So Uh, Arcane Kinda Rocks.
So if it’s not clear by this point, League of Legends is a big deal. The game’s popular enough to spawn more than a few spin-off ventures, and will likely be a staple of the video game scene for years to come. It came as a pleasant surprise for many to see Riot Games announce a Netflix TV series: “Arcane”, which features several of the games’ iconic characters. And when it finally came out… oh boy.
Arcane has officially aired the last few episodes of its first season. And as of right now, IMDB’s rating of the show places it firmly within the greatest TV shows of all time, coming in at #14 overall. For reference, #13 here is The Sopranos, and #15 is Rick and Morty.
Of course, a rating like this bears a few questions. Is Arcane really this good? Or is it just being overhyped by fans? IMDB’s ratings come via user scores, unlike a few other sites. Rotten Tomatoes, for instance, has a rating aggregate just for prominent critics. So, are things different over there? A quick search reveals… oh good lord, it’s even higher. 100% of the critic reviews were positive, coming just above the 98% figure for positive audience reviews.
One IMDB review claims that, upon showing Arcane to their parents, they found a surprisingly positive experience. The show manages to be accessible to all demographics, not just League of Legends fans. The quality of animation, story, and music are all frequently cited as high points, and the compliments just keep rolling in.
Video game adaptations haven’t had the best representation, until recently. For the longest time, “video game movies” just meant those Resident Evil / Mortal Kombat films, or the infamous Super Mario Bros title. Detective Pikachu felt like the first strong entry into the “genre”, and it seems like things have only gone uphill from there. If there’s a popular series you’d like to see adapted to another medium, you might just be in luck! If this trend continues, we might just be entering a golden age of video game media.