Azeroth in Blizzard Entertainment’s MMORPG World of Warcraft has been on fire for the last year, and there’s no sign of that stopping anytime soon. This all started with the previous expansion, The War Within, when we saw Thrall, Anduin, and others go toe-to-toe with Xal’atath and her deadly allies. With the ending of The War Within’s main story, things are looking as grim as ever in a world surrounded by war. But things aren’t as doom and gloom as they may seem, with bits of hope being instilled throughout the lands. Ahead of Midnight’s full launch next year, I was invited to go hands-on with the expansion, and I walked away genuinely impressed with everything that played out in front of me.
The first thing that immediately caught my eye about the upcoming expansion was the amount of love the Candalari Trolls are receiving. This is for a couple of different reasons. For starters, as a Horde player, it’s always lovely to see my faction painted in a light that’s not a villain and instead someone they can depend on. The other is that this race is heavily influenced by Aztec and Mesoamerican culture. As a Mexican-American, it’s always great to see parts of my culture highlighted in a way that respects the community at large and potentially educates those who may not be aware of it.
As for the story itself, seeing Silvermoon in a new light thanks to Xal’atath was something entertaining to watch play out. Mainly because it’s such an iconic area, and giving it a fresh coat of paint was a fantastic thing to do. Even if it meant that the Blood Elves would be paying the price for it.
Because everything is going haywire now, stuff is starting to bleed into the mainland, forcing the Blood Elves to team up with the Candalari Trolls in the hopes of stopping Xal’atath’s forces. What was particularly interesting about this is that both of the races mentioned have bad blood between them and would rather work alone than together. This had set the stage for a lot of tension as I made my way through Zul’aman.
It was really compelling to see essential characters on both ends confront one another and explain why they feel animosity towards one another. As biased as I may be for the Trolls, both sides had valid reasons for feeling the way they do, and this often created a fun situation for me to watch play out. Despite their differences, they found common ground to work together to make the world a better place.
This seemed to be a consistent theme in the upcoming expansion. But this shouldn’t come as a surprise when you consider that players had the army of Light on their side when fighting the Void and its creatures. But this is where World of Warcraft especially shines. In several different expansions, it always looks as if things are about to take a turn for the worse, only for them to play out in your favor due to everyone working together towards a common goal. It’s one of the main reasons I find myself returning to Warcraft repeatedly; these story beats never miss.
Because of this, the Candalari Trolls receive a lot of love, and we get to see more of their culture. In Midnight, they’re often portrayed as strong and dependable, but most importantly as people with their own ways of life and beliefs. Without getting too much into the spoiler camp, you’re forced to revisit old temples that hold incredible power early in the expansion. Getting to the end of that arc got me surprisingly emotional, and it’s because of how respectfully they pay homage to the Mesoamerican at large.
Of course, Midnight is filled with plenty of cinematic moments that play out in both the cutscenes and in-game. One of my favorite things to do in World of Warcraft is running around and taking in the sights. Thankfully, Midnight is no different. Even though the Void is extremely dangerous and should probably be stopped, it does create some colorful spectacles that I can’t help but enjoy. The same thing can be said about the enemies here, too. Often, I felt as if I was going up against larger-than-life enemies and threats; this made each fight feel as crucial as the last one. Given the dire situation the people of Azeroth are facing, this is especially true, and the cherry on top of all of this is that each villain is generally interesting and does enough to hook you in right off the bat.
As interesting and compelling as the main story was, one thing kept taking me away from it: the new housing feature. Even though I’ve only been playing World of Warcraft for less than a year, this is everything I could have ever asked for and more. In short, players are taken to a new area in the world, where they can buy a plot of land and build a house.
But it doesn’t stop there, because if you have a guild, you can secure a whole neighborhood for you and your buddies, and make it something truly special. Once you purchase the plot of land, your house will immediately appear, and it’ll be usable for each character you create. From here you’ll be able to set rules in place like hows allowed in, and if they can move items around. As you toy around with the house, you’ll be able to upgrade and unlock better things. Most importantly, this includes the ability to make your living space bigger.
When building your dream home, it’s really up to you to imagine what you can make. Everything is straightforward to customize. You can easily stack items on top of or below one another, so you never have to worry about items being locked out of place. During my time with Midnight, I built myself a nice cozy one-bedroom shack, and I spent more and more time in my house to see how I could improve upon it. But it doesn’t stop there because you can also customize the outside of your house. By the end of my slight home improvement, the outside of my home looked like a tropical delight due to all the trees, grass, and furniture I had put outside next to the shore.
The whole area feels like a giant cozy game. There’s no PvP, but there are animals you can hunt if you want, and it’s filled with NPCs that give you furniture or quests that reward you with it upon completion, as well as other home improvements. The real kicker is that there’s even a designated hangout spot for you and other players. I spent more time than I’d like to admit in this area, and the same can only be said once it’s fully released. I’m looking forward to the day my fellow guildmates and I build our dream home.
World of Warcraft: Midnight Shows a Bright Future for Azeroth
World of Warcraft Midnight brings a lot to the table. It’s some of the most fun I’ve had with the game to date, the world is beautiful, the enemies are scary, and the home building is fantastic. I didn’t expect to get as emotional as I did while playing it, and based on previous expansions, I know that will be a constant thing as I play my way through Midnight. Admittedly, I couldn’t get to everything this preview had to offer due to the sheer amount of content, but it’s made me even more excited to experience it in its full release later next year.
