Magical dragons, elves, sorcerers, Moon Goddesses, demons, and of course tragic backstories. Dota 2’s Netflix series seems to have hit all the nails on the nose within the magical genre, for both the hardcore fan and the casual viewer alike.
That’s a harder job than it sounds. Dota 2 is a massive multiplayer game, one with disparate threads running through 120 heroes. The game itself started without any semblance of lore, given that it was a fan who made the game out of passion and not to generate big bucks.
Dota 2 is essentially just a 5 on 5 brawl, one that has paid little attention to creating any form of overarching narrative – why is the Chinese Monkey God mixed up with Olympian Zeus? – and Dragon’s Blood is the first real official attempt to make a story out of the mess.
To be certain, Dragon’s Blood does not push boundaries very far. The story is relatively predictable, with the arc revolving around Davion, the Dragon Knight and Mirana, the Moon Princess. But it simply works.
For one, the animation style hits the mark. The first five minutes set the scene for the rest of the show, with viewers likely to be greeted by a cinematic masterpiece that hooks them in from the start. Not only is the art style attractive, but the fight scenes are also well-thought-out and dynamic, made by the same people who brought us Avatar.
Just take a look at the confrontation between Davion and the wild rampaging dragon in the first few seconds of the premiere. The animation moves the scenes along smoothly, and the show just feels like a comic book come to life.
The Netflix series is welcoming to all, even non-Dota 2 fans. The short series is well contained and builds the entire world from start to end of the series without ever isolating the casual viewers. It helps that the animation’s showrunner Ashely Edward Miller, the guy behind X-Men First Class and Thor, kept things neat by focusing on only a small part of the game.
However, that is not to say that the series forgot their loyal fans. Dragon’s Blood drops multiple easter eggs throughout the show. Some examples include teleporting home scrolls and showing off unique hero abilities like Mirana’s Leap and Starstorm.
Without spoiling anything, the ending of the first season provided an excellent twist, that would have viewers questioning the allegiance and motivations of some characters, setting up nicely for the next installation of the series.
Overall, the show succeeds in presenting a solid M18 depiction – lots of blood and violence in the show – of the world of Dota 2 for both the casual new viewer and the veteran player alike. Truly, an enjoyable series that can be finished in one seating.
Rating: QUADRAKILL (4/5)
