As its brand continues to grow alongside an animated series adaptation, Critical Role is poised to keep expanding into even more mediums outside its Dungeons and Dragons live-play origins. Following recent comments indicating that a video game based on the adventures in Exandria could have been in the works for some time already, fans of the cast’s campaigns may finally end up experiencing the world of Critical Role in an interactive format.
While bringing the story of The Legend of Vox Machina to life as an animated series is already remarkable, bringing the collaborative storytelling experience of a DnD campaign into a video game is a different beast entirely. There’s an inevitable split in the directions this project could take due to the dynamic between improvisation and defined lore that defines the franchise, and a commitment to certain compromises seems to be the only feasible way to handle a faithful game adaptation.
The rumored Critical Role video game hasn’t been officially announced or revealed yet.
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The Challenge of Reflecting Critical Role’s Open-Ended Spirit in the Gaming Medium
A Non-Linear Structure Would Struggle to Match the Tone of Any Actual Play Campaign
The freedom of an open-world RPG would more closely mirror the feel of DnD, but it would also hamper the compelling pacing of the character development at the heart of Critical Role. While combat is important to all the campaigns, the true charm of the streams mostly lies in how the cast handles the relationships of their characters. Despite the popularity of open-world design, it arguably wouldn’t play to the strengths of the brand, as its association with prominent video game voice actors would probably be better oriented toward a more structured plot.
Solidifying a Narrative May Compromise the Core of Dungeons and Dragons
Although there’s hardly any doubt that the team behind Critical Role would be able to deliver an ambitious storyline in a more linear game, this could conversely come at the cost of DnD‘s flexibility. This prospect makes the concept of directly adapting an existing campaign into the medium seem the most probable, but reusing what the Vox Machina show has already covered might feel redundant to long-time fans while also alienating uninitiated newcomers.
Why Balancing the Direction of a Critical Role Video Game Could Be Worth the Risk
RPG Formats That Lend Themselves to the Unconventional Adaptation
Despite the issues that it would face, certain subgenres could strike a balance that makes a Critical Role video game adaptation worthwhile. Directions which have the means to support a blend of character-driven storytelling and meaningful player agency include:
- A turn-based RPG in the vein of Persona would be a natural fit for including set party members with social/romantic layers to their interactions.
- A real-time-with-pause system RPG like Pillars of Eternity or KOTOR is capable of maintaining the strategic depth of battle while providing a fresh take on Exandria’s action that wouldn’t make repeating a story as tired.
- A narrative-driven design which takes after experimental titles like Disco Elysium, primarily centered on decision-making and emotional stakes among quality voice performances.
The depth of experience of Critical Role‘s cast when it comes to video game voice roles means they’re no strangers to all sorts of genres, but any adaptation would face the same dilemma of possibly contradicting the lore established in the official campaigns. Regardless of the subgenre, this project would likely serve an ideal role by focusing on expanding Critical Role‘s world of Exandria without stepping on the toes of existing canon. This leaves the space for either a compelling linear plot or a fully open-world outing, with the only true necessity being that the spirit of the live-play is maintained along the way.
Critical Role
- Release Date
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March 12, 2015
- Seasons
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3 (Campaigns)
- Based On
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Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition
- Number of Episodes
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200+
- Streaming Service(s)
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YouTube