Mythic Quest: Raven's Banquet

I am a HUGE fan of Always Sunny. My wife and I watch the series on repeat year round. I must've seen Always Sunny at least 20 times and can quote most the series. While I thought Sunny was a well constructed comedy, I was a little worried that Mythic Quest would be too similar to Always Sunny or not be able to capture the same magic. Boy was I wrong. I have been so impressed with the writing and plot of this series. The comedy is hilarious, the heartwarming scenes warm your heart, and the show is all around fun and entertaining. I only wish more people knew how great it is and I can honestly say I will be recommending it to people as much as I can.

I always liked (ahem love/hate) this show from the start, but the most recent episode. S2 E6 Backstory (and I HATE backstories) pulled a throwaway character out of the dust bin and made him one of the most import cornerstones of Mythic Quest. Perhaps the emotional content of this episode means nothing to anyone born after say, 1990, but this episode cleverly tied in Mythic Quests, its entire reason d'être, the main character in this episode, and the entire history of online gaming in what - 40 minutes? While the actors of this show deserve a nod for sure, the writers.... I am in awe, and thank you for throwing Michael Bay as an inspiration into the dust bin of history.

The series was fantastic in season 1&2, but, like many reddit reviewers, season 3 was weak and pointlessly drawn out.

Season 3 focused too much on Ian and Poppy's dysfunctional relationship. Seasons 1&2 were more of a light hearted comedy unlike season 3. Ian and Poppy become too codependent on each other to work or function in season 3, it's a shame they strayed from the template of season 1 and the dynamics between the team. Of course this comes down to writing, which ultimately brings forth changes and not always for the better. The show is still good with a great cast, but too much splintering has occurred in season 3, on top of CW being removed from the show.

It's like watching your favorite music group break up and later on either reforming with some new members, which is almost never as successful, or them all getting back together after changes have occurred, realizing what once worked and made them great was each other and their dynamics with each other.

I had a hard time rating this show since it had a steady slide and then after Season 2 it just dropped off a cliff. My theory is Rob didn't expect to get that far and didn't really have a plan for what would happen after Season 1, certainly not Season 2.

Ian and Poppy are just fantastic characters and carry the show. The flashback episodes are amazing, especially Season 1's, and this show tackles assumptions and discrimination in the video game industry. I have no idea why they didn't dump Rachel after Season 1 as the character is incredibly obnoxious and detracts from the comedy.

All that said, anyone should watch Season 1 of this series, it is a gem. Season 2 is "meh" and I have no idea what happened with Season 3, I quit after three episodes since it was obvious they lost their way.

I binged season 1 and was absolutely engaged from the first episode. The comedy around an MMORPG is spot on, and the character interactions are spot on in a hilarious way. Big shout out to Charlotte Nicdao (Poppy) for her excellent performance alongside Rob McElhenney. If you are a fan of gaming in general I think you will enjoy this immensely.

Then I watched season 2 and to me it's a different show. The focus goes almost entirely away from gaming (except for bits here are there), and instead focuses on the inter-office relationships almost exclusively. The humor I enjoyed in season 1 was mostly gone, although the cast's performances we're still great, the writing direction just changed entirely and it's soured my opinion on the show a bit. Maybe COVID affected production plans (as the cast seemed a lot smaller), because the overall tone of the show is just off.

I really hope they turn it around in season 3 and stop with the lovey-gushey (the whole thing between Rachel and Dana seemed so forced). Please focus on a company making or running a game and the hilarious things that can happen around that, and please leave the unnecessary drama out of it. It's called Mythic Quest and not The Office for a reason.

Season 1 - 9/10 Season 2 - 5/10.