One thing Wow has always done well is the world and zone design. Rate the zones in Dragonflight, in comparison to past zones (if you’d like)
Zones i like: Waking Shores, Ohn’ahran Plains, Azure Span
Zones i dont like: Thaldraszus, Forbidden Reach, Zaralek Cavern
What i like about them:
-all 6 of these zones look very pretty,
-they are vast so even with the fastest form of flying it still takes a bit of time to get around
-Dragonflying is unlocked from the beginning (pro and con)
What i dont like:
-You need to use dragonflying to access most of the content. I like using the mounts ive collected over the years, and i also like ground level travel, finding paths, hiking and such.
-Forbidden Reach and Zaralek Caverns are basically useless, even tho their design is amazing
-Thaldraszus is a mess. I dont like traveling through the zone even tho its where I spend 80% of my time. Peak vertical progression, i think its too much. Navigating it was a pain for weeks until i learned where everything was
Overall rating: i do like it more than Outlands, Kul Tiras and Zandalar(i love that there was faction specific stuff, but it felt small) and Shadowlands (the zones in shadowlands were cool looking but portal hopping from zone to zone is gross). I preferred the zones of wotlk, mop, legion, wod, and vanilla. Those 5 were close to perfecfion.
I like all the original ones. Zaralek not so much. I don’t hate it. I appreciate that they let us fly there. But I can’t help but compare it to Deepholm, and it pales in comparison. I feel like they made too much of it uncomfortably hostile, which was made worse by how quickly the masses seemed to bail on it.
Azurespan is the only real stand out. It has elements from just about every zone in Northrend. From the towering redwoods of grizzly hills, to the bizarre redish yellow grasslands of borean tundra. The jagged ice cliffs of Ice Crown and the arcane crystal fields of The Nexus.
It was clearly designed to be like a visual callback to most of Wrath of the Litch King. You could even make a stretch that the diseased blight of the gnolls are a near-enough stand in for the scourge. The only thing missing is Zul Drak and Sholazar Basin.
I think overall this is their weakest outing. Azurespan is great, but :
Ohnaran Plains is rather dull. The only point of interest is where the land falls away to the green dragon area, and thats just more of the same Emerald Dreamy art assets fron Legion.
Waking Shore has a very gorgrond vibe to it with all the sandstone spires. Its like post cataclysmic flooded Thousand Needles meets Gorgrond and is that where anyone really wants to be?
Just not their best work. Whoever was designing zones in MoP and WoD needs to come back.
While I appreciate how detailed they are, they just don’t pull me in. For example, Grizzly Hills, as soon as I fly into that zone, I instantly feel relaxed, I feel the crisp air, I can smell the tress and I dream of sitting next to a crackling fire. The Dragon Isles just feel a bit off. Not jarring like the Shadowlands, just a bit off. I guess maybe I want more zones like Duskwood or Drustvar.
But to answer your question, Azure Span. I think it’s the only zone that somewhat feels familiar. I still prefer Grizzly Hills, and if it gets a refresh, I’ll be overjoyed.
As others have said, Azure Span is brilliant. I especially love the music, that fiddle melody rank amongst my top 5 WoW themes.
Ohnaran Planes is my second favorite, but i cant really say theres anything that really stands out there. I enjoy the aesthetics of it nevertheless.
Waking Shores is pretty unremarkable imo.
The worst for me is Thaldazus. It just feels like an afterthought to me. And even though I know there really is plenty going on here, it just feels empty…kinda like the whole zone is just there for Valdrakken.
Despite what may be interpreted as negativity, I think all the zone are incredibly well crafted and each look amazing.
I definitely agree with what both of you are saying.
The dragon isles dont feel lived in. They seem to exist for dragonflying, and all of the zones feel this way. Pandaria, Draenor, and Broken Isles, while all being dangerous and terrifying in their own way still felt very cozy. They made us feel at home. We appreciate those three specifically much more in hindsight because the last two expansions simply feel empty and make us feel like outsiders or exiles.
This is why a pirate/underwater theme should scare us. If the focus is put too much in to a new form of travel, the world wont feel cozy.
I meant to mention the drustvar/duskwood thing in the OP, didnt want to add too many things tho. But yeah thats another thing the dragon isles are missing. The zones have a similar vibe to each other, where are the spooky zones? I did want a zone that would wow me just because of the vibe change as soon as you enter.
theyre all pretty good for what they are.
no real complaints other than I wish those rares on the island would just die easy since no one is there anymore.
The other zones seem to have an over all theme in design to me. Azure just feels like they took a little bit of everything not picked and shoved em into a single zone.
Maybe that was intentional and its “theme”. I dunno.
After Ohnahran and azurespan, i was like “okay im liking this, where we going next?”
No. Vertical progession hell. Too much vertical. This is truly somewhere only a dragon would live, and it’s the zone where we spend most of our time in. Better save up vigor, you dont know if this quest navpoint is at the bottom of this trench, or at the very peak of the highest mountain ever.
How can there be so much stuff in Thaldraszus but still feel so empty?