World of Warcraft: Shadowlands
Shadowlands might not spark a new golden age for WoW, but it’s still pretty fun.
Shadowlands bears the heavy responsibility of making up for the frustrations of Warcraft’s previous chapter. In the same way that Legion had to win back fans after the disaster that was Warlords of Draenor, Shadowlands is tasked with making up for the tedious grind and convoluted story of Battle for Azeroth. I’m really beginning to tire of this jolting, up and down pattern of good and bad WoW expansions, especially when other MMOs like Final Fantasy 14 and The Elder Scrolls Online only get better and better with each new update.
Shadowlands does make huge improvements over Battle for Azeroth, though. There’s no more infinite grind to breathlessly chase. There’s no opaque armor system like Azerite Armor to suck the joy out of getting that coveted loot drop from a dungeon boss. And, best of all, a lot of randomness has been dialed back in favor of player choice. Instead of spending weeks praying for a specific, all-powerful Legendary item to drop only to get one that’s useless to me, I can farm the materials for the one I want and build it myself. It’s empowering to be the one calling the shots instead of feeling beholden to fickle gods of randomness.
Shadowlands has a lot of fun packed into its endgame. I really love the Covenant system and how much texture it adds to my daily routine of running dungeons, knocking out world quests, and exploring.
Fortunately, unlike Battle for Azeroth, a lot of Shadowlands’ new features are inherently fun enough that I want to keep playing even if I’m concerned about the bigger picture. The four new zones are dense with surprises and treasures, Covenants are an exciting way to customise my character, and I’m enjoying the more subtle storytelling and worldbuilding now that the main campaign is over with.
Ambitious but uneven, Shadowlands is an exciting evolution of World of Warcraft.
Steven Messner