Critical Role’s Legend of Vox Machina review: An indulgent D&D romp

Critical Role has become a very popular phenomenon in actual play. It draws millions of people and creates dozens more. Matthew Mercer is the Dungeon Master, and he voices Matthew Mercer. He has a team of professionals that show up every day to improvise a great fantasy story. Critical Role has become a massive company, large enough that it was able to raise $11million through its Kickstarter campaign. The goal of the Kickstarter campaign is to reduce nearly 400 hours’ worth of roleplaying to a single season of TV. No entry knowledge needed. Once the show can get over its insecurity, it will be a pulp adventure that is both solid and entertaining.

Legend of Vox Machina is an attempt to create an on-ramp to the deep lore of Mercer’s fictional setting, a world called Exandria. We are first shown a collage of Exandria, complete with legends and terrible threats. After the viewers have established the overall picture, the show immediately and brutally kills off a group of heroes. This sets the scene for the second episode of The X-Files.

Image: Prime Video via YouTube

Through the trusted trope of a bar brawl, our main cast are introduced to the viewers. Vox Machina’s adventuring team is comprised of Vex and Vax, half-elves, the goliath barbarian Grog and Scanlan the Gnomish Bard, and Pike, the anxious druid Keyleth and Percy, the gunslinger traumatized Percy. They’re your typical Dungeons & Dragons adventuring party — hot messes with battle axes and magical powers — and their first big fight goes as badly as you’d expect.

It’s frankly a little much. Within the span of a dozen minutes, we get to see our main cast get drunk, puke everywhere, chop off a few limbs, and a gnome seduces an innkeeper’s daughter — bare breasts on display and all. The first two episodes stumble with this repeatedly; the characters aren’t your traditional fantasy cast, the show assures us. They say “fuck,” argue amongst themselves, and prefer gold to glory.

Trying this hard, and going this dark, isn’t always a bad thing — but in both tabletop gaming and adult animation, amateurs can veer too hard in that direction in an attempt to differentiate themselves. For a bit, I worried I was in for a D&D story where the party roll around as murder hobos, slaughtering and swearing their way across the realm, and the eventual joke would be the idea that anyone actually caredThis setting is ideal.

The opening episodes were chock full of shock value. It’s rough, especially because once they finally veer off that course, the show suddenly gets It’s really great.

Image: Amazon Studios/Critical Role

It’s a very indulgent tale, with every character being both charming and having a hidden source of anger. If a party member hints at their deep, dark past, you better believe they’re going to confront it and overcome it with the power of friendship. Vox Machina is a group that likes one another, even when they disagree.

Season one begins with an episode about the well-known tale of the killing of an evil dragon. Episode 3 opens the story to a longer-running story about revenge and homecoming. Percy is reunited with his family’s vampires, which leads to a series of episodes. This is the Briarwoods arc from Critical Role, and it’s well paced over the six episodes screened for critics (of a total 12 for the season).

Voice actors are all familiar with the characters and have spent a lot time working on this project. Keyleth, the nervous druid, is continually checking in for validation with her friends — which only sometimes works. Grog, a comedy character that rounds out Pike’s quiet cleric Pike well, is great as a comic relief. There’s a scene where Vex and Percy joke about his “magnificent bitch face,” and it’s not high art, but it’s incredibly comfy. Whenever the crew get to decompress together, I get familiar, cozy D&D vibes.

It’s weirdly wholesome for a show that starts so strong with the F-bombs and tits, but I love it. Critical Role’s heart and good intentions overcame a lot of the initial problems with Legend of Vox Machina, and by the time the season’s major arc kicked off I was fully invested.

Image: Amazon Studios via Twitter

Although not perfect, the animation conveys the story quite well. Combat scenes flow smoothly and are functional. Although I didn’t find myself wowed by them, I could still see the action. 3D modeling was used to enhance the animation. This was my only problem with immersion. There’s a particular cart model that gave me a start every time it was on screen; an early dragon antagonist also looks out of place and weird. The 2D animation makes up most of these shortcomings, with the exception of one frightening sequence in which the whole party is attacked and killed by wraith-like creatures.

The animation sounds natural when the writing is easy to read. Legend of Vox MachinaPerfect popcorn fare. As someone who loves Dungeons & Dragons, it’s like sinking into a warm bath. It’s a joy to feel satisfied when characters tell me their story or joke with my pal. There’s even an extended sequence where the party splits in two, and one half is cursed with just absolutely terrible luck and a string of failed challenges. This is D&D pulp at its best, and luckily, you don’t need to delve into the rich canon of Critical Role and its associated projects. It’s not necessary to spend 400 hours on lore, or slow roleplaying. This is a concise tour of the top highlights.