As many of you know, I am one of the many fans of Critical Role, a show where a bunch of nerdy ass friends play Dungeons & Dragons. I watch pretty much all of their content (Narrative Telephone anyone?), so when they announced the one-shot lead by cast member Ashley Johnson was going to be released, I was as hyped as anyone. The one-shot was unlocked as part of the stretch goals of the wildly successful Kickstarter campaign. When I discovered it was going to be science fiction and horror themed, I knew I’d have to write up a review.
The cast featured Game Master Ashley Johnson, with Taliesin Jaffe as Dr. Ramsey Wiser, Liam O’Brien as Forrest Coreman, Laura Bailey as Captain Seraphine Glass, Marisha Ray as Dr. Nomen L. Frenno, and Travis Willingham as Gunnery Sergeant Cameron Garrett. As always, they all sank into their roleplaying like only seasonal professionals could right from the very beginning, and I liked the back-and-forth between them.
The story was a homage to the science fiction shows Johnson fell in love with, she said as much right in the start, and any fan of sci-fi would see those classic touches throughout the entire three hour and twenty-three minute runtime. It started out fast and hard—like many science fiction horror stories do—with the crew of the Nautilus waking up to an oxygen leak and a strange black substance in the science lab and went spiraling from there. Johnson kept the tension high with lots of action, twists in both character and storyline, and threads of horror baked in. The pacing was tight but never felt like the characters were railroaded into doing something and the ending was something I never saw coming but really appreciated.
So, the story was amazing, but let’s not forget it was a game as well. And what an interesting game design it had! A homebrew with dice, supplies on numbered cards, and significant/insignificant actions with aspects like points of stress and panic rolls coming into play. (I thoroughly enjoyed the points of stress and chuckled whenever a character got yet another one on their sheet because obviously this whole endeavor would be hellishly stressful. I liked how the gameplay reflected that.)
And let’s also not forget the set and other details that made this show shine. Instead of the usual fantasy tavern-like feel we’ve gotten used to for the main shows of Critical Role, the set looked more like spaceship with neon colors, metal workings like panels on the wall, and colorful control panels. Changing up the set immersed me even deeper into the story, and I really appreciated the callback to the sets found in TV shows like Star Trek and Orville. They leaned into the techy/spaceship vibe, and it was quite fun!
The movie-like intro into the show was cool, with the space backdrop and the title screen fading in, and don’t even get me started on the mini that Johnson revealed at the very beginning—that mini of the Ark, the centrifuge, and the Nautilus made the whole crew gasp. The cast minis were also pretty, though I would have liked to see them a little more close-up to really appreciate the details. The map design was interesting and dynamic—the outline of the ship easy for viewers to see and then the air-vent overlay was a cool added design. I even liked the top-down view of outside the ship! The break even featured the characters stats with some fun details woven into it like character art, hobbies, and their favorite Johnson Corp project.
I could tell how much time and effort went into all the little details, and I was honestly really impressed with it all. (Here credits go to these artists: character and thumbnail art by Anna Grinenko, miniature painting by Ian Phillips, miniature VFX by Jonathan Sims, set design & GM screen by Flip This Bitch.)
Overall, it was a fun horror spaceship story, and I could tell just how much fun the cast had while playing it and Johnson had while GMing. I’d recommend it to anyone who likes D&D, horror, science fiction, or just want to laugh at the poor souls of the Nautilus as they try to outwit their impending doom.
10 out of 10 gunshot wounds to the ass.*
(*When you watch the show, you’ll understand.)
Jennie Ivins