World of Warcraft: Legion – Review
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It was a cold day in 2008 when I logged onto World of Warcraft for the very first time. I had a trial code from the Season 10 DVD of South Park, and after watching their WoW episode, I decided I had to give it a go. At the time, the idea of buying a game and then having to pay to play it was the most ludicrous idea I have ever heard, but a free pass is a free pass, right? And that’s where my downfall into the world of MMO’s began.
My time with World of Warcraft has been sporadic, but I’ve seen every expansion land since Wrath of the Lich King. Most were highly anticipated, incredibly hyped and totally worth the money…most of them. After the last expansion, however, my hopes for Legion were not high. Thankfully, I was pleasantly surprised.
Legion delivers a lot of new content, including a new level cap, world events, quests and a whole new hero class- and that’s not even all of it. If you want to see everything Legion has to offer you better put your life on hold for a good chunk of time- because there’s a lot of it. So where the heck do I even start?
The new level cap in the game is 110 and as you’d expect in a WoW game, reaching this is achieved through story quests, side quests and dungeons- as usual; except now it’s better. The writing in the quest lines was so good, I actually took the time to stop and read them. The humour that Legion employed took me back to the hilarity that was found in the early titles, and away from the dark ‘woe is me, there is no hope’ feeling of previous expansions.
And there’s no reason to quest on your own now either, with Legion’s new gameplay mechanic. Pairing up with characters of different levels won’t penalise the higher character anymore; when paired up with someone of a different level to you, each enemy will instance itself to your level. So if I’m level 110 and my friend is level 105, her enemies will be at her level of 105 and mine at 110. It means I can group up with a bunch of strangers whenever I want and not have to worry about them carrying me through anything, or me not getting enough XP from helping out a lowbie.
The expansion really brought so many people back to the game as well, so servers have absolutely exploded- meaning that you won’t have to ride around an area solo anymore! This might suck for those who prepare to go it alone every now and then, but for someone like me who craves company in an MMO, this was absolutely excellent.
There can’t be a Legion review without mentioning the new Demon Hunter class, so let’s get to it: they’re fantastic. They have the defense of a paladin, the damage of a rogue and the self-healing skills of a priest, plus they can glide around the world on their wings and fly into danger without a thought. I have no doubt this class will get nerfed at some point because I felt like I was invincible all the time; not necessarily a good thing if you go into the game looking for a challenge. However, regardless of when/if that happens, the class is easy to pick up and a joy to play. 10/10 do recommend.
My next favourite part of Legion would have to be the new crafting class quests built into the game. No longer is every single crafting class exactly the same at end game. With the new quests, there’s a story behind your leatherworker or your tailor- some new content that makes crafting something more than a money suck and a time waster. Through the new quests, I can not only learn new skills but unlock new crafting items and be prompted to see more of the world outside of the mailbox and the auction house (which, let’s be honest, is where crafters spend a lot of their time).
Whilst Legion has so so many surprising positives, it also does have a few let downs. The developers have revamped a lot of the classes, streamlining them and making them easier to pick up and play- however with some classes it has left a lot to be desired. My mage no longer feels like she’s a badass bitch freezing stuff all over the shop and burning stuff to the ground, but rather an elf playing with the thermostat and giving people a slightly uncomfortable chill. I have faith this will be fixed as Legion patches begin rolling out, but we’ll see.
Overall, Legion is the sort of expansion that will bring me back to WoW for a long time. It has brought new life into a game I thought was nearing the end. I dedicated a lot of time to this expansion and there is still so much content for me to go through before I see everything. If you’ve been on the fence about returning to Azeroth, hop on your mount and get going- now is the time!
