Blizzard has been absolutely killing it with their animated shorts based on Overwatch. They have a real knack for applying a fantastic cinematic tilt to these shorts, and every time I catch one, I find myself intrigued and —perhaps most of all —invested in the world that they’re building. This latest short takes a look at the brotherly relationship between Hanzo and Genji, two characters in Overwatch. Those of you who were able to participate in the beta that took place a while back may have noticed that the two of them share similar aesthetics revolving around dragons. Hanzo is able to summon the spirit of a blue dragon that he shoots out of his bow, dealing damage to players in his path. Genji, on the other hand, seems to have a green dragon spirit forged into his blade that appears when he uses a few of his abilities.
As the video shows, these two dragons are related; they’re brothers, as it turns out. In the folk tale told at the beginning of the story, the blue dragon kills the green dragon as they quarreled over how to rule their land. This story apparently parallels Hanzo’s struggle with his own brother, Genji.
The short is filled with gorgeous animations and some pretty sweet action sequences. It’s definitely a Blizzard short in a lot of ways, and I’m not entirely sure I can explain what I mean by that; you’ll know it when you see it. It’s not a bad thing, either, it’s just… go ahead and watch the video and you’ll get it. What’s clear is that Blizzard is continuing to do what they do best, and they’re building a rich, fascinating world full of characters that I cannot wait to keep learning about.
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