Scott Johnson

effectively i played the whole day i didn't play solid i breaks here and there but i haven't had a day that's that was that wide open where i could just play play play and kim's like hey it's new new expansion weekend you of course you can you know of course you should play go play i've got other stuff to do you know because normally saturday is kind of our day right not this one anyway

All I can say about it is I'm impressed. It does definitely have the feeling, as they have warned us and Chris talked about in the one-on-one Q&A that he and I did, or not Q&A, interview, that the stories, that this was going to feel like the first of more, right? Like we're not just doing a one-and-done campaign anymore.

And even in the past, you know, like the Dragonflight expansion and those before it, you have sort of your main story. It ends in a place where you're like, all right, now I'm just waiting for patches. And those patches will include additional story content as other stuff releases in the game. Various seasons hit, new raid hits, therefore new story quests, new this, new that, whatever.

And that's where we're at with this one. But what's different here is it left me with the impression that this was just the first act of three, which is literally what's going on here. We were told this on stage last BlizzCon that World of Warcraft, The War Within was just the beginning of the World Soul Saga and that we would have three of these episodes.

So it makes perfect sense to me that we would get a chunk and it wouldn't be complete or it wouldn't have the same sensibility as a previous expansion where the entirety of the story is mostly contained in that MSQ. But in this case, it definitely left me wanting more, but I was also very satisfied with what we got. And in some cases, some of the best storyline stuff and beats I'd ever seen.

in the main campaign. And so far, some of the best side quests. Now, I'm not just going to be all glowy here. I think that there is a risk. The game runs the risk of feeling a little unfinished because it does sort of cliff hang.

in a way that that maybe we're not used to um and for some gamers that i mean that may test their patience i don't know but for me it was a nice change it just feels like i've got room to breathe here a little bit like all right just take this as it comes it's all good you know uh But here's some quick overalls, and then I'll throw it to Bobby and let him have a bit of a say as well.

And again, I don't know what he talked about, so apologies if any of this, anything weird comes out of Bobby today. I'm sure it won't. So, overall, like tonally and sort of like the setting, I absolutely adore it. I admit, though, I got a little bias in this department. If you tell me that your video game of any kind or story, book, movie, whatever.

is told about big subterranean concepts like we went down a mine and it opened up into this civilization we didn't know existed, or even horror movies like The Descent. I love, as claustrophobic as that can be, I love stories about what's underneath. You spend all this time on top of the world, but what's down there? And it turns out a ton is down there.

I don't want to give anything away for those that haven't played yet, but there's something called the core way, which is not just listening to core on Thursdays. It's a... Literally a tunnel, a path, a thing that the Earthen have done where they've created a way down. And what's interesting is you get to go down more than you've ever gone before and go places that they've never even seen.

It's pretty wild. And having just seen, like, I'll give you a cinematic example. I just saw Godzilla X Kong, and they spend a lot of time. I mean, the whole concept of where Kong came from in the first place is like that weird middle, not middle earth, whatever they called it, the in-between thing, which is like mountains on top and bottom, weird gravity in the middle, that kind of thing.

Anyway, at the core of the earth, there's this thing. Well, they even go deeper in that movie, and I love that stuff. Like when they go down there, they got all the weird crystals and the funky caverns and just vast amounts of cavernous space. That's a motif I can spend big time in. I love that. Don't know why. I don't know what's up with that. I just love it.

And so that already speaks to me immediately. So your mileage may vary on that. As a concept, it's enough to carry all of it for me. Like I'm just, oh, it's going to be great. It's going to be interesting down there. There's going to be cool stuff. And it was. It was really something. One of the zones... Okay, all the zones are great. But one of the zones in this game...

is easily, by far, the most impressive environmental design I've ever seen them do. And that's for Hallow Fall, which is roughly level 75 to 77 or 78 or something is kind of where you're running in there. Second to last zone, really, at least in the campaign content. And holy shite, I can't even describe it.

We'll talk way more on a proper show, but let's just say when I walked in there, I just went, geez, this game. How are they doing this 20 years later? Like, just from a pure awe standpoint, I was absolutely freaking boggled by this zone. It just blew my mind. So I don't want to say too much more about it because you just really ought to go there and experience it.

But we also get to meet some interesting characters there that are hinted at in the cinematic. And so finally a chance to kind of hang out in there and do some fun stuff. Beautiful, beautiful place. Oh my gosh, I could spend all day there. And some of the most powerful story hits happen in there. And, um, I don't want to give any of that away again.

We'll talk about that on a show where it's appropriate to maybe get into the, not spoilers, but you know, deeper, deeper stuff about, you know, Anduin's hanging out with you mostly down there and you, there's a bunch of stuff that happens with him. We get some real progress in his, uh, in his life of difficulties. Uh, Okay, all that said, so I really like the MSQ.

Again, I'm just giving you overalls here. This is nothing. We're not going to get into the nitty gritty so much. But side questing so far has been distinctly better, in my opinion, than the previous expansion side questing or secondary stories. I think they made a real effort to do that here. And there's some real bangers in there.

There's one that basically deals... I don't want to give anything away here. How do I say this? There's one that deals with a real-life issue. Let's say, you know, like if you have some aging grandparents or parents that they may have to deal with. Let's just say that. I'll say that. They handled it with such grace and authenticity, but still kept it in the World of Warcraft world.

It was really something. You'll know what I mean when you get to it. And if you have anyone dealing with that sort of thing in their real life, it may even move you. It did me. It was really something. But yeah, that stuff's up their game. And I'm going for all of it because I really want to clear these zones out. And the reason I want to do that of content is because I want to...