Rob McElhenney and Charlie Day are best known for It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, the critically-acclaimed sitcom that first premiered on FX all the way back in 2005. It's Always Sunny has become one of the most revered television comedies of the last decade, and so to see McElhenney and Day branch out with something new is exciting. The duo have teamed up for Mythic Quest: Raven's Banquet on Apple TV+, a comedy that sees McElhenney trade in his Mac character for a vain video game auteur named Ian Grimm.

Mythic Quest: Raven's Banquet stands in stark contrast to many other television depictions of video games and the video game industry in that it actually tries to be accurate. For that reason alone, video game fans will likely enjoy the show to some extent. It's sprinkled with clever little nods and references to the industry at large, with Episode 1: Pilot namedropping Contra, Grand Theft Auto, Ms. Pac-Man, and even online publications like Kotaku and Polygon.

The Polygon reference is one of the better moments in Episode 1. The plot of the first episode revolves around Mythic Quest lead engineer Poppy Li desperately wanting to add a shovel item to the game's Raven's Banquet expansion, only for Grimm to want to change it into something completely different. Li hatches a scheme with head of monetization Brad Bakshi (played by Danny Pudi, best known for his role as Ahbed in Community) to leak the shovel to the press to drum up fan demand for it before launch.

Video game leaks happen all the time in the industry for a variety of reasons, and office politics is certainly one of them. But this plot development isn't the only one that feels like a fairly accurate portrayal of the industry. For example, we learn that the Mythic Quest game is written by CW Longbottom, an award-winning science-fiction writer. This is a clear reference to video game studios often hiring writers famous in other fields for their games, which has been done in everything from Call of Duty to the upcoming George R.R. Martin/From Software collaboration Elden Ring.

Viewers will also get to see a parody of talking head E3 developer videos, which is what we saw when the show was announced at Ubisoft's E3 2019 press conference, and how Grimm's auteur ego clashes with others on the team. There's also a PewDiePie parody called Pootie Shoe, who is a foul-mouthed, mega popular streamer with an absurd amount of power.

There's a point in the episode where all the developers are standing around, waiting to learn Pootie Shoe's opinion on the Raven's Banquet expansion. This is one of the better scenes, while also a sharp commentary on the way streamers sometimes have genuine control over game developers and industry developments. Pootie Shoe ends up liking the game, especially the new shovel mechanic, and this earns uproarious applause from the developers despite many of them agreeing that the kid is an awful person.

Many of the scenes in Mythic Quest are designed to amuse those that follow the video game industry. Besides the aforementioned references, there's also a brief clip of an Assassin's Creed dive in the actual Mythic Quest game itself, plus commentary on the way QA testers are treated at some game studios. Reflecting various industry horror stories that have come out over the years, the QA testers in Mythic Quest are treated as lesser when compared to the other employees, and one mentions that their eyeballs are being tracked to make sure that they're always working.

Someone who follows the video game industry closely and pays attention to QA tester horror stories will find this interesting, like many of other video game industry nods that make up the bulk of the show. But is any of it all that funny? There are some standout scenes. The previously mentioned Polygon leak joke was good for a laugh, and the scene where everyone is arguing about delaying the game is also amusing, but for the most part the show just isn't terribly funny. It's certainly not on the level of It's Always Sunny.

It's also questionable whether someone who isn't a gamer would find the show entertaining. Much of the entertainment is derived from recognizing when things are referencing the real world video game industry. Someone who tunes in to Mythic Quest that doesn't know anything about video games and is just looking for a new comedy to watch will likely not be very impressed with the show based on the first episode.

The first episode of Mythic Quest also makes the show somewhat difficult to recommend for It's Always Sunny fans who are hoping for something to fill the void while they wait for that show's next season. The style of comedy here is much more in line with more traditional shows, not the loud, faster-paced, unique absurdity of It's Always Sunny. Props to McElhenney and Day for stepping out of their comfort zones, but based on the first episode, it doesn't seem likely that an It's Always Sunny fan would find Mythic Quest worthwhile.

Something that It's Always Sunny fans will appreciate, though, is the inclusion of Rickety Cricket actor David Hornsby as Mythic Quest executive producer David Brittlesbee. David's character is the standout from the Pilot, as it's his reactions during the expansion delay argument that makes that scene so funny. His exasperation at being stuck between two creative types and likening it to his parents' divorce and the HR therapy session that resulted was great. His character really keeps everything in focus and is someone that's easy to root for, so hopefully he remains one of the center figures of the show moving forward.

Mythic Quest: Raven's Banquet Episode 1: Pilot is indeed a pilot episode, which are not necessarily known for hitting it out of the park all the time. Sometimes viewers have to get to know characters better before a show really clicks for them, and it's possible that things will pick up in subsequent episodes. The Pilot episode, meanwhile, seems like it will appeal to a very specific group of people: video game enthusiasts who like It's Always Sunny, and not really anyone else, including It's Always Sunny fans who don't like video games.

Mythic Quest: Raven's Banquet is available to stream now, exclusively on Apple TV+.