I have a confession to make about this expansion. I've been playing my Alliance toons more than my Horde. Even though I don't like either side's justification for the escalation of war, I really hate Garrosh and can at least somewhat see the Alliance reasons for being on Pandaria. I like the guild on my Horde shaman better, though, they're a chattier bunch, so it's an interesting conundrum. Since it looks like both factions are being shepherded along the same storyline, I'm back on my Horde toon for this part of the review, though.
Eventually, after the shocking conclusion to your story in the Jade Forest, you are led to the Valley of the Four Winds. Here, you meet an enterprising brewer in Chen Stormstout and his young niece. One of your tasks in this part of Pandaria is to help him find the ingredients to make a great beer and get into the good graces of the Pandaren Stormstouts. This is what I mean by Blizzard using story very well in this expansion. You don't even care that all you're doing is kill/escort/pull weeds/basically the same thing you always have to do for these quests because the story is interesting.
Another aspect of Pandaren life is introduced in the valley. You've farmed materials. You've farmed rep, justice/honor/conquest/valor points, and gold. Now, be prepared (as in "You are not!") to farm vegetables. That's right, after ridding Azeroth of the Lich King, Deathwing, and the Burning Crusade, your next task is to rid your garden of pesky weeds and bitey insects. This aspect of the game was derided by many as a direct rip off of Farmville. Having somehow completely missed the Farmville boat, I can't speak for that. However, there are many similarities between these quests and Harvest Moon. While you might argue that Blizzard is catering to the casual crowd and ripping off other games for this expansion, at least they are games that I enjoy.
Along the way, you are introduced to one of the beginning instances in the game, Stormstout Brewery, and you play through some simulated boss battles. It is a nice way for solo players to get that experience and see inside of the brewery. Later tonight, I will do both Stormstout and the Temple of the Jade Serpent to get a better idea of boss mechanics in Pandaria. So far, the mechanics are interesting and I'm not sure what people are complaining about as far as instances being the same old, same old. Sure, encounters get old after a few tries and there's only so much that you can do with an encounter, but I think that Blizzard has done some great things recently with boss battles.
After playing through the brewery story, you move on to a village that is being harassed by an ancient enemy of the Pandaren, the mantid. Why does it always have to be bugs? They have brought with them Sha. The Shado-pan are also brought into the story in the village of Stoneplow and Hemet is near there with a hunting party. The most exciting part about my time in the valley was that I ran into one of the rare mobs of Pandaria. Jonn-Dar, a terracotta warrior that doesn't hit too hard. He summons a Quilien and has a crescent shaped something or another that comes out of the ground to spike you to death (nearly ate it when I missed it happening). It was an intense fight, but I got him. Also saw the mantid champion (as I suppose they're called), but a blade fury has me rethinking my strategy against him.
All in all, this zone was fun. After the emotional roller coaster of the Jade Forest, it was nice to be able to relax, farm some, brew a little beer, and hunt with Hemet Nesingwary. There are still threats like the mantid and Sha, but I feel like we're finally working with the land of Pandaria to help heal instead of tearing everything apart. Hopefully that part of the story continues because it makes me feel good about myself and my toons again.
My last word on Valley of the Four Winds
Pros: Great incorporation of Harvest Moon elements into the game, storyline is getting more positive and cooperative, interesting quests in the brewery, fun characters to keep you company
Cons: A little peeved that cooking has now been split into 6 tracks. Granted, you don't have to follow every track, but my OCD won't allow anything else, still mostly the same old kill/collect quests
No comments:
Post a Comment