My thoughts about Campaign 3 so far | Critical Role | Luboffin 

Hey folks, just want to clarify that I am still genuinely enjoying C3, I’m just highlighting some aspects of it that are not my favourite. If you’re enjoying C3 then that’s great! As I said, I think it’s great that CR is trying a different approach so that it caters to the critters who like it. At the end of the day all art is subjective ❤

What I personally LOVED about campaign 2 was all the smaller plots that had nothing to do with the main plot. The Avantila plot, Ikithon vs Caleb, Rumblecusp/Traveler Con, Journey to Xhorhas etc. They didn’t all have anything to do with the final part of the campaign and that made the world feel a lot bigger. This campaign felt smaller cause almost everything is directly related to the main arc

the biggest problem of C3 is the ticking bomb that's still running. Matt is wonderful at what he does as a GM, but dropping the mcguffin so soon gave everyone a sense of urgency (with reason obviously) that led to fast foward relationships and barely having time to explore the backstories like it happened in previous campaigns. if i put BH and M9 side to side i feel like BH are making their first steps into eiselcross, but psychology-wise are when Molly died, as if to say they're entering the final arc (maybe?) with very fractured relationships among them. and thats because every step they take into character development, the world throws them something that reverts them back 3 steps.

I just wish it was more character focused. And also the party dynamic is so weird. Like there’s some pairings that I feel just have not been explored at all and I have no understanding of these characters’ feelings toward each other, whereas the dynamics across the board were very clear by this point for both VM and MN. I think every pairing had had a noteworthy moment (with the exception of maybe some with Pike and Yasha, which makes sense) that helped us understand who they were to each other. Sometimes Bells Hells just come across like “Yeah that’s my weird coworker lol 🙃”

C2 may have felt meandering, but everywhere the Nein travelled was a place they wanted to go, so they were invested as a party. The party has been on a railed conveyer belt toward the plot since they got back from their trip to the museum. The party always seemed less invested in the plot, and are basically along for the ride.

I 100% agree about so much here, especially 4 sided dive. The scaling back on bits was so nice. Next I'd like to see them nix the evergreen questions and get more into what made Talks so great: hearing the internal conflict that the characters had in the last episodes about the big stuff.

Im not going to lie im having a really hard time keeping up with this playthrough without creators like you making summary videos and i really miss them my attention span is not made for a 4 hour plus play through unless im the one playing, and the summary vids helped highlight the important details i may have otherwise missed

I agree with pretty much everything you've said. My C3 highs: Laudna, Fearne, Chetney, and the various ways Matt has created encounters that aren't just "fight a monster / a group of enemies". The heist, the race, the ball, the blindfolded trust exercise - all fantastic. My C3 lows: FCG (and occasionally others, but he's the biggest culprit) always killing momentum to ask "What are we even doing here?" Combat encounters that are just "fight a monster / a group of enemies" that take 2+ hours and are just boring. And speaking of killing momentum, all the breaks and weeks off. Just because this is my first campaign watching live from the beginning, it's been so challenging to keep up & care enough to remember where we left off last time, when last time was always 2-3 weeks ago and "where we left off" is always, we're *still* on our way to Ruidis. We spent almost a full year between the Apogee Solstice and finally getting to Ruidis, and in the meantime I don't think the party stayed in any one place long enough to do anything or make the delay worthwhile. I loved EXU: Calamity. It's my highlight of the past 2+ years of CR and it provided so much relevant context for this campaign and the world at large. But it hurts me that nothing in C3 has come close to that. And yeah, the less said about 4-Sided Dive the better. It seems like a one-stop shop to replace like 4 or 5 different side shows CR used to do, and it's satisfying none of them. I remember late in C2, Travis fired an Eldritch Blast at a dragon because no one in the party could decide whether to hide, run or fight. He took the reigns and told them, we need to make a choice and commit, so I made a choice. We're committed. And he maintained that attitude to the end of the campaign, whenever anyone else had doubts he took them and said, you don't get to have doubts anymore. We're in this. We either succeed or we die, but we don't get to have doubts. C3 has needed that attitude for a long time.

Also Orym pressuring Imogen in the last episode to risk her live even more and then Laudna (who highly values personal agency) butting heads with him was great.

Also, my thoughts all along for this campaign have stayed that they all wanted to do something completely different. Vox Machina were very much stock D&D characters, The Mighty Nein were them stretching out and getting more creative, and Bell’s Hells are the more abstract phase of their exploration of creativity. It threw me off at first, but having the touchstone of the 3 EXU characters to anchor me in helped a lot. The revelations haven’t been as thrilling as C2, but they are all VERY busy, and several of them have kids, so it’s understandable that they’re stretched a little thin.

I think Christian Navarro would be a great permanent host for the talkbacks! He had great chemistry with the crew when he guested, and he's always tweeting about the show, so you know he watches and is invested.

I am enjoying this season for the most part, my only hang-up is... This story seems too big for these characters. I get why Imogen (being ruidis exalted) would be involved, but why would the gods ask random people that don't believe in them to save them? Why haven't they met any NPCs that are just as committed to this fight? The only paladin type I can remember were busy forcing a small town to convert. But ultimately I get that this is how they are choosing to tell this story. And if done right, an ending that might lead to the team succeeding but not winning could be cool.

Your comment about character driven vs plot driven campaigns made me realize something about the divide I've seen in C2 vs C3 fans. Anecdotally, it does seem like my friends who GM enjoy campaign 3 more than those who only play TTRPGS, and I wonder if some of that comes from the fact that Matt is actively carrying out a GM's biggest fantasy by having years of gameplay finally coalesce into an epic finale with this Ruidus Arc.

I think for people saying Fearne is impulsive and chaotic, she’s constantly (ever since the split) been very hesitant to do chaotic things that threaten the party. She’s still silly but very conscious of her actions now

Caveat - I'm likely not going to stop watching C3 or CR anytime soon but I agree with so much of your video and many of these comments below. This is a minor brain thing but in retrospect, a huge part of why I connected with C2 so well was because I had ample opportunity to *review* each episode after watching it - what I mean is that CR put out so much campaign-related content my brain could relive the events of the latest episode in many ways. Most significant for me was the fan art reel actually, which TREMENDOUSLY helped me visualize the PCs and NPCs and settings for each unique episode. But also there were Dani's video recaps, Crit Recap Animated, and a talkback episode after EVERY episode (which helped me pick out key events, moments and motivations from the players). I followed the story much better because there were options to highlight key moments in the story, not just gags between the actors above table (which I love, but don't trigger plot memories for me). I totally agree that a return of HP bars is a good idea.

I know we don't speak about Brian but his probing questions, pushback and theory craft made them think. That type of one on one show made they question, adjust and even challenge their characters. I think that lack of probing is very apparent this campaign.

The opening into Jrusar was my favorite between the three campaigns! The imagery of the spires jutting out and settled was great! I felt like the whole Broodmother plot line wrapped up incredibly quickly, and we moved onto the Heartmoore way too soon. I think we easily could have spent another 10 episodes with that and some other character driven plots to establish the party before moving on. There are a lot of little threads that just kind of dropped, and I was quite sad about it! I also remember being frustrated by the number of bits and gags surrounding the Broodmother, that just didn't feel incredibly genuine or impassioned. I think the show has definitely smoothed out, and I'm enjoying it again, but with how plot-focused the game is I've just missed a lot for for everyone. Especially Ashton's whole deal in Assyrlra! With them only being level 11, I'm a little worried about the pace of the rest of the game and I'm waiting with baited breath. I absolutely love the cast, and I like the characters a lot. We just missed a lot of formative/foundational party time. I definitely feel like the shard disaster was good for the drama of the group and seeing them rebuild in the feywild was fun, pacing be damned. I'm hoping Matt will be a bit more flexible moving forward after that. Here's hoping we get some more good character driven struggles and hopefully a more succinct, tense ending more akin to C1 than C2. So far, mid/end-game pacing seems like it's alright!

This campaign has been pulling me back and forth but overall I’m enjoying the campaign and still happy to watch every week.

Predathos escapes, the group needs to reactivate the Aeor God Killing Machine to kill it. Boom, tied to sam

Great vid!! Appreciate the candor. Yeah, I’ve been struggling to engage w C3… for me, it’s 2 things. 1) The pacing has been an issue for me. You talked about urgency, but I think they’re struggling to stay focused on the urgency. Right when they get to a ‘oh snap, here we go!!’ Moment, they go on a side quest… and then the long breaks, sometimes 3 weeks just exasperate the issue. It often takes them an ep or two, to remember the task at hand and get all the penis jokes out. And. 2) Theres a bit of burnout? From all sides maybe? There’s just sooo much content and they’ve been playing for years! I think they’re all being professional, but I think the show and the actors could use a shot in the arm. I think the pre recording was meant to keep them all fresh, but they have so many irons in the fire right now!! And the long breaks are momentum killers , sometimes three weeks off!! I think they’re ready for a shot in the arm, and more excited about Daggerheart than D&D. Just look at the enthusiasm and effort they’re expressing w Candela!!!

So, I'm a fairly new Critter (I started in 2020 during the pandemic with watching Vox Machina way after the fact) and this is my first campaign that I am watching "live." I will say that I like it. I can tell the big differences between the campaigns and I can see where it makes it a little jarring for those who are long time Critters. I think having this over arching plot makes it a little easier to help guide the players a little better as opposed to letting the characters decide which way the wind blows because then when the group decides to change their mind after so many episodes, there is still that central thing they have to do. This is also a different way of DMing that people are getting to see from Matt and I like it. This is probably influenced by the fact that they have had different DMs at the table with EXU and Candela. They are also creating their game system so it probably has Matt thinking outside of the purview of what is best for D&D 5e rules and what can be achieved if Exandria was game system agnostic.

Dani is an introvert and that's A LOT of attention/pressure. A post-production health bar would be great. People who are mean about Ashton are playing right into his low Charisma score and really what better praise can they levy at Taliesin as a roleplayer/actor?

Nice to see I'm not the only one who is disappointed in the lack of direction that 4SD has. I totally agree with the idea that it would benefit from a regular host who knows the show and has a good rapport with the cast. It would be nice to see them go to a format of regular host who leads a round table discussion of the episodes since the last 4SD. This would allow for more people to jump in and speak bout things that others bring up, while also benefitting from a host to reign it back in so as not to deviate too far from the original question.

I think Campaign 3 has left me the most conflicted about how I feel about it compared to the previous two campaigns. Like I absolutely love all of the lore we've gotten and how much it's expanded upon what we've gotten to learn about Exandria from the past campaigns and ExU Calamity, but I think part of that suffers (to me at least) from not having any real academically-minded characters in the party. Plenty of the party members are curious, but none of them feel all that curious about the history of all of these things they've found themselves involved with. The combination of the massive time pressure from episode 30ish onward and not having any party members that are seeking to uncover history is a bit disappointing. Similar to the video's point of not going to where the Hishari had been on Issylra, Team Wildemount had also learned that Ludinus came to Wildemount from a community in Issylra, but they never pursued that thread or even mentioned it to the rest of the party iirc. Outside of the trip to Molaesmyr, they haven't really tried to figure out more about Ludinus's history, which I feel Matt has attempted to hint them into finding. All in all, it is improvised play and understandably not all threads are going to be pulled on, but these are just the parts of the campaign that leave me conflicted and disappointed.

You managed to say so much of what I’ve been unable to articulate about why C3 isn’t really working for me. I still like it, but I don’t feel as hooked as I did previously. I think Matt initially wanted the campaign to be very focussed in Jrussar, but I guess 5E might not be a great system for a single-city campaign. I also found it to be weirdly incongruous that they introduced this major sense of urgency that split the party across the globe, and it felt like they just spent a lot of time screwing around after that. And like, has Ludinus just been walking over the moon the whole time? It feels weirdly empty for the villain, because it feels like he’s waiting for the heroes to show up in the nick of time to stop him. I don’t know how long he’s had to enact his plan since arriving on Ruidus, but it feels like a long time, and the threat level feels very vague. All that being said, I’ve enjoyed the last few episodes immensely, and I’m really curious where things are going now.

My biggest gripe is that we haven’t had as many short arcs this campaign, they very quickly found the Ruidus plotline and have been pursuing that ever since. Unfortunately this means the characters haven’t really had a chance to really accomplish something, and I think that’s really hampered their character growth. I loved the Briarwood Arc and the Chroma Conclave in C1 because they were contained story lines that gave the campaign a sense of progression. In C2 things were a bit more muddled as there weren’t such clear lines between stages but they had multiple threads going at a time and were able to close out many of them. With Bells Hells it’s just been one constant throughline, hopefully when it’s over the payoff is amazing but at the moment it feels a bit drawn out. But I really like the characters and have been enjoying all the episodes individually, it’s the just the overarching structure that is not grabbing me as much as previous campaigns. I hope in an eventual C4 they move back to smaller plot lines.

So glad to see this upload! No pressure, but I have missed your recaps!

It seems that I am in a minority here, but Bells Hells is my favorite of all three campaigns thus far. Honestly, for one simple reason, each one of them is some sort of fucked up/thrown away/overlooked NPC in someone else's story. They are not heros either publicly or secretly. They are just people. People who have every right not to help the world that has wronged and hurt them, and yet they march up to the moon to stop a GOD EATER because they give a shit. And its amazing to see how real and honestly how flawed these characters can be. They're three dimensional and even they're jagged, they still are beautiful. And honestly, I love the plot focused campaign here, it feels grand it feels epic, and the amount of lore is beautiful and the moral quandires of Pro God or anti god was honestly engaging. Lastly and asidely, Matt makes this game and this adventure for his players. For his friends. We may be as invested as we want, but as long as they are having fun and doing what they want, thats what is important.

I feel like FCG has hit a plateau, like we were making juicy progress but I want to see his Aeorian memories...

I'd love for Mica Burton to be the full time host. She has such a great dynamic with everyone and she's hilarious.

One way I look at all of the campaigns. How they kinda sit in my mind is like vox machina is like the avengers, bells hells is like the guardians of the Galaxy. And bells hells is like the suicide squad.

I have really been enjoying campaign 3 overall. I can definitely get what you mean about being more plot focused over character focused though, and I think that that is very intentional on their part. I enjoy both formats very well, and I’ve loved c1 and c2, but I’ve found myself much more engaged in wanting to stay caught up as much as possible more than in previous campaigns because of how it’s felt like the plot is constantly moving forward. As far as 4 sided dive goes, I’m very excited for the new direction it seems to be taking (even if they are being a bit passive aggressive about it lol). I didn’t mind some of the games and bits, but when it came to the tower of inquiry specifically I was less of a fan of the execution than the idea. I know that a lot of people enjoy their fanfics and AU stories, but I couldn’t care less about what the character’s favorite subject would be in a modern high school AU. I think that the tower could be a great way to still have audience engagement if they would have some guidelines and standards about the ever green questions. No hate to people that enjoy those sorts of stories, but I think that they should try to stay slightly more on topic of the actual story.

The idea that people can't get that Ashton's recklessness is just depression is wild to me. First time he did something stupid and it didn't seem accidental, I saw it for what it was, because a lot of us have this experience of depression where this passive suicidality permeates everything we do, and we take exaggerated risks and do stupid things because when the downside is still an upside to you, why not go all in? And it's like... this is a character trait meant to drive story, and the notion that someone's out there like "Wow this fuckin' Talesin dork, huh??" grinds my gears so hard.

I think there disconnect in there group could also come from how distant geographically a lot of there backstories are, mighty nien for instance we had Beau and Caleb with the empire and fjord and jester with the menagerie coast. With them having stories spread over 4 continents, a different plane and the moon it’s hard to see how’d they’d relate lmao

Really enjoyed this video: shows off your special perspective and thoughtful touch. And been enjoying C3 a lot also, while appreciating why others are less enthused. It would be really nice to have an extended epilogue/continuation after Ruidis-where they can breathe. Could round things off nicely

When the departure of Brian from CR was announced between the campaigns I really thought they got Mica Burton as new host. When she was guesting earlier in C2 they made jokes about that and she appeared in other CR productions as well, so it just felt like a no-brainer to me that she would take over as host. And I think she would do a very good job at it

Totally agree with a lot of what you voice here! One thing I would add is that I do wish they got to spend more time in or were more connected to Marquet. The fragments we've gotten show how fascinating of a place it is, and I just hope they eventually release a Marquet guide like they did for TD and WM (for 5e OR Daggerheart) to flesh it out more

I share many of the same feelings. Since early campaign, I felt like we had discovered the narrative version of a combat slog. Like slogs in combat are just picking off numbers at a certain point with no joy. The intensity is gone, the will to make your spells cool is gone, everyone just wants combat to end already. Narrative, having all of this stress for session after session got me burnt out. I recall that in C2, most of the game was meandering. But there were three distinct episodes that took place in one in game day. That was so intense, It was the heist mission I think. I was glued to the screen and sharing in the intensity for all three episodes. In real life I would compare this to taking an "all-nighter". Sure taking one in a blue moon wont shatter your system. But if you only get 1 hour of sleep, every day, for 2-3 weeks straight you will have some big consequences. To me, this group has been taking all-nighters for almost 70 something episodes straight, that's insane. I had to take 2 long breaks just to break up the monotony. I could only stay for so long and see no change in the atmosphere. I'm hoping with the "We are now finally on Ruidus" Arc, this will change. I am very happy the party went to see Oryms family, the kite flying incident was such a breath of fresh air. I do hope, even with the heavy plot, we can have more fun moments. Even in late late C2, the party still had funny moments, like the waterfall plan that took a half-hour just to do nothing. It was hilarious, and helped break the tension when the party was in AEOR. With the party having gone through trust exercises, some non-plot adventures, that the party can stay strong and optimistic about the future. It was a great video, thanks Luna! Have a great day!

Great video and glad to see you back and looking refreshed. I've enjoyed C3. I've not been able to watch as much as I would like due to work committments but Dani's recap is very helpful. I'm enjoying that the style of play has been changed up. It's like the way that Candela changed over the course of the 3 parts.

5:30 - DUDE! Orym pulling out a Hex! in the last battle.... Liam built a fighter able to attack 6 times with an extra d6 per attack + maneuver damage and utility.... SO COOL! Also Hex helps spell casters to land their spells

I largely agree with most of your points, although you took a more positive spin than I would have had I made the same video. There are three PCs in this campaign that range from "I feel nothing about this character" to actively wanting them gone. That didn't happen with the previous two campaigns. You're absolutely bang on about party dynamics. There are functional subgroups, but if you zoom out there's no real reason for these people to be together as a unit. The meandering "choose your own adventure" aspect of C2 appealed to me greatly. They pursued their own interests and goals and weren't beholden to some external swinging pendulum ticking down to doomsday, at least until the final arc which except for character moments was my least favorite. The time pressure and plot-driven (something that shouldn't ever really be something in D&D) elements of C3 have driven me away from watching whole episodes. I keep up through marisharaygun's recaps now and I don't really feel like I miss anything important. To say that the last 4SD felt "a little passive aggressive" is the Understatement of the Week. The passive aggression was practically dripping off my screeen. "There! We axed the bits, and now we're all going to act miserable. ARE YOU HAPPY NOW!?" By the way, my daughter loves your cats.

I’ve been struggling to put into words my thoughts on C3. I absolutely loved C1 and C2. I couldn’t wait until Thursday night every week to see what was happening. Now, I’m not as invested, but I’m not so disinterested to stop watching. Now, I don’t know if it’s because I find myself less attached to the characters or the story or that things in my life had just made it more difficult to be as wholeheartedly enthusiastic about a weekly 4-hour show. I still definitely love the show. I still watch it every week and try to catch it live when I can. I love the characters, especially Laudna, Fearne and Chetney. But there is definitely something missing that wasn’t missing during VM and M9, but I just can’t put my finger on it. But I think you’re right, Luna, it’s less character focused, so we don’t get as much of the juicy character bits. When we do (like all the stuff that went down with Ashton and the subsequent trip to the Faewild), it really had me excited and engaged. So, perhaps I’m in the same boat as you. I don’t think the campaign is bad by any means, but it’s certainly a different beast, and that’s okay.

I'm very much with you in that I love character driven stories, and the bruising pace of C3 means a lot of those development isn't happening. It's not ruining the show for me or anything, but it is a little sad that even when they do something like the trust exercises it's at a breakneck speed and no one actually, y'know, talks to anyone. On the flip side, I suppose the reason that I want more character stuff is because the cast have smashed it out of the park with their characters for this campaign, and I just want to see more of them! Laudna, Imogen and Chetney in particular are some of my favourite CR PCs ever and I just want to see them have the sorts of wild hijinks and nonsense that the M9 did. tl;dr: I'm enjoying this campaign, but the pace is not to my personal tastes.

I would add that a critique for C3 is the big overarching moon plot. It absolutely acts as a north star so to speak, where the players and audience know what is going on and gives a sense of direction. Nothing bad about that. What I will say to critique is that it has felt like "the moon plot", is the only thing going on. We had all the various things going on in the beginning. The Broodmother for example. And then we leave, go to the museum and observatory, and bam. Moon plot starts. Very cool when it started, incredibly so. But because it has consistently been THE thing that stares us in the face. We've been rushing and rushing with little downtime. 1. We haven't gotten to truly know the characters, and build those tasty inter-party relationships. 2. It has left the whole moon thing to feel a little... sour? overstayed? They're hasn't been much aside from "the moon". It's why for me, when we split the party in two because of the teleport, even though the goal was to get back together for moon plot to continue. As you would. We got to see how "the moon plot" has affected the world. With the whole Bor'dor thing being absolutely thrilling.

I haven't minded the pace but to say that they were in some kind of rush to get to the moon seems to fly in the face of how many sessions it took them. It's probably a good thing that they are trying something different this campaign although it doesn't seem that different to me as I think we've gotten a surprising amount of backstory on all the characters in what amounts to very little time having passed for the characters. Not sure how they could have packed in more of that.

Much Love, Love the scoop and cant wait for the future of C3

I actually really like how different the group dynamic from BH is to VM and M9. I feel like C1 and C2 natrually lead to found family dynamics and I personally would have found it a little boring if C3 was just another flavor of found family. And Bells Hells still care for each other and they are still vulnerable with each other. As for 4SD: I agree with wanting a permenant host. But I would be really disappointed if the games after the break would disappear. And I doubt the show would be 2 hours of just anserwing questions instead. And with how much stuff CR has going on, I doubt they would make a whole new show for these games.

I’m not going to lie- I haven’t really liked this campaign as much as the last 2, I think the main reason is I just haven’t liked the characters as much as the last 2 campaigns.

I did hear them talk about in one of the Four Sided Dives. That every one of their characters are NPCs in the main characters story. I think they all feel that way going by what they said. It'd be like playing the Witcher 3. And handing off the main quest to an NPC while you do side quests. Feels like these characters are the side kicks to Exandrias Justice League. Lol. I appreciate the try. May not be for some people. I agree, feels like maybe their busy lives may be getting in the way of the show? Idk.

I stopped watching Campaign 3 because I wasn't feeling it. I hate a time pressure and like you I think some aspects of the campaign and character arcs have suffered a bit for it. Still love Crit Role just not my kind of campaign which is fine, I'll still be there for the next one. I think my favourite parts of this campaign were actually the small arc with Emily and Utkarsh and like you the Dorian/Bertrand start.

I think the "passive aggressive" vibe folks picked up on the last 4-Sided Dive episode was actually a dig at Sam (he alluded to it being so during the episode with a throw away line). Sounds like he made a joke about the show behind the scenes (possibly about the Tower?) so the crew yes-and'D a bit back at him. Guess we'll find out next month! All told, C3 is different, but C2 was different than C1, too. I'm here to enjoy the CR ride, to see whatever new direction they go.

Thanks very much for taking the time to make this video Luna! I used to rely on catch up videos such as yours, to help keep track of C3, as work and life commitments made it harder and harder to spend 5+ hours almost every week to try to keep up with C3. And then, I think a lot of people ended up dropping C3, and recap videos, probably for a lot of the reasons you rightly said in your video.

I MISS YOUR RECAPS

Thanks for making this video, I have not watched campaign 3 since episode 52 and I couldn’t understand why, now I have a better grasp of why. Thanks again.

I'm definitely curious to see how long the current arc plays out. I think that if things "end early" (compared to C2 at least) and a lot of character story is left over, I would love to see a series of episodes where they go to Aeor, kill Delilah, maybe Otahon or Ludinus escapes and they hunt them down...IDK there could be a lot they need to do post moon stuff.

I really liked your video on this! I honestly have kind of a hard time caring very much about the characters in C3. It's unfortunate because I adored all of the M9, but I don't really feel like I know Bells Hells yet. I miss the silly banter and escapades of C2, and the way the different characters had distinct relationships with each other. Like the frienemy relationship between Fjord and Nott, and the chaos friendship between Nott and Jester. And the antagonistic relationship between Beau and Caleb. It was all SO good! And it's just not really there this campaign.

It is such a wildly different vibe. While campaign 2 seemed way more open and filled with very different storylines and places, c3 genuinely just seems like mercer is playing his endgame for all of exandria. I do like c3, but whether or not I end up loving it will depend on its conclusion and what it means for the entire world of CR.

I'm so excited to watch one of your videos again! Great insights as always :)

I love this campaign so much (I definitely connect with the characters more than the previous campaigns), but I do think the overall group dynamic has suffered from the crazy plot constraints. I would love more character moments and inter-party RP and I do feel like we still know so little about FCG and Ashton in particular. I hope we get more info on them before the end. IDK when the end will come, but it probably depends on who Matt is planning to be the BBEG. If it's Ludinus then the end could be soon and if its Predathos, I feel like we're gonna go 150 episodes. We still haven't even beaten Otohan yet and she feels like a big fight that will happen BEFORE Ludinus.

I do love the map shots. I too would like to see health bars. They did that for a while in C1. Not sure why they went away from it. Also I like to see cameras on everyone's dice trays. The original Accusations Inc had that and for me it really added to the show.

I think my "issue" with the characters in Campaign 3 is that they don't all mesh together. I love learning about the characters, and this campaign has been most about the plot instead, and we keep going back to characters in Campaigns 1 and 2 to get that plot dealt with. So, it's not bad, just different. Though, that being said, I truly hope that Campaign 4 is completely removed from any of the characters from Campaigns 1, 2, or 3. As for 4-Sided Dive: I agree that the bits got too be too much and it took away from answering questions (which is the one thing we actually want a talkback after show to be about!), and I'm happy that they're changing it up so that they aren't trying to play games while answering questions. I understand that they were trying to get away from the format of Talks Machina, but that format was mostly the reason I watched. (I loved getting in depth answers to questions after each episode.) Now, we're lucky if we get one 4-Sided Dive a month, and they don't answer nearly enough questions for my liking. (Especially, since you know that they have thousands of questions they could answer!) I hope the new format they're going with will help them answer more questions or, at least, be able to get more in depth with the answers they give for the questions they actually answer.

Great commentary. I agree almost entirely with you. I think C3 has had its hits and misses, but this is the first campaign I have been able to watch live or keep up with each episode. Campaign 3 has evolved to become a true sequel of both C1 and C2, in a way. That's part of its charm for me. (C1 is my favorite.) In previous campaigns, many of the cast seem to start with an idea for a character and just want to explore it as a thought exercise or use it to stretch their acting skills. However, there is something special that happens when they can just enter into that character and have fun with them immediately. I saw that in Laura with Jester, Travis with Grog, Marisha with Laudna, and Ashley with Fearne. I'd be really interested to see if they choose to have another cataclysm to reset the world, and then switch from D&D to Daggerheart to reflect the changes in how the world/magic/etc works. I would not be surprised if they choose to separate Exandria from the setting in Daggerheart though, just so the whole thing can feel fresh and 100% explorable again for those live plays.

Ain't gonna lie, I struggled with C3 a lot. There was virtually no chemistry until very recently between the characters and I feel like Matt didn't expected them to go after the main quest so quickly.

C3 is my first exposure to CR. So, it and its characters has a big place in my heart. I have loved VM animated show, and am up to E64 on C2, so I am learning more about the larger world. I love it all, and feel so glad to know about this universe! Love your videos! Thanks for your work talking about CR.

Loved your video! Definitely helped me to solidify some thoughts I've had about all of CR's campaigns. I want to preface my ramblings here by saying that I was still in catchup mode literally until the episode where they went to Ruidus itself, so I didn't have that year-long wait of things feeling like they were urgent, but they weren't actually heading to Ruidus yet. So I'm sure that played a part in my musings. I started with C1 in early 2020, so it took me nearly four years to listen to it all and catchup. C1 is definitely my favorite still. I love Vox Machina so very much, they have definitely become comfort characters for me. I'm currently re-listening to C1 in between episodes of C3, though I started when they went to Whitestone so that I could avoid listening to the first 25 episodes again. I think that C1 was the perfect balance of story-driven and character-driven. I've since started playing D&D myself, and I've found that I enjoy both stories and character aspects that our GM includes in our campaigns. I'm also a sucker for dramatic romance, so Vax and Keyleth are my favorite CR characters out of all campaigns. I cried so hard at the end of C1 and haven't had a CR experience like that since. I also saw a lot of my younger self in Keyleth, so it was nice to be able to reminisce on who I was as a teenager/young adult through her. C3 is my second favorite, so far. I really love the large over-arching story, another reason why C1 is my favorite of the three campaigns so far. I also feel so much more connected personally to these characters. I love that the ladies are all working together so closely and can't get over their antics. Fearne is an absolute doll and Laudna is a hoot. Imogen feels the weakest to me of the ladies, but has really grown on me as tensions have risen with Ruidus. I'm so very interested in how this is all going to end. I also have really enjoyed the cameos of previous characters. I know that there are some people who don't like insertion of VM and M9 characters, but it's been fun to catchup with them and see how the world of Exandria is really living around our BH characters. Makes the world feel more alive, because of course these powerful characters would be working to also stop a god-eating god from escaping Ruidus. C2 was my least favorite. I was not a fan of how disjointed the storyline was. I felt that C2 left out some pretty crucial story beats (what the fuck happened with Uk'otoa and Forde?). I really liked a lot of the concepts of the C2 characters, but a lot of them didn't quite click with me. Jester was the shining star in C2 and really what kept me listening until the end, with Caleb being a close second reason. I was also really looking forward to falling in love with Molly as he is the exact aesthetic of a character that I enjoy, I'm a sucker for tieflings, but his death didn't hit me as hard as I expected. He was kind of a letdown for me. But, maybe that was on me for putting too much faith in a character that I saw the internet loving and me loving how he looked. His death didn't do anything for me, other than provide a disappointment and wondering why he was so loved in the first place. Not sure if anyone will ever read this, but it's been fun for me to think through my thoughts and make them real, outside my head. I'm very grateful for the CR team. They have provided me with comfort, a means to fall asleep at night and travel to and from work every day, a newfound love of D&D as I've started playing with my friends, and will be getting my first tattoo next month in honor of the fun that I've been having with my own friends in our games. Without Critical Role, my life wouldn't be what it is today. Crazy how much can change in just four years, and all thanks to some nerdy-ass voice actors playing Dungeons and Dragons. Is it Thursday yet?

Loving it so far :)

Such a good video!! And I can't really add more to it, I agree with essentially everything you have said already 😅😂

Something about this campaign has the fan base determined to hate it, whether over little things or bigger picture things outside of game. Not that it isn't justified and people are entitled to their own opinion, but it just strikes me that a lot of the fan base is so in love with Mighty Nein that they almost refuse to get over them and won't allow any or limited room for Bells Hells. Its like C3 is the ugly step child and is constantly being compared to C1 and C2, when despite its ties to other campaigns, it is its own thing.

I have enjoyed this campaign very much

one thing that I think makes this campaign weaker than the others is that the whole campaign felt like one big chroma conclave arc or aeor/somnovum arc. There's small arcs in the middle, but it's mostly focused on one single issue that takes up all the time. I don't know, it just feels like there's a lot of slog to get through for little pay off, especially after 80 or so episodes. Whatever progress they make, whatever victories or defeats, it has all revolved around ruadis and it's a lot and I kind of feel fatigued just watching every week.

Great video! Like many people in the comments, it's difficult for me to summarize my feelings on C3, but I also agree that you've managed to put a lot of it well -- The characters are splendid and the overall spirit is still there, but it's kind of odd and not quite the same in some aspects (but not in a way that feels like it results from some distinct change, just like things being slightly off sometimes) I do wanna share one frustration with 4-Sided Dive and a bit of the overarching vibe of the meta approach to the characters, which is that the cast has become increasingly adamant about not really wanting to talk too much about the in-depth things related to their characters out of game. This also happened in the other campaigns, often explained as wanting to explore a certain theme or issue or question within the campaign and not just give it away, but I felt like this became just such a frequent occurrence that we barely ended up learning any interesting out-of-story facts about the characters outside of trivia anymore. Mind you, I'm not caught up with 4SD so I don't know if this still happens, but it does seem like in a campaign that has such deliberate pacing as dictated by the urgency of the Ruidus plot, it'd be neat to just put some extra stuff out there and not have to rely on having to wait for the few moments of bonus characterization that we might get. Maybe an unpopular opinion, but I feel like maybe this little bit of a meta approach of treating the characters as little isolated things that you can speak about in such an outward context openly, as opposed as a "role to play out," which must be kept a bit secret to engage the audience more, would help out a bit with the way the characters bond and interact, but I'm only loosely speculating, and ultimately the cast are part of a long-existing group, so they know what works best for their characters.

16:11 I feel like if the approach was going to be plot-focused over character-focused, that should have been emphasized in the characters. We have PCs with interesting backstories that should be explored, but it feels like since so many aren't really tied to the plot, theres no reason to explore them. It feels like a large Imogen arc because shes tied so closely to the overall plot and it feels like the other characters were made for a different game

I honestly stopped watching which makes me feel sad but... I don't know. There was plenty of in-character tension in Campaign 2, but it felt like it coalesced into the found family team relatively soon. I feel like with this campaign the tensions are only ever getting higher and the party feels like they're all actively avoiding any kind of conversation that might stand a chance of alleviating those tensions. It all becomes very stressful and I can only watch a bomb tick down for so long before it just stops being fun.

Very Well Said! I agree with everything you explained and expressed, and you said some things so well which i couldn't put my finger on, so thank you for your excellent (And adorably presented) input! (Also your cats, im in love!)

Spoilers for the latest ep, 84 Personally what killed the campaign for me was inconsistency. I think it was a moment lf frustration when it was about a 3 week wait between the Christmas episode and the next which left me a bit confused. Makes me think that since they're prerecording the show why did such a long gap come up in the first place Then for ep 84 The team fumbles around during combat, go different directions, not have a solid plan or commit to one, and then Matt saying no one asked if there was a door in the fence 😅You could see the wtf dude in Liams face with his high perception. All that took up half the episode, only for em to be turned into farts and then make another rush to this moon city. It really does feel like theyre being pushed from one objective to the next. Cant tell if thats to try help the team or its working against them tbh But then for critical role overall ive noticed more people in the comments at least just being annoyed with things like sponsorships, politics ect the usual stuff. Cant blame em but it might be a combination of those background feelings adding into the overall rushed feeling of C3 that leads to the overall campaign frustration

I really enjoyed this breakdown of the campaign so far. With the holiday break and not having an episode at least one week a month, I am glad I stopped watching the show for 3 months and then binged up to this point. It made the storylines more enjoyable and easy to remember with it not so broken up. Pretty much everything you said resonated with me.

Personally, I like this campaign a LOT more than Campaign 2. Campaign 2 felt like a bunch of chaotic people going on constant side quests and somehow just accidentally ending up in the main story. Campaign 3 feels like the total opposite where they're hyper focused on the main story, which I personally enjoy more. But that's also why Campaign 1 remains my favorite. The entire campaign perfectly tied character driven side quests with the main plot. I think if C3 had taken a slightly slower burn on the ticking time bomb to allow some more side quests, it would have been super cool. Like, maybe an extra 20-30 episodes throughout the campaign.

I'll be honest. I dislike that Talisman said what i was thinking of loud This feels like everyone is on the edge and could easily betray the rest. And that time is an issue. They were rushing to the Key. They failed and suddenly it went so slow. Like when you play a video game and you stop doing the main quest to do the side quest to level up your companion through backstory and gifts. AND THEN There's the assumption from C1 that they could take a break and long rest in the Feywild for trust building exercises. Further making the main plot feel trivial

I think the main irk I have about C3 is that everything is ramping up a bit too fast for the point that the characters are at. I think someone during an episode or during a 4 Sided Dive mentioned that this feels like a level 15 or level 20 character’s problem and I honestly completely agree with that. I can understand building stakes with low level characters facing problems way outside their capabilities, but it also really hinders the journey these characters go on to achieve that skill level to take on those kinds of threats. If the campaign was Bell’s Hells exploring the continent, gaining personal strength, and completing arcs while Ruidus stuff was slowly building up in the background, then I feel there would be far more attachment to the group as a whole by the audience.

I 100% agree that the sense of urgency on the Ruidus situation that Matt put in place has limited things like side-quests and exploring character backgrounds apart from those that tie into that broader plot (Imogen, Orym, and to a lesser extent Fearne). I have a nagging feeling that Matt had this idea for Ruidus years ago and wanted to get the players onto it, but failed, so not he is almost railroading them onto doing it so he can show everyone what he made (and I totally get that desire). remember, he teased it in Campaign 2 when Beau and (I think) Caleb were talking to a Cobalt Soul researcher who organised to meet them later to discuss his finding about Ruidus in depth and they just... didn't show up. I'm guessing that really disappointed Matt and he was keen here to ensure they didn't do that again this time.

It's just awesome

I liked your discussion! And yes, I miss the airship too. We haven't seen Xandis and his crew in ages and they were great!

They had health bars when they were on ProjectAlpha

Super interesting video and really appreciate the honesty in your takes!! C3 hasn’t felt cemented as a CR campaign yet for me. That moment may come, but it just feels like a series of one shots. I’ll still be tuning in as there are great moments, but I honestly skip through a lot of the combat these days

Pretty much agree with all this!

My opinion on this campaign is that it’s best moments have been due cameos with their past characters. That really highlights everything that you need to say with this season. I was a weekly watcher up through about the first third of this season. I have tried to come back multiple times and it felt like they’ve made zero progress and haven’t advanced the plot. I’ll just sit it out until C4 and the enjoy the other specials.

I feel like people are so hyper-focused on the criticism of four-sided dive when the majority of it was always fine, especially after the first five or so episodes. Like people keep bringing up the evergreen questions as bad, but most of them were fine not 'what time of plant would you be'. I actually like the randomness of the jenga tower questions and thought that was a game that actually worked and it was always fun to see it fall (I think they needed to come up with actually good forfeits. Make them drink a gross sam cocktail or something idk) and the actual Jenga pulling never took that much time. I never watched the gaming section, it just didn't ever really worked on the screen, or you could never follow the rules. I'm glad they got rid of the scripted bits at the beginning, but honestly the cast hosting it themselves was always a fine solution as they know the game the best. I don't think Dani wants to do it (I don't think she likes formal camera work) and I actually do think it might be tough for them to find someone they like who keeps up with the game and have good screen presence and also have a completely free schedule. So keep the cast hosting it. Like poor Tal kept hosting the damn thing for a time, so just disqualify some people from hosting if they hosted in the previous episode they were in, and keep it random. But yeah, the majority of the actual questions and answers in four sided dive were always fine and as organic and natural as talks machina. I think they found the talks machina format exhausting and I can understand the desire to provide fans with the fun content fans used to see and that they're too busy to do now as individual series, but I think everyone needs to accept everyone is too busy (though I would love to see 'narrative telephone' return, and that seems rather low production so I think it could work).

i decided to take a little break from C3 cause it just wasn't ~bringing me joy~ it just kinda felt like work to keep on top of all the eps. esp since i watched basically all of c2 and all of c1 once they had been released i can just do that once i feel back up to it. i can't quite put my finger on why i haven't been enjoying this campaign as much as the others, but i figure giving it some space and returning to it when i want to instead of forcing myself to watch every week is probs a good idea! i did kinda like 4Sd cause it brought in elements of game ranch - but yeah i def understand wanting to have more in depth discussions after each episode and while i 100% understand why they dont want to continue talk i kinda wish they could do something a bit more similar

Everything post The shard has been great, everything since The split has been mostly good.

I think your observation of plot focused vs character focused is spot on. That's partly why Campaign 1 is my personal favourite of all of the campaigns because I tend to like an equal balance of both plot and character, whereas C2 and C3 both lean a bit futher in either direction. In fact, C3 was at it's best in the beginning when the focus was still more on the characters getting to know eachother in my opinion. That said, I am still enjoying C3 here and there, even if the character dynamics aren't the best. There are still moments that hit you in the feels and there's still a healthy dose of humor which is a big part of what makes CR so great. Especially after recent events (in terms of feels) :D

I have been keeping up with C3 week to week, but this month I have started to read the recaps instead of watching the episodes. You made lots of good points. Like some others are saying, the characters feel like an afterthought to the overall story. It's almost like they are in the way of the story moving forward, at times. Any time we as viewers feel urgency from the world, the players are in a damned if you do/don't situation. If they take their time and explore, it feels like they don't care about the story. If they rush to take care of the story, it feels like they don't have time for their own stories. It feels like no matter how well caught up I am, the campaign still feels confusing and meandering, despite arguably being the most focused campaign so far.

Ive already checked out and am waiting for S4.

you have a bright future 🙏

That's good breakdown of where the campaign is at the moment. It's hard to find the correct words on how it feels to myself. In a way it kind of feels like the cast isn't having fun anymore, in no way am I saying they aren't enjoying themselves, they really get involved and laugh and thrive while playing but there is just something. Like campaign 1 wasn't expected to excel as much as it did, it was a good hero story, but the cast just seemed to feel more natural and going with the flow, like it was still a home game just with cameras. Campaign 2 they realised they needed to up their game a bit with new sets and maps, but it still has a feeling of being natural and fun, it felt organic, a natural progression. This third campaign, CR has blown the production value out of the water, the set, the ambience, music, etc is amazing, but there is a sense that everything has a required level of performance to it, maybe it's the more present ad sections, maybe it is because it is pre-recorded, or that they campaign seems to have a fast approaching deadline. It doesn't have that original vibe I enjoyed. Honestly, I think a fly on the wall campaign would be amazing, no production, no ads, just the CR team sitting down around the table with doughnuts and snacks and reliving the early style games. It's balance between originality and production that Campaign 2 was hitting just about right, campaign 1 and 3 are just a bit either side of the mark. But that's my 2 cents.

17:35 Let's go! They applied that idea in the new CR Abridged, hopefully they start using it in C4 too if they keep it prerecorded

Most over looked moment was during the split of the party. When they tried to scry on laudna, the images they got were of a woman in a cave. But laudna wasn't in any cave. It was delilah!

Dorian was my favorite character by far! i legit cried big crocodile tears when he left. im way behind (episode 29) . trying to catch up

Mika Burton should host the 4-Sided Dive replacement show. They should be able to afford to pay what she is worth.

I think one thing everyone is forgetting: The D&D WOTC debacle. Critical Role is planning on starting their own stuff out of under WOTC umbrella. They are needing/wanting to finish this campaign so they can separate and start their own game setting. I think thats one of the big things making this campaign feel rushed and so focused on the main plot of the Red Moon.

I had a lot of disconnect feelings when it came to the mighty nein and it wasn't until I was able to rewatch the entire campaign in a month vs over like 2 years did I feel that build of a group and relationships. Granted that might be due to autism. I think with C3, I am enjoying it, but we are at the point where Matt has laid so many seemingly random pieces and questions in front of us, that I need that red thread to start connecting things to really feel the motivation behind it.