World of Warcraft: Legion bears a terrible weight. In some ways, it feels like an apology for the mistakes made during the previous WoW expansion, Warlords of Draenor. Those mistakes also led many to believe World of Warcraft's days were numbered, and now Legion is tasked with not only making up for lost time, but also proving that World of Warcraft still has time left. Despite all that, Legion is the most confident expansion Blizzard has ever made.
The Burning Legion's invasion of Azeroth might be one of the most dire conflicts explored in World of Warcraft, an impression driven home by the Broken Shore intro that pulls a few pages from Game of Thrones by nonchalantly killing off important characters. But that confidence I see in Legion doesn't just come from going all in on the story—it comes from understanding that this is Blizzard's sixth time releasing an expansion. As I imagine the Lord Illidan would say, they are prepared.
On
the broken shore
The pre-expansion introduction to
Legion starts and, if you're with the Alliance, ends with a bang, but I was a
little disappointed that it doesn't keep up that D-Day-style tension beyond its
opening chapter. Where Warlords of Draenor captured the feeling of invading a
hostile land and establishing a tenuous foothold, the first few hours of Legion
feel safe and not nearly as dramatic. I was let down at first, but as I
ventured out into the new zones and began digging into their respective
questlines, I hardly cared.
Each of the new zones demonstrates Blizzard's experience in storytelling and
world design at its best. The new zones are gorgeous, and effortlessly funnel
me from one quest to the next. The rainy coastline of Azsuna is my favorite.
The crumbling elven ruins that dot its sombre landscape evoke a sad beauty,
like a classical painting weathered and broken by time. The quest about the
ghost of a prince seeking redemption is just as tragic. A generous sprinkling
of voice acting and cutscenes throughout these quests help me sympathize with
the characters I fight alongside.
Staying classy
Still, questing for hours on end can be a grind no matter how inventive the quests are, so I'm always relieved when Legion gives me an excuse to take a quick break. Tending to the new 'order halls' that serve as my headquarters breaks up the questing every few hours. In the most reductive sense, order halls are the garrisons of Warlords of Draenor. While I still have followers that I send out on missions that can take days to complete, there's only five to manage instead of dozens. I like not having to worry about erecting and leveling up buildings, instead focusing on a simple, more focused system of researching new upgrades to my base. Best of all, I'm no longer alone when I'm in my order hall like I was with garrisons. It's fun to return home and see all my druid brethren hanging out together.
There's a generous helping of quests associated with each class that further help establish this renewed sense of identity. I love digging deeper into the lore of my druid, and many quests require using abilities unique to my class, even ones I would never use in any other context. It's a great feeling to dust off an old spell for some clever use in a quest, but, more importantly, there's a selfish satisfaction in knowing that I'm doing something not every class can do.
There's no better way to see Warcraft's improved class identity than to take the new demon hunters for a spin. They are, without a doubt, the most well-realized class that Blizzard has ever created. I'm not fond of their dour emo nature, but that's easy to ignore as my demon hunter transforms into a savage monstrosity and obliterates a pack of murlocs with laser beams that shoot out of his damn eyeballs. While I don't find them quite alluring enough to consider switching from my druid, demon hunters are badasses of the highest order.
What makes demon hunters so fun, especially their damage-dealing specialization, is how agile they feel in and out of combat. Whether I'm dashing through a pack of monsters, backflipping away from an attack, or just using their bat-like wings to glide through the air, I always feel like the coolest thing to walk Azeroth since the Arthas first took hold of Frostmourne.
If there's one element of Legion that attempts to
contribute to that fantasy but falls short, it's the new artifact weapons. Each
class specialization now has its own unique weapon that will stay with them until
the next expansion, growing in strength alongside the character that wields it.
I'm somewhat indifferent to the way artifact weapons work, however. On one
hand, I like that they earn their own form of experience points that I can use
to unlock nodes in a talent tree, augmenting my abilities. On the other, I
resent the way they attempt to appear so legendary and one of a kind when every
other player of the same specialization shares the same weapon.
There are cosmetic options to alter the appearance of
the weapon to try and make it more unique, but I'm not convinced it's a better
system than the traditional method of farming better weapons from dungeons and
raids. Fortunately, the weird disconnect that artifact weapons create isn't
powerful enough to detract from the enthusiasm I have for what Legion
accomplishes.
But while much of the endgame, like raids and 'Mythic+' dungeons aren't available yet, Legion already represents World of Warcraft at its all-time best. Even after the weeks spent in the beta and now with the official release, its weakest elements, like artifact weapons, can't get in the way of how much fun I'm having exploring the Broken Isles. Legion's ultimate legacy may depend on what’s to come, but what's available now has me excited about World of Warcraft in a way I haven't felt since my dwarf hunter took his first steps into Dun Morogh a decade ago.
