#i hope cr3's better. honestly idk if i'll even watch cr3 since cr2 was such a massive disappointment but i'll peep in at the start

[americankimchi]

i feel the same way about cr2, i think vm had a more structured plot while tm9 were reluctant to commit to the narrative, especially in the earlier episodes

vm had ur more classical hero roles than tm9 did which meant that they had an easier time structuring stories and villains around that. it also had very clear cut arcs that cr2 just didn't have. like i can say underdark -> slayer's take mini arc -> whitestone (arguably the most story heavy and the introduction of cr into more Narrative heavy and less Game heavy playstyles) -> chroma conclave (which in itself contained multiple splinter arcs that all wove seamlessly back into the narrative like the feywild arc, the rakshasa subplot, THE CLIMAX OF THE GROG ARC AKA MF KILL BOX) -> etc but if you asked me to name cr2's arcs like.... they had the avantika arc....... and travelercon??? i guess

cr2 had more "grey morality" in the party which can work great in stories!! could've been an exploration of what it means to be a 'hero' vs. random guys thrust into the world stage and told to Make A Choice that affects the fate of [x]. but that only works if the characters lean hard one way or another and cr2 made it so the party literally made it their Mission to Avoid Plots that didn't physically haul them into it by the collar. (gestures wildly at caleb "i evade harder than endgame vax" widogast.)

this is more the party's fault than matt's but i feel like he went too hard on the sandbox aspect of dnd in the early arcs and that weakened the overall narrative enough where everything had a harder time sticking since he let the party take the reins. i don't like railroading either but some level of that is needed for the party to like. Do anything. e.g.: that whole bit with the betrayer king that literally could've turned into being like cr2's vecna but ended around.... what episode 89ish? and was pretty much used as an in game reason for yasha's absence instead of the potential world-ending catastrophe it could've been.

aaaaaaaanyways. cr2 was just a disappointment is all. the stakes were so nonexistent not only bc of the team comp but also because of the team's choices too so like eeehhhhhh

#cr critical #there was a potential bounty hunt they could've done WAYY early on #also cad being a grave cleric neatly cut off like 80% of any possible tension during combat #like when was the last time you were actually worried someone would stay permadead lol #god a permadeath would've injected so much juice into this campaign #as i understand not even molly stayed dead bc i think tm9 brought him out of lucien's consciousness or smth? idk #there were no staaaaakkkkkkeeeeeeeeesssssss #i hope cr3's better. honestly idk if i'll even watch cr3 since cr2 was such a massive disappointment but i'll peep in at the start #out of curiosity if nothing else