Actually, I wanted to mostly stay out of the Beta of Legion, but at some point, I gave in to the urge. And what can I say? I was not disappointed. Legion has some aspects that I really liked at first glance, making the game more vibrant and interesting. Many of these things are just small details, but I want to introduce them to you because they make World of Warcraft a better game from my perspective.
Talents with Exciting Effects
I was really impressed by a look at the talents in Legion because Blizzard is taking some interesting approaches. The best example of this is the talent Surrender to Madness. The Shadow Priest gets an ability that grants him a powerful buff for 3 minutes. All spells and abilities generate 200% more Insanity, and he can move while casting. That sounds like a simple, powerful buff, doesn’t it?
The catch is: if you leave Voidform during the effect’s duration or if the 3 minutes run out, the priest dies. This cannot be prevented. As soon as the spell is activated, you sign your own death sentence. This is, of course, extremely useful if you want to deal a lot of damage in a short time, but it also guarantees death. I think it’s brilliant to incorporate such a mechanic. It almost reminds me of “Divine Intervention” from Classic – does anyone still remember that?
Where Do All the Voices Come From?
Another detail that quickly becomes obvious while questing is the numerous comments made by NPCs. Quite often, the minions of the Burning Legion yell at me – and that has voice acting. Overall, there seems to be a lot more voiced text than in Warlords of Draenor or the previous expansions. All enemy types I have come across (that can speak) have occasionally shouted their hatred at me. This is already standard in many games, but in WoW, it is a small innovation that makes the world feel a bit more alive for me.
I can’t, of course, judge whether the lines will become annoying and repetitive after several weeks – but I really liked them.
Lore and Atmosphere
Warning, the following paragraph contains some spoilers about the story of Legion. If you don’t want to be spoiled, you should click away quickly.
Although the introductory event on the Broken Isles is currently mercilessly buggy (NPCs are running all over the place, sounds are playing incorrectly, etc.), I got a serious goosebumps when looking at the Burning Legion. The coolest part is definitely the finale of the intro, where you face pretty much all the demons you have ever encountered in Warcraft. Familiar faces like the Dreadlords from Warcraft 3 can be found there, as well as younger “friends” from Burning Crusade or Warlords of Draenor.
It may be a matter of personal taste, but Blizzard picks up exactly the story threads that interest me immensely. What happens to the dragonflights that lost their power in Cataclysm? What exactly happened to the night elves in the War of the Ancients? What are Queen Azshara’s plans? The last question has been haunting me for years, and the more I was able to encounter her in the new areas, the more exciting it was.
I have only noticed these things in the starting area, Dalaran, and a small part of Azsuna so far, and I can hardly stop being amazed, as at least Azsuna sets new standards in detail richness and atmosphere (for WoW). However, this also revealed to me that my PC can hardly cope with the expansion – I had to significantly lower the graphics settings.
You can find more news and articles about the upcoming expansion Legion on our World of Warcraft game page.
