Arcane: League of Legends is an action/adventure tv show that was released in November of 2021. It was created by Christian Linke and Alex Yee for Netflix. Since its release, Arcane has become one of the most-watched shows with 72 million views. Pretty impressive, considering the show is a spin-off of a videogame. Along with League of Legends players, Arcane brought in a lot of fans that have never played the game before. So, what’s so special about the show?
How it all started
Well, the start was certainly the game itself. League of Legends is a widely popular MOBA videogame with an active esports community. In the gaming world, League has often been the punching bag of many jokes, especially regarding its fanbase. However, there is one thing no one could ever deny, League of Legends had amazing trailers. Watching the Worlds trailers made everyone excited to play. For forever basically, everyone was telling LoL to make their own show just like the trailers. Guess what? That’s exactly what they did.
What made Arcane stand out in a sea of televised videogame adaptations
Other than being a great show, Arcane really fixed the single mistake that most videogame adaptations have, and according to websites like BoostRoyal.de, the hit show brought many new players to the game. With Arcane, you do not need to know a single thing about League in order to enjoy the show. Most adaptations come with a mindset that you are familiar with all of the lore and all of the characters. Sadly, shows and films like that often flop. It was certainly true for the World of Warcraft movie. Even players who have played a game for years aren’t familiar enough with the story to enjoy the game. So, why does this happening? No one knows.
Plot of Arcane
Most tv shows usually have that one plotline sentence that makes the viewer interested. Well, that’s not the case with Arcane. Once you arrive in Piltover, you will feel as if that world has existed before and it will continue on existing after the show. We, as the viewer, follow different characters and their different lives that were influenced by the environment around them.
With that in mind, Arcane is quite similar to Game of Thrones. It’s not a never-seen innovative story that makes everyone’s jaws drop. It just does what it does masterfully.
Character-driven drama
The game developer’s and artist’s job when creating new characters for any videogame is to make the characters stand out from the ones inside their own game and the ones in other games. We have to say that Riot games does this masterfully. With over 100 champions, it must have been a hard task to make everyone not only look different but have a different personality as well.
This amazing variety also transferred to Arcane. We got to see many champions and their own backstories. However, along with them, there’s an entire cast of characters that aren’t in the actual game. What’s even more amazing is that there is no clear distinction between them. If you haven’t played League before, we are sure you won’t be able to tell the difference sometimes.
Along with these other positives, there’s even more! Oftentimes characters in media turn into cliche archetypes. However, that isn’t the case with Arcane. The makers of the show did a wonderful job at humanizing each character and making them feel as if they are real people.
Animation and Music in Arcane
They must have had a massive budget because the art and the animation are breathtaking. Riot certainly set the bar with their amazing cinematics, but they took it even further with Arcane. From just normal scenes to action-packed madness, this shows animation won’t leave you aloof. What’s also amazing is the music and honestly, the entire production.
Finishing thoughts
There’s unmatched attention to detail when it comes to Arcane. Everything was handled so beautifully and carefully. That includes characters, writing, animation, music, and production. They’ve certainly outdone themselves and it is safe to say that YES Arcane is worth watching!
