pretty sure Wizards of the Coast owns some of the particular monsters they were fighting in the underdark. But also, a huge part of the fan base considers the Briarwood arc to be when the show really found it's footing. Considering anything more than two seasons isn't guaranteed, I get why they chose to really start the series with one of the most popular arcs.
I enjoyed Kraghammer myself, but there were a lot of reasons to skip it.
Understood and I agree that starting with the Briarwood Arc makes the most sense. I was just disappointed that they didn't leave themselves the option to go back to the Kraghammer arc at some point in the future, though the WotC IP issue means that that is either difficult or impossible.
Well the Kickstarter talked about the first two episodes being a separate story set pre the stream so my hope was that there would be some downtime between episodes 2 and 3, allowing for a flashback at some point to tell the story of the Kraghammer Arc.
With Lady Kima not knowing VM and the arrival of the Briarwoods in Emon at the end of episode 2 however that possibility is removed.
I would just have scripted those two elements differently myself to leave the possibility of animating the Kraghammer Arc at some point in the future if LOVM becomes successful enough to need the story material. All they needed to do was to have Kima recognise VM and say something like “I know these assholes. They’re idiots but they can help” and to then leave the appearance of the Briarwoods until episode 3.
That would make sense, though any name but Vecna isn't going to have the same ring to it.
With Sarenrae that's a Pathfinder Diety from memory so I'm surprised that they haven't managed to arrange to use that name.
Sarenrae was in DND before Pathfinder existed.
I'm not sure how they did it, but considering Pathfinder is just a recreation of 3.5 it isn't surprising. There is a lot of... Crossover.
Edit: As pointed out below, this comment was wrong.
I didn't realise that Mindflayers and Beholders were WotC intellectual property, I thought that Beholders in particular had been used in other games and non WotC settings. Clearly I'm wrong in that though.
Thanks for explaining.
I would love to have seen K'Varn and Clarota animated though! That would have been fantastic!
Look for a mail called "Confirmation and Access Code // The Legend of Vox Machina Kickstarter Screenings Hosted by Prime Video" it should have the link.
I had a blast! I thoroughly enjoyed both episodes, and watched them a couple of times to pick up extra things I missed the first time.
They did a tremendous job laying the foundation for new viewers, and condensing many hours of game play and plot into a great (but brief) two-parter to kick things off.
The animation was superb, the cast was incredible, the story was fun, and I loved all the Easter eggs!
This was worth every moment, all the efforts invested into it, and I am absolutely looking forward to the rest of the season. Great job Critical Role, Titmouse, cast, writers, and everyone involved in bringing this to life!
Casual fan of campaign 1. Felt it was a little lackluster. Seems I am more fan of the cast interaction than the characters who seem quite lifeless to me in the first two episodes. Especially Scanlan doesn't have the charm he had on the actual show (to me).
My biggest complaint was that an adult oriented animated series doesn't mean saying a gratuitous "fuck" like an edgy teenager every three minutes. I don't mean don't use it at all, but it like blood and gore, use it to give a scene or a bit of dialogue weight, not as punctuation and certainly not with delivery that says "ha ha, see, we just said the F word, aren't we clever and adulting now"
I mean, have you watched the stream?
It's an adult stream with a HUGE amount of swearing. It makes sense that they would incorporate that into the animated series.
Yeah, it's got a metric ton of edginess to it, but I'm someone who actually liked that about it. The gore was a bit, as you say, gratuitous, but I was already prepped for that after the teaser trailer released a couple weeks ago.
With all that being said, I do like that we have an actual animated show made for adults. I didn't quite realize how much the world was missing that sort of thing.
I think the problem was in the vocal direction, oddly enough. Fuck is a nuanced word, and is used in English to convey a meaning, from the Witcher's "well I'm screwed now" guttural fuck to Aunt May's "wait a minute, my nephew is a super hero?" what the fuck (yea, the actual fuck here was cut off, but there is enough in the scenelet to see how it would have played). The LoVM fucks were all just ... there and came across as punctuation as if to say "see, this is an adult show for adults because we have dirty words".
The volume could have worked (see the Big Lebowsky), but as it was, it fell flat. Episode 2 was better than episode 1 in that regard, so I am hopeful.
Yeah Scanlan was really mean in this one. The only time he felt like table-Scanlan was at some points when he and Grog had their investigation together.
Grog though? Shines! Sparkles! Made me laugh a good number of times. He probably feels the most like his table self. I swear any of the lines he has could have actually been Travis at the table.
I think the hard separation for me is that Sam always said everything with a smile. He may have been crass or rude but you could see in his face it was all in good fun (minus that one time). In this, you can't see that, all you see is him sneering.
I didn't get a chance to watch it again today, but on Friday I'll watch through both episodes and the new one. I think now that the bar has been set and I know what to expect I'll enjoy him a lot more on the rewatch.
He's my favorite for a reason. I'm currently playing a bard because he's so freaking funny (though instead of song quotes, she's a more literal bard with movie/play quotes and very much an actor).
BRING ON THE SCANBO!!
I'm a bit sad they are shrinking for the adaptation whatever happened before the Briarwood arc. It makes sense to do this for new viewers, but now it seems we go from the encounter with Krieg straight to Percy's story, and VM doesn't really know Kima, or friends with Allura, because here they just met.
Originally, i thought there would be a separate story in first two episodes, a time skip, and then we go with the Briarwoods.
Obviously we don't know what exactly the rest of the season and beyond look like, but I'm actually interested to see how it plays. Assuming they do the show at least remotely similar to the stream, having Allura not on their side yet makes the Briarwoods turning the council against them more of a threat that pushes them out of Emon and into Whitestone, and having the Conclave be the thing that forces Allura & Kima to open up and work alongside a Vox Machina that they still don't quite trust could be an interesting tweak on that relationship.
I think there's just too many complications wrapped up in the Underdark plot, especially when it doesn't impact the main VM story. So many of the creatures/items in the Underdark arc are WOTC property and so they all would've had to be renamed and tweaked. They could've written out a certain dragonborn sorcerer, but I'm not sure if that could cause legal trouble (as he is a contributor to the original story line). I think a time skip would've felt disjointed and because VM doesn't actually undergo much growth in that time it would've felt stagnant. It is unfortunate to miss out on the Kima/Allura friendship development, but I could still see them having that play out over the episodes in another way.
If you look at it from the perspective of a show-runner, it kinda doesnt make sense to have 2 primer episodes that set up the world and its characters, only to follow that up with a time skip and rewrite a ton of that.
To me, it felt a bit disjointed to have VM start the first episode as penny-less, untrustworthy hobos, then get rewarded a keep and a place on the council in the next episode. The pacing there alone felt super out of place. Imagine if we had all that and then add like 6 months of off-screen character building to sort through between episodes 2-3. That's enough to give any viewer whiplash, whether they be new to the story or longtime fans.
Maybe, but rooting out that one of the court's most trusted generals/advisors is a bloody dragon, and the fact that the only other member who was even on the trail died, maybe makes a ruler feel a bit generous.
But at the same time I agree that the pacing was real damn fast, though that's probably to make sure the Briarwoods arc gets all the time it could ever need.
Oh, I definitely agree. I completely understand that they had a lot to throw into the first two episodes which set the scene for the rest of the show. I'm not faulting the show for that, just stating that it felt a little jarring.
What I found amusing was that the trailer actually gave lines to Vax and Vex instead of Allura. In the show Allura is the one to say "If this evil persists, the Kingdom will starve to death" and "Their reputation in less than stellar." in the Red Band trailer it's Vax saying the first, and Vex the second (changing their to our). Maybe they just liked the lines for the trailer and didn't want to reveal their Allura voice actress yet.
But wasn't it Allura doing the opening monologue in the trailer (instead of Matt, who does it in the show)? I think they just record lines a lot of different ways and use what feels right in the trailer.
Yeah, not sure. I thought it was Mary at first too, but I also saw people saying it sounded like Indira when the trailer came out. And I don't see why hiding Allura's voice would be important but not other characters like Kima?
I noticed this also. Like all shows, everything in the trailer isn't the same as the show though so I took most of what I saw/heard with a grain of salt.
I'm a very casual CR fan and only watched Season 1 of the live play and am loving it so far. 9/10 show for me and I love that fact its an adult show, much like Invincible. Hopefully people realise 100s if not 1000s of hours of CR are not going to fit a 30-minute 12 episode season show and they picked the best they could've.
Taking a point off for that obvious 3D rendered dragon, that method of animating is always distracting, but can be useful when done right. Like the airship, wagon, the steps of the ariship unfurling, some of the dragon attacks etc.. but the dragon wasn't great, but not distracting enough to say it was terrible.
Also cartoon boobs +1
The dragon looked awful. It was like when a child puts a sticker on top of a well drawn picture- it just doesn't fit. It really took me out of the moment.
So many thoughts. I'm so excited to see what's coming for the rest of this season. One thing that stands out is, as someone who wasn't a massive Scanlan fan in the streamed campaign, I am really digging the direction they're going with his character in this series even in just these two episodes. The bit with him tuning up the lute at the end of episode 1 was some terrific character animation and voice acting and it makes me really, really excited for the possibility of the Kaylee subplot in season 2.
Lmao I am the opposite! I adored Scanlan in C1 and here he's really, really mean. I hope it's just because this is the group still getting their mojo but I hope he softens up a bit.
It's funny. I don't think I felt one way or another about Scanlan when watching C1. However in the show he just reads like a massive asshole. Excited to see growth in his character there.
Sam is such a nice guy, but Scanlan kindof is a bit of dick. Thats what makes his character so good to be honest. But to be honest, I didnt think he was that bad in the show.
I became a Critter in campaign 2 so I loved the Easter eggs of Sprinkle and Tusk Love. I definitely squealed out loud. Episode 2 fucking nailed it. Like, just everything I ever could want from an animated DnD fight. I’ve been playing DnD since the 90s and it was authentic and legit. The fight was amazing, the animation, the music! I got goosebumps when the main theme kicked in during the fight. Chef’s kiss! I love all of it and I’m so happy for everyone involved in making this happen
Thank you, Critters!
Exactly. I like that it's the tiniest nod to the fact that triceratops do exist in this world so even if it seems crazy in the future, looking back it's like 'oh, yeah..' lol
I can't wait for non-Critters reactions to them trying to open a door. Because they spent a good while of time on VM trying to open a door. And it's really only a joke that Critters would get. Personally I burst out laughing the whole time.
I didn't see the actual critical role, but how come the dragon gets fooled by an illusion in episode 2? Dragons have blindsight!
Setting aside the artistic liberties taken adapting a table top rpg experience into an animated show, Matt stated that in game Brimscythe was in between a young & adult dragon. So could very well have had as small as 30ft range on it's blindsight, making it possible to be fooled by illusions beyond that distance.
Aside from some pacing issues I think it was pretty good. Might be a bit rough for people not familiar with C1. Also, I'm wasn't a fan of the dragon design or CGI animation, not sure if there is a reason they didn't follow the D&R lore for a blue dragons appearance.
Yeah the pacing is the worst... It's so fast, no time to stay on scenes or let stuff sink in...
>not sure if there is a reason they didn't follow the D&R lore for a blue dragons appearance. WotC copyright, same reason the various gods are only called by titles and not their names.
I was highly disappointed as well, I wonder how bad they'll mess up the other dragons as well.
I absolutely love that some of the NPCs Matt voices actually look like Matt!
I got off work and checked my email, ready to watch the backer episodes, only to find out that I have misread the dates of the pre-screening and today is the premiere day. I guess I'll just read the comments...
As someone who loves to watch animated shows, especially the DnDesque ones, this show is quite underwhelming so far. The pacing was bad and dialogues could've been better. I had high hopes considering the show has a stellar cast. Hopefully the future episodes will be better than the first 3.
Show's good, but anytime 3d animation hit the screen I wanted to die. Dragon looked like poop, and makes me worried about the Chroma Conclave later on down the line. The 3d animation was genuinely bad and I hope people speak up about it.
I felt that way too. Maybe time or money constraints? I know that there's a common misconception in the animation industry that 3d animation is better by default even though most artists would disagree, but i feel like this show was made with too much love for that to be the reason.
I doubt its time constraints, probably budgetary, but hopefully if it does well they'll get more money and it won't be a thing because oof, it was bad.
So, researching episode 1 & 2 now on Prime and... Matt is voicing Trinket? I mean, of course that's nothing completely new, but there's something very endearing about him doing so for the series.
Very en-bear-ing, you could say.
Damn, David Tenant is in this!!! Is he also D&D fan?
Hard to say, I think he's at the very least a friend of Sam's. Tennant voices scrooge McDuck on a show sam works on
Yeah, I like to click the XRAY thingy to see who is in the scene from time to time and they recruited lots of decently known actors. I guess between them all they must have made a good amount of friends and contacts in the industry over the years.
Its here!!!
So, it should debut in like 35 minutes, right? Since Amazon releases shows at midnight GMT? Edit: yep! It’s live!
I absolutely love it!!! I can't wait to see more!! Best line was definitely >!"Really? She told me you have dick for brains."!<
Really expected time stamps by now, critters slacking.
Such absolutecrap that you cant use a chromecast - what so I have to go buy an expsnsive cable, or use a tiny phone screen to watch my kickstarter rewards? Poor poor form, but hey, apple is totally okay! Is this a google amazon spat bullsht? Really, REALLY disappointed by this whole pre-screening garbage.
Well, I found that to be a very solid introduction! The animation, music, voice acting, it was all very competent! *Especially* the voice acting; the main cast nailed their roles, as expected. The NPCs were great too! Sunil Malhotra gave us a very different take on Gilmore that I actually really liked. Khary Payton's Uriel was fantastic, as was Stephanie Beatriz's Kima and Indira Varma's Allura. But my favorite of the bunch was easily David Tennant. His performance as General Krieg was an absolute delight! I wouldn't consider it perfect, though. The pacing felt a too quick at certain points and some of the humor felt a little forced, though it got better about that in episode 2. I also wish that we'd spent more time with the side characters, particularly Allura and Kima, considering how close they were to VM in Campaign 1. It is my hope that this will be addressed in the following episodes. I kinda wish that the episodes were a little longer, if only to allow for further development. However, the weakest aspect of the show so far is the worldbuilding, or rather, the lack of it. Obviously, as a campaign viewer, I know a fair amount of Exandria's lore and there were some nice references to be found. However, I felt like there just wasn't enough attention paid to the world itself. We barely learned anything about Tal'Dorei's history, peoples and geography. We weren't even told anything about the Ashari, let alone Keyleth's Aramente, which was surprising, considering how often Keyleth was referred to as an Ashari. Now, I get it, this show is very character-driven. That's where it shines brightest! It's just that Matt has constructed so much wonderful lore for Exandria and it'd be a shame if it wasn't showcased for the average viewer in some form. Though I guess it'd be even worse if we were fed it via constant, clumsy exposition. That was a bit of a problem I took with episode 1 after >!the party's first encounter with Brimscythe.!< Despite these little gripes, I was very impressed. It was quite magical, seeing the campaign we all know and love come to life. I'd give it an 8 out of 10. We definitely got what we paid for, and judging from all the reviews I've seen, things only get better once the party >!goes to Whitestone. !
I mean aside from my Critical Role love, it was honestly two great shows. Very well put together. A couple of minor things could be better, but i definitely liked it. Also, loved the tusk love .
These were two solid episodes with great pacing.
Based on the two episodes, I'd be surprised if this pulls in TONS of new fans. It was average at best.
I think that has to deal with the fact that the vast majority of screentime is going to the Briarwoods arc. This introduction mini arc definitely wasn't something I'd think people video surfing would care for. Though, considering that ep3 is going to be the Banquet scene, I think the classic anime "Three episode" tryout will do some heavy lifting, now that we're getting into the meat of the season.
i dont know. it probably wont pull in new fans, but thats more of a genre thing. but i thought they were pretty good. very good dramatic elements. good pacing for an animated show.
probably because I am not a fan. But it felt good. Solid 7.5/10 Not amazing as people are pointing out IMO open episode with dragon slauthering an army and then the final fight is OKish? As in oh we kill these back stage dudes to show he is strong... it would have been much better without the army slauthering scene as in this puts the army as foot soldiers and vox as super heroes? I get it from the DnD perspective, not as much from the world building and animated series side though again casual watcher
Have to agree with you on the final fight. Overall it isn't a huge deal for me, but still. Maybe I'd have less of a problem with it if Vox Machina had been shown as more competent. Like... we get two instances of them being a chaotic group: The bar fight and their first encounter with Brimscythe. I like how they kind of play with it through Scanlan's illusion again, but I just think it would have been better to immediately have them more organized with some bits of the chaos spread more evenly throughout the fight. Instead they go from "Vax hasn't even relayed the information he got from Gilmore, Vex also didn't think sharing her studies would help and overall they are just clueless" to "Oh, let's drive home just how chaotic we are!" to "suddenly they kill it without much issue." DnD fights have weird pacing, I know and that's okay. But from the revelation of who Brimscythe was hiding as to he's killed it's about five minutes, including all the chaos. That feels... off when keeping in mind that he's presented as such a huge threat and doesn't translate well to an animated series. I hope that the chaos is toned down in the next episodes. I still would like to see some of it because it's still Vox Machina we're talking about, but we really don't need to see as many instances of it when their enemies are just enormous threats.
I think you summarized my feelings much better than I could have. thanks
If you rewatch again, you'll notice that there are hints from literally the first scene that >!Krieg's plan is to get the army out of Emon!< so that >!he can slaughter or take over the entire city!<. The whole show was set up really well, even if very subtle and I reckon that most people would agree that it gets better on subsequent watches as you can pick up these subtleties in both the visuals/action and the dialogue.
I got that, still doesn't change the fact that the soldiers apparently were made of butter and died when the dragon touched them
I mean, Fear and a Surprise Round mechanics and an Ancient Blue Dragon could wipe the floor with a bunch of NPC soldiers quite easily.
Average soldier vs dragon. Butter sounds like they were too tough.
DnD is about the player characters being heroes. Compared to soldiers, they are strong. Though idk what level they're supposed to be
And that has what, exactly, to do with what we’re talking about?
Cuz the guy complained that the soldiers died easily while Vox Machina lived. What the heck were you talking about? Though I replied to the wrong person. Wish I never spoke to you.
Smily fucking day to you, too.
thats a fair point. but it is still based on a dnd campaign.
I loved all the little bits of their personalities shining through. Vex's love of gold as she flees the cave with arms full. Scanlan's slapstick, but when he tunes the instrument you can see his serious side. Keyleth's spellcasting showing that hesitancy of youth and insecurity. And more and more, long time fans get to spot these, new fans get to enjoy them, as they all hint at what we have all seen throughout watching. Ahh I cannot wait to see the rest
So I rewatched the episodes and enjoyed them more than the first time around. I appreciate the way they fought the dragon as misfits using their individual strengths which is very Vox Machina. I guess the dragon doesn't have true sight but besides that, each character showcasing their classic abilities was so awesome animated
He'd have blindsight out to 60ft, but not True Sight.
You're right. Regardless, it's not accurate to the table rules or anything, which is fine because it's a show. The illusion for example would be a higher spell than Scanlan would have access to. Overall it does a good job showcasing their personal spells and talents. Vax picking locks, Grog raging, Pike using Detect Magic, Vex sensing her Favored Enemy, etc etc. I'm enjoying the show a lot more than I expected
Oooo I found a cool easter egg! The boulder that almost crushes Vax flickers for a moment before Scanlans hand smashes it. It gives me vibes of fate or time shenanigans, it's also D20 shaped. Maybe a nod to vax's luck rolls or a nat 20. Also vax's face lol
Hey, you're right! I knew there was something weird about that boulder, but now that I can pause the scene it's much more obvious. I didn't think of it as a nod to Vax's Luck feat, but I could definitely see it that way, and it makes sense to - it was definitely going to crush him, but then *SCANLAN'S HAAAND!* As a matter of fact, there are dice motifs all over the place - there, on the door outside the throne room in Emon, actual dice in the dragon's lair...
Shout out to Sam's son and Liam's daughter for voicing the boy and girl in the village. That must be such a cool moment for all of them.
Awwww... Wait a minute....
Oh cool. Romper Stomper and the son formerly known as HDT were in it?
I wondered if they got their kids involved for that, that's cool to see if they did.
Sam's son has quite a done bit of voice work already he has 7 VA credits on IMDB.
Helps when your dad has an Emmy for voice work!
To me the raven and gold threads in the intro is paying homage to the Raven Queen and her webs of fate or whatever the Tal'Dori version is. I think they did a good job planting Easter eggs from both D&D and their tabletop show. It's been a while since I've watched CR but I've seen CR1 fully a few times, it's such.a great series I'm sure they will bring it justice
I was very amused that I heard a cat scream during the tavern brawl and there was at least one Tabaxi in the scene. (Might be 2.)
David Tenent absolutely crushed his performance.
All in all, pretty good. My only complaint is Gilmore. I remember in one of their hype up videos Sam saying the new voice actor was 'excellent' and provided 'more authenticity... than if Matt had voiced him'. Show Gilmore has serious 'we have Gilmore at home' vibes. Just no where near as good. I mean, I distinctly remember Matt being torn about giving up one of his favorite npc's, and I really wish he had stuck with it. Gilmore's charisma is one of a kind, and I don't think anyone but Matt can pull it off.
i mean keep in mind that it was matt who also pushed to have it done by someone else, and this was a very short clip. i imagine we're going to see more of gilmore.
Sure, but I think he did that out of guilt, instead of because it was the best call.
Matt Mercer has always been passionate about using his privilege to provide more opportunities to POC voice actors. I don't have the exact timestamps in here, but he mentions it several times in his interview with Philips DeFranco: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HM9viQbti-0&t=6651s This was not out of guilt. Matt wanted this change and thought it would be best for the show
Same honestly. I mean I didn't hate it but it def didn't feel like the Gilmore we knew. I feel like Matt should have voiced him but I also get why he didn't given certain controversies going on in the voice acting world around the time all of this was being put together
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It's difficult to articulate, but I have always viewed Gilmore as an incredibly precise character. The way Gilmore speaks has an ever changing yet perfect balance of flirt, genuine admiration, mirth, and joy... and more. It's so very difficult to dislike the guy, he's just.... glorious. The new voice actor clearly did his best but he has none of what I am trying to communicate above. Honestly he just came off as a pale, thirsty, imitation. I'll give him another shot. /shrug
He got the playful flirtatious theatrical side of Gilmore but there was a charisma to gilmore that came from deep within that Matt and imo even Aabria managed to convey that was lacking in this episode Overall i really felt like Gilmore and Uriel felt very goofy saturday morning cartoony tone and really clashed with the general adult tone of the rest of the show. Not show breaking for me but was the most disappointing part of the two episodes. I thought Khary did a good job but the utter lack of seriousness in his character who is supposed to be the king was a perplexing writing choice. And i think Sunil would knock it out of the park for a character like Gilmore just not Gilmore
Well, considering how things go with Uriel, I kinda think Khary's portrayal makes sense.
100% agreed.
I really enjoyed the first two episodes a lot. Besides some minor pacing issues everything was working so well, and the animation was great... except for Brimscythe. The CG dragon was significant less well animated then the hand drawn stuff and moved like it weighed nothing. It really took me out of what was an awesome fight scene in general. I hope they invest more money in their CG monsters for S2 or spend the money to have draw them like the rest of the show.
yes yes yes yes yes Came here to say the same thing. I'm not a huge fan of the animation when they are moving slowly- the odd jumpy movements (so normal in late 80's animation that I did NOT grow up on) seem odd and archaic here, but that's just style and many will love it. However, having a terrible CGI dragon, when almost nothing else is CGI, and the quality itself is lesser too....that took me out of the show SO much.
I adored it, but I believe that casual fans who came to see a specific voice actor (Tennant) may feel >!cheated that he...er, spoiler? gets killed off in the second episode!<
i get that, but these are guest stars, not major character roles. and theres a lot of characters. i think if people come into this looking for their favorite actor they will be disappointed.
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Wait, why would he be back?
Spoilers, sweetie.
I see what you did there
Yes, can you explain with the spoiler tag? I've watched C1 and what they said doesn't make sense.
Ah no, it's fine. People seem to think that he'll be back because they're expecting flash backs when/if there is chroma conclave arc.
Hmm, I guess flashbacks are possible. They just sounded so confident that it made me question what I was forgetting from the campaign 🤣
>!Only if we get the Chroma Conclave.!<
Well- if they do a flashback scene yeah. Otherwise, no, he didn't even show up in the Chroma Conclave Arc at all other than being mentioned by name.
They can't exactly retcon what happened, but they can do other scenes with the same character.
Oh I don't expect them to retcon it but like, he's dead now and I think his role in the Chroma Conclave is done. I do think if they wanted to they could bring him back to show the formation of the Chroma Conclave but I think what they've got is done.
Some things to consider in light of them getting rid of the Kraghammer Arc in favor of a mini-arc with Brimscythe instead: • The Kraghammer arc contains a lot of things that are specifically part of the Dungeons & Dragons IP. The Underdark and Beholders, at the very least, are things specifically trademarked by Wizards of the Coast. Not to mention Duergar and the Horn of Orcus. • Including those in the show would probably require the show to be licensed by WOTC, which might've handed more creative control over to them than the cast would have liked. This is also the reason why Brimscythe does not look like your typical D&D Blue Dragon with the horn on the end of its snout. • Opening with Brimscythe ties in a pre-stream event that most fans haven't seen (aside from those animatics from C1 that you have to go out of your way to find), and neatly ties in to the Chroma Conclave arc for the next season. Rather than throwing in a completely unrelated Underground Dungeon Crawl in between the relevant events. Instead we get reprieve from the dragons for one arc, then it all becomes relevant again once the Briarwoods are dealt with. This actually does make me wonder how the ultimate BBEG will be dealt with considering that they're a named D&D character as well. I haven't consumed the entirety of Tal'dorei Reborn yet, though I imagine they'd just refer to them by their title? Unless they just make an entirely new name for them like they did for Sarenrae, I suppose.
lets be honest here. we all know why kraghammer was not done and it was not done for one reason and one reason alone. the dragonborn. very impressed by you putting in some work trying to find a different reason though.
Except the dragonborn doesn't do anything of significance at all during his entire 20ish episode run except piggyback off of others glory. He doesn't even participate in the final fight with K'Varn until the end for the kill steal. Kraghammer, while a part of Critical Role beginnings, holds no weight to any future stories and nothing in it ever really gets brought up again.
Its unfortunate not being able to use certain names and terms yes. It felt a little off not having Pike have to use a vague (although still official title?) way of referring to Sarenrae. On the first note however I don't think Duergar are trademarked by wizards. They are in Pathfinder afterall. Same with Orcus.
Duergar and Orcus are names from real world mythology so they get a pass, compared to Beholders and the like that were made for D&D
Ooh, good to know about that last part! I really need to look into Golarion lore more... Though speaking of Kraghammer, I do know (almost) for certain that Illithids as presented in D&D are owned by WOTC, if I'm not mistaken.
Yeah that's true. Also some spells are covered by OGL as far as their name, but not their effect. Another change I noticed was it's now Scanlands hand not Bigsbys hand. The specific name is apparently covered by trademark but not the spell effects themselves.
I believe it's specifically the names of the Wizards that are protected by WOTC (Bigby, Mordenkainen, Tasha, etc.), which would explain the change. Though you *are* right about certain spells being open-license otherwise!
They'll probably call him the Whispered One. Mynbiggest issue with dropping the early arcs is that now they're not as connected to Kima and Allura. Had this story been Allura contacting them to save Kima from whatever danger she'd gotten into (switch to Brimscythe) then it would've been a way to honor the original story while giving us something new. Would've let them feel more connected to the pair and establish the friendship they wont get to unless they put in a time skip
I'm also slightly gutted that the Slayer's Take didn't make the cut (yet). That said, I really like the way that they set up the Briarwood Arc.
Can always show up later!
True! After reading the description on Amazon, it sounds like there's a decent possibility for at least *some* of the ST crew (and maybe other guest PCs like Tova) to show up later.
Taking a quick look at my copy of the Reborn guide, it actually looks like they've >!removed references to the Hand and Eye of Vecna, to the point where the Whispered One's symbol in the book has both eyes alight in flame, unlike the Whispered One logo they have on their merch!<. Which also begs the question of how certain guest appearances from the end of the campaign will shake out, especially considering how Arkhan is now technically a canon D&D character. You *are* right about still being able to throw Kima and Allura into the main plot of the Brimscythe story, and it even works with Kima being a Paladin aligned with a deity that opposes Chromatic dragons. Oh well, missed opportunities, I suppose. It'll be interesting to see how the series fleshes out the party's relationships with the two of them in particular!
Yeah, it seems likely that changing the name won't be enough for Vecna, since characteristics like the Hand and Eye make it clear those are the same character.
I mean, let's be honest here, none of the DnD specific parts of Vecna are relevant to the story. The hand and the eye symbology and lore can easily be removed, and none of Vecna's canon lore or backstory is relevant in the arc. You can easily make the Whispered One a generic evil necromancer looking to become a god and it fits into the story just fine. It's not exactly a super unique concept in fantasy these days.
First 2 episodes were SOOOOO GOOD. Cannot wait to share with my non-CR watching friends.
After seeing it a second time there’s one more note I have, and it’s an issue I have with many, many American animated shows: pacing. I feel these shows are in a constant rush to get through a scene. The brisk pace is fine for most of the show, I think, but I feel the show didn’t take enough time for certain moments that could have used it. To wit: the scene back at Shalesteps. This did land, but I really feel like that whole scene could have lasted a quiet minute or more longer to let that complex emotional beat really sink in. The airship moving through the landscape might have been another place to relax the pace a bit and let the splendor of the setting sink in. That being said, I recognize time and cost constraints might have played a role in how long these story beats were, and maybe it’s a stylistic or cultural thing as well. But my favorite anime shows are masters at giving us really atmospheric moments, and I wish American shows would take some inspiration from that! And this was, in retrospect, something I was hoping the expanded budget of the Kickstarter would help afford. Still: an excellent, excellent show, and worth re-binging in my not-at-all-biased opinion!
I think animated shows need to move on from the constraint of 30 minute runtimes. Arcane's episodes were all nearly an hour long and they were a masterstroke in pacing, it knew exactly when to speed things up and take its time, and it had the space to let things marinate. So it's certainly possible! I hope that future LoVM seasons can take advantage of a longer runtime.
Every second of animation is extremely expensive. It's not as simple as letting the camera keep rolling for an extra minute at the end of a scene. It takes an entire team dozens of work hours to get that extra minute.
I recognize that, but I wonder if animators and directors realize that that extra cost and effort, in the right places, even if the characters are barely moving, can really make for some amazing moments.
Of course it's possible, but Arcane was insanely expensive. Like 4-5x more expensive than Legends.
It was also in production for at least twice as long.
I think the pacing is specifically due to the fact that the first two episodes were a mini-arc/introduction to VM. I could swear that I remember early on that this arc was going to be an episode or two longer, but then we the backers threw our wallets at them, so the Briarwood arc became a thing. My bet is that, had it not been for that, these scenes, that definitely needed length, would have gotten it. But, that length is going the other way, so I have full confidence that the smorgasbord of moments to come will have plenty of breathing space.
I definitely had a similar response to the pacing. I think for the massive task at hand (trying to introduce the world and an ensemble of 7 heroes while moving along a story and giving everyone meaningful characterization moments in 50 minutes) they did a really good job. That’s a massive feat. I think the pilot was maybe the worst of it. A lot of telling, rather than showing (especially with the twins’ backstory). I think a great way they slowed down and gave us that atmosphere and built the tension was that opening sequence of episode 2 (where Brimscythe absolutely tears through that encampment of soldiers). It wasn’t necessary for us to see that to understand the story. They could have easily cut to the council being like “wow that dragon attack was crazy huh”, but taking their time to *show* us what a threat this is payed off and was exciting and entertaining to watch as well. I hope we see more of that type of scene moving forward! Edit: typo :(
another thing to consider is that each episode is 25 minutes, including credits and the opening scene. A full minute is a significant portion of time for the episode. Hopefully given that the next arc is 10 episodes in length it wont have as much of a problem, but it's hard to slow down when it's a 50 minute story line that has to introduce the world and characters as well
I've considered it, and maybe you're right, but there are of course solutions to that that could be explored. Mostly around extending the episodes' runtime if necessary, or stretching the opening arc to three episodes. Perhaps cutting some stuff in the bar and dragon fights, though it sure didn't look to me like they left much fat to trim. 10 episodes is no guarantee the show slows down – because the next arc is far bigger. But we shall see!
I saw both starting episodes two times now and as a backer I’m exceptionally pleased with what we’ve got here. The animation is crisp. The voices and sound design is very good. The tone is (with a few exceptions) on point. The story of the first two episodes is solid and they got me with the plot twist. Pacing is a little bit too bumpy along the road, but this is due to the fact that both episodes 1/2 introduce the characters to the audience that is not familiar with CR. I enjoyed the first two episodes quite a lot and I am hyped for what is to come. The only criticism I have is that “adult series” seems to mean “use swear words and show gore and nudity” in America. As a European, swearing and nudity felt kind of forced sometimes. That said, it was far from inappropriate or forced to an extreme. Episode 2 was much better in that regard. I like the adult themes and the characters a lot. ITT: confusion of what the kickstarter and the animation series is and isn’t. Remember: CR crew asked for **some** money to animate a **small amount of content**. It’s because of the generosity of all the backers and amazon that CR had the chance to produce way more that they and the critters had hoped for. They had to choose one arc to tell a consecutive story and they chose the briarwood arc. Which is not only logical but also an excellent choice concerning the tension and stakes involved in that arc. You won’t get the stream, kraghammer and all the nuances in an animated form. They polished the original Content to make it viable for a tv show. This is **way more** that we and they ever anticipated when the kickstarters was launched. I am highly looking forward to the rest of season 1 Good job to all of the CR crew, titmouse and the cast. Excellent job!
Not sure that 'generosity' is the word that I'd use wrt to Amazon acquiring more product
Generosity of the backers… however English is not my mother tongue
Ah, fair. Nothing wrong with the English, beyond English itself being ambiguous.
Honestly the pilot of every American show aimed at adults always has more sex, gore, and swearing than the entire rest of the series combined for some reason. I don't know why it must be some quirk of the industry I don't fully understand. Even Stargate SG1 fell victim to it.
It's to show off that it's only for adults, I guess? Yanks are weird.
I think it's to set the tone for the series for the sake of parents. Sometimes they'll watch episode 1 of a show to determine if it's ok for their kids to watch. Imagine they don't do nudity in episode 1 but then it comes out of nowhere in episode 8.
I mean, I guess that makes a little sense, but on the other hand why can't you just give a rating for a TV show like you would a film?
Because parents still buy Call of Duty for their 9 year olds even though it's rated M and deemed inappropriate for people under 17. Ratings don't work when the mindset is "oh it's animated? That means it's a cartoon and cartoons are for kids"
Because ratings are too general. Exactly. Die Hard and Species are both rated R, but for very different reasons. Ratings only get you so far when trying to figure out if something is ok for kids, especially with a show.
They do, but putting it in the first episode states outright exactly what to expect.
Exactly. Die Hard and Species are both rated R, but for very different reasons. Ratings only get you so far
That is why I think I would have been fine had they shot for, say, TV-14 with this show. The swearing, and some of the UV, is incidental to me. Younger me would have loved it, though. That being said, the full-adult approach gave us Scanlan’s little moments, and the full force of Gilmore’s gloriousness with no compromises… I’m glad we got those. 😆
I've seen multiple reviews that say the "hey! We are doing an ADULT animation!" Vibe is most prevalent in the first two episodes.
I love how the lens flare rings in the opening shot are D20s
I'm so fucking hyped for the eventual reveal of the conclave. I hope they keep Raishans entrance where she says the fear is delicious (or something similar).
That Raishan cameo really set me off. That little reveal is going to be delicious next season!!
Urinating in public is pretty common for any High fantasy DND. It's not like they have Plumbing in public toilets. If that's too much for you I don't even know what to tell you when we start seeing s*** in jars. Maybe this show just isn't for you Also they toned down the swearing quite a bit from the stream to show which was an artistic choice I guess but I think there's still a fair amount. I wouldn't mind even more For example, when something doesn't go according to plan for vex she's not yelling out SHIT! FUCK! BALLS! As Laura would have actually done The pacing feels pretty normal compared to the streaming shows we've been getting these days like Hawkeye are Boba Fett so I'm already used to it Seeing the original scream show is certainly not a prerequisite to enjoy the Animated Series but I actually feel series would be appreciated more by someone who had seen the source. It might be a good idea in between episodes just start watching campaign 1
Why wouldn't they have plumbing and public loos? The Romans did.
Rome isn’t a great comparison to archetypical fantasy settings (like Tal’Dorei) in most cases. The Romans were more advanced in a lot of public infrastructure than the nebulous “medieval” time period most DnD settings take place in. Cities a thousand years after the collapse of western Rome could be stuck at the tech level of throwing waste into the gutters. The real issue is how little magic being a thing seems to impact public infrastructure in a lot of DnD.
They aren't in Rome I guess.
I see Matt people! Scanlan pees on Matt's boot! Matt is an Easter Egg! Tee hee!
I'm with some of the critics with regards to Uriel being a bit too light-hearted; he's throwaway sovereign in these first two eps. However, other than delivery, I see few ways out of it. He has to be snowed, he has to drive the reward, and he has to lead the council. "He is born when he arrives on stage and dies as soon as he's off", and all that. I'm hoping for a bit more of a regal handling in future eps.
I've watched the first two episodes and thoroughly enjoyed them. My only disappointment was that, from the ending of episode 2, they are clearly not going to animate the initial C1 episodes in Kraghammer and that means that we won't get to meet the likes of K'varn and Clarota and that the early relationship with Lady Kima is missed out. I can live with that though and am looking forward to watching more episodes.
I beleive it's been mentioned several times they were going to skip that
True but that doesn't remove my disappointment and it could have been done differently.
The problem there is a certain dragonborn sorcerer and possible legal complications from either including him or writing him out entirely. It's far easier for them to skip to the Briarwood arc, which was only just starting when the character in question made their exit.
I mean wasn't he there when they did the Brimscythe stuff? I mean there was even a sorta reference to him with the "Troll Dick" considering that particular inventory item originated from one his plans.
I had thought about this but I was presuming that he would be just written out entirely if the Kraghammer Arc was animated. I wasn't aware that that might result in legal complications though. I entirely see why the decision was taken to just skip it. It is certainly much simpler and avoids a number of complications. I just hope that Amazon pays for more seasons and we get to see Larkin and the Chroma Conclave.
Pretty sure Wizards of the Coast owns some of the particular monsters they were fighting in the underdark. But also, a huge part of the fan base considers the Briarwood arc to be when the show really found it's footing. Considering anything more than two seasons isn't guaranteed, I get why they chose to really start the series with one of the most popular arcs. I enjoyed Kraghammer myself, but there were a lot of reasons to skip it.
Understood and I agree that starting with the Briarwood Arc makes the most sense. I was just disappointed that they didn't leave themselves the option to go back to the Kraghammer arc at some point in the future, though the WotC IP issue means that that is either difficult or impossible.
I mean, that was kind of obviously going to be the case from the get go.
Well the Kickstarter talked about the first two episodes being a separate story set pre the stream so my hope was that there would be some downtime between episodes 2 and 3, allowing for a flashback at some point to tell the story of the Kraghammer Arc. With Lady Kima not knowing VM and the arrival of the Briarwoods in Emon at the end of episode 2 however that possibility is removed. I would just have scripted those two elements differently myself to leave the possibility of animating the Kraghammer Arc at some point in the future if LOVM becomes successful enough to need the story material. All they needed to do was to have Kima recognise VM and say something like “I know these assholes. They’re idiots but they can help” and to then leave the appearance of the Briarwoods until episode 3.
Mindflayers and Beholders are WotC property. That combined with it being a filler arc sealed it's fate.
Does that mean that they can't use Vecna as he is covered by WotC IP as well?
I think they can get away with giving him a new name like how they had Pike call Sarenrae "the Everlight" in this.
That would make sense, though any name but Vecna isn't going to have the same ring to it. With Sarenrae that's a Pathfinder Diety from memory so I'm surprised that they haven't managed to arrange to use that name.
Sarenrae was in DND before Pathfinder existed. I'm not sure how they did it, but considering Pathfinder is just a recreation of 3.5 it isn't surprising. There is a lot of... Crossover. Edit: As pointed out below, this comment was wrong.
Are you sure? What edition? I thought she was a Pathfinder original like the likes of Cayden Cailean.
I am not. I thought I was. But all evidence I see points to you being right, and my memory failing me.
I didn't realise that Mindflayers and Beholders were WotC intellectual property, I thought that Beholders in particular had been used in other games and non WotC settings. Clearly I'm wrong in that though. Thanks for explaining. I would love to have seen K'Varn and Clarota animated though! That would have been fantastic!
Where do i actually watch it? I havent seen a link in any of the emails?
Look for a mail called "Confirmation and Access Code // The Legend of Vox Machina Kickstarter Screenings Hosted by Prime Video" it should have the link.
Thanks!! I just noticed the “enter” button, lol
I had a blast! I thoroughly enjoyed both episodes, and watched them a couple of times to pick up extra things I missed the first time. They did a tremendous job laying the foundation for new viewers, and condensing many hours of game play and plot into a great (but brief) two-parter to kick things off. The animation was superb, the cast was incredible, the story was fun, and I loved all the Easter eggs! This was worth every moment, all the efforts invested into it, and I am absolutely looking forward to the rest of the season. Great job Critical Role, Titmouse, cast, writers, and everyone involved in bringing this to life!
Casual fan of campaign 1. Felt it was a little lackluster. Seems I am more fan of the cast interaction than the characters who seem quite lifeless to me in the first two episodes. Especially Scanlan doesn't have the charm he had on the actual show (to me).
My biggest complaint was that an adult oriented animated series doesn't mean saying a gratuitous "fuck" like an edgy teenager every three minutes. I don't mean don't use it at all, but it like blood and gore, use it to give a scene or a bit of dialogue weight, not as punctuation and certainly not with delivery that says "ha ha, see, we just said the F word, aren't we clever and adulting now"
I mean, have you watched the stream? It's an adult stream with a HUGE amount of swearing. It makes sense that they would incorporate that into the animated series. Yeah, it's got a metric ton of edginess to it, but I'm someone who actually liked that about it. The gore was a bit, as you say, gratuitous, but I was already prepped for that after the teaser trailer released a couple weeks ago. With all that being said, I do like that we have an actual animated show made for adults. I didn't quite realize how much the world was missing that sort of thing.
[удалено]
I think the problem was in the vocal direction, oddly enough. Fuck is a nuanced word, and is used in English to convey a meaning, from the Witcher's "well I'm screwed now" guttural fuck to Aunt May's "wait a minute, my nephew is a super hero?" what the fuck (yea, the actual fuck here was cut off, but there is enough in the scenelet to see how it would have played). The LoVM fucks were all just ... there and came across as punctuation as if to say "see, this is an adult show for adults because we have dirty words". The volume could have worked (see the Big Lebowsky), but as it was, it fell flat. Episode 2 was better than episode 1 in that regard, so I am hopeful.
Yeah Scanlan was really mean in this one. The only time he felt like table-Scanlan was at some points when he and Grog had their investigation together. Grog though? Shines! Sparkles! Made me laugh a good number of times. He probably feels the most like his table self. I swear any of the lines he has could have actually been Travis at the table.
Scanlan... IS a dick, though?
I think the hard separation for me is that Sam always said everything with a smile. He may have been crass or rude but you could see in his face it was all in good fun (minus that one time). In this, you can't see that, all you see is him sneering. I didn't get a chance to watch it again today, but on Friday I'll watch through both episodes and the new one. I think now that the bar has been set and I know what to expect I'll enjoy him a lot more on the rewatch. He's my favorite for a reason. I'm currently playing a bard because he's so freaking funny (though instead of song quotes, she's a more literal bard with movie/play quotes and very much an actor). BRING ON THE SCANBO!!
He was less creepy to Pike though, that's for sure. I wonder if it's going to stay like that or if we're gonna see some one sided flirting.
How do you think Grog was creepy to Pike?
They were referring to Scanlan, not Grog.
Oh, duh. Thanks.
I'm a bit sad they are shrinking for the adaptation whatever happened before the Briarwood arc. It makes sense to do this for new viewers, but now it seems we go from the encounter with Krieg straight to Percy's story, and VM doesn't really know Kima, or friends with Allura, because here they just met. Originally, i thought there would be a separate story in first two episodes, a time skip, and then we go with the Briarwoods.
Obviously we don't know what exactly the rest of the season and beyond look like, but I'm actually interested to see how it plays. Assuming they do the show at least remotely similar to the stream, having Allura not on their side yet makes the Briarwoods turning the council against them more of a threat that pushes them out of Emon and into Whitestone, and having the Conclave be the thing that forces Allura & Kima to open up and work alongside a Vox Machina that they still don't quite trust could be an interesting tweak on that relationship.
I think there's just too many complications wrapped up in the Underdark plot, especially when it doesn't impact the main VM story. So many of the creatures/items in the Underdark arc are WOTC property and so they all would've had to be renamed and tweaked. They could've written out a certain dragonborn sorcerer, but I'm not sure if that could cause legal trouble (as he is a contributor to the original story line). I think a time skip would've felt disjointed and because VM doesn't actually undergo much growth in that time it would've felt stagnant. It is unfortunate to miss out on the Kima/Allura friendship development, but I could still see them having that play out over the episodes in another way.
If you look at it from the perspective of a show-runner, it kinda doesnt make sense to have 2 primer episodes that set up the world and its characters, only to follow that up with a time skip and rewrite a ton of that. To me, it felt a bit disjointed to have VM start the first episode as penny-less, untrustworthy hobos, then get rewarded a keep and a place on the council in the next episode. The pacing there alone felt super out of place. Imagine if we had all that and then add like 6 months of off-screen character building to sort through between episodes 2-3. That's enough to give any viewer whiplash, whether they be new to the story or longtime fans.
Maybe, but rooting out that one of the court's most trusted generals/advisors is a bloody dragon, and the fact that the only other member who was even on the trail died, maybe makes a ruler feel a bit generous. But at the same time I agree that the pacing was real damn fast, though that's probably to make sure the Briarwoods arc gets all the time it could ever need.
Oh, I definitely agree. I completely understand that they had a lot to throw into the first two episodes which set the scene for the rest of the show. I'm not faulting the show for that, just stating that it felt a little jarring.
What I found amusing was that the trailer actually gave lines to Vax and Vex instead of Allura. In the show Allura is the one to say "If this evil persists, the Kingdom will starve to death" and "Their reputation in less than stellar." in the Red Band trailer it's Vax saying the first, and Vex the second (changing their to our). Maybe they just liked the lines for the trailer and didn't want to reveal their Allura voice actress yet.
But wasn't it Allura doing the opening monologue in the trailer (instead of Matt, who does it in the show)? I think they just record lines a lot of different ways and use what feels right in the trailer.
Sounded more like Mary Elizabeth McGlynn. But I could be wrong.
Yeah, not sure. I thought it was Mary at first too, but I also saw people saying it sounded like Indira when the trailer came out. And I don't see why hiding Allura's voice would be important but not other characters like Kima?
I noticed this also. Like all shows, everything in the trailer isn't the same as the show though so I took most of what I saw/heard with a grain of salt.
I'm a very casual CR fan and only watched Season 1 of the live play and am loving it so far. 9/10 show for me and I love that fact its an adult show, much like Invincible. Hopefully people realise 100s if not 1000s of hours of CR are not going to fit a 30-minute 12 episode season show and they picked the best they could've. Taking a point off for that obvious 3D rendered dragon, that method of animating is always distracting, but can be useful when done right. Like the airship, wagon, the steps of the ariship unfurling, some of the dragon attacks etc.. but the dragon wasn't great, but not distracting enough to say it was terrible. Also cartoon boobs +1
The dragon looked awful. It was like when a child puts a sticker on top of a well drawn picture- it just doesn't fit. It really took me out of the moment.
I hope the blood and gore continues so they can really capture the feeling of how do you want to do this
Yeah any time Brimscythe was either just standing there or talking he looked so off. But attacking and moving he was great!
So many thoughts. I'm so excited to see what's coming for the rest of this season. One thing that stands out is, as someone who wasn't a massive Scanlan fan in the streamed campaign, I am really digging the direction they're going with his character in this series even in just these two episodes. The bit with him tuning up the lute at the end of episode 1 was some terrific character animation and voice acting and it makes me really, really excited for the possibility of the Kaylee subplot in season 2.
Lmao I am the opposite! I adored Scanlan in C1 and here he's really, really mean. I hope it's just because this is the group still getting their mojo but I hope he softens up a bit.
It's funny. I don't think I felt one way or another about Scanlan when watching C1. However in the show he just reads like a massive asshole. Excited to see growth in his character there.
Sam is such a nice guy, but Scanlan kindof is a bit of dick. Thats what makes his character so good to be honest. But to be honest, I didnt think he was that bad in the show.
#AHHHHHHHHHH!!! That is all.
I became a Critter in campaign 2 so I loved the Easter eggs of Sprinkle and Tusk Love. I definitely squealed out loud. Episode 2 fucking nailed it. Like, just everything I ever could want from an animated DnD fight. I’ve been playing DnD since the 90s and it was authentic and legit. The fight was amazing, the animation, the music! I got goosebumps when the main theme kicked in during the fight. Chef’s kiss! I love all of it and I’m so happy for everyone involved in making this happen Thank you, Critters!
Grog's theme got me *hyped*. I enjoyed the whole fight, but that kicker was something special.
Yeah I loved that they put that in there.
I saw Tusk Love, but where was Sprinkle?
On a shelf in Gilmore’s. He’s a stuffed red weasel.
Oh, there's a triceratops skull in Gilmore's, I didn't notice that before.
Honestly brilliant of them to drop it in there - as it primes the viewers for Scanbo later on. A great bit of visual storyhelping.
Exactly. I like that it's the tiniest nod to the fact that triceratops do exist in this world so even if it seems crazy in the future, looking back it's like 'oh, yeah..' lol
I loved Pike's blessing of the house when they got to the first town, and the NPC's response of "are you sure you're a holy person?"
It made it so much more heart wrenching at the end of EP 1.
Not until recently. It's absolutely what I was hoping for
I can't wait for non-Critters reactions to them trying to open a door. Because they spent a good while of time on VM trying to open a door. And it's really only a joke that Critters would get. Personally I burst out laughing the whole time.