New Overwatch Short Tells The Tale of Genji and Hanzo

[Steven Bogos]

New Overwatch Short Tells The Tale of Genji and Hanzo

"Dragons" tells us a bit about Overwatch's two Japanese heroes: Hanzo and Genji.

second one [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/tag/view/overwatch] focused on Widowmaker, Tracer, and of course Tracer's sexy poses.

This time around, "Dragons" focuses on Hanzo and Genji. Fans of the game may have noticed the similarities between the two: both are Japanese, and both have "dragon" themed ultimates. Well as it turns out, the two are brothers, and have been engaged in a bitter rivalry their entire lives.

The short gives us a bit of insight into these heroes motivations, as well as having the high-end Blizzard quality we expect from the company's cinematics.

The game will launch at the end of this month for PC, PS4 and Xbox One.

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[Z of the Na'vi]

This short was by far, the best one so far. The message and interaction between Hanzo and Genji is very relatable on the most basic, human level, and it was so beautiful to boot.

I'll echo what most of the YouTube comments say whenever Blizzard releases a new cinematic: invest in making them a regular thing. Blizzard's cinematic team has always been top-notch, but in Overwatch's case, the possibilities for deeper storytelling through these shorts on a consistent basis can only better what I'm confident will be a long-lived franchise.

Bravo Blizzard, bravo.

 

[Hawki]

Well, that was enjoyable, if cliched. I mean, not that the other shorts were free of cliche, but this wallows in it.

Come to think of it, I can't help but be reminded of Metal Gear - Hanzo = Snake, Genji = Grey Fox. Hanzo/Snake kill Genji/Grey Fox, Genji/Grey Fox comes back as a cyborg ninja and confronts Hanzo/Snake, who fight him with ranged weapons before resorting to hand to hand, only for the identity of Gray Fox/Genji to come out after said fight, with Genji/Gray Fox soon departing.

Or maybe cyborg ninjas as just that common. 0_0

 

[Bob_McMillan]

I will probably never play Overwatch, but I sure as hell will watch their shorts.

 

[List]

Or maybe cyborg ninjas as just that common. 0_0

Well, there are very limited entities you can really write for a recently dead character to reappear as. You either reappear as undead (vampire/zombie/etc.), a robot/cyborg/A.I., or science gone wrong(clone/experimental abomination). And all of them are cliche as fudge.

 

[Souplex]

I'd say it's the weakest of the shorts, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. Then again my tolerance for ninjas, and cliche ninja dialogue is low.

 

[hermes]

I might be in the minority, but I think it was the weakest of them. The dialogue and the story beats are really cliche, and everyone talks like Jackie Chan in Rush Hour.

The first one [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/166939-Overwatch-First-Animated-Short] was not named, but still pretty decent.

 

[Zontar]

What I love is the fact that Krunkidile perfectly called it when he made his prediction video on what the plot would be.



It's kind of creepy how spot on he was with that one.

 

[chocolate pickles]

I thought it sucked to be honest. It might just be the sheer amount of cliche, or the fact i hate Hanzo.

 

[Scarim Coral]

Watching these shorts does make up for having no storymode in the game itself (in saying so how would a storymode work given how most of the characters aren't part of Overwatch).

I really hoping they have more future shorts to highlight all of the characters!

 

[The Madman]

It's kind of creepy how spot on he was with that one.

How so? Everything he got 'right' is stuff everyone has known since march, since it was teased in this trailer and other places:


The actual crux of the conflict, the part that we didn't already know in advance, he got completely wrong. Same with the characterization, their motivations, and everything else.

 

[Zontar]

It's kind of creepy how spot on he was with that one.

How so? Everything he got 'right' is stuff everyone has known since march, since it was teased in this trailer and other places:

The actual crux of the conflict, the part that we didn't already know in advance, he got completely wrong. Same with the characterization, their motivations, and everything else.

Uh, that teaser didn't really give nearly enough for him to get the 80%ish prediction that he made. Maybe 40% but if we're being honest a lot of what he predicted wasn't really hinted at.

 

[The Madman]

Uh, that teaser didn't really give nearly enough for him to get the 80%ish prediction that he made. Maybe 40% but if we're being honest a lot of what he predicted wasn't really hinted at.

How about this one then?


I know it's fun to harp on Blizzard for an over-reliance on cliche, and I actually agree with that, but this isn't one such case. Everything that guy 'predicted' correctly is stuff we already knew.

 

[Zontar]

Uh, that teaser didn't really give nearly enough for him to get the 80%ish prediction that he made. Maybe 40% but if we're being honest a lot of what he predicted wasn't really hinted at.

How about this one then?


I know it's fun to harp on Blizzard for an over-reliance on cliche, and I actually agree with that, but this isn't one such case. Everything that guy 'predicted' correctly is stuff we already knew.

That one actually does seem to make it more obvious. Still though, Blizzard really could have laid off the cliches at least just this once.

 

[The Madman]

That one actually does seem to make it more obvious. Still though, Blizzard really could have laid off the cliches at least just this once.

Meh. I agree to an extent, Blizz aren't exactly brilliant when it comes to writing, but in the case of an 8 minute trailer I've got no problem with it being a bit cliche. The gorgeous visuals and stunning music alone are enough to make these cinematic of theirs worthwhile watching.

Now when it comes to their in-game story that's a whole other thing. Diablo 3's story was horrible and WOW has been falling apart for years now. But that's a different issue entirely.

In the meantime I look forward to that guy making a video where he 'predicts' the next trailer will have Soldier 76 fighting criminals and being grumpy in Dorado. There's probably going to be a scene where he saves a kid, and another involving a reporter, so he's probably some sort of Batmanesq vigilante figure. Then there's got to be some tie to Overwatch so, hmm... Tracer shows up? Reaper? Or maybe it's just got a voice-over of him reminiscing about his Overwatch days. Oh, and obviously he'll use his ult at some point. Call me Nostradamus I think I've done it!

 

[sonicneedslovetoo]

Man you can't do ANY of this in the actual game, the 20 hz server tickrate would just destroy you anytime you tried stuff like this.