lets make a comparison to something that people totally want to hear about
final fantasy fourteen, and shadowbringers. dont throw any volatile elements at me quite, yet let me explain myself.
my apologies if this comes out rambling, i got my second dose of pfizer and my brain is goo.
Shadowlands and Shadowbringers, despite the obvious similarities in the naming scheme, are very similar expansions. Coming directly after an expansion based entirely around a war on land based around two nations that have been in the lore for a long time, both Shadowlands and Shadowbringers take our heroes to another world. A world that might, at surface value, be really difficult to build a connection to.
With Shadowbringers, its the First. It’s a fractured mirror world to the Source, the realm we come from. While many things are very similar, a lot about the First is wildly different from the Source. That, and there’s some pretty high concept things at play. If you don’t beat up these Light demons, your world will basically be destroyed, and everyone you know will die.
Shadowlands, it’s the afterlife. The afterlife that moderately reflects, if not extremely reflects, our own world. Just as there are so many similarities, there are extreme differences, with an arguably equally high concept threat at play. The Lord of Death comes for the heart of our world, after all. If we don’t stop him, our world will assuredly be destroyed, and everyone you know will die.
So how come Shadowbringers is a lauded success, where Shadowlands is currently continuing the trend of Battle for Azeroth and Warlords of Draenor… in dropping the ball.
Well, to put it plainly, these ideas are not faulty on a basic level. They must be handled with extreme care, of course, but they can ultimately be some of the more compelling and emotionally driven storylines. You have an entire world to play with, with familiar friends and foes alike. The thing is, however, this is where the story of Shadowlands fails.
It gives you a new playing ground full of familiar faces, and doesn’t do much with them (yet, obviously). It also didn’t build up on this playing ground at all, with only very vague mentions of the Shadowlands throughout the years. It seemingly retreads ground that was already retread, as well, and doesn’t evolve those stories at all. Worst of all, it doesn’t spend any time in its storytelling telling you how things came to be, or what the villain’s plan might be, or even what exactly is going on.
The journey to the First is heavily foreshadowed. The characters that go with you are characters you’ve watched grow and develop consistently, and have a massive impact in the story. You are introduced properly to each group and region you find, as well as getting a proper sense of what the antagonist wants. Even though you know what the villain wants, there’s still some pretty huge twists along the way that really get you thinking. And they’re not twists that make you feel mislead, or go against everything the story’s already established.
Lastly, there’s still a connection to the world you’re fighting for. Alongside your journey on the First, there’s still things happening in the Source, things that are building up to the next expansion as well as threats in the current expansion.
Shadowbringers makes you care about an entirely new world, with entirely new characters, and does it within the base leveling experience. You don’t need to reach some absurd goalposts in the endgame to fully comprehend what’s happening. The main story is also not concluded in a raid, instead being concluded in trials and dungeons that are very easy to access, and very fun to play. That last part is wholly biased, of course, but I imagine much of this is.
I could not be more excited for Endwalker. Meanwhile, I think World of Warcraft should’ve ended in Legion.
Thanks for coming to my Sint Talk, hopefully you brought a snack and some migraine medicine.
