How World of Warcraft: Dragonflight Recaptures Its Charm

World of Warcraft: Dragonflight is officially here, bringing highly anticipated features and fresh adventures. The expansion introduces a new five-zone continent called the Dragon Isles along with the game’s first playable dragon race and third hero class, Dracthyr Evokers. Players also get to experience a revamped flying system in the form of dragon riding, which takes the fun of exploration to new heights. Although my first two hours of launch consisted of disconnecting and waiting on loading screens, I’ve since spent a lot of time with Blizzard’s newest addition to their franchise and I can say that the expansion recaptures a charm that was noticeably absent in Shadowlands and Battle for Azeroth. A common sentiment shared in the community is that Dragonflight is an overall refreshing direction for World of Warcraft. So, this begs the question, what is Blizzard doing right this time around? I say it all comes down to cosy design. 

When I think about cosy games, the things that come to mind are crafting, slower pacing, time to connect with characters, and calming aesthetics. They provide players with a sanctuary away from real life. Now I don’t believe World of Warcraft is trying to join the cosy genre, but this expansion does come with an overhauled crafting/profession system, thoughtful quest dialogue and character arcs, as well as phenomenal sights in each zone. Keeping those things in mind, this may be World of Warcraft’s cosiest expansion yet and the developers are definitely listening to player feedback: forget about the world-ending-stakes of Shadowlands, set aside the faction tensions of Battle for Azeroth, and don’t open the portal to another Legion demon invasion.

It’s fitting that this expansion opens with much lower stakes than its predecessors. Players are sent to the Dragon Isles to assist the Dragonscale Expedition, a joint expedition of adventurers and scholars from the Alliance’s Explorer’s League and the Horde’s Reliquary. The focus is on uncovering the mysteries of the new continent and building bonds with the various factions players meet along the way. This means players will be dusting off bones, taking photos of dragon eggs, and helping scholars at their dig sites. After the first few quests, I noticed that there were more dialogue options when talking to quest givers. This slows down the pacing of the levelling journey, a tempo reminiscent of vanilla World of Warcraft, giving players many opportunities to settle in and connect with various characters as they tell their stories. In fact, there are so many interesting side quests that it’s easy to wander off exploring. My favourite quest so far is one titled “Stay a While” where I take a seat on a tall ledge overlooking the landscape and listen to an old dwarf tell me about his memories, regrets, and dreams. It’s a softer tone than I expected to see from World of Warcraft; this expansion isn’t afraid to pause the moment, giving the spotlight to complicated feelings that are often set aside for action and excitement. 

The focus on exploration compliments the abundance of bright aesthetics and the beautiful sights of the Dragon Isles, which contrast with the dark, dreary locations from Shadowlands. It feels like a true return to high fantasy with dragons soaring in the sky and elemental magic awakening across the land. The first zone players visit is the Waking Shores, offering high peaks where I’d get mesmerised staring at the wide, vast landscape in front of me. My time in Shadowlands felt so claustrophobic in zones that were the equivalent of shoes two sizes too small. Dragonflight’s open space allows me to breathe again and with the introduction of dragon riding, I feel like I get to appreciate these zones fully and freely. Plus, players run into many quests requesting their help with the Dragon Isles' local wildlife, such as frogs, dragon whelplings, and bees. Sure, I’m still fighting enemies and an angry dragon is flying around, but most of the experience is low-stress and the zones are lovely to explore without mobs of enemies being aggroed on every path between quests.  

As for crafting, the revamped profession system is a friendly, engaging feature. Notable changes include profession specialisations, crafting and gathering quality, and new crafting stations. There are also great ways to assist the community by utilising the Crafting Orders feature. With this, players are able to create public, guild, or personal orders which crafters are then able to view, craft the requested item, and collect a commission. It’s a seamless and fun process. The game is finally making space for players who want to play mainly as a crafter when they arrive at endgame content. So, it’s definitely plausible for a warrior to consider themselves first and foremost as a blacksmith or alchemist. Leaning into this fantasy is easy considering that players now have access to new profession equipment, such as jewel crafting goggles or mining satchels. Players can equip their character to look entirely like the professional tradesperson they’ve chosen to be. After this revamp, I can see myself logging on just to spend time fishing in the Dragon Isles. It’s elements like these that transform Azeroth into an ideal place to relax after a long day.

With everything going on in the world, leaning into comfortable, cosy game design makes perfect sense for the Dragonflight developers. Games have always provided a unique space for fun and relaxation, and it seems the desire for a digital refuge has exponentially grown among players in a short time. Google searches for cosy games have steadily increased over the past five years and on social media, there’s an emerging community of cosy game influencers suggesting the best games to help players de-stress, take a breath, and simply chill. At the moment, players won’t normally find MMOs included next to recommendations for A Short Hike or Stardew Valley (though this may change with upcoming games like Palia from Singularity 6 or the non-violent MMO announced by Spry Fox). However, there are plenty of MMOs that create low-stress spaces for their players by featuring player housing, extensive customisation options, fun crafting systems, etc. Before this expansion, it didn’t go unnoticed that World of Warcraft was late to the cosy scene unlike its competitors, and as the game continuously leaned into grind and chores, players vocalised their desire for something different. 

Dragonflight is that something. Although I’d like to see Blizzard making more improvements going forward, like adding player housing, more customisation options, or even porting the game to consoles, the changes players have received so far feel like the ideal response, effectively utilising player feedback and recapturing World of Warcraft’s charm as a result. This shift in approach is likely why Dragonflight is an expansion I can become immersed in — a feeling I often get when I sit down to play a cosy game.