This was originally a response to this but it kind of became its own discussion in my mind.
I am just reminded of how immensely disappointed I was in the Hyjal we got in Cataclysm. Looked forward to it ever since we saw the ending cinematic of Warcraft 3 and for whatever reason, it was just such a let down and I cannot pinpoint why.
It started strong with the assault on the tree, the two druid bros (coy bromosexuals?), but just went downhill after, pun unintended. The NPCs were eh (Thisalee gets a lot of undeserved praise IMO), the Wild Gods were underwhelming AF and too neutral/oddly disconnected from the kaldorei faction (unlike the loa - Blizz finally got it right with how well integrated the loa are with the Zandalari), and the whole thing with Ragnaros just felt flat.
The phasing sucked too. I think ultimately (for me anyway), Hyjal is too much a product of its times - it is way too stuck in Cataclysm instead of being and feeling like a timeless zone - and even in Cataclysm, it felt very dated. The writing/voice acting in Cataclysm for the most part is also ultra cringey (Blizz was on the upswing lorewise viewing WoW as highbrow at that point) and that really shows in this zone; Vashjir was way better in that regard. Other intro zones like Hellfire, Howling Fjord, Borean Tundra and Jade Forest have aged a thousand times better IMO.
I also realize they were trying to do a twist on the zone with having us start at the summit and work downwards to oppositely mirror our ascent in Warcraft 3… but I think it would have been infinitely better to start at the base and fight our way up to retake the zone, and have the majesty of Nordrassil revealled that way. Simply popping under the tree in that weird inn was just… odd.
What did you think of Hyjal then? What do you think of it now? Storywise, aesthetics, themes and how it has aged?
I disagree with basically everything you just said. I thought the characters were great (ranging from the Wild Gods to Thisalee, who I think deserves all that praise), the story was intriguing (Hyjal and Ragnaros were familiar elements for veteran players), and the payoff was nice (regrowing the forests and resurrecting the gods of nature). It still remains one of my favorite zones to quest in to this day, and I think among all the things Cataclysm brought us, Hyjal is one that’s aged very gracefully.
Be it the Firelands raid, the Druid campaign, or the Azerite questline, I’m always very happy to return to Mount Hyjal as it is in WoW.
Well I am glad you enjoy it. I guess I liked the bear tossing quest. The rest is meh. I am also not crazy about Firelands as a raid (too much Thrall and Aggra, not enough focus on Fandral, Druids of Flame, etc), so there is that.
It just feels a very by-the-numbers zone with rehashed story beats we have seen before versus Vashjir which is quite unique a zone. But maybe therein lies its strength - it is consistent in the experience it provides in the bigger WoW questing picture.
It was nice to revisit it for the artifact questline, I’ll give you that one.
I agree, the neutrality of the Wild gods is weird, especially since they rolled that into the Cenarion circle.
I think the reason we see the loa and Zandalari relationship at that level is because half of the BFA story has been about Zandalar. Unless we see a driving part of the story for the night elves for the alliance we won’t see this relationship, especially since everything is revolves around tyrande.
(FWIW, i do know them, but I have never played a SW human so the nostalgic appeal of these characters is lost on me)
I guess it could be explained with “there’s a war going on so sides don’t matter” but yeah, weird, distracting and definitely is one of the big reasons the zone if marred for me.
Its hard not to be disappointed in MT Hyjal. It could have been so much. I know I was excited for it.
But It was alright. I can dig it. It isnt bad. Just not as awesome as I wanted to imagine it. I know it well, so I have gone through it a few times. I have no problems with it in context. And it could always be used for more later.
This, big time. So many zones end their storylines on bitter notes. Hyjal is one where everything is already heck’d up by the time you get there, and you do nothing but help restore it. The scene where the scorched and decimated forests are suddenly restored by Aessina is one of the most satisfying feelings I’ve felt playing WoW.
Hyjal focuses too much on the Twilight’s Hammer, who are probably the most boring enemy faction WoW has ever had. The story line of Hyjal is also very predictable and by the books.
Vash’jir is the far superior experience for me, and I could honestly replay it a thousand times.
I also enjoy that one quest where you pose as herald of the Twilight’s Hammer and you give a speech to a huge crowd. I actually laughed when I started screaming nonsense in Void speak and the cultists go “I can hear god!”
It’s just a good zone all around imo. It checks all the boxes for me.
I loved Hyjal. My favorite Cataclysm zone by far. I loved all the new lore of the wild gods and working with them to defend the World Tree. I felt so immersed in my class fantasy I was a little disappointed when it ended and I had to move on to somewhere else.
You do understand that at that point Vashjir was the most hated zone in the game? (Not to me, I loved it.) That’s why Blizzard had the storyline take the water out of it.
My only real beef with Hyjal, at the time, was that it didn’t make a ton of sense for the Horde to be there. Given what was happening under Garrosh’s leadership, it didn’t seem very likely that the Horde would be allowed anywhere near Nordrassil under any circumstances. But I just chalked that up to gameplay and in my head canon it was all Alliance (I do this with a lot of zones).
I enjoy Hyjal, though I do wonder what it’d be like if the zone was completed in Vanilla. I like the idea of going from Winterspring to the peak of Kalimdor to reach max level, that’d be such an epic and climactic way to finish leveling.
This, big time. So many zones end their storylines on bitter notes. Hyjal is one where everything is already heck’d up by the time you get there, and you do nothing but help restore it. The scene where the scorched and decimated forests are suddenly restored by Aessina is one of the most satisfying feelings I’ve felt playing WoW.