Everything we can’t wait to do in WoW Remix: Mists of Pandaria

In mid-May World of Warcraft players are getting a new temporary leveling experience called WoW Remix: Mists of Pandaria, and as players who went through it the first time, there are a lot of things we’re excited to experience again.

Designed like a hyper-Chromie Time, ReMists will let you level a new character to 70 solely through the Mists of Pandaria experience. For those not necessarily keen on leveling a new toon the experience is providing a plethora of collectibles including some rare drops from retail, but for many players this is an opportunity to revisit the expansion in full for the first time in a decade — or get a chance to do so for the first time — and that’s enough motivation. Here are some of the things we’re looking forward to experiencing again for the first time.

Lore and cinematics

The announcement trailer really set the tone for the expansion, mixing action with wry humor and some of the best cinematography the Warcraft team had accomplished by that time (seriously, the mist slowly dissipating over the course of the fight was a masterclass in revelation). That said it doesn’t really give you a sense of what the plot is going to be. Once you get to the Jade Forest it’s still a slow build — Alliance and Horde make allies, ready their forces, and prepare to battle. The character however has seen a lot more up to that point, and when the Battle at the Jade Serpent Statue cinematic begins it soon becomes evident what our role in the expansion is going to be.

While the plot shifts to focus on Pandaria during the leveling experience, the Horde vs Alliance theme never disappears and a lot of lore is revealed on both fronts. The Siege of Orgrimmar itself feels like a natural extension of the patches that preceded it, and the final patch announcement delivered yet another amazing cinematic that completely saved Taran Zhu for me (he was a bit of a ponce for most of the expansion). So much of what was revealed in Mists was consequential both to the history of Azeroth and future events that the opportunity to pore through them again and maybe find a forgotten tidbit is the one thing I can’t wait to do in ReMists.

Spending time with friends and enemies

Mists of Pandaria gave players a whole wealth of memorable NPCs for our characters to interact with. Not all of them were fun to hang out with — the previously-mentioned Taran Zhu, many of the Hozen — but it gave a real sense of Pandaria being a living, breathing world. Valley of Four Winds probably had the most memorable NPCs, or maybe it just felt that way because of all the time we spent in Halfhill getting our farm going.

Of all of them, though, I have to say my favorite were the Klaxxi. Sure, they were ostensibly our enemies (as we were reminded a few times, our gods were not their gods) and I hated how the whole thing ended. But the time we spent together was fantastic and I’m looking forward to becoming the Wakener once more. I am concerned that dailies will be required in order to get to Exalted with them — and unlock the last lore tidbit — but I’m hoping ReMists shortcuts much of that.

I would be remiss not to mention probably the most important NPCs for the Mists experience: Chen and Li Li Stormstout. While Li Li could be occasionally annoying — seriously, I spent days fruitlessly searching behind waterfalls after she suggested I should do so — they were excellent guides to the events that were happening in Pandaria. One of my favorite small moments with them takes place in Dread Wastes when Chen is searching for other Stormstouts; it’s poignant, and it still resonates with me a decade later.

Pandaria added a lot of gameplay

I’ve already mention the farm in Halfhill which was players’ first WoW experience with a farming lifestyle, but that somehow ended up becoming one of the least impactful things added to the modern game — blame Garrison burnout during Warlords of Draenor for that. Still it gave us a taste for having our own patch of land to tend and maybe someday it’ll be the first step towards player housing.

Another new feature in Mists that we sort of expected to stick around but didn’t were Scenarios. Three-person instances without role requirements, they were little bite-sized activities that actually advanced the story and had fairly nice gear rewards. While they didn’t become a regular feature, the technology has been leveraged several times since, with Delves being their latest iteration.

Not every new feature was temporary, though. It’s easy to forget nowadays because they’re so prevalent, but both Rares and Treasures became ubiquitous in Mists of Pandaria (part of the reason we were ready to take Li Li so seriously when she suggested looking for them behind waterfalls). I can’t wait to once again pick up my favorite vendor trash item in the game, the Ancient Pandaren Woodcutter. Timeless Isle became a sandbox for both of these gameplay aspects and are a large reason why calling out rares in chat became a common occurrence. While I hated trying to get to a rare in time, I do once again look forward to the callouts and players converging on the spot.

In the end Mists of Pandaria ended up being an important expansion in World of Warcraft‘s development, and ReMists gives all players a chance to experience it again in fast forward for at least a few months. Whether it’s unlocking the Isle of Thunder with the faction or getting knocked off a rise in Valley of Four Winds by a goat there’s a lot of old memories to relive and I can’t wait.