I got into the beta to check out housing, and the moment I got on my mount I was immediately put off by the new Skyriding gameplay. Gone is the Vigor bar and tghe talents, replaced by 6 uses of moving forwards, 6 of flying upward, and Second Wind recovering one use of each. This is awful.
I don’t care that the talents are gone. I didn’t play Dragonflight, and I’ve forgotten they exist at all. They felt irrelevant, so this is the one good thing from the rework I won’t criticize. But the basic gameplay of spending and recovering Vigor feels much better than this rework (not to mention the UI element of the Vigor bar, which is way more clear than having to look at the tiny number on the skill button). Speaking strictly about gamplay, I’m sure the rework does the job: it better prevents situations where you run out of vigor and are stuck in a slow glide to the ground, or having to do weird zig-zags waiting for that vigor ball to refill. But the feeling of it is worse. In Midnight you’re just using an ability to keep moving. Flying is a mindless way of travel once more, and Skyriding a simple gimmick.
In my opinion, a way better solution has already been achieved in Legion Remix. Here, there are plenty of demons flying in the air. Just by passing through them, they explode, giving you both currency and Vigor. As long as you stir your course just a bit to crash against the closest flock of demons, you won’t run out of vigor. This solution is both simple and way more engaging. It also fills the travel time with something to do that actually rewards you, like an improvement on the floating orb in TWW zones.
In Legion Remix, I’m not just moving from point A to point B. I’m engaged in the simple game of minmaxing going at top speed (thanks to the Dragon Rider addon for making that clearer), and course-correcting to explode some flying bats to keep it going. In Legion Remix, when I fly, I’m playing the game. In Midnight, when I fly, I’m just pressing 1 or 2 here and there.
And this is without mentioning the “Drake Treat” item added in Legion Remix too, which combines the Whirling Surge skill with a complete refill of the Vigor bar. Between the aerial gameplay and the item, Skyriding feels more engaging and fun than ever before to me.
Legion Remix Skyriding is, in my opinion, a way superior gameplay feature than what Midnight is looking to be. Sure, remove the talents, who cares. But why reduce an enjoyable gameplay feature to just “classic flying, but faster”, when you’re already experimenting with a more elegant solution in Legion Remix?