Review: The Mighty Nein “Mote of Possibility”

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

Twenty years after the adventures of the legendary Vox Machina, dark forces begin to stir in the continent of Wildemount, and a group of misfits start to gather.

OUR TAKE

Despite the fact that The Legend of Vox Machina still has two more seasons coming up before it wraps, it seems Critical Role is eager to begin adapting their second campaign, the Mighty Nein, and Amazon was nice enough to drop the first episode on Youtube for a limited time before the proper premiere of the first two in a couple days! So, it’s kind of fitting that this first episode isn’t exactly an adaptation, but more of a prologue to establish this new setting and a few of the cast before the story properly kicks off next time. As expected, all of the players and voices of Vox Machina are back as new characters, though some only get small voice cameos in this episode as their characters have not entered the story yet. There’s no carry over characters from Vox Machina, which makes sense considering this is a totally different setting and conflict, though we may see some references to it here and there. I guess since the cartoon is ongoing, they don’t want to throw in accidental spoilers, but it would be neat if they could manage some sort of small crossover, kinda like how Rick and Morty and Gravity Falls did that thing with the portals where one thing goes in them in one show and comes out in another show.

Anyway, how is this new show so far and how does it compare to Vox Machina? Well, the contrasts are apparent right up front, as this is clearly a more morally ambiguous and dirtier tone than in the previous campaign, where all the adventurers already knew each other and were best buds in a setting and story with clearly defined good and evil. It looks like things will be a lot murkier this time around, as well as give us some time for these characters to meet and get to know each other. And more time they will get, as this first episode is double the length of an average Vox Machina episode, and will be released weekly instead of in batches. I basically have next to no familiarity with this campaign, and I barely had any going into Vox Machina, so I’m pretty much going into this blind and will be reviewing it as a story first, with maybe some acknowledgement of references along the way where appropriate. Now, let’s get to rolling those dice and get on the adventure!