As far as video game adaptations go, the League of Legends TV show Arcane is a real oddity. As a general rule, video game fans are skeptical of movies and TV shows based on games, since most fail to represent the source material in ways that are both faithful and compelling. Nevertheless, Arcane has received acclaim for its accuracy to League of Legends lore and its strength as a standalone show. Jinx and Vi's complicated family dynamics, alongside Jayce and Caitlyn's struggles to navigate the politics and social rules of Piltover, make up a solid story and a surprisingly well-liked retelling of a game.
Shortly after Arcane's third batch of episodes released, Netflix and League of Legends developer Riot Games confirmed that a second season of Arcane is already in the works. That's great, but Arcane shouldn't be the beginning and end of League of Legends storytelling. On the contrary, fans of the MOBA have been asking Riot for more in-game story events for quite some time. Some of LoL's most memorable moments in history come from dramatic story beats, and it'd be great to see more of those happen. Arcane should be the catalyst for more storytelling within League of Legends, rather than the sole medium for exploring the world of Runeterra.
Improving League of Legends Events After Arcane
Arcane couldn't have released at a better time for League of Legends fans. In 2021, the game's central story arc was about Viego the Ruined King's descent on Runeterra as part of the apocalyptic Ruination. Viego's rise as a League of Legends antagonist and the new prominence of well-liked characters like Lucian and Senna looked great on paper, but unfortunately, the Ruination visual novel within League of Legends didn't deliver. Many players criticized the Ruination story event's writing as overly simplistic and implausible, meaning the story event was largely a bust. By releasing after the Ruination event, Arcane has renewed hope that Riot can skillfully weave its lore into strong stories starring League of Legends champions.
In order to fully redeem itself, however, Riot Games will need to start crafting new in-game events in the same spirit as Arcane, if not through the same medium. There's a couple clear writing notes that League of Legends can take from Arcane to make future story events work well. Arcane focuses on characters who were already connected through League of Legends lore, which is very different from the Ruination's attempt to quickly assemble relationships between a huge cast of characters. Additionally, although Arcane's cast is bound to expand in its second season, it has a fairly small central cast of characters. League of Legends events that use small groups of characters with known ties to each other will have much more power to create nuanced relationships and rich interactions like those of Arcane.
League of Legends Needs Strong Events
Telling more stories within League of Legends isn't just a good idea in a vacuum; it's practical because of the state of Arcane. Hype for the show's second season is strong right now, but Riot Games has confirmed that the season won't release until at least 2023. While Riot can certainly plan another extravaganza in the style of RiotX Arcane to promote the show later, it should also preserve the community's heightened interest in League of Legends lore until the season is ready. The best way to do that is to run new, stronger story events within League of Legends itself.
It's wonderful that Arcane has been met with such rave reviews from fans and critics alike. It would've been a shame to see a poor representation of so many fan favorite League of Legends champions in the game's first real TV show. Now that Arcane has set a high bar for League of Legends stories, though, the game itself has to meet that expectation, too. It won't be easy to produce events of the same caliber, but if it draws players into League of Legends and supports future of Arcane-style LoL projects, then it'll be worth it.
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