Amazon’s highly anticipated animated video game anthology series, Secret Level released worldwide on December 10th and if it’s opening short is any indication of the level of story telling, and animation fans can expect from each of the short stories the series tells, then I am 100% absolutely here for it.
Secret Level’s opening shot to introduce the series is a 15 minute short inspired by everyone’s favorite tabletop RPG Dungeon’s and Dragons, and man, does it do a great job of grabbing you by the sword belt, and not letting go for the full 15 minutes.
Titled “Dungeons and Dragons: The Queen’s Cradle” the 15-minute vignette based on a short story by Brooke Bolander, with the teleplay written by K.D. Davila and Levin Menske, follows a ragtag group of adventurers as they rescue a young man from the grips of a terrible cult. With animation that would make the CGI team over at Blizzard envious, and top-notch voice work this short story had me on the edge of my seat and left me definitely wishing for more with its impressive climax.
If I were to have any complaints about this first episode, it would be that it was not long enough. “The Queen’s Cradle” puts viewers directly into the middle of the story, leaving viewer to wonder about the characters in the group, how they met, who hired them to save the boy, and the biggest one at the end, “do they all survive”.
Seriously, we need more of this story, and you need to check out Secret Level.
