Plus, I’m seeing a lot more partying for world questing - more than I’ve ever witnessed before. That’s because Blizzard made it possible to obtain Legendary items through regular questing, in addition to “Warforged” or “Titanforged” modifiers that can boost up the item level of a piece of gear randomly.Īs much as I loathe the idea of adding more RNG to the game, I support the concept of making world questing viable - as it’s not only more fun than grinding out dailies for rep to buy a mount, but it’s also a way for people who are intimidated by dungeons to accomplish something. Much like Guild Wars 2, they can be completed by anyone regardless of party settings, and reward you with actual good gear that can be on par with pre-raid, or even raid-level properties. The gist is that roughly 50 quests are active on the map at any time, with cycling timelines of several hours or several days. In Legion, I darted around temple traps and laser beams, Indiana Jones and Mission Impossible style, climbed mountains with a grappling gun like a 3D Zelda game, played a DDR-like session for a quest, shot a bunny-launcher weapon, and got to chill with big characters like Malfurion and Tyrande.Īnd that idea is taken up full-hog in Legion with “World Quests,” a post-level-110 extension of the campaign. That whole “minigame” philosophy applies to the entire World of Warcraft experience now too, if you haven’t been playing the last several expansions. It also sports some of the most fun quests in the game (one has you springing out a giant T-Rex from a pen, culminating in a drive-by buffet chomping session) and several minigames that are repeatable for Nightfallen reputation. The narrative centers around a faction called the Nightfallen, which, as a result of many years of isolation, have become dependent on an energy source they fashioned into a drink called Arcwine - if they don’t get their fix, they morph into mindless creatures called “Withered” and go on a rampage.Īlthough there’s still your typical rendition of “good and evil” in Suramar, you get to see more nuanced storylines of how their people have survived all this time, and the stakes that are involved feel real, bringing me closer to the world of Legion as a whole.
I was pretty blown away with the effort that was put into the fifth “endgame” zone, Suramar. Players can opt to choose where they want to go first, and even though they’ll eventually see all four starting regions, the chance to go to place you might find more enticing without being forced into a typical ho-hum “starter zone” forced the team to put effort into every area. The shared mountains of Highmountain and Stormheim allow for the map to feel like a cohesive, organic setting, and the lore-heavy Val’Sharah and Azsuna have something for returning players.īut in typical MMO fashion, the game isn’t over at the cap. Not only can Demon Hunters double jump, but they can opt to spread their wings as well, protecting them from harmful falls more effectively than any other prior method like a Mage’s “levitate.” It makes for some incredible moments, leaping off gigantic mountaintops and slowly cruising through terrain with a giant wingspan in tow, especially since Blizzard has packed-in so many little Easter eggs and hidden alcoves in the new Broken Isles zone - more-so than any expansion before it. I can hold hate in dungeons as a tank and deal a respectable amount of damage, my kit is diverse with a number of CC (crowd control), AOE (area-of-effect), and single-target abilities, and the skill tree offers an array of alterations.īut really, it’s the gliding effect I love. To make this a more rounded review I took the brand new hero class of Demon Hunter to the new level 110 cap, and it’s slowly become one of my favorites. I’ve finally reached the top for Legion working my way through Mythic dungeons, so I feel like I can make a complete assessment.
It’s strange watching this digital avatar morph into something more personal over time, something that you’ve painstakingly created as an extension of yourself. I keep a catalog during the leveling process of every World of Warcraft expansion, from the opening moments to the second I ding at the cap. It always feels strange looking back to screenshots of a journey through an MMO.