Knights of the Eternal Throne trailer - Blizzard dethroned in cinematic dept.

Bioware and Blur have delivered some of the best trailers and intros in gaming history in Star Wars The Old Republic and they top it with the sister video to Knights of the Fallen Empire's trailer. Instead of relying of shock and awe imagery like what Blizzard does, Blur gets top the emotional core of its story, Senya's struggle to rescue her daughter, Vaylin. Instead of trying to sell you a game, its like they just want to start your experience. More trailers need to do this.

And really its 6 mins is indeed better that all of Force Awakens....Disney should take note.

Bit overblown. Not really digging the art style either, Starwars isn't Game Of Thrones.

That was crazy good

I guess we'll just go ahead and forget that FF15 has a full length cgi movie with all-star voice actors as it's promotional material.

But I guess we can go ahead and forget that it was completely and utterly panned and makes Spirits Within look like a masterpiece.

but a good trailer beats a terrible movie? In the end it's supposed to hype up the actual game.

and a red flag on FFXV's quality to add.

All CGI is is bullshit advertising, the only thing it needs to accomplish is being flashy and attention grabbing. On that end ff15 is by far the best. But if you're trying to talk about the "story" they're telling, first of all that's a joke in and of itself, but second if that's really what you're going to judge these on, there are definitely better CGI trailers, more succinct and better at establishing the atmosphere and story of the games they are a part of.

You are not getting it. There is different kind of attention and reaction, they are not all the same. And sometimes the way they gained attention is praised in of itself. The Old Republic trailers are this, FFXV's movie is not.

And you are not getting these trailers as well. They actually do set the story mightily well. Both the trailer for Eternal Throne and the trailer for Fallen Empire set up the antagonists of the story in a way the actual game cannot do and they set up what would the story can ultimately be about, a mother's quest to redeem her children from their father's corruption. And no, I don't find examples that do it better than SWTOR, especially the expansion trailers.

The Eternal Throne storyline is closer to KOTOR II, and Knights of the Fallen Empire had a chapter that criticized both sides of the force even more effectively than KOTOR II did.

Probably spent more on that trailer than they did on the expansion.

And honestly, I felt no emotions from that video, kinda boring to watch. 2 characters I knew next to nothing about, and they didnt really give me a reason to care for them. High production values is one thing, but good script is more important to me, and the script for that trailer was terrible. I was way more hyped from WoW's TBC and WotLK trailers for instance.

Nice. Wouldn't say 6 min trailer is better than entire movie though or it dethrones a company with actual cutscenes in the game that are this or more detailed. Script wise, yeah I agree that it was powerful and execution was great too. A lot of stuff was packed into just 6 minutes.

Yet the trailer was widely praised for its scripting and emotion and beats Blizzard in this department.

And these characters are not new, the mother was a major companion in the last expansion, and Vaylin was a major antagonist, and their backstories were already touched upon in the game. And in the trailer, that wasn't even their first light saber duel.

And really, the last expansion did what KOTOR II failed to do, actually depict a morally grey universe instead of talking about it.

All that work and technical prowess and it was meh.

It's such a damn shame that the game itself is so drab and boring.

Had it been a single-player experience, it would have been so much better.

Blur has always been on top. They get to pick and choose their talent more so than any game company.

Edit: Just to be clear I give no fucks about the story telling or direction in the trailers. Just speaking strictly of VFX.

Don't get me wrong Knights of the Eternal Throne trailer was dope, but nothing beats the Wotlk cinematic, that music still gives me chills.

Yay, a CG trailer. Texas Gold shit does shit posting once again.

Meh, we kind of already made up our minds because the game is awful. Now, if this were a new game... well, that would be a whole 'nother story.

And yet it still one of the top MMOs, and the last expansion was praised. Haters just do not like that EA and Bioware made it successful and continue to whine about a new KOTOR.

And really, SWTOR's gameplay is not much different than KOTOR's.

Yet that one is bested by cinematics before it and isn't even the best Arthas cinematic. And regarding the action, Blur past them up with the first SWTOR cinematic.

Had it been a single player experience, the story would of had far less scope and its universe would be far smaller. SWTOR relies on its scope and the multiplayer aspect was their are eight storylines going on at the same time.

And really KOTOR and KOTOR II did not have deep and well executed gameplay, it was quite lacking on that front as well. As we wear rose tinted googles, this is ignored.

It's a phenomenal cinematic, don't get me wrong, but to me, it just doesn't have the epicness of the Diablo 3 Act IV cinematic.

epicness alone doesn't make one great

Meh. I was never a huge fan of the combat in KOTOR. It was a good game, but I prefer not auto attack combat.

I can see that its top rated CGI but i'm not feeling anything from it. The previous SWTOR cinematic feels more epic(the one with troopers rushing the evil jedi or whatever), even though I"ve no idea what both are about.

TBH WoW Warlords of Draenor and WOTLK are better in terms of overall package. This one, I'm more of a "ok what is going on really?". I know they are trying to portray some great epic betrayal or something but they failed to make us care about any of the characters. Its a thing only SWTOR players would care about, a good game cinmatic trailer should be able to even make non-players feel involved.

With this, in the opening minute before barely a word is uttered you intuitively know he is dammed character like Macbeth without even knowing anything about the character or series prior. The cold featureless wastes devoid of life act as a symbolic extension of the characters purgatory. He is as much a victim of himself as he is a villain to the hobbits.

I suppose that's the diffidence with Blizzards trailer, while they are also undoubtly flashy, bloated fireworks, they usually have an underlying visual story-telling not as trite as Biowares. Mist Of Pandaria sharing the stake or Warlords of Draenor where silent catapulted flame balls appear behind a still figure as a response to the big demon man.

It seems Bioware, like Square Enix or any number of MMO's, are mostly second rate imitators.

However, non players are involved as well, they too have praised this new trailer. The Knights of the Eternal Thorne trailer, like the Fallen Empire trailer before it, are acclaimed. They may not know who Senya and Vaylin are, but they praised the story in the trailer. And the "betrayal" was Senya allowing Vaylin to be sent away by Valkorion.

And no, those trailers pale in comparison to not only this trailer, but Fallen Empire's as well. And it is free from Blizzards pompousness.

Wrong.

Blur/Bioware trailers have things that Blizzard trailers do not have much of, the little things that tell the story without it being told to you. Even the Wrath of the Lich King trailer lacks this to the degree as say the "Sacrifice" trailer does (in regards to the characterizations of Arcann and Thexan, and what Valkorion was trying to achieve with them). While "Betrayal" is a step back from the "Sacrifice" trailer in this regard (it still contains this though), it makes up for in it showing the raw emotions of the characters.

And I would not call this new trailer "flashy and bloated fireworks". Quite the opposite.

And the Eternal Throne trailer is a companion trailer to the Fallen Empire one as well. And Eternal Throne is a direct continuation of the Fallen Empire storyline.

One of the best cinematics i ever saw but thats not because it was just top notch but rather that was telling a story all along , a very interesting one with top notch direction ( well for my taste at least , someone else might think it as cheesy as it gets ).

Its not that blizzard cant handle to make such great cinematics though as of quality , lets be fair.

Too bad this crazy cinematic comes from a really mediocre mmo. I had a blast watching it ... in fact i want more ! lol

Good...i even dare to say, really good...but it doesn't hold a candle to Blizzard, the Legacy of the Void intro cinematic still gives me the chills, not to mention the WoW ones, so yeah, B+ for a good efford.

Meh...Star Wars, the most overrated franchise in the history of movies, gaming, books, toys, TV, and blahblah.

I agree actually, but the Old Republic side of it is vastly superior.

At least in the Old Republic games, when a planet gets "Death Starred", people actually care.

This may be a case of subjective tastes, according to which story resonates with the viewer the most. Its a brilliant cinematic and I bet Blur and Blizzard will continually 1-up each other for a very long time.

IMHO the first ever SWTOR is the one I like the most, where the Jedi Temple got burnt down. That one personally matches Blizzard's level in terms of the emotional impact and "epicness"(plus that one had the best lightsabre duel ever). Blizzard's cinematic is highly regarded not simply because of its visual fidelity(they've been matched many many times) but they have a way of unfolding the story, introducing characters and putting the viewer into the narrative that is simply in a class of their own above almost all others.

TBH, i think the two brothers trailer is superior to the latest one coz the end twist is quite unexpected and pretty delicious while the girl betrayal thing could be seen a 100 miles away (wth the cliche girl had a childhood toy hook).

Yet Blizzard is not as good as Blur is now at the department of unfolding a story. Its not about epicness or twists, and that's not what the new trailer was going for. The new trailer is widely acclaimed outside of the gaming community and downright stunned Star Wars fans, with many saying it one upped Force Awakens. And its acclaimed by people who mistake these characters for Jedi and Sith when they are in fact, neither.

Also note that the Fallen Empire trailer and Eternal Throne trailers also have different priorities. The Fallen Empire trailer is to set up the Eternal Throne and its family, because at the time, they are new to the universe. On the new trailer however, Senya and Vaylin are already established, but the trailer is to show what the heart of the story is going to be.

Excuses. The only thing preventing scope is budget, and EA didn't want the game to cost a fortune and not bring in micro-transactions. They easily could have made an eight-storyline game and had it been single-player only. They just weren't allowed to.

All the KotOR games left a lot to be desired, but at least those games have a decade and a half of age behind them to excuse some of their short-comings in that department. TOR is just shallow and reptitive even compared to modern MMO's.

Or that it was too expensive, and an 8 storyline game is better as an MMO. Whatever, its still a top MMO, doesn't matter how many people whine about it.

And really, SWTOR does many things, in fact, most things better than the first KOTOR. Its world building absolutely annihilates the first and second game, the characters are better than the first game's as well, and many of the plots are better than both games. And for the Obsidian lovers, it does gray morality better than the second game as well. Its these rose tinted glasses again. And SWTOR has made some major adjustments as well to take the repetitive grind out of the game, and for MMOs, how you adjust is more important than how you launch.

I dunno dude, I dont really play SWTOR so I've no idea and cannot comment on how good the story is. I've to take it that it has to be pretty good however since the MMO is pretty popular and survived longer than people thought they would, which is good.

WoW, tbh, also needs a bit more recognition for its story which has been pretty damn epic. I actually don't play WoW (i stopped at BC) but i did read a few wikis and watch some youtube videos so I have an idea on the timeline and the major things that happened.

I mean, just listen to this piece...its just dripping with emotion you could almost feel and understand the story without even playing the game.

You can argue that Blizzard may have been dethroned in the cinematic department but damn, music wise, I think they are faaar ahead of most of the competition.

Praised by BioDrones or who exactly? Either way, doesnt matter. Fallacious argument is fallacious.

All I saw in the videos was predictability, cliches, lame plot arcs and characters who at least from an outsiders perspective, carried no merit. I fail to see how it could convey any emotion, when the characters were as flat as a board. The trailer gave us no reason to care for anyone. And the trailer did nothing to really hype me up.

Man, BioWare can do no wrong in your eyes...

Ummmmm....except for Dragon Age series, the morality of Jade Empire, mass Effect 2's wretched plot, Neverwinter Nights.......

But WoW's storytelling is pretty bad actually, and a large step down from WC3. And as expansions went on, they got worse, such as the massacre of Jaina Proudmoore's character. They also use the Motive Decay far too often when it came to raid bosses (from WC3 characters).

SWTOR is good for the most part, certain classes have better stories than others, with the top being the Imperial Agent with the Jedi Consular being a good second (after a shaky first act). The Smuggler storyline is more for charm than plot. If there is a weaker story, it has to be the Jedi Knight, but its the closest to a KOTOR 3.

Fair point on the music, however. And Blur used music from the Star Wars movies for the first three trailers.

Really.....cliched? Maybe some plot arcs and characters, but not all, and certainly not the last two expansions. And how are the characters flat? They have more depth and are more dynamic than the movie characters and some like Lana Beniko is better than most of KOTOR II's cast. Senya, the character in the trailer, is far from flat as well.

And really, the game actually takes KOTOR II's biggest story element, its theme of grey morality, and crushes them with it. And while KOTOR II loves to talk about it, SWTOR actually shows and puts you in situations of morally grey situations.

Character in power gets corrupted...

How original... not. You even had that bit with the toy. The characters in that trailer showed absolutely no depth whatsoever. Maybe there is something in the game about them, but from that trailer. There was nothing more than the same trite as always.

And this trailer has this how? You missed the point completely. It was nothing about character in power gets corrupted.

And the characters in the trailer do have depth, one is a companions character in the last expansion and another was a major villain, and quite possibly one of the most psychopathic star wars characters ever created.

So you are talking about their quality in the game. But I am arguing on terms of the character as shown in the trailer, where there was nada. The WotLK trailer told us a lot about arthas. Even if you have never seen him before. This trailer does not stand on its own merits. The WotLK trailer did.

And the trailer has it with the little girl getting corrupted by her father or uncle or whatever.

And this trailer told you a lot about Senya. Face facts here, this trailer was actually been praised by NON GAMERS or gamers they don't play the game. Does it stand on its own merits? Yes, but its also a companion trailer to the last trailer to connect things together.

And no, this trailer is not about her being corrupted by her father. Watch it again.

Bioware didn't pay enough for those.