Hello Forum,
I am sure this will get trolled, buried, slashed, hacked, picked apart, fan boi'ed and everything else. However as a designer myself I must say that I am used to the perils of trolls that live under the bridge with a kettle popcorn maker on full blast ready to start the show. I say bring it. Mists is one of those games that deserves a proper attention and look through before giving it a review. I, @mayplesmind plan on doing so without holding back. Trust me, a game designer telling another game designer won't make the game designers cry.
This is broken down into several parts. Gameplay, Details, Art, Sound, Overall. So without further adou. Its time to cut open this scallywag.
World of Warcraft has been one of those games which touched all our hearts from the beginning. Finally a company that is well respected, well made and cares about the game vs the profit hits the market. We call them them Blizzard today, but the passion in the Silicon Knights has existed for years and with the way MoP turned out... it looks like they are back. This marks the 4th Expansion, (TBC, WoTLK, Cata and now MoP). So how do you full experience an expansion, how do you review an expansion. The point of Blizzard's game world is a never ending game world which thrives and continues if you log on or not. I cannot review it fully. It is impossible. I haven't spent the hours of wiping, gearing, grinding that is needed to fully touch all 100% of the game.
I see a lot of other companies reviewing Mists, low scores... high scores. You cannot rate a game based on what you play as a level 1 (KOTAKU) nor compare it to follow up games such as Guild Wars 2. It is impossible. World of Warcraft is in a league of its own. It would be like comparing the motor in your Boat akin to the motor in your car. Which makes better use of horsepower its packing? Which has new mechanics in order to get the task done. With that being said I start to babble and could go on a rant about how the review base is a biased section of profit driven mongoloids which follow the current trend and like to stir it up, or, I can give my opinion, have you enjoy it and try it out. All that matters is that I had fun and more than likely. You will also.
Mists is about as close as you can come to being a fresh new start after the last expansion. I am not going to toot any horns, Cataclysm was just not... well epic. Where it lacked was content fun. Mind you some of the experience was awesome, it just didn't have the feel the other expansions had. Incomplete stories, dungeons that just were... there. Raids that never got finished. It was a great start which fell short. From a design piece I could tell many of the resources went into re-hauling the starting area. While great, more of the player base wanted the latter. It's ok, Cata brought us some cool things anyways. It was here and now its gone. Its time to look into Mists.
Mists game play follows the original flow plan. A person or player in peril, you must save them. From the start to the end of leveling you are thrown in personal stories to experience what its like in live for these locals on Panderia. The game follows and stays close to its roots of questing over dungeons. Running dungeons will give you great XP but of course you miss out on so much. Cataclysm seemed to be better sticking in dungeons as the outside world was gather 3 bundles and kill 5 people with the occasional fun quest on the side. Mists is a whole new baby.
Leveling from 85-90 I experienced some of the goofiest, funnest, hardest and most rewarding quests I have played on an expansion. The story elements pull you into the quests. Sometimes I was flying, I had a metal gear solid mission, I ran around stomping bubbles, I sniped people from the tree line, I set things on fire...a lot. I dropped water buckets from the sky, I learned kung-fu, I rolled a drunken panda, I got jumped into acceptance gang style. I felt as if I was a part of this story. I was the hero again. I helped save the day by repelling down a rocky cliff to get an herb. The epic feel of game play is here, it changes the conventional go kill style. Sure, as always there are tons of kill these, grab these, loot this guy, talk this guy. However to make up for it, you have some of the most innovative quests I have seen in a game in years.
The downfall however would be the little bugs. It's not horrid, don't get me wrong, but some of the small bottlenecks get to you. For instance I had a bug which I needed to feed turtle meat to. I must have fed him 30+ pieces. His counter showed 5/6 for the longest time. Not an issue with the game, just a mechanical script not deploying right. A few quests I had to abandon because of phasing issues. Great use of phasing, don't get me wrong, but turning in a quest out of order sometimes causes the story to progress without allowing the turn ins. A recent chat with one of the developers led us to believe that they have a fix in works. Even with the bad however, its still an amazing ride.
The dungeons are just gorgeous. You have everything in a nice small package. Its long enough to have fun, short enough to not get bored of the content. The fact that some of the encounters change is another great fun experience. Albeit they are small subtle changes, they are changes that made me think, this is new... what do we do here? I love that there is no rehashed fights for every boss. Mechanics are a little dry on some content, which is fine, but most of the bosses reuse or replace old mechanics you used to see with some fresh ideas. Dropping sticky bombs onto bugs, throwing chum meat onto handlers. The dungeons challenge modes are going to be exciting as well. Going through the heroic dungeons we can see where all the bottlenecks are going to be. Anything from Traps, to advantage points, sap leaking from the walls. Kudos designers.
As the story progresses in the MoP you start to feel as if the dark Sha infested world is corrupting everything your playing. Quests focus around the Sha of Anger/Hate. You feel a if the story is happening as you go instead of anticipating the story. In Cata one of the major downfalls was you knew what to expect in a lot of zones. Go here, he will tell you go here, come over here, run here, do this and this has nothing to do with the story... who and why do I care about the Naga. With Mists everyone is involved, spirits, sprites, ghosts, Sha, Mantid, Lizard People, Fish People! Everything has a purpose, a place, a story in which you evolve by playing. If you don't, that story never unfolds and you leave it. It really doesn't bleed into each story until the end... but I will let you all see that.
I am still experiencing it and having a blast, this has to be my personal favorite expansion thus far.
Now I have to go do, dailies, battle pets, gearing, dungeons, scenarios, pvp, farming, cooking, fishing, arena, raids, factions and still have so much more to do. WHAT DO I DO NOW?
After hitting 90, I thought it was the end. Turns out, there is so much more content that its almost sickening. The tip of the iceberg starts with leveling, but the story, the game, the feel of everything just expands 10 fold when you hit 90. Bravo Blizzard. Scenarios were not a let down. Theramore... meh, not the best thing ever which made me skeptical. Turns out they nailed Scenarios on the head. I have more fun playing those than anything else. Protecting, building, charging... there is so much to do. The story element is amazing. Which comes to the Art department. I have to say again, KUDOS. I tip my hat. The art is some of the most amazing flowing, gorgeous, sexy, intimidating and epic styles I have seen in awhile. You mix so many flavors of art, environment. The small details in the worlds such as burnt areas, racoons eating sap on trees, bugs moving around, clouds splitting the mountain tops, snow fading into the dirt surrounding. The flow and pure experience immerses myself into 'The World of Warcraft'. It makes me wonder if Cataclysm was just a fill as you worked on this, or another team that worked on Burning Crusade then worked on this expansion. Don't get me wrong, but Wrath was amazing, immerse, but the sheer detail on Mists is akin to Burning Crusades epic zones. The content filling the zones is pure, not forced and simply amazing art to suite the effects, weapons and style of story. Small effects, spell effects, skins, enemies and coloring contrast makes the vast landscapes sexy. I love the experiment in technology as well. Currents, Cel-Shade touches in small places. You did it all right.
Last but not least is the sound. I usually play with game sound off. No offense, but 7 years of hearing the same sounds makes me kinda... bored. However while playing with my wife i heard a ton of new sounds emitting from her computer. Music which was simply beautiful and powerful. Setting the mood as the old vanilla music once did until 7 years of age. It stays true to the sound of Warcraft and now I play with it Looped. The environmental sounds continue to portray and help the story. The sound of voices spoken dialogue have me begging for more and asking why it isn't on every spoken quest. Kudos again. I cannot say it enough. You did it, you made my expansion.
I know I am just getting started and this is still a rough review. I have a full review that i am working on that breaks down everything. I have to say though, if you are on the fence to purchasing or not, stop reading go to Wal-Mart and pick it up. Order online. Do what you can, lock your windows call in sick and play Mists. You won't regret it.
Mists from me get a 9.5/10
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