Finaika
Member
Blizzard is the Marvel of videogames.
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Overwatch animated short - "Dragons"
- Thread starter Spring Drive
- Start date
Blizzard is the Marvel of videogames.
RedAssedApe
Banned
poorly worded on my part. these shorts just make me wish there was a story mode.
KojiKnight
Member
There isn't a middle ground between shit and shakespeare?
And yes I've always hated the writing in avengers, thanks for reminding me
Trickster
Member
Sorry but this is some defendist bs. If you establish a story in your game and take it seriously, expect your audience to take it seriously too.
KojiKnight
Member
There isn't a middle ground between shit and shakespeare?
And yes I've always hated the writing in avengers, thanks for reminding me
Hyperbole to show my point. If you missed it, it's that your pseudo intellectual tearing down of others for enjoying "simple" entertainment is ridiculous. There us a reason cliches exist, and not just to annoy you. We retell aesop's fables in a million firms because they are universally recognizable and they play on those sensibilities.
I'm not saying that media can't challenge that, it should... But the equivalent of a summer blockbuster isn't likely to be it.
You're better off hitting the indie or film festival scene.
In short, a multi billion dollar company that could do better writing doesn't to keep it simple and relatable to entice millions of customers, angering a select few who can't just turn off their brains and enjoy the ride every now and then.
(Edit) for what it's worth, I thought the avenger's writing was terrible too, but I can understand the value and why so many people did enjoy it.
Guys, you cannot expect the same kind of writing you see from TF2 in Overwatch.
One thing you must know is that the TF2 shorts were meant to be funny and Overwatch's are supposed to be taken seriously. The comparison isn't fair, especially since the tone of both games is radically different.
That being said, the writing is these shorts isn't bad, just bland and predictable.
One thing you must know is that the TF2 shorts were meant to be funny and Overwatch's are supposed to be taken seriously. The comparison isn't fair, especially since the tone of both games is radically different.
That being said, the writing is these shorts isn't bad, just bland and predictable.
Trickster
Member
Just to be clear, since I did just jump into the fray about the writing. I personally wasn't talking about the writing in these shorts. These shorts have been great I think. I was talking in a more general sense.
Take Legacy of the Void for instance, now that is an example of something that has some shit tier writing
I understand why they do it. I understand why all trailers have the same music. I understand why Marvel films have awful writing.
Understanding does not mean I approve any of it. There are smart blockbusters, there are smart game trailers. These are indeed multi-million selling companies so they should not have my empathy and understanding, on the contrary, the audience should demand the absolute best they can achieve because they are filthy rich and in a position where they can reach every gamer on the planet.
You sound extremely apologist for these huge companies.
In my world these mean the same thing.
KojiKnight
Member
You're assuming "best" is for everyone, when you're really meaning best for you...
You sound less like someone who wants to discuss the merits or demerits of this kind of video game short, and more like someone that simply wants to be right.
No. I am not implying that Blizzard should start producing artsy and edgy material or educate the masses. There is however a lot of room to improve even inside their strategy and style of "epic and likeable" storytelling.
I've always hated the argument of "dumb entertainment", when blockbusters and games can be made well, written well and still cater to large masses.
lucebuce12
Member
With all the talk about TF2 intros, I went back and watched them all again.
The soldier and Spy ones still hold up.
The soldier and Spy ones still hold up.
mikemandey
Member
There is one but without English subs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsSH42-kCXc
That "Ryuu Ga Waga Teki" voice tho...
They changed Hanzo's but kept Genji's? Huh.
Don Draper's Hat
Member
How many of these has there been? I've seen this latest Dragons one, the Widowmaker one and Winston's. Is that it?
Trickster
Member
So far yes
UnluckyKate
Member
the first one, still tracer vs widowmaker but also with Winston vs Reaper, fighting for a terminator arm in a bright musuem
Next one is out on Monday and it focuses on Soldier 76.
AnathemicOne
Banned
None of those games have stories to write home about. I'm huge fan of WC3 and I love the narrative presented in the campaign, however nothing in WC3 is new that hasn't been done before. And I'm going to ignore D2 being that it was a Blizzard North game.
I never said you couldn't take the story seriously, I'm simply commenting on the hyperbole people have it such as calling it hilariously bad and whatnot. Both the story and dialogue are servicable, which again, is nothing new as Blizzard are known for the past 2 decades, even at their peak of narrative structure, for servicable writing in their games.
in both the English and Japanese dubs they used the ingame voice clips for their ultimates. But in the Japanese one they used the clip from Genji's English voice actor and a really bad out of place sample of Hanzo's Japanese ingame VA. Weird.
GuitarAtomik
Member
Pretty cliche but fun none the less. Animation quality is on point as usual. I think I like the Tracer v Widow one a bit more due to the little bit of world building it does, but I'd put both of them way above the Winston one.
Meccanical
Member
All these shorts are very well directed and well animated.
serenewarfare
Banned
I love Overwatch, but holy shit I'd give an arm and a leg to get Blizzard to make a full cinematic campaign like this.
Dash Kappei
Not actually that important
Awesome thx!!
Neoleo2143
Member
Which is fine except it's stuck between being too on the nose yet diverging in important spots so it doesn't really work.
The point of the myth as a framing device is to tell a simplified version of the story, boiling it down to its basic themes, but that doesn't work when the "real" version is so simplistic and cliche already.
Couldn't place Hanzo's voice but that "ryū ga waga" part sounds so much like Roronoa Zoro.
Evil Monkey DTT
Banned
Story and writing are different things, go back to Warcraft 3 and the dialogue is not how you remember it. Hell none of them are, but the plot kinda make the writing feel better. I feel like the only difference between blizzard writing then and now is that they are writing for larger audiences. They are still good, but they are good in a different way. It's like star trek vs the star trek movie reboot. Both entertainment but one was more quiet and bad an audiance that was willing to enjoy it's subtlety.
victreeb3l
Member
That was so fucking good. Holy shit.
I felt like this was the weakest of the shorts so far. The Winston one worked well to reinforce his character and set up his story, as well as setting off the events of the Overwatch program restart. The Widowmaker one tried to do some (very light) world building for the omnid-human relations and since it's a recognizable trope with historic parallels you get what's at stake even if it's predictable.
Dragons just shows two brothers' personal history, and it's not a very interesting one. It's an enjoyable and cool fight, but if you're setting up something personal like this I'd prefer the writing to be less bland. As I've said in some other threads I like that Overwatch doesn't have a central storyline, because at this point it's only tropes which works better in small doses. This short was pushing it.
Dragons just shows two brothers' personal history, and it's not a very interesting one. It's an enjoyable and cool fight, but if you're setting up something personal like this I'd prefer the writing to be less bland. As I've said in some other threads I like that Overwatch doesn't have a central storyline, because at this point it's only tropes which works better in small doses. This short was pushing it.
Newtype-001
Member
Honestly the Cheese gets me so hyped with that soundtrack
Genji: The world is changing once again, Hanzo, and it's time to pick a side.
[Genji leaps onto a nearby building's roof. Conflicted, Hanzo rushes over to retrieve his last arrow and aims it at Genji.]
Hanzo: Real life is not like the stories our father told us! You were a fool for believing it so!
Genji: Perhaps I am a fool to think there is still hope for you. But I do.
[Genji turns back towards Hanzo. Wavering, Hanzo lets down the arrow without firing.]
Genji: Think on that, brother.
[Genji vanishes is a cloud of smoke, leaving behind the feather Hanzo had laid out. Hanzo lowers his bow and replaces his arrow in his quiver before heading back inside.]
Genji: The world is changing once again, Hanzo, and it's time to pick a side.
[Genji leaps onto a nearby building's roof. Conflicted, Hanzo rushes over to retrieve his last arrow and aims it at Genji.]
Hanzo: Real life is not like the stories our father told us! You were a fool for believing it so!
Genji: Perhaps I am a fool to think there is still hope for you. But I do.
[Genji turns back towards Hanzo. Wavering, Hanzo lets down the arrow without firing.]
Genji: Think on that, brother.
[Genji vanishes is a cloud of smoke, leaving behind the feather Hanzo had laid out. Hanzo lowers his bow and replaces his arrow in his quiver before heading back inside.]
Omega Kirby
Member
The world is changing once again, Hanzo, and it's time to pick a side.
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ON PAYLOAD
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ON PAYLOAD