Even just the…lets say the first ‘hour’ or so of BFA content, the tone is completely different.
Firstly, I want to preface that I think the whole mission to Stormwind to free Talanji and Zul isn’t as great as some people make it out to be. But I’d still give it like an 7.5 out of 10since it hits a lot of good notes.
However, the cutscene fleeing the Alliance fleet is a pretty damn epic moment. So too is the arrival at Zandalari, and even just the first five minutes, that initial impression you get of Zul’Dazar is just…epic.
(That being said, Zul’Dazar really is a horrific place to navigate, but even that could have been minimised by better NPC placement rather than overhauling the area or anything)
On the other hand, your first five minutes in Kul Tiras just…aren’t. Boralus is a muddy slum, everyone is a sourpuss, you’re scorned and hated (sure, valid reasons, but still) and then you get thrown in jail.
Now, I get that they were trying to sell Kul Tiras as a proud nation fallen on hard times. But aside from the whole ‘our fleet is missing’ plot point which literally takes the entire levelling campaign to come to fruition, there’s not much evidence of it. The overall Kul Tiran aesthetic just doesn’t really capture the imagination the way it should have.
Boralus should have had a Minas Tirith moment. By that I mean you see this gleaming, wonderous city that from a distance captures the imagination, steals your breath away, and makes you stare in wonder, but as you get closer, you see the boarded up windows, the dead gardens, the chips in the stonework, and the overall decay.
And I think that initial experience, that first impression really makes a world of difference. Travelling through Zuldazar, you’re just constantly struck by the harshness of the landscape, or the lushness of the rainforest, or the ruins drowning in the swamps. The land is alive, and vivid, and the first time you see those dinosaurs, you really have a moment of just…PHWOAR that’s awesome.
Where’s that in Kul Tiras? I think the coolest thing I saw was a giant bee. The Drust are boring, the witches are meh, half the island is haunted while the other half is taken over by boring Void-based Lovecraftian ripoffs.
I just feel like Kul Tiras lacks that…fantastic nature that Zuldazar has and it could have. It should have.
Where is the evidence of Kul Tiras being thrust out into the middle of the ocean during the Cataclysm? There should have been all sorts of stories about the elements being in chaos, or half of the island being destroyed. There should have been relics of the Second War strewn across the islands. Where’s the wreckage of old Horde fleets and old Alliance strongholds? I want to walk through silver-stoned Alliance forts and barracks, now abandoned and rotting. I want to face a pirate king in his lair - a shipwrecked Ogre Juggernaut. I want to learn the fate of a long lost Elven navy, or learn about the fate of the High Elves that apparently once lived on Kul Tiras (it was a thing in the old lore IIRC).
Kul Tiras had a ton of history to borrow from - particularly in an expansion like BfA where they intentionally wanted to go back to the classic Orcs vs Humans trope, but it’s just not there. It doesn’t charm me, it doesn’t capture my imagination, it just bored me, and drones on about how Lady Ashvane is such an obvious bad guy that noone else seems to have picked up on yet somehow.
Kul Tiras feels like it was designed by people who have no passion for the Alliance and the history of Warcraft. Zuldazar feels every bit like it was made by people who were excited, interested and passionate about what they were building.
And yes, all of this is subjective, personal opinion, and people are free to disagree with me. But as someone who is a passionate Alliance player, I can’t help but look at the Alliance and Horde content and see something of a mismatch…maybe not necessarily in professional and technical quality, but in passion.
