Voice actor Robbie Daymond is a familiar face for fans of Critical Role. He’s also starred in many other iconic roles, including playing Tuxedo Max in Viz Media’s Sailor Moon redub and Spider-man himself in Marvel’s Spider-man. Recently, Daymond starred in his very own Story Pack mission for Assassin’s Creed Shadows, lending his voice to the players’ new ally, Rufino. Recently, ComicBook’s own The Character Sheet had a chance to sit down with Daymond to discuss his recent appearance in Assassin’s Creed Shadows.
The new Story Pack aptly called A Critical Encounter brings a new, free quest to Assassin’s Creed Shadows. It was introduced in the most recent update, adding Robbie Daymond’s character Rufino to the game as a new ally. The character is based on the one Daymond played in Critical Role‘s one-shot Assassin’s Creed Shadows adventure. Naturally, ComicBook had to ask Daymond all about the experience of bringing his character to life in a brand-new form.
Rufino was always meant to fit into the world of Assassin’s Creed Shadows for Critical Role‘s one-shot adventure. However, the DLC “wasn’t pre-cooked into the creation of the one-shot.” So, Daymond didn’t initially expect to see his character in the actual video game and crafted him as he would any other D&D character. During our interview, we asked Daymond to share a bit about how he approaches making characters like Rufino.
“I’m an old-school theater kid, so I really value a back story that leads to strong choices and interesting characterization,” Daymond shared.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows wasn’t out yet when Critical Role did the one-shot, so crafting Rufino was “really an interesting research process,” especially since he wanted “to do it right historically.”
For curious Critical Role and Assassin’s Creed fans alike, ComicBook also asked Daymond how much of the Critical Role one-shot translates directly to the new Assassin’s Creed Shadows Story Pack.
“To keep it spoiler free, let’s just say that the world and time period that Matt [Mercer] set up in that one-shot serves as a foundation for this new story that’s going to unfold when Rufino gets integrated into the core cast of the game.” He went on to add that “the story [Ubisoft] told is just as compelling as what we were trying to do at the one-shot.”
In terms of what makes the Story Pack unique, “the real strengths here is that perhaps the fan base that’s more connected to the game will be able to enjoy these characters without having the context of the one-shot, and then fans of CR and the one-shot will hopefully be propelled into this amazing game world.” Furthermore, when crossing over big IPs, he shares that “it has to feel organic, and the storytelling has to justify why you would bring them together” and that both teams at Ubisoft and Critical Role managed to do just that.
Although Daymond created the character of Rufino, he went into recording for the DLC without knowing “whatever developed between the events of the one-shot and what happens in-game” until he got the script. So, he had to take some time to dig into “the motivations of what was going on, of how Rufino had changed over that period of time.” And, “For the people that saw the one-shot, there will be a marked change in the character itself. We’re going to see him in a completely different scenario, and life has changed him quite a bit.”
As for how it feels to hear himself in Assassin’s Creed Shadows, Daymond says “I’m such an undercover nerd that every time I get to infiltrate any kind of beloved IP, I just kind of sit in the corner and go ‘Muahaha, yes, now I’m in your Assassin’s Creed, too.’”
Though he hasn’t yet played the latest Assassin’s Creed game, Daymond is a big fan of the franchise. Clearly, bringing his original character to life as part of the Critical Role and Assassin’s Creed Shadows collab was an exciting project for the voice actor to take on.
The new free A Critical Encounter story pack is available now in Assassin’s Creed Shadows. In addition to Daymond’s character Rufino, the pack features a new quest, new achievement, and and a reward banner featuring the Critical Role logo.
The post Robbie Daymond Talks Bringing His Critical Role Character To Assassin’s Creed Shadows appeared first on ComicBook.com.
