The Worldsoul Saga has been one of the most interesting concepts for World of Warcraft ever since Legion. When The War Within arrived, I fell in love with the direction the MMO was taking: it felt more approachable and solo-friendly, and it had an intriguing narrative that had been lacking for years. Naturally, World of Warcraft: Midnight excited me as soon as I saw the cinematic taking us back to Silvermoon. But just as the war between light and shadow, this expansion, Blizzard has brought many elements and aspects of the game to the light, while also shoving a few of them into the darkness, which sadly brings a promising expansion to the weakest part of this saga.
Back to the Crimson City
Unlike some players out there, I’ve always loved taking my time with the story of every World of Warcraft expansion, and Midnight is no exception. After all, The War Within, despite some of its lows nearing the end of the expansion, delivered a compelling story that brought several interesting characters, expanded on some lore, and gave us some of the most shocking moments and revelations we’ve witnessed in Azeroth’s history. With that in mind, my hopes were high for Midnight, and sadly, that hype died down quickly, as the narrative boiled down to one word: inconsistent.
World of Warcraft: Midnight, like many other expansions, begins with an epic battle against the main enemy we’ll be facing throughout our new journey. Here, it takes place at the beloved Blood Elf city of Silvermoon, but this time, it is being besieged by forces of the Void, and you are drawn into the battle to help the Vanguard of the Light drive this threat away. This opening moment is easily one of my favorites ever since the landing at the Broken Shore in Legion, and while my hype was as high as Deathwing cruising over Azeroth, it quickly dwindled once I started going through some of the zones’ stories.
After defending Silvermoon, you begin your questing in the reimagined, revamped, and more beautiful than ever Eversong Woods. Here, the narrative breadcrumbs take you to familiarize yourself with the void threat looming over this iconic zone, see some old faces, and, my least favorite part, the Windrunner family drama starring Arator, Turalyon, and everyone’s favorite Alleria.
Ever since World of Warcraft became the phenomenon we’ve come to love, it’s been clear that we’re side characters ready to smack some demons, dethrone undead kings, and serve drinks to the actual important characters of this world—I’m okay with that. What I’ve disliked, however, is how Blizzard has been pushing these family dramas, eyeroll-worthy and predictable plots, and poor character development for some key figures, which really diminish the overarching narrative.
Take Arator, for instance. Throughout the expansion, people keep treating this clearly adult half-elf like a child who has no clue about the light he wields or what his role is in this new war. And while his questline ends with one of the most mind-blowing cinematics that will make Warcraft II fans tear up, the campaigns surrounding Eversong Woods and Arator are among the lowest points in the expansion.
My other gripe is the Haranir. As a race, I love them. I created my Haranir as soon as I unlocked them and don’t regret it one bit. In terms of their story implications and additions, they seem like a last-minute addition to the game without proper planning. World of Warcraft: Midnight could have finally given us playable Amani Trolls, as they are clearly more important in the whole plot around Silvermoon than a secret race that has been safeguarding Azeroth for years.
Fortunately, there is one salvageable part, and that’s Zul’Aman, which is everything I ever wanted of a modern Troll zone. This area has an actually enjoyable campaign with fantastic characters and several lore tidbits for the lore aficionados out there. I just wish the other zones had delivered the same narrative quality as the one in Zul’Aman, because it is the only area that truly shines in terms of story.
Overall, I was disappointed with the overarching narrative of Midnight. Once again, several side quests have much better writing than whatever family drama a new expansion pushes on us. And while I loved all the lore details, callbacks, and nostalgia-filled moments, especially as a Paladin main, this has to be one of the weakest stories in the Worldsoul Saga so far, but one I hope improves in upcoming patches.
More Engaging Than Ever
Remember how I said World of Warcraft: Midnight left a few things in the shadow and some in the light? Well, gameplay-wise, everything is part of the latter, as this is truly one of the greatest and most engaging expansions we’ve had in a while.
For starters, and as someone who has transitioned from doing group content to mainly playing solo, Midnight is the most solo-friendly expansion thanks to its focus on better Delves, story mode, and the new Prey system, which is something I ended up loving way more than I thought I would.
In terms of combat-oriented content, Midnight shines with its carefully crafted and challenging dungeons and delves. WoW has been stepping up in its game ever since The War Within, and this time, it really brings out the big guns.
I felt delves even more varied here, with several mechanics that really tested my Paladin even in the lowest tiers. The Prey system, however, is one of the best additions to the MMO, as it makes the open-world solo experience even more engaging. I loved the loop of doing my usual world quests while also trying to draw my target in. On top of that, it has its own reward track, which I also liked, as I can now split my time between doing my delves and tackling my hunts while exploring the new areas.
Dungeons feel even better than before, with the expansion also delivering some of the greatest I’ve seen lately—Windrunner Spire being among the best, mechanically, visually, and in terms of lore details.
I haven’t tried Mythic this season, as I haven’t been a fan of this system, and raiding has become a bit challenging for me to keep up, but another thing I’ve been doing daily and has become my new WoW addiction is housing.
As someone who jumps between FFXIV and WoW, the latter has brought one of the greatest housing systems in the MMO landscape, which reminded me of the smooth systems Wildstar has, but with that Warcraft touch that marries housing with almost every type of content in WoW.
The part I’m referring to is furniture-hunting, as you don’t have to rely only on vendors to furnish your home; you have to tackle old content across all expansions to find that one lantern that will give your room that Burning Legion look. In all seriousness, I always appreciate it when an MMO encourages us to return to old places of the game, as it keeps all content relevant, even for newcomers who didn’t have the chance to experience certain instances when they initially launched.
A few other things that changed with the launch of Midnight were several UI elements, with some famous combat add-ons becoming useless now, and frankly, I prefer this. While I do use some add-ons in the game, mainly for roleplay purposes or rare mob-tracking, I’ve never been a fan of the add-on bloat, so I’m glad Blizzard is addressing this by adding functions into the game’s UI that we’ve been asking for decades.
Another crucial part of every expansion is its classes, and well, that’s another thing that didn’t sit that well with me. This time, we have Apex Talents for our classes, and in truth, not all of them feel too relevant. Now, I know adding new things to classes to make them feel fresh with each expansion is challenging, but these talents didn’t hit the sweet spots that Hero Talents did in the last expansion.
And on top of that, WoW seems to be falling down the “too approachable” design that has been plaguing FFXIV since Endwalker. For example, the new Demon Hunter spec, Devourer. It is basically a four-button class, with almost nothing challenging for players to learn or consider as an elaborate rotation, which, in a way, worries me for future class designs in WoW. While I do like how the game is approachable in some respects, I feel class identity might be at risk if WoW keeps making classes too easy for players. Then again, I only saw this in the new Devourer spec and a few other healing specs, so it might be a one-time thing.
A Tiny Bump in the Worldsoul Saga
As someone who’s been eager to see the conclusion to the Worldsoul Saga and where it might lead us next, World of Warcraft: Midnight feels like the inevitable bump on the road. There are several missed opportunities with its narrative, as well as some questionable character development moments, or rather, a lack thereof. This is particularly sad, as the expansion’s settings, zones, and cast of main characters could have made this second part of the saga one of the best in recent WoW history.
Yet, where the story fails, the gameplay succeeds, and World of Warcraft feels more engaging than ever, whether for solo or group players. The combat-oriented instances are among the best since MoP and Legion days, and we now have a proper cozy system for those who prefer a more lighthearted side. Overall, Midnight drops the ball in a few areas, but it shines where it really matters, as this expansion has made me addicted again to one of my favorite MMOs, and I’m extremely excited to see where the next patches take us as we approach the grand finale.
World of Warcraft: Midnight (PC Reviewed)
World of Warcraft: Midnight is one of the most fun, addictive, approachable, and engaging expansions, but an inconsistent narrative brings down the second part of the Worldsoul Saga.
Pros
- Reimagined old zones with gorgeous visuals
- Excellent gameplay features for solo and group players
- A top-notch housing system
Cons
- Inconsistent narrative
- Apex talents feel underwhelming
