Nat 20 for The Legend of Vox Machina
Every Dungeons and Dragons player’s dream of having their home game become an adult animate series has come true for the multitalented voice actor cast of Critical Role, as their original campaign debuts its first series on Amazon Prime. Following their immensely successful Kickstarter raising over 11 million dollars, they are lifting their narrative improve game streamed to millions on Twitch weekly to the screen with massive acclaim and success for its 3 released episodes so far.
Made for new and old adult viewers alike, The Legend of Vox Machina follows the party of Pike, Grog, Percy, Keyleth, Scanlan and the twins’ Vex and Vax(and Trinket the bear) as they trip, fall and fail in their role as accomplished mercenaries for hire, let alone the legends of Exandria they later become.
The show’s award-winning and industry heavyweights voice acting cast, from Matt Mercer, Marisha Ray, Laura Bailey, Sam Riegel and more reprising their characters, as well as newcomers from Darin De Paul, Indira Varma and David Tennant, it is no wonder the show has been greenlit for a second season before it even aired its first.
As a fan of Critical Role who has watched all of Campaign 2 and 3, so far, and is making their way through the first, and is an even bigger fan of RPG games, I will admit I had high expectations, even though I knew I would love it regardless. And yet somehow they still blew all these out of the water and made me fall in love with the story once more.
The first 3 episodes, with the rest to be released in 3 episode chunks each week, were as action-packed and narrative-driven as real dungeons and dragons sessions are, filled with the stupid and hilarious jokes and moments that can only arise amongst the best improve groups and spaces. The animation is top tier, as expected of Titmouse inc, perfectly illustrates the fantasy and mechanical elements of such a richly written world.
With such a big cast of 8 (plus a bear) main characters, there is always the fear one will not be highlighted enough or too much. But every episode gives each character a beautiful moment to shine and make the audience laugh as you fall in love with them all.
The Legend of Vox Machina is well worth the watch for anyone craving a new animation obsession.
