So, I want to take a look at BFA story from a perspective of just that… a story. Is It objectively bad? I’m going to use the elements proposed by the University Writing Center to analyze this question, and see if, removed from the fact that its an MMO, can Battle of Azeroth stand on its own?
The elements we’ll look at are: context, setting, characters, plot, literary devices, and themes. And we’re going to knock out the first right now, context. Obviously, BFA is a story written for the medium of an MMORPG, and this is where it hits its first hurdle. In order to give us an antagonist, they essentially take half their playerbase and say “you’re the bad guy now.” Now, maybe this would have worked, had it not been done already in Mists of Pandaria. And if the players had been given more of a choice. Yes, it is more realistic to be powerless to intercede if one’s ruler decides to do something, but this is also a game. And people play games to have fun.
So, let’s step aside from Context, and delve into setting. We won’t look at Azeroth as a whole, so much as look at the main settings for this story, Kul’Tiras and Zandalar. I’ve played both sides, and I think here is where BFA shines. Both locales are distinct and memorable. Zandalar borrows heavily from Central Mexican tribal iconography, or “Mayaincatec” to quite TVTropes. And then sprinkle in dinosaurs and voodoo tropes. Granted, it’s nothing wholly original, the Lizardmen of Warhammer for one come to mind, but they blend enough in for it to be distinct.
Kul’Tiras, on the other hand, almost invokes a mish-mash of ancient Ireland, contemporary new England, and a sprinkling of pirates. It lacks the vibrancy of Zandalar, but makes up for it with enough Lovecraftian inspiration to give all the zones a sense of foreboding dread. Every quest, every moment I spend there makes me feel uneasy, in a good way. So setting get’s a kudos, good job.
Next up is Ploy. Oh dear… here’s where we start to see the seams. So, plot summed up is Conflict, Rising Action, Climax, Falling Action, and resolution. Now we don’t have all the story yet, but lets take a look at what we have.
First, the conflict. Well, that’s easy. Sylvanas Windrunner starts a pre-emptive war, believing conflict to be inevitable. This provokes the Alliance, causing the Battle of Azeroth to begin. Both sides seeks allies in the Kul’Tirans and Zandalar respectively. So far so good. We’re never really given a good reason for why Sylvanas believe war to be inevitable, when the newly crowned King of Stormwind was once an avowed pacifist. But, we can chalk it up to her paranoia. Its out next stop, however, where I feel BFA really goes off the rails.
Characters.
Hoo boy. Let’s start with the most important character: the protagonist. Well… this is a problem. Who’s the protagonist? The Player character? Anduin? Tyrande? Jaina? We have a jumble of characters, and few of them have anything resembling clear motive. Anduin is a young king drawn into a war he didn’t want. Clean enough. Tyrande wants to avenger her people… by doing a ritual we’ve never been told or even hinted as to existing. Ummm… okay, that’s kinda poor, but at least we know what she wants. Jaina seems gung ho about taking out the Horde, but once the Alliance has won a decisive victory she…. Wants to leave them time to grieve? What? And then there’s us, everyone’s favorite world-saving murderhobos.
Now, on the other side. The Antagonist. Sylvanas Windrunner. And good lord she is AWFUL. Her plans fail on even the basic logistical levels, her motives make little sense, and her entire motivation falls about on even a cursory level. Her supporting characters are little better. Nathanos is a fail on every conceivable level, Saurfang wants “his” horde back, and plans to do that… going to the Alliance? Baine is disgusted at what Sylvanas is doing but… umm… what did he do?
The entire storyline seems to have been written, and the characters plugged in to play their parts, without any regard to their motivations.
Well… let’s look at literary devices. Allusions… maybe there’s something there. The name “war of Thorns” seems almost to invoke the real life War of the Roses. But…. Well… even a cursory look at the real-life events turns up no parallels to the story. Kul’tiras seems to try and evoke images of Innsmouth. But again, the horror is downplayed, only turning up and, unlike in Lovecraft’s works, is always beaten back by the heroes.
What about Foils? Well, we have some… kind of. Saurfang’s obsession with honor would seem to make him a foil to Sylvanas, who seemingly cares little for the concept. And sylvanas takes decisive, if ill-advised steps, whereas Saurfang is wracked with indecision. So the Horde managed to get something right….
Shame the Alliance doesn’t.
Our leader is the king, Anduin Wrynn. At first, it would seem that Jaina would be set up as his foil. After all, she was eager to dismantle the Horde, but as stated previously, she goes back on that. While it arguably showed growth on her part, it was done in a rather nonsensical way. One could say Genn Greymane is Anduin’s foil. But again, he seems too soft on the Horde to truly serve that role and contrast Anduin’s desire for peace.
Foreshadowing. It may be a bit too early to tell, but there does seem to be seeds planted for future developments. The Old God presence in Stormsong, for one. Talanji’s ascension after the death of her father and her family now being tied to Bwonsamdi for one. I can’t really judge this until we see more of BFA play out.
And lets wrap up with Themes. Yes, I’m skipping irony and symbolism, but let’s face it, WoW has always been light on symbols, and I would personally object to irony used as a tool of critique. And I’m rambling enough as is. So… thtmes. What is the theme of BfA? It deals mostly in themes of authority, war, and death. Sylvanas as the antagonist prompts us to ask, is it just to rebel against a leader if you do not feel she has your people’s best interests at heart?
The problem is, however, that Sylvanas isn’t really relatable. Yes, she wishes to avoid death, but she does things that are so monstrous that it’s hard to identify with her. What person would knowingly burn innocent civilians in order to wage a pre-emptive war, when in the end your goal is ultimately self-preservation? In the end, there’s too big of a dissonance there. She wants to live forever, and yet she sets herself up as Azeroth’s biggest target.
The war itself, so central to the conflict, is never really played up for how horrible war can be. We never see the toll it takes on people outside of a few isolated incidents. Yes, we see Talanji’s sadness at her father’s death. But what of the soldiers? There’s a reason why the Wrathgate is still talked about, it showed the horror of the Forsaken’s chemical weapons. You saw terror, panic, and death among the rank and file soldiers, not just among the ruling elite. You almost never see this in BFA. Its mostly dashing adventures and daring battles.
The theme of death is still ongoing, but again, it’s already sabotaged by Sylvanas’s own actions. She wishes to avoid death, by provoking those who could kill her. Talanji’s father seeks to avoid death by bargaining with it. Jaina, despite the Alliance’s victory, wants to give their enemies time to deal with the death of their king… and everyone else just kind of goes with it. And… that’s about it.
So… in my opinion… so far BFA isn’t an awful story. But it is a bad story. It has huge, glaring flaws, primarily in its characters and their motivations. Its themes, when explored, are muddled by those weak motivations. Now, it could easily all turn around, but Blizzard’s writers have an uphill battle in doing so.