Maldraxxus Was Great

Good Morning Friends. I am not sure how long this mornings post is going to be because I want to try and walk a thin line between talking about events happening in Shadowlands and not really spoiling things for anyone who isn’t quite as progressed yet. Yesterday I hit somewhere in the vicinity of 57.5 and am a little bit into Ardenweald. When I talked about my experiences yesterday I focused mostly on the smooth launch, but I was a bit down on the whole storyline and experience of playing thorugh Bastion. I think the spirituality and “trust in the path” sort of narrative just didn’t land with me. I am not a religious person, and the zone while beautiful… also sorta felt barren and bland. This is making my start to rethink my original goal of aligning my Paladin with them for access to that ability.

Maldraxxus however, I loved every single minute of the experience of running through that zone. This is where Shadowlands really starts to kick in and the story feels important. Bastion is a bit of a slow burn and by the end of that zone the events are starting to click into place setting up for an amazing romp across the true land of the dead. I can’t say before now I have ever really had a “page turner” moment in World of Warcraft, where I just wanted to keep getting to the next main story quest so I could see exactly what was happening. Side note… they are actually marking what is and is not a main story quest with a unique icon and I thoroughly approve of this. I am starting to feel like Maldraxxus might be my true calling as far as covenants go.

Then Ardenweald comes along and starts sucker punching you straight in the feels. Like I don’t love the design aesthetic of Night Elves and by connection zones like Ashenvale, Val’Sharah and now Ardenweald. That said however the story in Ardenweald keeps the intrigue going in a way that also makes me really want to find out where things are going. Like I THINK I know where things are going, but I am not entirely certain what is up with the Winter Queen. Through Maldraxxus and now Ardenweald you are starting to see the first signs of the larger cosmology of the Shadowlands and I approve. Essentially the drought has impacted each area differently, and it is interesting to see that being played out in the way that the denizens react to it.

Right now the main thing that Bastion still has going for it are the little Swolekin friends you can get… who will follow you around and play music for you. I am a fan of this and I could see getting used to bringing birb friend out on missions. I specifically chose one that was fully armored for their own safety. The first night of gameplay left me a little iffy on Shadowlands as an expansion, but those fears are being pushed aside by the really cool content that took place in Maldraxxus and now Ardenweald. I would have preferred to have gotten a choose your own adventure style start, where I got to pick which faction I would venture into first but I get why they didn’t do that because the storyline needs to flow in a specific way.

My only long term concerns however are as to how exactly playing alts through this content is going to feel. If you have to do everything in the same order a couple of dozen times it is going to feel pretty grindy. So my impressions have improved, but I am curious where you are right now on your feelings as to this expansion. Drop me a line in the comments with your thoughts so far.