hukomy

Ranking the Overwatch Cinematic Shorts (so far)

muchymozzarella

I’m gonna be ranking each short based on storytelling quality (since, let’s be real, all the animation is amazing) and the way it affected me personally, as well as the relevance of each short to their primary character or characters. 

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Junkertown: The Plan

I’m not putting this in my main list because it was animated differently from the rest, and mainly for a map rather than characters, even if it did a little bit of storytelling. However, the expressions in this were amazing, as was the comedy writing. Still an excellent piece, though I’m not putting it in my main rankings. 

Doomfist Origin Story

Though technically counting among all the other origin stories, because this was fully animated, I felt it needed mentioning. This 2D style is fantastic, exciting, and Sahr Ngaujah’s Doomfist has me in CHILLS every time I watch it. I’d rank it mid-high on my list if it were being ranked, but since it doesn’t count among the cinematic shorts, I’m excluding it. I need this anime in my life, tho.

NOW FOR THE MAIN RANKINGS! 

#11 - Reunion

Reunion was… disappointing. It was still beautifully animated, still exciting and fun, but as a character piece it felt more like a vehicle for Ashe and Echo than any real story. McCree wasn’t given the attention or character depth they gave him in his comic, or even in the Retribution.

Still good, but the most disappointing of the lot. 

#10 - Overwatch Cinematic Trailer

The OG! The first look that made us excited about Overwatch. It does what it needs to well, but being one of Overwatch’s earliest works, it has a lot of outdated elements, such as the subtle changes in Tracer and Widow’s design, and the more flat portrayals of characters that were much nuanced later on.

Still excellent, though, and a good way of portraying what Overwatch was meant to be as a game, as a concept, and as its own universe.

#9 - Shooting Star

Now this was an excellent character piece. I dearly appreciated the look it gave us into D.Va’s real personality underneath all the propaganda/media persona, and her anxieties and pressures and fears. It, however, didn’t affect me very much on first viewing, especially in comparison to the rest, and it isn’t the most memorable to me, so it’s lower on the list. Still quality, though. 

#8 - Rise and Shine

This would be higher on the list, but I wasn’t affected until maybe my third or fourth viewing. Something about the way the emotions played out seemed not to develop as well as the rest. However, this is still an emotional, touching, and surprisingly LONG short about Mei, and it really delves into her character and drive, while also giving us significant backstory on Overwatch’s role and situation in-universe. The music was lovely, and Mei as a character is just amazing, and so very compelling. Elise Zhang did a wonderful job, especially since she sometimes struggles with English, especially a fully English piece like this. And it is GORGEOUS. All of them are, but this one in particular captured something great in the lighting and setting. 

#7 - Infiltration

Now this is where I’m starting to have trouble picking between titles :P This one grappled with #6 for the higher spot, but I’m putting this here because the other one’s thematically stronger. This one, however, was about everything you’d want in a short. It’s exciting, it’s got deep and interesting, moving plot, it has multiple characters but shows us exactly what Sombra is about and gives her such PERSONALITY. The animation is great, the storytelling is great, and it plays out the way the best superhero animated series from the 90s and early 2000s played out. One of my favourites. But still not as high on the list as the next ones. 

#6 - Hero

I think what made this so impressive and memorable was actually the soundtrack. The mood was set so perfectly in this short alone, but also it was thematically stronger from start to finish with the idea that old heroes could still be heroes, and that new ones could arise as a result of the old ones. It was exciting, the action was excellent, and the world of Dorado just pops. 

But definitely the music. Who could forget that guitar at the end? 

#5 Alive

So they, uh… straight up MURDERED SOMEBODY??? 

Seriously though, this short, despite having the action and excitement of both Infiltration and Hero, rises above because of how it revealed the stakes of Overwatch. It revealed that they weren’t afraid to go there, to show the othering of sentient people with the omnic rights protests led by an omnic religious leader mirroring past tensions between an oppressed group and a majority, and to show someone who is both a major religious figure AND a political figurehead being straight up assassinated for the goals of a shadow organisation. 

This was an action-packed, exciting, visual treat with a terrifying and skilful villain who was a real threat, but above all else, it showed us that Overwatch wasn’t going to baby its audience. 

#4 - Recall 

Winston is such an excellent character, let me just say. As far as we, the audience, are concerned, he is Overwatch - at least, the new form of it, and the best form of it - and the way this short presents his desire to see the world be better, mixing in some deep universe lore and more action showing the threat that Talon is, this short is one of the most important just in terms of Overwatch’s story. It’s got action, it’s got some surprisingly effective humour, and it centres on a great character and his wants and decisions. 

NOW WE’RE IN THE HOME STRETCH - AKA THE PLACE WHERE I COULD NOT DECIDE WHERE TO PUT THESE TITLES. 

BUT I HAD TO RANK THEM. SO HERE THEY ARE. BUT ASSUME THEY ARE ALL EQUALLY AMAZING BECAUSE THESE ARE THE THREE BEST OVERWATCH CINEMATIC SHORTS SO FAR.

# 3 - The Last Bastion 

This was a masterpiece. Without dialogue, it conveyed emotion, it was a feast for the eyes, the music and sound design were on point, and it was honestly just… amazing. Really, it was perfect. The only reason it’s #3 is because #2 and #1 hit me harder in the emotions on first, second, third, and subsequent hundred viewings. But this short about a PTSD-ridden robot and their path to healing is just… beautiful. Heartwrenchingly beautiful, sweet without being saccharine, and way more real than we expected a short about a singing robot and their bird best friend to be about.

If you were ever to teach a masterclass in short form animated storytelling? You’d use this as an example. That’s why it won an award for Best Writing in Film & Video. 

#2 - Dragons 

God, this was hard. This was actually my favourite of ALL the cinematics, in fact, it STILL IS MY FAVOURITE. It’s the first thing I show people to get them hyped for Overwatch, when they still haven’t checked it out. It’s just amazing. The storytelling is masterful and exciting, and the way it tells two intertwined stories is both stylistically amazing and beautifully plotted out. 

It’s a visual treat, with excellent music, and the narration by Papa Shimada really sets the tone. The action is great, the characters are great - it’s all just great, and gets my heart pumping every time. And the art for the children’s story? Utterly amazing. 

And the only reason it doesn’t get top billing is because the last of these just makes me cry every single time I watch it, without fail. It just… it’s too much, guys. 

#1 - Honor and Glory

Dammit. I hate this. I love it. The timeless themes, the mix of old epic warriors and sci-fi battles, the perfect line that bookends the start and finish of this short. THE MUSIC, HOLY SHIT. Every time I watch this, I cry. It’s never failed me. It’s just so earnest and painful, and brings to tears even the most stoic people. 

It has the emotions of The Last Bastion and the same themes of old battles, but has this added tinge of tragedy with a character who is just so… worn down, that seeing him in the prime of his life just makes it even more tragic. 

This is my #1, top Cinematic Short out of Overwatch. And I need to watch it a thousandth time, because I’m still not over it. 

One of the biggest disappointments of Detroit Become Human is that the game designers and devs created this world that could have very effectively told the story of how we as a people blame others for economic issues instead of the government that built this competitive capitalist system in which some people can be offensively rich while some people starve on the street because they’re pushed out of work by corporations who care more about profit than their employees

But nah, David Cage wanted his hamfisted fake civil rights I guess

Not even did he realise how easily he could have told the story of anti-immigrant rhetoric present in today’s modern world, how people in certain countries will blame immigrants for economic woes despite their own bosses and corporations choosing to abandon them. Nope. Fake civil rights and fake holocaust is the name of this game. 

geri-lea

me externally: I write fanfic because I enjoy it! I write for myself!

me internally: validate me. drown me in kudos. i will sell my soul for comments and fic recs

gentrychild

Behind every writer on AO3 is actually a dragon that hoards kudos, comments and bookmarks.

irondad-spiderson-duo

Don’t call me out like this

dajo42

a muggleborn student coming to hogwarts with a thermos flask and filling it with tea in the morning so it stays hot all day and their pureblood friends are like “whoa what spell did you use for that” and they’re like “?????? it’s just a thermos???” and all the pureblood students start pointing their wands at cups and saying “THERMOS”

colorfuloddity

THERMOS

athenavine

plot twist: it works, mugs suddenly start keeping tea at the perfect temperature for the caster all day. students in muggle studies start experimenting with other muggle jargon and a new generation of magic spells are born, propelling the stagnated wizard community into the technological age

susiephone

*points wand at book* KINDLE!!!! *book propels itself into fireplace and bursts into flames* I FUCKED UP I FUCKED UP

iconuk01

And the less said about the tragic case of the skateboarder and the “SHRED!” spell, the better… at least until the Aurors can bring the case to court.

the-best-of-funny

someonekillpewdiepie

Jeff.

tariqah

I love you, alive girl. I will show you with my body, and my lips and my eyes, very soon.

thetyrannosaur

HE LITERALLY SOUNDS LIKE A PORN BOT

toastpotent

Hey alive girl, let me show you my eyes and body, very soon!

rad-relationships

‘Why I never want babies’

An increasing number of South Korean women are choosing not to marry, not to have children, and not even to have relationships with men. With the lowest fertility rate in the world, the country’s population will start shrinking unless something changes.

“I have no plans to have children, ever,” says 24-year-old Jang Yun-hwa, as we chat in a hipsterish cafe in the middle of Seoul.

“I don’t want the physical pain of childbirth. And it would be detrimental to my career.”

Like many young adults in South Korea’s hyper-competitive job market, Yun-hwa, a web comic artist, has worked hard to get where she is and isn’t ready to let all that hard graft go to waste.

“Rather than be part of a family, I’d like to be independent and live alone and achieve my dreams,” she says.

…

When I put it to her that if she and her contemporaries don’t have children her country’s culture will die, she tells me that it’s time for the male-dominated culture to go.

“Must die,” she says, breaking into English. “Must die!”

w0manifest

parthenogenon

Must die.

Must die!

yeeeem

“cats can’t do any tricks” well wrong.

cats can:

• sniff
• fall off things
• Lick plastic (BAD trick)

wlwhobbits

Hey can you guys pls rb this and tag what your sexual orientation is, what middle earth race you prefer, and if you prefer lotr or the hobbit.

toriisahunter

ROBERT REALLY JUST POSTED THAT OMFG