World of Warcraft - Battle For Azeroth Review - The Perfect Casual RPG

The new World of Warcraft expansion came just on time for me - middle of summer, lots of free time and too hot to be outside except for quick runs to the mall.

Battle For Azeroth capitalized on good ideas from the last expansion, Legion.

World Quests is the best part - everyone can just join in and "kill the baddies" together. The game encourages you to take chances - see the elite monster? Go for it. If you die, just a short walk from the graveyard. Help others - you'll both get loot.

The best part, so far, for me, are the cities and landscape. It is stunning to look at.

Boralus, the Alliance capital, is a port city that reminds me of the places I've visited in other video games - Assassin's Creed and others - in a good way. The characters look and talk like the people (or NPC's!) you'd meet at a fantasy British port city.

There are boats to take you around, and gorgeous mountains to climb.

I'm mostly questing now. Yes, there is a reputation grind, as expected. Blizzard knows how to pace your progress. I've only done a few dungeons - the queue is long as people are still leveling up. Might as well wait a bit and gear up!

Once you gear up a bit, the World Quests are easier and after a few weeks, I can solo most of the bosses. But I enjoyed feeling that my "Legion ready character" was weaker at first, and gradually built up strength. It was the perfect dose of a challenge.

There's more to come - they've promised a full on Alliance vs Horde invasion.

World of Warcraft is, what, 14 years old now. Not new and not the game for hardcore gamers - they moved on years ago. World of Warcraft is what I call a "casual RPG". Every time I've left the game, and tried others, I end up coming back "home to Warcraft".

I love leveling up a character from 1 to 120. I skipped the free "character jump to 110". Takes about two months to level up on your own. Worth the fun - and time.

Looking forward to more!