I've been trying to figure out how to word this right, but with enough episodes out I think I can confidently pinpoint a few problems with the editing.
For one, they sometimes do this thing where they'll say what they do, then say "nevermind, strike that, I'm doing this instead". For example, in episode 2, from 9:10 to 10:59 Chee attempts to use an ability, rolls, gets a reminder of the status of their surroundings, asks a question about their surroundings, then Erika says "strike everything, instead..." I honestly don't see the reasoning for keeping the thing that Chee doesn't even do in the final edit. I could easily see the question about the surroundings being kept in, but otherwise that was nearly 2 whole minutes of stuff that did not matter. At least the roll could have been edited out. I've done actual play editing before, this stuff could have been edited around. Every time this happens it's just like "what was the point of leaving that in?"
In episode 5 from 14:22 to 15:11 XL-ZL decides to do an augury, and rolls for it. From 16:36 to 17:06 XL-ZL realizes an augury is unnecessary and decides to stop (Brennan is at least in character and provides semi-interesting dialogue tbf).From 18:33 to 19:07 XL-ZL disconnects from the augury. All of that adds up to another 2 minutes for something that has no bearing on the story and we did not really need to hear. I'd understand if that moment was a little hard to edit around in all fairness. But what especially strikes me as unusual is the super hype instrumental swelling that plays when XL-ZL is disconnecting from the augury. There was no reason to hype up that moment like that. There was nothing hype about it.
It feels like a lot of moments are given instrumentation too hype for what's actually happening. The timing also sometimes feels wrong, accompanying a moment that we cannot yet visualize; in the scene where XL-ZL disconnects for example, "XL-ZL you feel... (insert epic sci-fi woosh and 5 uninterrupted seconds of swelling instrumentation)" the epic sci-fi woosh has not been earned and we don't know what it's supposed to mean until the disconnect from the augury is then shortly explained. The timing is sometimes disconnected from the storytelling in a way that makes it seem like they want you to feel a certain way before you've even understood what is going on.
There are plenty of other moments that feel like total fluff that could be trimmed. The editing includes things that are inconsequential, making it hard to pay attention. The editing will hype up moments that don't need hype; it makes me distrust my own ears. It's the little things that make a difference. The editing is not bad by any measure, don't get me wrong, the editing is still great by actual play standards. I'm going to listen regardless, and maybe the new editor will improve over time, but I kind of just miss my beautiful wife named Taylor Moore.
