this video has a direct sequel now, which you can see here: https://youtu.be/jtvSj6vKSBA

other things that didn't end up fitting into the script:

i genuinely recommend you go and listen to all the conversations yourself as they are a delight to listen to.  especially the one between dynamo and mirage, a 45s long conversation about a non-native english speaker trying to find the right word.  it's realistic, grounded, and funny.

gameplay wise deadlock is pretty good, but that was a little beyond the scope of what i was talking about.  there are some FUNKe videos you can go watch on that, and also the video i made last year.

there are so many voicelines for every character for so many contextual situations (even like, getting a melee kill) and the thought of writing all of that and keeping it interesting and varied per character is extremely daunting.  it kind of puts into perspective why valve takes so long to deliver anything.

i'm excited to see them explore the world with media outside of the game.  they've already shown interest in this, there was that leaked VN last year, and i'd be curious to see the world after the events of the ritual.  to be honest, whether the amber hand or scarlet flame wins isn't really a big deal, they're both kind of the same, so seeing how humanity reacts to the waking of an extraplanar god would be pretty sweet.  tbqh, i don't expect the patrons to grant wishes to anyone, so there wouldn't be a worry of who are the "canonical" choices for the ritual, either.  

let me know what you think of the ending question about TF2 and deadlock.  i wasn't sure about its inclusion.

another reason you can tell the TF2 devs worked on deadlock is because each character comes out with the most funky crosshair ever made.

edit: there is also a second channel Deadlock clip if you wanna go check it out.  it's linked in the endscreen of this video.

My favorite lore is that mo and krill literally don't even know about the wish thing if they win. They just owe wraith 50 bucks from gambling and she called them in to settle the debt 💀

Speaking of the more "real" interactions in Deadlock, I think the perfect example of that is between Bebop and Grey Talon, when Talon saying he's never worked with a golem before, and Bebop asks him why he thinks it'd be any different from working with a person. Talon just says "Now I feel like an asshole"

3:45 the Doorman VA is actually a stage actor and was nervous because he’d never really done this kind of thing and wanted to make sure he did a good job.

He has some of the best lines in the game, dude killed it

Best voiceline in the game is lash getting away from a fight with a slither of HP ''When my life just flashed before my eyes, i realised that..... I... I ... Iam even more amazing than i remembered''. Such a peak voiceline after you did the most clutch gamesaving play

Flirting? Bro Billy and Vyper are practically eating each other before the first enemy spawn drops

I love sevens character so much, he feels more evil than the entire "villain" roster in marvel rivals while still feeling like a real person

The door man ragebaiting everyone is peak imo

i just spoke to JB Blanc (Bebop) at Edmonton Expo and i asked about Deadlock and it's voice acting, and he spoke a lot about how a lot of the voice actors are friends, and a lot of the writing was done on the fly, very character driven. you can just see a lot of that in the way all these conversations feel so natural and real. it was such a treat to speak with him.

3:30 best example that comes to mind is Mcginnis messing up Kelvin’s name and the shopkeeper trying to speak Japanese

Vyper is a miracle of a character and voice actress. It is so rare to see a character in a game like this that talks so naturally and just keeps rambling, swearing, etc. I wish she was highlighted more here tbh but still nice vid.
Deadlock's characters are indeed quite well written and memorable. I don't think they're perfect but that's largely because of how much we have left to go before they're all finished. I think by the time the game is finished we'll have a world as charming as TF2's or Portal's, if not even more so.

The great thing about Deadlock's writing is how every character has extra facets to themselves. Seven isn't just a crazed murderer, he's a murderer, but he's somewhat polite, cordial even. Billy is the "angry at the world" guy, but he's also notably insecure and interestingly, knows enough about worldy things like Shakespeare to engage in conversation with a character like Paige. (im 90% certain he knows that Shakespeare didn't speak middle english, and was just ragebaiting, to little effect).
Its just good writing!!

"Mind if I call you lash"
"Oh I dont give a shit"

I’m so glad someone finally made a video on the voice acting and character writing cause omfg it’s generationally great

Every time I hear Viscous talk I smile.  Its quite mathematical.

casual parry highlight reel in the background okay gamer

I love the juxtaposition between all the goofy goobers (REM, Viscous, Ivy) with all the horrors from the fucking deep (Seven, Doorman, Drifter, Haze, etc.) and how they all bounce off each other so naturally.

Deadlock is one of the best games lore wise because of how much the deep world building isn’t cut short or witty banter. It’s also great seeing somebody like Seven who is a murder happy psycho but he still respects Ivy. These characters are actually deep and not surface level. It’s great.

The most beautiful thing about deadlock is it’s the culmination of Valve’s experience in developing DotA 2 and TF2. Two of the best games ever made. Nobody other than Valve could create this soulful work of art. Also shoutout to icefrog the legend.

As much as people like to call on Valve being a private company, it isn't really a magical silver bullet, it usually just leads to more direct control of the owners of that company over their product, this works well with competent leadership, a good team with mostly honest intentions, and capital to draw from to make the ideal real, which are the actual reasons they've done so well. But it can also be bad if the leaders aren't to be trusted. Twitter, for example, has also been a private company since the Musk purchase (not that it was a great place beforehand).