All expansions are fun, but we might have unpopular opinions.
New player or experienced player, playing World of Warcraft has never been so easy. Since the release of the 8th expansion: “Shadowlands”, a new form to enjoy each storyline for new players before starting the latest expansion is fun, easy, and most important, organized.
To be a new player in the MMO could be overwhelming with all the expansions released and all the story possibilities. It is hard to know where to go without looking it up on the web. But now, a new NPC offers every player the chance to “travel” to the expansion storyline of its choosing and begin the main questline with help of the interface. max-level
But after all these expansions, what is the worst expansion? What is the best one yet? Taking into account that you may be a new player and how I experience each expansion, this is the list from worst to best expansions that World of Warcraft has.
8. The Burning Crusade
World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade Cinematic Trailer
A rough start, I know. This might be an unpopular opinion among fans but bear with me.
This expansion has great things for being the first expansion ever. New races, new zones, new max level, and great lore. It was a dream come true back in 2007 where all we wanted was more WoW in our geek lives. But be honest, would you play it again after all these years? Would you do more “Bring me 25 livers of demons” and take the 40-minute journey to complete it? Yes? No? Would you skip it if you can? Well, unfortunately, being the millennial that I am, I would.
That’s why it’s in the last place for this list. As Wow grows old and the expansions become quicker to play and more concise on story and quest lines, this expansion aged and feels slow. The quests are repetitive in a way that it’s not moving the story forward because the player has to gather non-relevant materials. The zones are gigantic and now that the world is immense where all the players are in the latest expansion, it feels empty and lonely.
It’s a very millennial thing to say it feels slow, but it’s not my fault we now live in a world where we want to consume things fast. There’s a lot out there to play than spend time gathering demons’ organs on dumb quests. In conclusion, it was a fun expansion 10 years ago but with much more material to compare it, this drops to be a big “if you’re a new player, try another expansion to fall in love with Wow.”
7. Warlords of Draenor
World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor Cinematic
Surprised? I bet you’re not. If it’s not the first time you read one of these reviews, Warlords it’s not a likable expansion. People have problems with this one. This expansion caught us confused at first but excited after an amazing cinematic leaving high expectations to the players. But like any Netflix adaptation of anime into live-action, a disappointment. This expansion is the quickest one of all, and the cut scenes are fun to watch, but back when it was released and you finished the last quest and the raids, there was nothing else to do. Players were left to play in old raids and collect legendary armors to have something to do the rest of the month. Also, the story - in my humble opinion - cheated and used the old classic weapon ”time travel” to bring problems to the main characters while creators had time to think on a better major plot.
The good thing is the quest experience improved and the treasures felt very rewarding and it was great for leveling fast. It was also a fun lore experience because you met the old orcs, their first homeworld, and get to know the past of each chief villain. But after all this storyline - that it was more enjoyable if you were from the horde - you came back to the present forced to move on with a big “thanks a lot for participating” to all the NPC characters you’ve met, except for Gul’dan, he is a badass.
6. Battle for Azeroth
World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth Cinematic Trailer
Horde and Alliance are in a new war conflict, and the new faction leaders are angry and ready to fight. This expansion has very different experiences depending on if you’re the reddies or the bluies - Horde or Alliance. Each faction had its zones to level up and play the storyline. Unfortunately, it was known that one storyline was better than the other and that is why we have to put it after Warlords of Draenor in the sixth position.
The whole point of World of Warcraft is that no matter what faction you choose, you get the same fun experience and the same opportunity to explore zones. But in this expansion - that is all about factions - took a turn with each Warband that people started to complain. There is a zone called Zandalar that is a great experience for the player where you have to stop blood trolls and their gold-armored dinosaurs to resurrect their dead blood god.
Overall, it is a fun expansion and a short one to complete. The cut scenes are fantastic and it felt like something different from previous expansions with the whole Horde versus Alliance storyline - although it’s a little underwhelming it turned out different from expectations.
5. Cataclysm
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm Cinematic Trailer
How do you change a world you created and you need a new storyline? Bring a dragon to start the apocalypse. This expansion is like the “Resident Evil 4” for the franchise where creators wanted to upgrade how to play with a new way to experience the game where it would be easier and entertaining. And it worked.
The game not only changed visually because the Aspect of death changed the world, but because the gameplay turned to something more fun and easy to play. Quests were not only text and boring requests, the main story had more cutscenes, there were new races to play and the world changed visually to make it different to move around. And to say that the last boss was a huge dragon filled with fire, turned it into an expansion more eager to finish.
But it’s not all good things, it’s in the 5th position after all. The newly changed zones were fun at first but then they lacked the “otherworldliness” sensation that makes expansions so exciting to play and explore. The new Cataclysm zones were exotic until you have to go to an underwater zone. - why are these levels so cursed in video games? - It took a lot of time to beat the entire game but the story kept me going and dragons always make fantasy better.
4. Wrath of the Lich King
World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King Cinematic Trailer
A very loved character returns to the franchise. But he comes back as a King and the new villain. We loved Arthas on Warcraft III and how he turned into the leader of the scourge with the big twist of killing his dad. This expansion has one of my favorite cinematics ever and it's because it has everything to be excited for. Dragons, death knights, Arthas sitting in the throne, frozen area, and the king's voice off-screen to announce he is the new king. Wrath of the Lich King is a favorite among fans of all expansions, and they have good reasons for it.
Even though this expansion is before the new game mode Cataclysm brought, the quests and storyline are linear to where to go and do, and it grows dramatically to reach the final point. The war between the scourge and the heroes of Azeroth it's fun and very dynamic to get to the final battle with the Lich King. Then you have an epic fight with your team and have closure with the character (or maybe we'll see him again soon).
Wrath of the Lich King also released the new playable class: the Death Knights. The player began in a different zone and the story of introduction for new characters was unique and that felt innovative and awesome at that time. This expansion had also very memorable and very fun raids that fans still bring them for comparison with the new ones.
Great atmosphere, good music, incredible theme, and new zones to explore made this expansion a favorite and makes you forget about the long quest texts or dumb missions.
3. Mist of Pandaria
World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria Cinematic Trailer
Mist of Pandaria introduced a new class and a new race to the franchise. Kung-fu Panda entered the chat and it was not a collaboration with Dreamworks. At first, players doubt a lot about how was going to be with this expansion because it was something completely non-epic when the last expansion brought the apocalypse. And it was a fair thought, you had a dragon destroying the world and the next thing you do is travel to an island with panda monks that all they want is to not fight because they love peace. *blinks twice annoyed* Don’t get me wrong, it’s an amazing expansion, but these were the first thoughts after expecting something to overthrow a dark dragon.
With all the judging aside, this expansion is one of the best to play and to experience a beautiful world with amazing landscapes and architecture. Pandaria was gorgeous in a lot of ways: missions, cut-scenes, landscapes, creatures, raids, bosses, and storyline. Garrosh became one of my favorite characters - although people are a little angry about becoming evil and giving Alliance the protagonism of the story - and it gave me more interest in the lore of the game.
It’s perfect to admire what game design is and an introduction to all the lore behind the fantastic world of Warcraft.
2. Shadowlands
World of Warcraft: Shadowlands Cinematic Trailer
Welcome to Shadowlands. *Telenovela music starts*
This is the latest expansion out there with only one big patch left before the end of it, and it’s good. The drama in the game scaled to a whole new level when Sylvanas decide to betray all and revealed her true plans. The entire world changed and it what was World of Warcraft needed without us knowing.
The expansion brings new zones and new creatures to explore. A whole cast of important characters appeared and the lore expanded to a whole new level. To say we know what’s coming next to the franchise is to guess who’s winning the Oscar for best film. It’s hard if you’re not an expert on the subject.
I liked that the expansion had a linear and short story for each zone. This allowed me to get to know each covenant and leader before everything went overboard. The major plot with the Jailer, Anduin, and Sylvanas had me on the edge of my seat every time. It might not be loved, but this expansion opens a lot of possibilities and it’s a good thing for the creators.
With new raids, armors, and max-level mechanics the game felt challenging and new. Battle for Azeroth was a good expansion but I felt that my hype to the game was decreasing, Shadowlands cinematic showed me I was wrong.
1. Legion
World of Warcraft: Legion Cinematic Trailer
There’s something with the characters returning to the game that fans love. Legion brought two amazing and loveable characters to be the protagonist of the major plot: Illidan and Gul’dan. The Broken Isles and the stories contained in five zones are fun and featured some dramatic twists and turns that made the game epic and on max-level our number one list.
The new class was incredibly amusing to play and to be able to choose your path for the story was something I liked. The raids were fun and the new level system upgraded the way we played without having 900 buttons on the screen. It is a fun expansion to level up and it’s not a long game to beat compared to previous titles. We finally understood and experienced in cutscenes what the titans looked like and why Sargeras wanted to destroy the world of Azeroth so bad.
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In conclusion, all expansions are fun and are worth the experience but it’s better to know which one suits more to you for a first-time experience. For new players, it’s no longer overwhelming to enter a world with eight expansions to beat or buy each separately when is organized and fun to get to know the story and level up to travel to Shadowlands.
With the last patch breathing in our necks, we can’t wait to see what surprises and twist this incredible franchise has to offer us.
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