I have been back in Azeroth for only a few hours, but already World of Warcraft: Midnight has done something I did not expect it to do on day one of early access: it made me genuinely feel something. Not the vague sentimental pull I usually get from a new expansion login screen, but that feeling of warmth you get when returning to a place you forgot you missed.
My retribution paladin touched down in the Eastern Kingdoms and has spent the day bringing the Light's justice to the Void. The campaign wastes no time making clear that Xal'atath is on a mission to bring down the Sunwell and cover Azeroth in darkness. Blizzard has bet the expansion on lore, and so far, that bet is paying off.
A City Reborn
The decision to anchor Midnight's campaign (at least, so far) in a reimagined Silvermoon City is, plainly, an inspired one. The Sin'dorei capital has always been one of the most visually arresting places in the game. For years it sat frozen in The Burning Crusade's amber, a gorgeous diorama more than a living city. No longer.
I haven't yet made it to Harandar or Voidstorm, but if the opening hours are any measure, I am in no hurry. The Eastern Kingdoms have more than enough to hold me. Very rarely do I participate in side-questing. I tend to blow through the main campaign to get to the end game as soon as possible. But this time, I feel hooked. I want to steep myself in all that this xpac has to offer.
Eversong, Wyrms, and the Ghost of a Level 6 Mage
Eversong Woods is as breathtaking as ever. This autumn-eternal, impossibly saturated zone that makess me remember why I fell in love with this game in the first place. Riding through it tonight, I kept getting ambushed by a specific memory: a level 6 mage in 2009, squinting at the screen through the kind of pure, undiluted curiosity that only comes before you know how any of it works, taking on wyrms with my friends Jackson and Nick.
That feeling has been hard to come by in recent years. Midnight's return to legacy territory and its willingness to trust that players still care about the deep lore rather than just the next tier of gear, is the thing that most distinguishes it this early. The world has history, and I am so glad to be back in it.
Murder Row, Five Stars, and a Reward Worth the Detour
I will be brief in my defence of Murder Row, because I know the internet will have opinions and I am not here to fight them. Yes, the dungeon is a little silly at times. I do not care. I had an excellent time.
The standout was a side quest at the Illicit Rain. The task: serve steaks, fine wine, and cheese to the house's exacting clientele and walk away with a five-star rating. It is the kind of absurdist, low-stakes diversion that WoW does better than almost any other game when it remembers to try.
This expansion, I am making a deliberate effort to slow down and to actually play. Midnight seems to be rewarding that instinct so far, hiding its better jokes and its warmer moments in the margins, available only to those willing to wander.
Windrunner Spire
I also managed to get a run through Windrunner Spire, the new dungeon, and it was an absolute hoot. A great time start to finish. If I had more time this evening to play, I would queue up again!
I also squeezed in a delve — Lord Antenorian in the Shadow Enclave — and had a great time with it. Delves are not my favorite addition to the game, but this one delivered: the atmosphere was suitably grim, and the encounter felt purposeful. A nice cap to an already full day.
Day one is in the books. The void presses in at the edges, and I am looking forward to what the next levels have to offer.