Spotlight #01: League of Legends; a New Dawn

WARNING: Some content in the video below may not be suitable for viewers under 13 due to fantasy violence and questionable fantasy female costuming.

Well guys, I'm still somewhat in the middle of a creative stump in terms of subject matter for art pieces. I thought I'd try to get out of it by doing something a little new. This week, I'll be starting a weekly spotlight showcasing little bits of animation and game design that I find interesting, be it extraordinary, terrible, or just a bit of fun.
This week, I'll start off with what gave me the idea to do this. This trailer/cinematic for the game "League of Legends" deserves some special mention.  By the time I got to it Wednesday morning, it had already had five million views, twenty thousand likes, and five thousand comments. In short, it's a heck of a ride and a popular hit on Youtube, and we'll be looking into it to find out why.
For the record, I'd like to say that I don't play League of Legends, nor do I know anything about the lore. So, if any avid gamers are reading this right now, please forgive my lack of terminology.
Are we good? Okay, let's dive in.
First off, and most obviously, it looks great. Given how much I've seen of the gameplay, this short does an excellent job of showing off all of the scale and detail a world of high fantasy should have. As one who lives in the middle of a forest, everything looks very authentic, from the metals to the wood to even the dirt. The amount of cloud particles used must have driven the engines at Riot Games up the wall. The sound design is also worth mentioning. There's no action that goes without a sound that flows so naturally with the rest of the world.
Since you'll notice that there's no dialogue, the animators spent quite a bit of their time on the character's physical action. The battle sequences are very well-paced, even in a simple six-minute video. Motions are fluid, and they aren't shoved in the audience's faces to get in the way of character. Speaking of which, each one feels very unique. Their fighting styles are so varied that each pairing is visibly different, from the fight between the gunner and the 'mech to that between the lion and assassin.
Equally impressive is the amount of expression the characters are able to express when they aren't fighting. The models neatly express each personality very clearly, but still keeping a level of subtlety to let the audience feel like they figured it out themselves. In down-times in the battle, each one lets the tech department show off by giving us some very well-sculpted facial expressions and well-animated gestures. I found that my favorite moments ended up being the simple things. The Were-Cat wiping his face after a serious blow. The Gunner's smugness when he predicts an otherwise impossible situation. The Submarine-'mech's overall eeriness. It all comes together very well.
In the end, while it may not be the most emotional or the most intense of short films, it certainly deserves a second look. It's very well-crafted, and you end up feeling a bit of connection with some of the characters. While it might not accurately represent gameplay, it does a good job of setting an adventurous tone with quite a few well-developed personalities. Without a decent rating system, I'll just say that it's a great example of how to tell story without dialogue.

Materials not owned by me. All rights belong to Riot Games.