At one point in time, Critical Role had one of the most successful Kickstarter projects of all time. The Legend of Vox Machina began as a Kickstarter campaign which Critical Role advertised during their live stream. The campaign was immensely successful leading to the show launching on Amazon Prime. I started watching the show by myself, but my husband became interested and I ended up restarting season #1 and watched the series with him. The Legend of Vox Machina is an exciting rendition of the popular campaign.

The Legend of Vox Machina follows the seven members of Vox Machina. Each member is voiced by the same player that portrayed them in the campaign. There’s Vex (played by Laura Bailey), Vax (played by Liam O’Brien), Percy Fredrickstein von Musel Klossowski de Rolo III (played by Taliesin Jaffe), Pike Trickfoot (played by Ashley Johnson), Keyleth of the Air Ashari (played by Marisha Ray), Scanlan Shorthalt (played by Sam Riegel), and Grog Strongjaw (played by Travis Willingham). Each character has their own back story that comes into play throughout the seasons. Vox Machina teams up to take on several powerful enemies including The Briarwoods and The Chroma Conclave. Exandria needs Vox Machina, but are they ready to embrace becoming heroes?

The Legend of Vox Machina is such a delight to watch. It felt like I was reliving the campaign all over again. I felt the characters personalities were on point with who they were in the campaign. Grog’s humor comes out from some of the lighthearted statements he makes. Keyleth’s insecurities and being afraid to embrace her role as an Ashari. As someone who watched the campaign and the show, it felt like they were one in the same.

I can’t talk about the show without talking about all the enemies. The Briarwoods are one of my favorite adversaries that came out of Critical Role’s first campaign. I remember watching Taliesin’s reaction on the livestream when Matt mentions them. As a TTRPG player, I have been there! The shock when something is relevant to your character is presented in game. I get it. The Briarwoods having a full season dedicated to them was much needed. The Chroma Conclave pops up in the later seasons and they are scary. The amount of damage they did to Exandria is surreal to watch. I loved seeing all of this come to life.

With all adaptations, there will be changes. The first change I thought was interesting were the romances. In the show, it felt that Vex and Percy’s relationship developed quickly while Keyleth and Vax’s relationship was a slow burn. In the campaign, that’s the opposite. I thought that was interesting. I could see why this was changed as it helped provide the revenge arc of Vex taking on Anna Ripley and it helps to develop Vex’s feelings for Percy to sell this portion of the story. Vex and Percy’s relationship was so beautiful because it took the time to develop. While those changes were made, the original Vex and Percy moments are faithful to the campaign. Vex opening her door completely naked is exactly what Laura Bailey did to Taliesin. I believe someone clipped side by side of the campaign versus the show and it’s worth it to watch because they are identical.

The second change that I feel is not talked about enough is Kash. Kashaw (played by Will Friedle both in the campaign and the show) appears with Vox Machina at pivotal moments throughout the series. In the campaign, Kashaw lives to the end. However, in the show, Kashaw is killed by Thordak and accepts his death by going to The Raven Queen. I was so unprepared for this because it was drastically different. I understand things have to change, but this feels like a huge change. I’d hate to see other NPCs get killed off if they were left living in the original campaign.

The Legend of Vox Machina was a joy to watch and I’m looking forward to what will be adapted in later seasons. It feels like I’m rewatching the original campaign that made me a fan of Critical Role to begin with.