by Celedam » Fri Oct 22, 2021 8:33 pm
Regarding Critical Role Campaign 3, I think I’m out and I won’t be talking any more about it. Judging by what I saw of the first session/episode, and matching it up with what they said in pre-campaign publicity, they’re doing the two things that I hoped they wouldn’t do.
First, they’re doing the “weird for the sake of weird” thing in order to distinguish Campaign 3 from the two previous campaigns and give it an appearance of novelty. I get it: different continent, more exotic setting, more exotic characters. But to me, it feels self-conscious, overproduced, and even more virtue signal-y than Campaign 2.
And second, they’re doing crossovers with other games in order to build their own “cinematic universe” (for lack of a better term). Turns out that’s what Exandria Unlimited (EXU) is all about. Callbacks to previous campaigns are fine. Recurring guests are fine. But to start with crossover characters from the EXU mini-campaign they ran over the summer…?
No, I’m sorry, with everything else that’s happening in my life right now, I cannot muster enough interest for this. I’m still looking forward to the animated series — which is based on Campaign 1, if that wasn't clear already — and I hope I’ll be in a better place come February so that I can enjoy it.