I had played Ark Survival Evolved a few times years ago, and was excited for this series when it was announced at the 2020 Game Awards. With about 4 years of radio silence, I mostly lost hope in the project, especially considering its limited shadow release. I went in expecting it to be perfectly mediocre. I am glad to say that is not the case. The animation is stunning, and the direction is always interesting. The score and audio design is not perfect, but still very well done. The violence is reminiscent of shows like Invincible, but it never feels overwhelmingly brutal. As for the actual story and characters, I was less sold on, at first. I liked Helena as the main character, her voice acting is great and her character is written very well. Most of the other characters are great, too, but I didn't really care about most of them for a few episodes. I'm happy to say the latter half of the season really helped build that up. The story itself is exactly what you'd expect from Ark. It's nothing special by itself, but it is quite enjoyable. There's nothing at all wrong with it, it's just not completely unique at times. The emotional moments DO hit quite well, and it is really easy to put yourself in Helena's place. I'm excited for the next part of the show. I would more accurately rate this at about a 8.5, but when you have to do whole numbers, I round up. I thoroughly recommend this show.

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