Critical Role’s video game might not be the flashy new AAA project that some were hoping for. But it’s something that feels right on brand for the growing media company. This week, Critical Role announced a new video game partnership with AdHoc Games, the indie LA-based studio behind the upcoming game DISPATCH. Details about the new game were rather scarce, but we know that the game will be set in Exandria, will be a new storyline that features some popular characters from Critical Role campaigns. It will be a narrative choice game in the vein of Telltale’s once-popular genre of games.
It wasn’t a surprise that Critical Role was pursuing a video game project (they are a bunch of video game voice actors after all). However, the decision to partner with a relatively new studio was something of a surprise. Although AdHoc was formed by industry vets (including many who once worked at Telltale Studio), they don’t have much of a track record. In fact, DISPATCH is their first video game release. The narrative choice game was also something of a surprise, given that CRPGs like Baldur’s Gate 3 are currently back in vogue. Critical Role feels like a natural fit for a meaty RPG game.
However, the Telltale style of narrative focus game is actually a great fit for Critical Role’s goal of storytelling. Given that a core mission of Critical Role is to tell and encourage captivating storytelling, a game whose primary focus is on the narrative makes a whole lot of sense. The AdHoc founding team was behind some of the best storytelling games of the 2010s, with The Walking Dead and The Wolf Among Us both becoming enormously popular based on the strength of their captivating storytelling.
This style of game would only be heightened with the sort of high stakes and danger found in Critical Role’s core campaigns, especially when a single choice can bring long consequences to would-be heroes. A game where narrative choices not only matter but are the actual core game mechanic fits Critical Role’s ethos perfectly.
For those wondering about whether AdHoc can capture Critical Role’s unique blend of irreverent comedy and high-stakes drama, they need to look no further than the upcoming project DISPATCH. The first trailer for the game revealed a unique take on superheroes, with a former superhero forced to work at a dysfunctional hero agency after his mech-suit is destroyed in battle. The game itself features both Laura Bailey and Matthew Mercer among its cast and shows that a narrative choice game can be more than “choose your own adventure” as the core gameplay loop also involves choosing which heroes to dispatch to stop various crimes.
A narrative choice video game comes with more practical considerations as well. The development timeline for that style of game will likely be much shorter than a AAA video game, which means that we won’t likely have to wait 5 or more years before the game is released. A smaller budget coupled with a major fanbase like what Critical Role brings means that the game is much more likely to be a success, which should (at least in theory) pave the way for more Critical Role games in the future. Instead of mortgaging the future on a splashy project, Critical Role has opted for a safer choice that feels much more up their alley.
Critical Role clearly thinks highly of DISPATCH. Not only did they tap AdHoc to make their first long-awaited video game, they also announced a partnership with AdHoc to develop DISPATCH into an animated series and develop tabletop games based on the project. Obviously, a DISPATCH TTRPG makes the most sense. Critical Role did just hire two tabletop RPG luminaries to run their game studio. but it’s clear that Critical Role sees a lot of room to expand DISPATCH beyond its video game roots.
In fact, Critical Role’s embrace of DISPATCH might be the more notable development in this announcement. Critical Role has provided support to other video games in the past. But this is the first time that Critical Role has entered into a partnership to develop an animated series and other content based on a video game.
Given the popularity of video games in other media (especially at Amazon Prime, which Critical Role also has a partnership with), it seems like the company is crucially looking for IPs to help elevate. This is, again, keeping with the franchise’s central ethos of promoting storytelling. And it’s also an intriguing sign of how Critical Role’s transformation into a media giant may evolve.
In the end, Critical Role fans should be pretty happy about this announcement. We’re finally getting a Critical Role video game and it’s made by some of the best narrative craftspeople in the business. The game should come out in just a few years and should be a fantastic entry point into the world of Exandria. Plus, we’re going to find out what Critical Role does with someone else’s IP and whether they can find a way to grow an intriguing indie property into something bigger. Their success could offer a blueprint for other indie games in the future.
The post Why CRITICAL ROLE’s Video Game DISPATCH Is a Surprising Yet Smart Move for an Expansive Future appeared first on Nerdist.
This articles is written by : Nermeen Nabil Khear Abdelmalak
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