Just finished watching act 2 on netflix and one thing is abundantly clear after 6 episodes. The show respects the audience’s maturity and isn’t going to shy away from certain topics. There’s no talking down to the viewers or parading about any kind of virtuous traits. Everyone is flawed, everyone has something to learn, and everyone can be redeemed given the chance. Also Jinx’s mental state legitimately terrifies me.
Once again, I know OW doesn’t have as much time under its belt BUT that’s not an excuse for how bland any of the stories have been in comparison.
Wrote my own short story for Pharah. Not a story teller so it’s probably a bit rough around the edges, but I liked the idea behind it all. Just look for the “Short Story” collapse.
Because I think they basically gave up on the storytelling, which is why Blizzard said OW2 will focus on PvE more. Hopefully to tell a better story and not just be random PvE events.
It takes bravery to tell good stories; you have to be brave to not shy away from potentially upsetting content matter or consequences, you have to be brave enough to stand up for the core integrity of your story or concept ~ I watched the new Shang Chi movie on disney plus and while the matial arts were great, the action scenes were well filmed, and the story was coherent and well done ~ I still felt like it was just lacking something because, ultimately, it was a story with no real core message. It tried to say ‘accept the good and bad and be who you are’ but they didn’t spend any time actually integrating that concept into the plot of their main character or the story beats.
Overwatch had some cool ideas but I don’t think it ever actually had a ‘story’, outside of Omnics created a world war issue and Talon is an evil spy corporation pulling the strings in the background and Overwatch are the good guys that got taken down due to backlash, and that’s like… the ‘whole’ Overwatch story.
They didn’t make an anchor storyline and now it’s really more just seeing characters lives in this world, which is unique and all, but it’s not a story.
edit: I feel like I should be clear in case any impressionable young minds read this, when I say ‘brave’ I don’t mean ‘edgy’. Hurting people isn’t bravery; there’s a difference between people taking issue with harmful depictions and stereotypes that have consequences on minority groups, and Susan not liking magic because she thinks it’s satanic. You don’t need to make an edgy story to be brave, you just need to be willing to push back against editors that try and make you whittle down the important stuff, because they will to make it have ‘mass appeal’. Been there, done that, it’s never worth it.
This right here. As adults or older teens, you have the duty to learn how to consume and digest problematic content. There’s lessons to learn from degenerate content (murder, betrayal, lethal accidents, and other screwed up stuff) that you will be deprived of if it’s totally censored.
To drive a point home, driving or workplace safety instructors showed the gory aftermath of horrible accidents. So people would respect the heavy machinery and exercise caution.
I wouldn’t be typing this if I never saw the morbid reality of car accidents. A huge semi would have killed me, even though as a pedestrian the yield lights were flashing and the 3/4 of the lanes had cars yielding to me fully stopped.
I went lane by lane making brief eye contact with the drivers, and on the 1/4 lane a semi went roaring by that would have collided with me if I took even a single step into its lane. My caution that I learned from seeing the morbid reality of life saved me. If those videos were never watched, then like every other pedestrian, I would have just walked forward, perhaps even staring at my phone and return back to oblivion.
They are setting up multiple potential angles to work with. From a third party conspiracy causing everything to the reality of corruption in international organizations. However, they all just hinted to with no clear direction. Read the Valk and Bap short story, it implies corruption, but other canon media suggests other interpretations.
OW2 will have to pick a direction and go with it instead of scattering isolated ideas. In that sense, you are right, it’s not a ‘story’, we only have a bit of a prologue fed to us bit by bit for over 5 years (being a lead writer must have been so cushy).
They did try to go with a specific direction with last strike, but that got canceled because they wanted to keep interpretations open to anything still. None of that with OW2, or I’ll be suspicious if the writers even completed a simple writing workshop…
They could really do both with the state-of-the-art chorography system. No, the side heroes don’t have to be in the main storyline, but their presence should absolutely be. I expect story moments where we see Junkrat’s traps and creations just lying around as a hazard. Or perhaps Hog hooks a powerful omnic into a pit, stares at you and leaves without a word. Sym could create bridges and shields for your team as an NPC; she’s not constrained by the player anymore.
It would be a nice friendly nod to their existence and power as a hero. I don’t believe they will do this as when asked at Blizzcon 2019, they want a full story arc (anchor story), and told us that all heroes won’t be playable or appear such as probably Junkrat or Hog. The lack of imagination is shameful if their 2019 mindset is still the same.
A storyteller takes a primitive topic or theme, then derives insight and educational interpretations for consumers.
No paints, inks or tools should be held back by a writer’s brush. They should have everything at their disposal to describe a scene with good intentions, while rich with interpretations.
Like the driving instructor or workplace safety adviser, writers also caution readers of dangers, whether it’s through fiction or history.
Today, if a group of executives decides to cut back on safety measures, someone with a workplace safety adviser role cannot show them the gory pictures of the accidents anymore. A frigid, chilling touch won’t shock them back to reality.
Isn’t that game’s story taking the edgy route? I always thought OW’s version was Disney/Pixar-esque, simplistic but emotional enough (in the cinematics) for their audience. I don’t know if anyone in OW is parading any virtuous traits, some definitely aspire to do good deeds, and many have varying degrees of flaws or troubling back stories, albeit most of their reasons and motivations are vague. Although, I’m not so sure if everyone needs to be this way either, as in conflicted. I also don’t think OW’s choice to display their action and scenes in a more “PG” way, so to speak, lacks engagement for older audiences either but there is lack of story for some people.
I feel they are still very early in terms of story and have a long way to go. As I see it, many characters and playable heroes were created with a general trope, aesthetic, characteristic, or playstyle in mind, and the story given have been built around that. But I feel the stories sometimes are not fully completed, written out or realized, some characters only have a surface level connection or relationship with one another and a simplistic paragraph of info to describe it. So, while I don’t think there is necessarily a “problem” with OW’s ability to tell a story, being so open and short, and not expressed or explored in depth with a longer format (whether on film or a story mode) does make it seem lacking.
OW2 is definitely an opportunity to really flesh out these stories instead of just making more shorts or mini archives events. Remembering to Blizzcon they were implementing a new system that integrated custom cinematics which allow developers to more easily build animations into a story mode within game. So, I think there is a lot of room to expand their stories and solidify the way they want to really engage their audience. It’s not a Netflix series but I think it can be a big leap from what we had before.
Rein’s cinematic has probably been the closest thing to a good story telling so far. Everything else is just boring and just reestablishing lore that we already know without any surprises.
The bastion one was good too even though it was still an old cliché.
There is just no one to sympathize with in the stuff that came after.
Even mccree’s comic was super bland. There was shooting and action and it still felt boring becuse nothing was at stake and nothing new has been brought up.
OW doesn’t have a story… it’s an arena shooter with different mechanics. Consider any cinematic fanfiction (since it’s not in-game) and you will be happier
I want to know what happened to Moira after Retribution. Did she get interrogated and yeeted off Blackwatch for the plethora of violations her research methods incurred(so she was shut down by Overwatch twice), or did she deflect to Talon immediately after the incident? Also, was Moira courting Talon while in blackwatch? This would explain why the sniper and assassin both have fade-esque teleports, and why their intelligence was off (Moira leaked strike plans to talon, hence the lack of a light resistance). Moira doesn’t care about her organization’s mandate or duty, so her being a double agent pairs nicely with her disregard of caution and danger.
Arcane doesn’t have to exist to show Ow has poor storytelling and pacing.
It four and a half years for former members to answer Winston’s call.
But that’s the choice the team made where to focus their resources. They aren’t the first brand to have story take a backseat to other content.
Don’t take it personal. It’s at best just a bad to negligent decision. At worst other problems like staff leaving, laid off or fired means they had to save it for Ow 2.
It’s a very poor decision to make also. Flats, SVB and Samito talked about it. Samito only played the game because the dragon cinematic piqued his interest, and I can relate to the story media drawing you into the ‘fandom’.
This I.P was inspired from comic books at an art and story level. Could you imagine if a studio published just some of the prologue of a comic and it became an international sensation? Then the studio releases more crumbs of the prologue over 5 years, and promises the first comic 2 years ago that gets delayed repeatedly.
Words won’t describe how the industry feels about that studio, their view of the studio would be very dim, wondering why it hasn’t overshadowed Marvel yet.
That’s Overwatch. I bet many studios daydream about what they would accomplish with an I.P like Overwatch, the world is rich, and the characters have an unbeatable aesthetic.
