Midnight is the second instalment in The Worldsoul Saga, marking the eleventh expansion in the game’s history. It’s a void-soaked, dramatic expansion, revolving around Xal’atath and her forces attempting to destroy Azeroth and its inhabitants.
As someone who’s been obsessed with World of Warcraft since Warlords of Draenor, a new expansion always feels like an absolute treat. Based on my time with Midnight since launch, it’s worth digging into if you haven’t already – here’s a full, spoiler-free review of the expansion.
A strong follow-up to The War Within
Midnight is the second instalment in The Worldsoul Saga, following up The War Within. The expansion largely focuses on Xal’atath as the main antagonist, with her armies of the void aiming to tear Azeroth apart.
To begin with, players are taken to a revamped version of Quel’Thalas, the kingdom of the Elves.
The new version of Silvermoon City and its surrounding zones is strikingly beautiful; I was concerned when the revamps were announced that the zones would lose their original charm, but the art team has captured their original beauty while improving graphics and textures.
Exploring Zul’Aman and Harandar feels incredibly rewarding. My style of play is collection-based and achievement-focused; I’m hugely casual and love questing, and I’ve found the new zones to be a delight. There are plenty of side quests, hidden treasures, and rare elites to tackle.
The story in Midnight has intrigued me from the start. Sometimes, World of Warcraft stories can lose their lustre when they return to the premise of ‘big bad threatens Azeroth, the one true hero must save the day’, but Midnight has managed to make Xal’Atath feel genuinely threatening.
Questing through the new zones in Midnight is immersive and enjoyable. There are some questlines or segments of the campaign that feel better than others, admittedly, with a few tropey lines here and there, but on the whole, I’ve enjoyed my time with it as a lore nerd.
One tiny complaint that I have about the new zones is the lack of battle pets. Yes, yes, I know, who puts Pokémon in World of Warcraft – but for those of us who enjoy battling and collecting, it felt bitterly disappointing to see the battle mechanic be entirely removed in the expansion.
Now, you throw a trap to capture a non-battling companion pet, with a guaranteed success rate. Sure, it’s not a popular feature, and I know many folks won’t have noticed its absence, but even 4 or 5 pets to battle and capture would’ve been an absolute delight.
To me, this system makes the world feel more alive as a collector, so its absence was felt, and I hope it pops back up in The Last Titan, even if it’s to a lesser degree.
Immersive and vibrant
Something that’s stood out to me while leveling my main in Midnight content is that the main players in the story feel vibrant and multi-dimensional. As much as I’d consider myself a diehard World of Warcraft fan, I’d admit this isn’t always the case – some protagonists and key allies in previous expansions have felt a little flat.
Characters like Arator and Orweyna feel well-written and engaging, with backstories that make it worth sticking around to hear their discussions and monologues. At the start of Midnight’s story, I wasn’t sure how much I’d like Arator, but by the first few levels, he’d grown on me as a character.
Learning more about Orweyna has been a treat, too. The Haranir are a fascinating group of characters, and Orweyna’s quests and conversations have kept me intrigued while exploring the main Midnight campaign.
There’s a strong variety of content on offer in Midnight, too. It’s worth noting that I’m a PvE fan primarily, so I can’t speak to the quality of Midnight’s PvP too much.
Delves in Midnight are arguably stronger than they were in The War Within. There are 10 Delves to enjoy, ranging from Shadowguard Point in the Voidstorm to The Darkway in Eversong Woods, and each one feels unique in its core mechanic and aesthetic.
Dungeons have also been a lot of fun to rip through in Midnight. Murder Row and Windrunner Spire have stood out as two highlights; despite them being leveling dungeons, I found their theming to be exquisite and enjoyed the boss fights they offered, particularly with the Derelict Duo fight in Windrunner Spire.
If you’re considering coming back to World of Warcraft for Midnight, I’d say go for it. My experience with the expansion since the beta has been a delight, both as a fan of the game’s story and PvE content. While it may have some quirks in the story here and there, it’s a stellar experience overall, following up The War Within in style.
FAQs
World of Warcraft came out on November 23, 2004.
The Midnight expansion for World of Warcraft came out on March 2, 2026.
There isn’t a confirmed release date for The Last Titan yet. It’ll be released after Midnight as part of The Worldsoul Saga.
Yes, it’s worth coming back to World of Warcraft for Midnight in 2026 – the expansion is vibrant and packed to the brim with fun content, particularly for PvE, lore nerds, and casual players.
