Critical Role & Sagas of Sundry - Podcast Rankings and reviews

Critical Role is the live-play DnD show that breathed new life into an entire genre of tabletop gaming. Is it true that early on some of the technical aspects were less than stellar? Yes, but folks here may forget or not know that initially these folks all played on a set for a live Twitch stream back before Twitch streaming was what it has become today. This was a hobby and a side hustle for a group of professional voice actors, but it rapidly became the reason that thousands (millions?) of people who’d never played DnD or any TTRPG were suddenly enthralled with it. Speaking for myself, I’d been a video game RPG fan in my youth (Final Fantasy FTW) but adulthood, marriage, and kids steadily robbed me of all my hobbies. Then I discovered CR on YouTube just before the pandemic. I don’t like to give too much credit to mere mortals, but Vox Machina became a companion to my long, miserable days stuck at a computer “teaching”. When I literally saw not another face all day long, I would see these doofuses and giggle along with their hijinks and thrill to their victories. For those who wonder about why the podcast cuts off suddenly after the start of campaign 2, CR had been distributing through a network named Geek & Sundry, but they started their own Critical Role Podcast Network and that’s where all their stuff has posted since then. In the meantime I believe Geek & Sundry was bought out by Realm, and they seem to be the ones who choose to put ads at the points of greatest tension in the gameplay. I’ve listened to other Realm podcasts and it’s the same way with them, too. But, if that annoys you, that’s the point, because that’s when you’re most likely to be paying attention. Don’t hate the player, hate the game. As for the sometimes repeated audio snippets, that’s a glitch on Realm’s end, which may have come from compressing the files, or their distribution software, or who knows what. I do know that the YouTube videos playback seamlessly, so you can always see them that way. And these ads are certainly less annoying that the constant barrage of Raid Shadow Legends advertising I got in 2019. Sheesh. So, to the ragamuffin band of adventurers that Matt Mercer himself later called “slapdicks”, three cheers and a huzzah!

I am not usually a horror person, but I was entranced and enthralled as I listened to these two horrifying episodes as a break from the actual hellscape in which we are currently living. Thank you for the escape and the voice of the DM will live in my dreams.

A few things before my actual review:

1. This podcast is NOT “stolen”. It is their original podcast channel from when they were with Geek And Sundry.

2. Episodes 1-9 of season one are easily found if you just search “Critical Role Season 1” in the search section.

3. Every episode from C2 E20 onward to now is in the other Critical Role channel.

That being said, Critical Role is one of the better D&D podcasts out there. Maybe it’s just that it’s the first one I listened to and it’s the one that got me into D&D, but it’s still my personal favorite. Audio wasn’t great at the very beginning of C1, but stick it out. It’s worth it. Trust me. Currently relistening to it from episode 1 onward.

I have enjoyed Critical Role for a long time but I find myself coming back to campaign 1 over and over. Watching on YouTube was great but sometimes I find myself just wanting something long-form to listen to on the road or working around the house. The Critical Role Podcast is the perfect fit. Thanks to the cast and crew!

Only place I can listen to the first 19 episodes of c2 of critical role, ads used to be manageable but are now randomly scattered through the episode and there are way more than there used to be. Usually I wouldn’t complain and just deal with the ads but the random placement interrupted the flow of the episode.