The War Within is an interesting inflection point in World of Warcraft's long two-decade journey. It is the first expansion featuring the return of creative director Chris Metzen, who was an important creative mind behind Warcraft 3 and World of Warcraft prior to his departure in 2016. It is also the first installment of the "Worldsoul Saga," a trilogy of expansions that will feature a singular storyline that Metzen tried to sell as being too large and epic for a single expansion arc.

The impact of a single person on the development of such a long-running video game is overhyped, however. Metzen's presence as creative director does not have a dramatic effect on the gameplay or story experience in comparison to previous expansions. The War Within's story is still largely told through the same format as before: a new villain leads our current cast of heroes to a unexplored land which we now have to quest through in order to uncover the mysteries of the increasingly convoluted Warcraft mythos.

This time, we are led by the fan-favorite villain Xal'atath to the mysterious Isle of Dorn, a small enclave of the Earthen stone dwarves. Beneath this island lies the expansive underground continent of Khaz Algar. Now, underground worlds are not new to World of Warcraft. But unlike previous underground zones, such as Deepholm and Zaralek Cavern, Khaz Algar feels much more vast, intricate and diverse.

However, I still find it very difficult to get invested in the plot. After Shadowlands turned the afterlife into a real, explorable location that you can visit, the stakes are completely gone from the story. Now I'm supposed to get invested into yet another cosmic force that is threatening the world of Azeroth? Yeah, I don't think so.

2022's Dragonflight benefited from having a much more localized scope. We were explorers helping the denizens of the Dragon Isles to reconcile with their own history and to expel ancient threats. That helped me to ignore some of the problems introduced by previous stories in the World of Warcraft timeline. But The War Within presents Xal'atath and the "Void" as this larger threat to the entire world. Why should I care about the world when the main citizens I interact with are the totally emotionless and bland Earthen? And why should I care about any of the characters knowing that they will just pop up in the Shadowlands upon death and probably have a happier time in the afterlife? I'm not sure.

The gameplay sees no big surprises either, and largely builds upon the well-liked mechanics of Dragonflight. There are new Hero Talents which let you further customize your character. There is also the new Skyriding system, which lets you utilize Dragonflight's dragonriding mechanics with any flying mount in the game. Perhaps the biggest new addition are Delves, which are a new shorter form of instanced content that you can complete solo or with friends. None of the above feel that impactful, and in the end it all devolves into the same old World of Warcraft treadmill, as you seek to increase your power to keep up with other players.

The War Within certainly isn't bad! This is World of Warcraft, streamlined into one of its most user-friendly forms. Dungeons and PVP content remain as entertaining as they have ever been. But as someone who has played this MMO since its early days, I find it harder and harder to return with each expansion.

20 years removed from its launch, all of Warcraft 3's brilliant plot threads were expended long ago. The magic of those early expansions has since given way to uninteresting new lore and characters with little personality or agency. The gameplay is moldy and dated.

Warcraft desperately needs something new, and unfortunately, I don't think that will ever come in the form of an expansion. As long as the franchise continues to solely exist as this evolving MMO juggernaut, I fear its world will continue to wallow in its current cycle of diminishing returns.