by stormraige23 - 2 years ago     show comments

Hearthstone’s newest expansion Festival of Legends was revealed on March 14th and is set to be released soon TM. It is a perfect example of what Hearthstone should be. It looks fun, chaotic, delightful, and has a banger opening number. But there is one glaringly obvious mistake that the Hearthstone team has made.

Before we get to that unholy mistake let’s start off with a positive note.

I firmly believe that you can learn everything about expansion from the cinematic trailer. So let’s check out this absolutely bangerific trailer.

RIGHT?! It’s so perfect. We haven’t received a true cinematic/musical masterpiece since Voyage to the Sunken City and let me tell you I’ve missed it.

Story wise this expansion seems perfect. In March of the Lich King the story was… non existent? Everywhere? Somehow we were both in Quel’Thelas and Ironforge? How exactly did the Lich King march? I mean… Tell me how that makes sense with this map? Don’t forget Northrend is… North of all of this? Thanks I hate it.

Why was he marching? Did he achieve his goal? None of our questions are answered and as a result the story in March of the Lich King… flopped…? and even that might be generous.

We are off to a stronger start with this bad boy. I MEAN DID YOU SEE THE TRAILER?! Not only that, but it leans into what makes Hearthstone great. It isn’t grand story telling of powerful and epic characters (leave that to World of Warcraft please). Instead it focuses on a goofy and fun side of Warcraft that we haven’t seen yet.

This storytelling is further compounded by the mechanics of the set itself.  Let’s start with the first keyword introduced: Finale.

These cards have a powerful effect that trigger if you spend all of your mana on this card. Not only does this make the mechanical choice of when to play these cards far more interesting (Do I play on curve for great value or hold it till it is more… instrumental..?), but they also remind us that this set is all about putting on a great concert.

Next up are the new legendaries for this set. What kind of legendaries SHOULD we get in a set about a music festival? Well… lead musicians and their songs right? AND THATS EXACTLY WHAT WE GET?! HELL YEAH!

What would a Death Knight Death Metal… oh I get it… death… anyway what would that band name their song?  CLIMACTIC NECROTIC EXPLOSION! I don’t even care what this card does it’s fun and I’m going to play it. It really strikes a chord with me. (Sick of these puns yet? I’m not.)

That’s not all the cool mechanics though!

We also have soloists! This style of effect is not particularly novel, but it is perfect for this set. We all know musicians love to hog the spotlight.

Look at them? They don’t like the spotlight they DEMAND the spotlight. If they don’t get it they will MURDER EVERYONE ELSE TO GET IT. It’s perfect. I love them. Also… same.

Surely you thought “wait but I want to be the one that gets to PLAY the music. I want to be the lead in a solo to finally play Free Bird like my college girlfriend always wanted me to. Well… GOOD NEWS EVERYONE!

With these kickass instruments you can! These are my favorite incarnation of weapons since… No these are my favorite way that weapons have ever been done as a set in Hearthstone. They just fit so well.

“But Stormraige you mentioned a glaring flaw! You’ve just said good things so far!”

Correct. One small thing before I get to the truly critical point.

Why… why dissonant? Why not melodic? It would just fit better… Harmonies and melodies work perfectly to counter each other. Each is useful and needed. Dissonant just… doesn’t work? Also who knows what dissonant means? It’s certainly not as common as melody. This seems like a small swing and a miss.

But it’s not the biggest miss.

I’m not sure if I can ever forgive Hearthstone for this.

Why. On Earth. Was THIS the lineup?

The image is slightly small so here are the lineups:

Death Knight: Metal. Perfect.

Druid: Hippie. No notes.

Demon Hunter: Emo. Of course. Flawless victory. My favorite of all of them.

Hunter: Folk. Love it.

Mage: Electric. Fun. Unexpected.

Priest: Pop. Not what I would’ve went with, but I think it fits really well.

Rogue: Hip Hop. Excellent.

Warrior: Rock. This rocks.

Shaman: Jazz. It’s weird. It’s silly. Iconic.

Paladin: Disco

Warlock: Classical.

WHY THE FEL IS WARLOCK NOT DISCO?! We’ve been calling Discard warlock Disco Warlock since Karazan. It perfectly fits. It’s silly and weird and there’s already an archetype that fits so well! You went with… CLASSICAL!?

Why are Paladin and Warlock not swapped? You’re telling me that Warlock’s don’t get down on dirty on the dance floor and that Paladin’s don’t just sit in opera halls dedicated to the light on every Friday with their fancy binoculars watching the same story for the last 100 years!? YOU ARE OUT OF YOUR ROCKING MIND!

Criticisms aside, this looks to be a perfect set that is exactly what Hearthstone SHOULD be. Hearthstone is at its best when it’s fun, flavorful, silly, and interesting. This set looks poised to deliver on that premise.