There are only a few days until The War Within, World of Warcraft’s tenth expansion, kicks off with its early release, and a whole new adventure begins. As I countdown the days and hours until I can experience everything the new expansion has to offer without anything being blocked off, it is also an excellent time to look back before we look ahead.
Pandemonium (Remix)
It’s pretty safe to say that overall, Mists of Pandaria Remix was a hit, though Pandamonium was 100% a better title for it. I enjoyed getting to experience the storyline of Mist of Pandaria because it was an expansion I missed a lot. It was a time when I didn’t have a guild and had no energy to try and find a new one. I honestly remembered very little about the storyline, aside from the fact it was cool to see Anduin out and doing things on his own a bit more. I also had the opportunity to experience the Horde side of the storyline during Remix, which was fascinating, as I finally saw how it paralleled the Alliance.
Sadly, I couldn’t put as much time into Remix as I would have liked, just because of time availability. Summers are always a busy time, so I missed some of the Remix experience. For example, I never made it over to the Timeless Isle. My main motivations for doing Remix were to experience the story again and to collect all the mounts, so I was fine with not worrying about the class items I could have gotten from doing Timeless Isle things.
I also enjoyed having access to a mix of abilities from other classes and some abilities I’m not sure had been in WoW before. For example, one of my favorite gems made me immune to fall damage. Since I tend to have a propensity of accidentally falling off things in WoW (as my guildies are always happy to attest to), being able to fling myself off of whatever I felt like jumping off was exhilarating—no reason to fear the elevator boss at all. It was incredibly amusing, and I’d love to always have something like that.
I do have to say that my biggest highlight from Remix was running through the raids with my guildmates. Since I knew I had limited time and wanted all the mounts, I didn’t put any bronze into upgrading my gear. So, initially, I wasn’t sure raids outside of LFR would be a thing for me. Thankfully, a couple of my guildies put a lot of time and effort into leveling their cloaks and gear. This allowed them to solo heroic raids and carry me and a few others through a few times. These runs were always an absolute blast, and it was hilarious to see bosses fall over in a matter of seconds.
For my money, Remix is the perfect between expansion activity. It’s a ton of fun to roll around being OP and having fun through an old expansion. As I mentioned, it’s also an excellent way to visit old content differently than through Chromie time. I hope this returns as a between-expansion activity before midnight—maybe it’ll be Legion Timerunnning next time. They could turn the artifact weapons into the new version of the cloak. The biggest thing I’d ask to be changed is to have two different currencies for gear upgrades and to buy all the cosmetics. Choosing between the two didn’t feel good when I was limited in my playtime.
Dragonflight’s Highlights
Reflecting on everything in Dragonflight, I am heartened to realize that picking out a few of the most memorable highlights is almost impossible for me. There were so many excellent moments that resonated with me. Nonetheless, I am going to try and pick the best. Doubtless, I will forget to mention some obvious picks, and I look forward to seeing what others choose to highlight.
The first thing I have to mention again is all the quests in the Ohn’ahran Plains. As I have previously discussed, this zone completely derailed my leveling journey. I spent so much time there that I had every side quest completed before moving on, and my original plan had been to get through the main storyline as fast as possible so I could work on getting raid-ready. However, I loved every moment there. All of the centaur and green dragon storylines were fascinating and felt genuine. My two biggest standouts were the Tavian quests and the quests where I helped two centaurs get engaged. Both were beautiful moments that didn’t significantly impact the story but are something I still think about often.
Another considerable standout was everything with Emberthal and Ebonhorn/Ebyssian. They had a fascinating parallel where they were both trying to figure out how they fit and their purpose. I’ll never forget that cutscene with both of them in the Forbidden Reach. It’s a great moment showing both of them struggling and finding a way forward together. Even when Emberthal lashed out at him for hiding for years, how he reacted was wonderful. Those moments rarely happen in real life, but when it does, it is always incredibly touching. I know some people thought that the way he became Aspect wasn’t done well, but personally, I thought it was perfect. Many of my early frustrations were around the fact that neither Wrathion nor Sabellion seemed like good choices. Both were strongly arrogant and could be rash in their own ways. I was relieved when they decided to step aside.
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World of Warcraft: Dragonflight Review
One of my biggest worries heading into Dragonflight was how they would handle everything with Merithra. I had hoped from the beginning she’d step into her own and become the green Aspect, but we also heard reasonably early on that Ysera would be making an appearance again. As much as I love Ysera, I was concerned she’d overshadow her daughter. I remember meeting Merithra during the Battle for Azeroth when the void attacked the Emerald Dream. She seemed so unsure of herself and hesitant, which entirely made sense, but I wanted to see what was beyond that. We finally got to see that resolution, and sheathing her flying with Ysera after the Oathstone responded to her will always be a highlight for me.
My last big highlight was everything with the blue dragonflight during this expansion. The storyline with Kalec and Sindragosa was amazing. I never thought of seeing her back in WoW in any form, and every moment with her was a treat. Her voice acting was beyond perfect, especially how everything aligned with Sindragosa’s animations; it felt incredibly real. I’ll also never forget when Senegos, Emmigosa, and Stellagosa showed up to help him. Then, later, with the continuation of the story of the blues and Senegos finally passed on. Everything about that was well done, and a storyline that started in Legion was concluded. I was also thrilled to see Kirygosa finally in game. I’ve always loved her, and it’s cool to know she’s living her best life with the Pandaren.
Looking Forward
As it’s probably evident from my favorite moments from Dragonflight, this expansion was always more likely than not to hit well with me because I love dragons. It was a treat to have them in the forefront and learn so much about their past. Now we look ahead to The War Within, which feels like the stakes are being raised even higher. Since this is the first of a three-part story, I expect that while we will undoubtedly win on some levels, there will also be some pretty telling defeats. There may even be some devastating losses. Regardless, I am excited to see where we will go and how things will change.
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WoW's The War Within Might Be Enough To Get Me Into The MMORPG
