For fans of brutal fantasy, the animated series 'The Mighty Nein' (or, more correctly, 'Mighty Nein') is a must-watch. Why? Here's why.

Brief Plot of the Series 'The Mighty Nein'

In the world of Exandria, war is brewing when unknown parties steal a powerful religious artifact called the Beacon. Tensions rise, and political intrigues constantly take a toll on the lives of ordinary peasants and townsfolk.

At the same time, chance brings together a group of misfits. Each has a complicated fate and a difficult story, but they gradually learn to be a team and act together. How can their joint adventures possibly influence the high-stakes game of the powerful?

This Is Not 'Vox Machina'

It's quite hard to trace the beginning of the 'Mighty Nein' series. We could talk about the very origins of Critical Role, a group of friends who got together to play D&D (Dungeons & Dragons), or about the successful launch of the group's first animated project, 'The Legend of Vox Machina'. But we've already written about all that in .

Varvara Ulianenok

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So let's just say that 'The Legend of Vox Machina' is an adaptation of Critical Role's first campaign, while 'The Mighty Nein' was their second campaign. And many viewers fell in love with the team because of it. Why?

Well, first, because it was the first campaign that developed in front of the public from start to finish. The filming of the Vox Machina games started when the group had already gone through many adventures with their party. 'The Mighty Nein' began with second-level characters, their meeting, and their joint troubles. The creators gave more time for the characters to publicly reveal themselves and be loved.

Second, 'The Mighty Nein' is completely different from the heroes of Vox Machina. Although the characters from the original campaign, who became dear to us over several seasons, were quite unusual heroes, they were still heroes. But the Nein... The Nein tells more about renegades. They don't always do what is considered morally right. They get involved with crime lords, have dark backstories, and often make life a little harder for ordinary people. But we still root for them. Because they are real and sincere.

This Is Just the Beginning

So, the first season of 'The Mighty Nein' is fully out—and has already proven its right to subsequent seasons. 

The creators took a rather clever approach to the adaptation, allowing themselves to play out the characters' backstories right before our eyes in the first episodes. A smart move, because in the game itself, your status as the main character is implied by the rules, but in a script, you still need to think through the details that will make the viewer love these charming rogues.

Moreover, even after dealing with the backstory, the plot itself has advanced very little from the campaign. I had thoughts about how the season would end, but we're not even close. Ashley Johnson's character, in particular, had very little screen time—one of the players was criminally underused. So something is being prepared.

However, with three years of campaign material in reserve, 'The Mighty Nein' can afford to set up conflicts surprisingly early. This is very commendable, because later there won't be a feeling that political intrigues came out of nowhere. And they are no less interesting than the misadventures of a bunch of losers—a goblin girl with kleptomaniac tendencies, a fire mage afraid of fire, a reckless tiefling girl with an imaginary friend, a half-orc failed captain with inexplicable magical powers, an intellectual monk who can't communicate with other people, a carnival worker with strange tattoos, and A BIG SCARY WOMAN WITH A SWORD.

Why 'The Mighty Nein' Is a Must-Watch?

Even if you didn't like 'The Legend of Vox Machina' back in the day, I recommend giving 'The Mighty Nein' a chance. 

This is truly dark fantasy. The kind where blood and guts appear in almost every episode. The kind that makes you want to take a shower after some episodes. The kind that doesn't feel like it's added just for the sake of it—each instance serves a specific purpose. To show the power of an artifact, the futility of war, to raise the stakes in the game. 

However, darkness doesn't mean there's no room for the jokes and comedic scenes we loved in Vox Machina. The humor here is sometimes black and sometimes below the belt, but mostly very unobtrusive and funny.  

Multiply all this by the gorgeous animation from Titmouse, Inc., who blessed us with the best episodes of the third and fourth seasons of 'Love, Death & Robots'. Let's just say, visually, this project is simply brilliant. A titanic amount of work has been done with lighting, volumes, and design. Each character has their own recognizable, expressive facial expressions, and the fight scenes... As a D&D fan, I could even recognize the spells or character classes that were animated. 

In short, we not only unequivocally recommend but strongly urge you to check out this project. 'The Mighty Nein' deserves universal love, especially from fans of the genre. And tabletop role-playing games.