Blood Elves are my favorite race in World of Warcraft (wait, is it problematic to prefer certain races in fiction??). Nearly all of my WoW characters are sin’dorei, some of which date back to the original release of The Burning Crusade. Needless to say, I’ve been thrilled with Blizzard’s choice to remake Eversong Woods / Silvermoon City.
Alongside the main story are side quests that give insight into blood elf culture, and how they are reacting to the changes happening around them. Maybe I’m biased, but these quests are among Blizzard’s best, and I’m finding them much more compelling than the majority of the War Within side stories.
I won’t spoil anything, but in addition to the excellent writing and world-building, there are some clever quest designs as well.
I’ve been working on the Eversong Woods achievements, and the treasures in particular have been really enjoyable. The Triple-Locked Safebox quest is obtuse in a way WoW rarely is these days, and will require a lot of wandering if you don’t look up a guide.
I’ve been appreciating all the “new” in Midnight on an intellectual level, but the nostalgia has been affecting me in an emotional way I didn’t fully expect.
Having spent so much time on Sunstrider Isle creating new blood elf characters, I should have expected some sort of reaction returning there. I was not expecting chills and vivid flashbacks. Revisiting a remodeled place that you spent so much time in nearly 20 years ago is a fascinating experience, even if it is a virtual space.
The last thing I really appreciate about Midnight’s questing / levelling experience is that it’s surprisingly slow. I know some players just see leveling as an annoyance to get through as quickly as possible to arrive at the endgame, and for a while, it felt a bit like that’s how Blizzard saw it as well. But I have a fondness for the early days of WoW when levels took a hot minute, and the sense of accomplishment that went with achieving a level up. Midnight isn’t exactly WoW Classic, but it does pump the brakes enough to make the average player’s leveling experience feel a bit more like a journey again. I’ve been playing the character I created a few days before Midnight launched and enjoying the slow progression and far off endgame.
I cannot overstate how pleased I am with Midnight so far. Everything I praised in this post is on top of everything I adore from Dragonflight and The War Within (follower dungeons, delves, skyriding, single-button assist, Xal’atath). World of Warcraft in 2026 is a confident mix of old and new, and quite possibly the best the game has ever been.
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