I mentioned in an earlier post that I've leveled an Alliance and a Horde toon through the Jade Forest in Pandaria. I was hoping that by leveling both factions that I could get a different narrative through the zone. Initially, I was not disappointed. Both the Horde and the Alliance arrive on Pandaria after a quest from their capital city on opposite sides of the Jade Forest, yet they quickly find evidence of their blood rivals and are forced to fight against them to gain a foothold in the new land.
For this part of the post, I'm going to talk mostly about the Alliance section of questing. I am playing through as my Alliance Enhancement shaman again so that I can have a better idea of progression as I move through the zone. I will go back later to fill in the Horde storyline. The Alliance find themselves on Pandaria after a search party to find the missing Prince Anduin Wrynn gets attacked by the Horde near the continent. Washed up on to the shores of the Jade Forest, much of the first part of the quests is fighting for survival against the filthy mongrels of the Horde. After a quick introduction to a new enemy (the Sha), you find yourself in the Pandaren village of Paw'don. Your tasks here include crippling a nearby Horde establishment with the help of your friendly neighborhood Alliance airship captain where the power of the Sha is showcased in a neat story encounter, and rifling through the ruins of what appears to be the prince's ship that has crashed to shore.
Both factions find other allies on the continent besides the somewhat reluctant Pandaren. The Horde meet with the 'ookin' Hozen and Alliance pass through the lands of the merfolk Jinyu. Initially, the Jinyu only sign on to allow the Alliance safe passage through their lands in their search for the prince. They, too, seem like reluctant participants in the war that has washed up on their shores. So far, we have two people who were mostly peaceful and have been corrupted by our influence. One of them, the Pandaren, now fights among themselves and the other, the Jinyu, are trading in their religious beliefs to pick up weapons. This makes me feel really bad about what I am doing on Pandaria.
Please indulge me a theory. I have wondered, for some time, why the Tauren abide by the new Horde. Not only was their beloved leader slain by the new warchief (in a shocking turn of events, he was mind controlled), but the Goblins have been allowed into the Horde. The goblins show such a disdain for nature and many of the things that the Tauren hold sacred, that even if they could overlook the assassination of Cairne, the inclusion of these filthy land rapers should have caused an uproar among the Tauren. There are some strange things afoot in the Horde and it makes me wonder if Blizzard is setting us up for a time when all races may be able to choose their allegiance similar to how the Pandaren are allowed. Add in the fact that we are pillaging what was once a peaceful continent filled with races who might rather not be fighting among themselves. History is repeating in the World of Warcraft. There have also been hints that a new and greater evil is waiting in the wings, the Horde and Alliance have fought side by side to eliminate common enemies, and Vol'jin has said in no uncertain terms to Garrosh that his time as warchief is limited. It really gives me hope that these territorial pissing contents might be coming to an end and an uneasy truce might be in the coming. Imagine the story possibilities!
Back to this story. The Alliance subtly manipulates the Jinyu and draws them into our war. Some of you might make the argument that the Horde is the driving force behind all of the violence, and this time I can't argue with that. Still, there was no reason for either the Hozen or the Jinyu to fight for either side. A few interesting narrative quests along the line of "punching Deathwing in the face" though not nearly as entertaining are followed by more fighting between the Jinyu and Hozen. After that, we are finally off on the next part of our story.
I don't want to give away too much of the story, because it is good and there is quite a bit happening, but you do find out what happened to the prince, learn more about Pandaren lore, and there is a conclusion so heartbreaking that even though I've seen it 3 times, it still makes me angry. I really don't feel good about what either of the factions is doing in this expansion. That's not to say that I don't like the game anymore. It is great when any form of entertainment can elicit a response, that's a good thing. So far, a great start to Mists of Pandaria and I can't wait to see where it goes from here.
My last word on Jade Forest
Pros: Great and engaging stories, the Pandaren story line and the struggle of the other Pandaria natives, beautiful landscapes, nice little Easter eggs like treasures and lore objects, achievement updates to let you know when you've finished parts of an achievement
Cons: Same old fetch 6 of these, kill 8 of those quests, not sure about the motivations of either the Alliance or the Horde other than to rape and pillage another land much as they have Azeroth in their endless war, hoped for more diversity in the Horde vs. Alliance storyline
As always, thanks for reading. Stay tuned for my run through of the Valley of the Four Winds.
No comments:
Post a Comment