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Jul 01, 2023

Why Sojourn's "Calling" Is an Exciting Shift For Overwatch 2's Animated Shorts

Overwatch 2’s Sojourn animated short has finally released, and it does something different from the others that may soon become a common approach. Overwatch 2 fans have been waiting quite some time

Overwatch 2’s Sojourn animated short has finally released, and it does something different from the others that may soon become a common approach.

Overwatch 2 fans have been waiting quite some time for a new animated short, with several months having passed since Kiriko got her time in the spotlight. Fortunately, the wait is always worth it, as the level of polish, storytelling, and character development within the animated shorts has yet to disappoint. Sojourn’s “Calling” short is another success, and intriguingly, it ends on a cliffhanger that will be followed up on via in-game Overwatch 2 story missions - a first for the series.

Historically, the Overwatch universe’s animated shorts have been self-contained stories that feature a modern day battle or origin story for the game’s hero roster. The only time a proper cliffhanger was included in an animated short was with Sombra’s “Infiltration” video, which teased a confrontation with Zarya that took place in a comic book. Additionally, the only time an animated short has set up in-game content was when it teased a new hero, so the decision to set up Invasion with Sojourn’s short feels truly fresh.

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Sojourn’s “Calling” animated short shows what Vivian Chase was up to since she testified against Overwatch, with her story being as charming as it is cool. On the surface, Sojourn is simply enjoying retirement, making croissants and hanging out with her adorable dog Murphy in a cute sweater and pair of glasses. By night, though, Sojourn is a vigilante, donning an awesome biker getup and protecting the people of Canada from corrupt omnics and other criminals.

While the short deals with an agent deciding whether to arrest Sojourn for her vigilantism, and ultimately deciding against it, the real kicker is the cliffhanger. At the end of the animated short, Sojourn’s city is attacked by Omnics, with gigantic ships floating overhead as a result of Ramattra’s uprising. Sojourn then gears up before heading out to battle the Omnics, and as the railgun-wielding hero exits her home, the short ends. With Toronto already confirmed to house a PvE story mission, Overwatch 2 players know that they will soon be getting a follow-up to this tease, only this time it will be playable.

Overwatch 2’s PvE vision has shrunk down drastically, something that has greatly disappointed fans of the hero shooter, but story missions becoming part of the gameplay loop is exciting nonetheless. Previously, animated shorts were required to be self-contained or have their teases resolved in external media like comics. Now, Overwatch 2 has a form of content that allows Blizzard to continue the story through gameplay, which is a major win for the series’ narrative.

While Blizzard has shared that the wait between batches of Overwatch 2 story missions will be long, there is one possible upside. From now on, Overwatch 2 could release an animated short to build hype for each batch of story content. For example, Pharah could be relevant to the next three story missions Blizzard releases, and it could set up a key location through an animated short that shows what Pharah was doing there before the PvE content begins. This could kill two birds with one stone, as Blizzard can provide animated shorts for the characters that still need one while advertising every story arc it releases.

Obviously, there is no guarantee that Blizzard will use the Sojourn formula again, as it could just go back to the style of releasing animated shorts for new heroes that focus entirely on their origin stories. Still, a mix of that approach and this new one from “Calling” would be ideal. With this piece of Sojourn story content, Blizzard has proven that it can expand upon a character’s lore while simultaneously setting up playable content. That is an exciting combination, as shorts and missions can come together to tell a lengthier tale.

Overwatch 2 is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.

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A lifelong gamer and comics fan who loves writing about everything in nerd culture... and has a small addiction to trophy and achievement hunting.