Okay, returned from work and I’ll briefly go over the zones and story I’ve experienced thus far. I’m gonna let you guys in more on the gameplay than the story elements though, as a lot of critical or key details seem to be part of WIP or missing cut scenes and game events. Bear in mind, I’m only partway into Ardenweald, so this isn’t the full story thus far, but there will be absolutely monumental spoilers in this, so please only click if you’re in for that;
The Maw - Intro Questline
When logging into a level 50 character for the first time, or your freshly copied 120 turned 50, you'll get a summons from Darion Morgraine who tells you that Bolvar got his posterior promptly pounced and to come to your major city to talk to him. You get informed that the helm of the Lich King is shattered, and that some of your major leaders have been captured. I'm assuming there's going to be some sort of Broken Shore/Battle for Lordaeron style scenario leading up to this, because despite the Maw being its own intro zone, it isn't particularly... well, as flash as I would have anticipated, and usually the first major event of an expansion to kick things off in recent years has been a scenario of sorts. My guess is this portion is missing, so what all went down I cannot truly say.
What I do know is when you take Darion’s death gate, he ports you to Acherus which is now stationed in Icecrown. You take the port to the top, and both factions - what remains of their leadership anyway - is standing around arguing about how to handle things, ho hum, Tyrande says dumb things about the security of her people being less valuable than her lust for revenge cuz Night Warrior, I’m not a fan. But even less so am I a fan of Calia Menethil being securely lumped in with the Forsaken, as she’s apparently officially the new Queen. -sigh- Thanks, Blizzard, I hate it. Anyway, Thalysra and Lor’themar beg Tyrande to reason, she won’t hear it, Bolvar speaks up and reminds people that he’s still the BAMF in the room despite no longer being the Lich King and tells the player to drag the fragments of the helm to the runes around Icecrown’s pinnacle, typical ‘click item and be tethered to it, drag it to x point and y will happen’ quest, very uneventful and I can’t help but wonder if the ritual will somehow be a little flashier in the final product. At the very least, the portal that opens up and pulls everyone down is kinda neat. There’s clearly going to be a cutscene of falling into the Maw, and I kind of can’t wait to see that, because upon landing, this place…is honestly kind of neat and creepy.
Crags of molten hellscapes grow from the ground and jet outward towards Torghast in the distance, the sky is shattered on the other side just like it is in Icecrown. Cages are hung from black chains that are attatched to the ground and fall towards the sky, formless spirits that don’t even resemble the usual shades we’ve come to know roam the place. There’s an eerie red and orange glow about the place, a fog-like texture, particles of ash scattered to the wind that seems to slowly be sucking everything up - once more, in the direction of Torghast. Everything in this zone seems to be tied directly to the tower of the damned. While it’s not as impressive as I was initially expecting, it still does look like what a superhell should, while still retaining the ESRB rating the game has been given of course.
We run into some fallen Kyrian angels who look pretty sick, not gonna lie. Fighting our way through, we find evidence of Jaina Proudmoore’s whereabouts. Turns out, she and Thrall have been fighting for a time even they aren’t sure of - this isn’t the first time this is mentioned, either. And boy, it is drilled home, she lingers on the “Was it weeks…longer? I’ve lost count”, and this is not the last time we hear this sort of talk. Whatever time shenanigans Blizzard may have in store, the Maw itself seems to be directly tied to them.
We escape with Jaina and Thrall, set up a camp, find Anduin being tortured by Sylvanas, I left him to his suffering to go and get some phat lewt–just kidding, had to rescue him. We then find Baine in the hands of the Jailer - literally - and our first time seeing him as well. At least, this is our first time seeing the Jailer outside of a potential cutscene. Baine’s been tossed into some cauldron that scars his very soul, and we go through some stuff to save him…again… seriously, this guy needs to stop being taken prisoner so much.
We fight our way to this old epitaph ruin sort of thingy that is so old, no one remembers its origins. Then we hear talk of the First Ones having built it, and… yeah, naturally, this ancient mechanism that hasn’t worked for time immemorial conveniently works for our character.
Strap in, lads. Looks like we’re the chosen one once again. I miss being a simple merc or scholar… Anyway, it opens for us, and us and SOME of the people we were helping escape through it. Apparently we had to leave quite a few behind. Also the Jailer’s army is ‘said to rival the Legion, and is growing fast’. So yay, more infinite army.
All in all, the Maw is… a little lackluster in the story department, not gonna lie. There were times I almost didn’t care about reading the quest text at all. The run home the time dialation that is sure to come into play with the plot somehow a little too obviously, and the dialogue is just stiff. The Jailer, I was expecting to be a lot more imposing, but right now he just feels like “Elite 5-Man Quest Baddie Number 530” in his current presentation. Now, to be fair, this zone doesn’t feel fully complete, and there’s enough WIP cutscenes and placeholders that it will almost surely be a little different in the final product - missing voiceovers too, namely everything by Thrall.
I’d honestly say Legion’s intro post Broken Shore, that being the quest to unlock your order hall, was a lot better and varied. Even BfA’s intro quests, the one to rescue Talanji and Zul for Horde and the prison break for Alliance, were more engaging. This feels like any other high level zone, honestly, and it didn’t have the benefit of all the mechanics that you see when you return here later. More on that when I cover Return to the Maw.
Oribos - New Hub
So, initially, I thought this place was pretty cool. It has 2 floors, a massive circular layout, and should be easy enough to navigate. Only problem I'm having, it's kind of...too big and spacious? There's also limited stairs, so...yeah, getting between floors is a pain.
Anyway, you arrive, and the denizens are shocked to see someone from the Maw. They at first deem you a threat, but then decide you can’t be one, and take you to go see this Arbiter and explain the plight of the Shadowlands. Anima is running dry - remember that word cuz crap, this game won’t let you forget and it’s ringing obnoxiously similar to AZERITE in terms of how fast I’m growing sick of it. Apparently the Arbiter, which is kind of like Supergod and judges souls, stopped working awhile ago. Like, this thing is basically mechanical from the looks of it, so hey, the afterlife is run by robots! This explains a lot…
When you arrived, though, conveniently the Arbiter stirred. Horray, you’re once more saved only by how special your character is! Sorry, I’m a little salty, I really don’t like these sorts of plots. Anyway, you tell of the fallen Kyrian you saw in the Maw, and it’s suggested you start your search in Bastion, home of the Kyrians. So then you go to the nexus where souls that are judged are sent. There’s a big soul fountain in the middle that you can jump down into but you might not want to cuz…that’s the Maw down there. But the portals are these massive gateways that are really just flight paths when you click on them, somehow I expect that to change cuz when you fly through the outter gate on your way to Bastion, the absolute COOLEST in-game travel effect happens where you look like you’re moving through a wormhole, following a soul trail into the first zone on your journey.
As a hub intro, I didn’t anticipate this part would be particularly interesting. It looks lovely enough, but I feel this is the most needlessly large hub we’ve ever had. Shattrath at least had NPCs and activity anywhere, this one just feels a bit barren comparatively. I will say though that interestingly enough, each waygate to the zones is tethered to a set of pillars, of which I counted 8 in total. The Maw is the central well that you jump into, so if 4 of these pillars are zones, then 4 more are unaccounted for and may serve to become new areas in the future. Just an interesting little observation for you all.
Overall, it’s just a hub intro. Don’t put too much stock into it, don’t linger too long. It serves its purpose, just enjoy that awesome in-flight wormhole effect and put on some Pink Floyd as you travel into the great beyond.
Bastion - Because I Wanna Be An Angel
We arrive and immediately encounter narrative cliche number 7; the misunderstanding. You arrive as the first new soul in Bastion in AGES, and the kyrian initiate who finds you pressumes you're a judged soul who has been given the esteemed honor of becoming one of the Kyrian, who ferry souls to the afterlife to be judged by the Arbiter. Without being given a chance to explain that you are, in fact, a live mortal, your guide insists on walking you through the process of becoming a Kyrian. You learn that Kyrian initiates cleans themselves of the burdens they carry from life, undergo stressful mental training and conditioning, cleanse their souls of remaining sin and strife via a baptism-like ritual (in angel robes, no less! You can get a set) and then proceed to wipe all memory of their past lives so they can judge unbiased, BUT NEVER-MIND THAT LAST PART! You go through the proving to speak to the head honcho of this place and inform them of the fallen kyrian you'd seen in the maw and get some insight, and eventually you happen across one of the kyrians speaking with a fallen kyrian who...happens to be Uther the Lightbringer. Yeah, um...Uther's a bad guy, guys. And weirdly, barely a big deal is made by anyone. You don't get a chance to tell Bolvar or anyone else back in Oribos, because immediately after an attack on one of the temples, you're on your way to tracking down the fallen kyrians, who call themselves the Forsworn, not to be confused with the guys who dress like deer in Skyrim, and you help confront the leader of the assault, split her soul and memories, do a bunch of crazy stuff with the Mr. Meeseeks Owlkin whom I believe people call Swolekin and they're adorable and I want 20 of them, all on the way to warn the main Kyrian temple of the attacks going on.
Then something unexpected happens and the Forsworn are joined by…necromancers. And ravenous corpse-based undead, and they’re swarming everything and getting puss and goop all over the nice clean floors, KILL THEM WITH FIRE! A lot of quests around this area were very buggy, some critical ones bottlenecking people, but eventually I got to the end where you find out that Maldraxxas, another realm of the Shadowlands, is in league with the Forsworn and with Uther to assault Bastion. The Forsworn are mad about having to lose their identity of their former life to be considered good enough to judge souls, and to be fair, I can understand why this would cause them to be a little spicy. I haven’t done the dungeon quest yet, and I’m not sure what else is discovered in the Necrotic Wake, but I can only say that interactions with Uther are…virtually nonexistant. I don’t know if it’s intentional so they can keep stuff spoiler free, since there do appear to still be pockets of info missing here and there in a way that seems to be so, but I can only theorize that Uther joined the Forsworn not out of want of his own memories, but realizing that it is wrong to strip people of their identity in exchange for authority. Now, joining the Maw to accomplish this, I don’t see how that leap in logic works, but maybe he legitimately isn’t the man he once was since, again, Kyrians have their identity stripped from them.
Gameplay-wise this area has…oddly very few hostile foes. It was mostly neutral mobs, and not a lot of fighting so much as a lot of lore, gathering, RP, etc. The baptism was kind of neat, the tests were pretty basic but sort of entertaining, and the zone itself is just…drop dead gorgeous. The fields of wheat that just span for miles, over hills and a pearly white road, it’s absolutely beautiful. Anyway, I went to Maldraxxus afterward, since now the goal was to figure out why the proclaimed “realm that protects the Shadowlands” is suddenly attacking it.
Maldraxxus - Liches get Stitches
I'd be lying if I said I didn't love the aesthetic of the Scourge. While I don't indulge much in anything resembling zombie movie marathons, or enjoy excessive gore and horror, the Scourge has always held my interest as a force. I love skelly boys, I love shambling zombies, I love ghouls and geists, and I love, -LOVE-, liches.
Maldraxxus is basically proto-Scourge land. Souls that were unyielding go here after they die, and fight in glorious battle. Those who clung to life or coveted immortality as well, thus why it is the home of Necromancers and warriors alike. You arrive from Oribos and, surprise surprise, they think you’re there for the company picnic and ask why you’re not in uniform. You get sent into an arena and you’re told to kill 30 fighters. No problem, you think, Kargath had me kill 100 once and OH wow…
The arena you enter is absolutely alive with NPCs of all shapes and sizes beating the ever loving stitches out of one another, and it’s honestly kind of fun going around picking off enemies. After a few rounds of this, you’re made to fight an elite champion, and when you win, you catch the eye of the rulers of this realm, the Margraves.
Three Margraves overlook the competition and ask why you don’t fly a banner for the house you represent. More on that later. Two of these Margraves, however, are responsible for the assault on Bastion, and are called out on this, stating they defied the laws of a being called “The Primus” (the rulers of these realms all have these kinds of names, it’s kind of weird). You’re cornered by the armies of the two treasonous Margraves when suddenly…you’re rescued by Baroness Draka. Yes, you read that right, Draka. As in Thrall’s mom. MAIN universe, to be precise. There’s admittedly an exciting aerial escape scene where you and her fly away from a bone dragon and get blown out of the sky, and you both decide to go visit her House. No, no, not like where she lives, though I suppose that’s where she lives too, but her HOUSE, as in the company she serves as Baroness. She explains the situation in Maldraxxus, and how the forces of Maldraxxus enforce the peace between realms of the Shadowlands under rule of Oribos, but recently the two Margraves you saw in the arena have been conspiring against the other houses, even going as far as to destroy one. Taking you to her leader, you find that the only way to regain control of Maldraxxus is to ask for the help of the Primus, who is holed away in an old temple at the zone’s heart.
To even enter it, you obtain a weapon forged by the primus that…serves as a key or something, this part kind of eluded me and I don’t think it’s entirely finished since there’s some confusing exchanges that lead to the weapon being powered up but it’s there. You pick up the weapon and are instructed to obtain McGuffins from other Barons and Baronesses throughout Maldraxxus.
There’s 4-5 branching paths, all leading to a different character you’ll do favors for in order to obtain their help in opening the door to the Temple of the Primus or whatever the place is called, but the one that is MOST of note is the Mistress of Spies, who is none other than Lady Vashj herself.
And she remembers you…IN THE MARSHLANDS! Zangarmarsh to be exact, Serpentshrine Caverns. I have yet to see if her dialogue is different if you haven’t gotten the achievement for killing her on the character you’re on but it’s just kind of neat. Apparently she doesn’t mind since, what’s she going to do? She’s dead anyway. In fact, the fact that you killed her proves that you’re a valuable asset to her and she acknowledges your strength. She’s also very tsundere about helping you, so that was kind of funny to see her basically go “It’s not like I want to be here or anything” when you finally get her help in opening the door. Anyway, you almost complete the key when… the last McGuffin you need was apparently in the hands of the leader of Draka’s house, who was betrayed by his head strategist, who in turn betrays you.
Draka thinks that now the only way is to find the person that was the house’s Baron before, but they were lost to the Maw. So you return to Oribos and ask Bolvar if you can return to the Maw and still get out safely, and he goes “No prob, Bob” and off you are to return to the Maw.
Before I go on to the next section, I just wanna say that this zone is so neat. It’s got this thick miasma that gives it a look that makes it seem like it goes on forever. There’s corpses and rot, abominations, horrors, liches, spiders, everything you need for your spookometer to meet its daily quota. If you like Scourge aesthetics, this place is gonna tickle your fancy. The gameplay was pretty typical of your average zone. Mostly kill quests, loot off corpse quests, but there was some pretty interesting lore involved. There appears to be rules about the Houses declaring war on one another that kind of reminds me of the Forgotten Realms series and drow politics, how Houses that declare war must eliminate every member of a house and leave no witnesses, lest they be put on trial. Meaning if they launched an attack they couldn’t finish, the survivors of the house that declared the attack would be executed by all the other houses. Maldraxxus is definitely a place for those who enjoy fighting, or command over life. “Unyielding” is the title to wear in this place.
Return to the Maw - Bolvar Says I Need Morgraine In Muh Diet
The Maw is your next destination, as the only way to stop the conspiracy in Maldraxxus is to get the Primus in on this juicy drama. To do that, we need to locate the Baron who was lost to this place for the last McGuffin or whatever it is we need. Turns out, the Margraves were the ones who tossed the Baron into the Maw, meaning they have ties to the Jailer. You go into the Maw and you meet a curious vendor who is also here. Now, this is quite odd, as it's said nobody has traveled freely between the Maw and...literally anywhere else, but this guy appears to be from Oribos, and is quite sane. He mentions that us being spotted would be bad for business, and offers to assist us in finding who we came to save. Now, Bolvar told us that in addition to whoever we're seeking, we should find Darian Morgraine as well, since he was left behind when the gate closed last time. You're then instructed on what it means to be in the maw, and kill enemies - apparently, when you kill something, the Jailer's gaze falls heavier upon you, meaning avoiding combat here is the best idea. This is actually a lot more intense, as you swivel around, trying not to get caught. You find Darian locked in a cage, and free him, then start to look for the missing Baron. Shortly after, you find him chained to some torture wall and as it turns out, the Baron is none other than the original Ashbringer himself, Alexandros Morgraine! With your two-for-one special on death knights in hand, you make your escape, bidding farewell to the helpful but curious stranger...
Also side note, remember how they hammer home that “Oh time seems to move differently here”, well…Morgraine does the same thing. “Was it days, weeks?” Kind of tiresome they can’t find a different way to convey this but, eh.
A bit about the return to this zone, this time you see a lot more of the zones actual mechanics, and it’s a lot more engaging than the first time you were here. There’s actual traps to look out for (I suppose there were spike traps in the first one, but who would be dumb enough to fall for those?). The eyes of the Jailer make it so you have to pick battles wisely, if you plan to at all - you can mostly just stealth with the Oribos dude - but it gives you a taste of what might be to come when you inevitably end up here again. The aesthetic of the zone looks different, too, just slightly. It seems the Maw changes a bit from time to time.
You return to Bolvar, he tells you off cuz when he said Morgraine, he meant bread, and tells you to finish your job in Maldraxxus. Not really, but it wouldn’t be a bad joke if I didn’t beat it into the ground.
Maldraxxus 2: Primus Boogaloo
This return is a short one, but my guess is that it's set up to be pretty significant. You return to Maldraxxus, and open the seat of the Primus with Alexandros's help. Inside, you see...nothing? There's a missing cutscene here, and I wager it's going to be a big one since I cannot understand the quest text afterwards and what it's suggesting happened. You then return to Oribos, and talk to Bolvar, who is being pressured by QuEeN MeNeThiL and his daughter to peer back into the Maw using the fragments of the Helm of Domination, and surely enough he cannot. You get a message of urgency that needs to be delivered to some Queen of Winter in Ardenweld, and the next step of your journey begins.
And now… -sigh- Ardenweld.
I’m going to be fair to Ardenweld and finish the zone before I do a summary, but guys I really, REALLY do not like druid stuff in this game and I don’t know why. It just never works for me, never keeps me engaged. And by this point, if I have to hear the word anima uttered one more time, I’m going to kick a baby seal.
That said, so far the narrative in Shadowlands is serviceable. It’s not the worst the game has seen, but it’s also not the most interesting. Parts are interesting, though, and I don’t think I’ve seen anything that will ever rival the stupidity of the entirety of BfA’s faction conflict. I think this is going to be worth a playthrough when more scenes are complete, because at the moment, that’s what a lot of these zones are missing - context for how events proceed. That said, this is just a review of what’s playable to give folks some insight into what there is to look forward to. My feedback for the story is gonna be withheld until more stuff is complete, cuz as it stands, a lot of the dull or confusing things can be fixed with context that some finished scenes will provide.
EDIT: Something I will add, I’m happy that the narrative is linear, as this does give some flow to why you travel to the different zones. But because each zone is also made to be traveled to in any order on subsequent playthroughs, the issue that comes up is that the beginning of each zone has that same neutral context thus far of “the grave misunderstanding” (literally) until you hit about 1/3rd of the zone complete, which nags at the back of my head and feels like a detachment from the narrative.
