World of Warcraft: Forever review: "A love letter to the MMORPG I fell for over 20 years ago, with familiar charm enhanced by smart additions"

As I created a Hunter in World of Warcraft: Forever for what must be the 100th time by now, the saying 'the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results' rolled around my head a lot. I've played this game before. A lot. Is Forever truly sufficiently different to be so obsessed again? Well, yes. It's this lovely, warm, flawed, wonderfully infuriating dose of nostalgia. It's simultaneously far improved from the original World of Warcraft and, more recently, World of Warcraft Classic (we'll get into the differences shortly), while leaving you with questions of 'why would you leave that in?'.

Will it convert those who never liked WoW in the first place? Of course not. I don't think that's the point of World of Warcraft: Forever. Instead, it brings home all those slightly lost souls from 20+ years ago (AKA millennials like me who want to return to familiar comfort once more), but with some core improvements. It does that incredibly well and given it has brought back a record number of lapsed players, so far it's succeeding.

Before I dive too deep, let's sum up the differences between World of Warcraft, World of Warcraft Classic, and World of Warcraft Forever so you actually know why the game's important. Retail is best seen as an entirely different beast to Forever. It's very fast-paced, throws nearly as many unlocks at you as a standard game of Fortnite, and is all about leveling up as fast as possible to get to the next part of the story. Getting from level 1 to the level cap of 80 can take just 10 hours if you know what you're doing. It has its place for sure and I really like it, but it's far removed from World of Warcraft's launch years, which is where Classic comes in.

Classic took the game right back to the start and has gradually introduced expansion packs in chronological order. It has a linear progression path, while its leveling process is slow-paced. Each level is richly earned and you'll spend around 200 hours or more playing to reach the level cap of 70. Crucially, not much has been done to spruce anything up. There are some odd UI choices, it looks increasingly dated, and it feels old. It's familiar and fun but also fairly rough around the edges once you start looking.

World of Warcraft: Forever takes what many loved about Classic, but with some key quality-of-life improvements. Player level is permanently capped at 60 with horizontal rather than vertical progression. Oh, and there's a new race called the Skyborne and a bunch of new race/class combinations. You'd be forgiven for thinking Forever still sounds a lot like Classic from this brief overview. It kind of is. But, it's better. This feels like a take on World of Warcraft Classic fans like me wanted, truer to the original experience but willing to remix its approach to deliver new sensations as well.

Hours together

I spent dozens of hours playing the World of Warcraft: Forever beta, and I've already put dozens more into the full release. I'm not alone either. Friends are excited about it again and the servers are packed. I've yet to see them prohibitively packed though. Forever uses a new layering system whereby players pick how they want to play the game (Normal, PvP, or Roleplay) and that's it. There are no pesky issues with 'oh no, my friend chose a different server to me and now we can't play' with the game shrewdly keeping an eye on its layers and moving people around as and when that layer gets full to the point it would degrade the play experience.

It mostly works. Early on, friends and I found that we had to manually reset the layer by logging out and back into the game, but after the first day, it worked seamlessly. Such a move is an early example of how Forever is designed to be far more accessible for all.

Right from the start, you're actually guided through the game with a helpful early tutorial teaching you how to move, attack, and what to do when you die for the first time. As a veteran player, I didn't need it, but I could see the substantial benefit. Retail has a tutorial, but Classic never bothered with one. Another point in favor of this iteration.

Diving in is a beautiful experience once more, especially if you roll one of the new Skyborne race characters. Affectionately referred to as blue Smurfs, these elves are wondrous. They look great amongst a game with improved looking models but none that can rival this new race. You can play either as Alliance or Horde with the Skyborne, with Druid, Hunter, Rogue, and Warrior available for all, while Horde and Alliance have Mage and Shaman classes at their disposal respectively.

There are specific Skyborne racial abilities which are useful too. Walk on Air allows you to glide in the air for 10 seconds which I found a great timesaver when wanting to fall from high distances. There's also Skysight for Horde which boosts run speed by 10%, while Alliance can activate a ley line and gain 100% increased health and mana regeneration for a time. Throughout my time playing WoW, I tend to forget to use my racial abilities – but these are the kind of skills I didn't want to miss out on.

Embrace your inner elf

Skyborne also has some delightful new animations such as a unique dance, a cute cheer, and a more appealing jump than most. Druids get new forms as well. It all feels very fresh once more. After extensively leveling with Skyborne, I didn't want to go back to the legacy races. The Skyborne starter zone of Zephras Isle is luscious. It has that typical World of Warcraft feel to it but it's sprawling, colorful, and a gorgeous reflection of how far games have come.

The water effects across the game are more realistic with waves moving naturally, and the lighting reflecting how it should be compared to real life. Even the audio is slightly muffled when you're underwater, although I found I needed good headphones to absorb this fully. There are some great looking weather effects too. Seeing The Barrens on a hot summer's day then the next day encountering bad storms and fog is special.

None of this would matter much if Forever wasn't fun but it is so much fun. Right now, everyone in-game is as welcoming as they were during the original days. I easily found pickup groups but also I'd have random players resurrect me just because they could, or toss me a heal at a key moment. Another time, I was boarding a zeppelin outside of Orgrimmar and the ship was full of shamans in wolf form dancing and encouraging everyone else to join in.

After years of World of Warcraft feeling lonely and more of a solo MMO, Forever has united players again. At points, I'd be in a silent group, but at others, we'd chat and share our experiences. My Hunter teamed up with a Druid for one quest, and even though neither of us spoke the same language so we communicated through emotes. It was a beautiful moment when we succeeded.

There are new dungeons too covering all level ranges. Hall of Thanes is an early addition for levels 13-18 and it isn't just a matter of 'run and smash' with a bit more strategy easing you into the dungeon mentality, before hitting Ruins of Lordaeron at 15-20, Excavation Site: Wetlands in the 20s, and more beyond that. There's a rich variety here with experience bonuses varying a little while Blizzard balances things. I don't live in dungeons but I've enjoyed diving in to break up the exploration side of the game.

Questing unity

Forever also encourages community spirit with its campfire system. Feeling delightfully RPGish, you can plonk down a campfire and share some buffs with other players. It ties into cooking well, but ultimately it gives you a moment to reflect. While exploring, I've come across plenty of players just camping and chilling. It's a nice reminder that you're playing an MMO, an active world full of players making their own way.

There are still predictable moments of tedium, of course. While Forever has much faster respawns than other versions of the game (sometimes too fast to keep up with in quieter areas), quest item drops can be very hit and miss. At one point, I spent a disproportionate amount of time trying to collect satyr horns from mobs. I needed 16. They only seemed to drop about every 10 mobs despite me being able to see the horns on the satyrs. A boring reminder that sometimes, you'll still be simply grinding away in-game rather than absorbing those beautiful moments of unity.

Combat is mostly much how it's always been. There's autoattack via one key press (or button on the action bar) and then you choose other actions such as casting a particular spell, buff, or special attack.

There's now gamepad support which has opened the game up to unofficial Steam Deck support via a few tweaks. I found this worked well enough. Much like Final Fantasy 14's implementation of gamepad support on console, I wouldn't fancy my chances using a gamepad during more intense moments such as dungeons or raids. It's just not quite as precise or as speedy as a traditional mouse and keyboard setup. It is handy for casual play though, and for those times you don't want to be hunched over your keyboard. Ultimately, more choice is only ever a good thing.

Curiously, while Forever has made the game smaller by not implementing expansion packs, it also feels much bigger as exploration is mostly conducted on foot until you can afford a ground mount (no flying mounts here) but it means everything you achieve feels richly earned.

For the most part, Forever is a wondrous success. The game I'm itching to play more of even though it's all I've done for days. There are so many good tweaks that make it better than Classic. A recent ally alert pops up next to players you've recently grouped with, there's Discord integration which was previously only on Retail, and the quest limit is now up to 40 from 20 (incredibly convenient if you're like me and stockpile quest hand-ins).

The promised 1,000 or so new quests are interspersed nicely with many of the early ones linking together zones more cohesively, and introducing professions and other valuable skills well. Some simply provide you with good gear like bags or a weapon that helps you feel strong for a few levels. All the new quests I've experienced feel like they deserved to be there rather than feeling like filler to pad out the experience.

I'm curious about what will happen further down the line for the game. There's a roadmap lined up for new raids in December before we get even more new raids, dungeons, and quests in 2027, so the next 12 months should be pretty exciting. From there, who knows? WoW: Forever focuses on horizontal progression so we won't see a level cap increase but that makes sense for a game that's all about the journey rather than the destination.

As in life, it's a smart move to enjoy the ride rather than think too far ahead and I haven't had this much fun with World of Warcraft in decades. Sometimes that's all you need. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a Skyborne Hunter seeking my attention. I want to make some new gear for my guild and get raid ready. The good times are finally back.

Planning to play forever? Check out our best open world games and best RPGs rankings for more to play now, and keep an eye on our upcoming RPGs calendar for what's on the horizon!