I tried to continue the main story line. Again. And again I find it such a slog. I cannot bring myself to care about it and it feels like a chore. It was such a huge disappointment for me.
Why?
TWW should have been one of the expansions with the darkest atmosphere, the kind of atmosphere that made Revendreth, Castle Nathria and Denathrius great, but instead it was made by the same people who made Dragonflight with its excessive emphasis on cartooney zones and… let’s call it “feelings” and stop there because I have no desire to go into detail here at all.
- The Zones.
Where are the zones? MoP was launched with 7 zones. Outland - with 7. WOD - 8. WOTLK - 10! The War Within - …4. Again, Where are the zones?
Do you remember the nerubian dungeons in WOTLK? You had scary spiders, tight tunnels to crawl through, walk on webs, you would fall for 10 seconds straight in a hole in the ground and finish the dungeon on a much, much deeper level. While falling you’d catch glimpse of the Nerubian kingdom around you. Ominous looking dark buildings. Vertical structure. Kingdom on many levels. Ominous, Dark, Evil, Scary, Intimidating.
What do we get now in The War Within? Are we even underground, guys?? Open space zones with stone obove us instead of clouds - somewhere up there. Where are the tunnels? We are supposed to be underground. Why is it so bright instead of dark? Painting the entire Azh-Kahet zone in purple does not make it dark. Why is the City of Threads built like Stormwind? Like Suramar? These creatures are spiders, for christ sake - descendents from the Old Gods, insectoids similar to the bugs in Ahn’Qiraj (Remember the Ahn’Qiraj 40 music? That’s a proper theme!). So, why is these creatures’ city built like Suramar/Stormwind, again? Same layout, painted black and with 1 million bridges. Why are the buildings not on many levels, that we fall through holes and crawl through tunnels to access? They wouldn’t have to be restrictive, you could still fly, but it should feel more constrained! Why are these nerubian buildings not on the walls, in the walls, in the ground, why is there not enough web, and why is it so bright?! It should be the Drustvar type of dark and creepy. Witcher type of dark. Inky Black Potion type of dark!
Lazy. Deprived of imagination.
- The voice acting.
Some characters in this game are done well - for example Denathrius, but what is going on with these spiders, man?! Why does each one of them sounds like a middle aged woman in an office leaning over a microphone and talking to you in a soothing voice? Where is the hissing? Where are the effects? Why does it not sound like a monster but like a bored human sitting in a chair? Put in some effort with intonations, effects! Make them creepy, scary, ominous, the kind of voice that would make your skin crawl, because… look at them! They are supposed to be like that! Well, the northrend ones, not the human-looking “nerubian” type that we get shoehorned in this expansion, but the nerubians that were the quest givers in front of Azjol-Nerub. A giant 8 legged disgusting creature, not a two legged humanoid-looking “nerubian” who looks more like a night elf with a mask on its face than an actual nerubian.
Too soft.
- Wonder woman syndrome.
Not a single decent male role model so far. Why are the elves so masculine in this game in recent years and acting like a super hero from a marvel movie? Why is Anduin acting and sounding like a depressed teenager who has been bullied for a decade by his class mates? Yes, Torghast messed him up, but …writing, voice acting, you can do better, sorry! Also, give him some balls! Why is Alleria (same as Tyrande) always in your face? I am yet to see Thrall throw an axe at Xal’atath, summon the earth itself against her, or Tyralion swing his massive sword at …something! They are bystanders.
- The music.
Strictly the music (the ambient noises are great as always). Why do we have an entire symphony or orchestre playing instead of actual, simple music suitable enough for underground zones in a spider kingdom? One that would make the hair on your skin stand and make you look over your shoulder when you go to Azh-Kahet? Why are they so bland, so… unmemorable, so… generic?
Search on youtube: “Diablo 2 - Spider (HQ)” and go to 1:44 and listen until the end
or “Diablo 2 - Monastery (HQ)” at 1:34+
This is what atmospheric music for a dark zone is. Quite simple one but made with imagination a lot of passion. You don’t need a whole orchestre playing a symphony that nobody would remember in 2 years from now.
Both old and young alike were playing diablo 2 in public PC clubs in 2002. 12-14 year old kids. None of them became a worse person in life for playing a darker game such as diablo. Why is The War Within made so cartooney and soft when it’s underground and with Nerubians in it?
But hey, we have “diversity” now. That’s good, right?
Over the years wow has slowly evolved from a medieval rugged adventure to a lovey-dovey cartoonish series with disney super heroes and storytelling suitable for a toddler.
I still like aspects of the game such as raiding and pvp. Mostly pvp. So no, I am not ending my subscription and quitting. I will continue playing, but my heart aches, knowing how much potential is constantly being wasted.
You may like all this and that’s great, I’m happy for you. However, some things, I don’t. At all !
I’m done.