So, it dropped today as expected, with its world premiere at Gamescom, and being posted to the official WoW YouTube channel a short while afterwards.
Technically, it’s excellent.
Story-wise, I love the fact that it’s the Alliance & Horde landing on a new, unknown world, immediately go into conflict, but are thrown by a new element – a Pandaran rolling into their midst.
It’s an unknown foe to them both, and being the naturally-violent factions they are, they attack it – and choose their closest, but known, enemy as an allie.
The kick at the end, where the panda shows that, the combat is not a major thing to them but part of the balance of their lives, is a perfect balance to what will in truth be an expansion where the Alliance and Horde conflict impacts greatly on this peaceful land with its own problems.
I can’t fucking wait.
The video itself looks stunning – as I’d expect from Blizzard – however to me it really felt like a Blizzard reenactment of Kung Fu Panda. Yes, yes, yes I know Pandaran came before, but the video itself still felt like I was watching Po fighting an Orc and a human.
Another thing that gave me a serious O_O moment, why of why did the human pass the spear to the Orc… isn’t this expansion meant to be more about the War/divide?
DO NOT WANT.
As I said above, in that moment they’re both facing a new foe. So, they ally with each other as the other is a known quantity. Sure, it’s also for comedic effect, but the subtext is interesting xD