My approach to World of Warcraft has largely been one of logging in and enjoying a casual adventure in Azeroth. I’m not messing around with macros or trying to carry a team through a dungeon. I’m more than happy to spend my time chewing on scenery and gobbling up lore. Yes, I’m that guy that wants to know exactly why he must fell 15 trolls.
This taps into one of the many things that makes World of Warcraft great, in that Blizzard wants to make sure there’s a WoW experience that suits everybody. Whether it’s through PC hardware support, innovations in battle mechanics like Single-Button Assistant, and rolling out numerous accessibility features such as Text to Speech, the game constantly hits it out of the park for creating a world for so many players to access and enjoy.
This is one of the things that has made me excited for World of Warcraft: Forever, in that Blizzard can now take all the years of learned knowledge of creating a welcoming Azeroth and return us to an age when it still felt fresh and unknown; like an adventure every time you logged in , and now we’ll be able to play with a controller in our hands thanks to Gamepad (Alpha) support.
I suppose I should back up just a bit to give you a refresher on what World of Warcraft: Forever is and why it’s a pretty big deal. Essentially, we’ll return to a version of the game’s world that is very similar to the WoW that arrived in 2004, but with many new stories, locations, and improved features that work to strike that middle ground between that Classic feel, mixed with added improvements to make the experience welcoming for newcomers. And it’s going to stay that way, hence the Forever in the game’s title.
What does that mean lore-wise? We’re back to the two main continents, Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor, and the classic races featuring humans, orcs, elves, trolls, dwarfs, and others. But don’t expect a 1:1 experience as there will still be a lot of new to explore. The most significant are the Skyborne, a new race of elves that occupy the recently uncovered floating Zephras Isle.
Back on the ground, there will be new areas to discover in the Riverglades and Mount Hyjal, improved lighting and graphics to make familiar locations feel new, as well as revamps to class combos, like being able to roll with a Forsaken Paladin.
Think of Forever as filling the gaps of Azeroth with denser content to keep the Classic vibes in play. And it’s all included in your current subscription, so there’s no additional purchase required to experience this old-new world. And one of those new ways to experience Azeroth will influence not only how to play but also where.
My personal PC gaming rig is about the size of a game console, which occasionally finds a home next to my XBOX Series X|S in the living room; I’m rocking an AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D and ASUS Prime Radeon RX 9070 all in a small form factor Fractal Ridge case. Now with World of Warcraft: Forever and its Gamepad (Alpha) support, I’m as close as I’ve ever been to a console-like Warcraft experience , and it’s awesome.
Enabling the controller support is seamless from the main menu , just go into Options and check the box for “Gamepad (Alpha)” support. That will change your on-screen icons to match your controller’s buttons and from there you can start adventuring. I would recommend a modern XBOX Wireless Controller to use since every on-screen button icon maps perfectly.
The first thing I wanted to work out with the Gamepad (Alpha) feature was accessing my normal routines , how to access Bags; where are my Quests; how do I look at my character? This has come together over time. I haven’t found anything that I can’t access through just the controller, and that’s a good thing for this feature’s future support.
Like learning the controls of any new role-playing game, there’s a certain rhythm you’ll become accustomed to with combat. For those who have already been playing World of Warcraft for a long time, you’ll have the added benefit of understanding how character progression, buffs, order of attacks, and additional skills will unlock. I will say that combat in Forever feels more rhythmic than modern Warcraft, which leans in the controller support’s favor, giving you a little bit more time to think through your next attack.
Combat itself involves cycling through actions tied to the controller’s Triggers and Bumpers, which when pressed alternate the actions that are mapped to your controller’s buttons. Once I got that hang of it, I was really moving into a nice combat flow, triggering enemies, casting spells, running away, and more.
What I’m still working on is interacting with other players with just the controller. There is a ping system tied to holding down the right analog stick that can help you nudge others in your party on with commands like, Attack, Warning, On My Way, and Assist, but having a keyboard and/or voice chat still feels like the way to go. Having my wireless keyboard next to me on the couch is a good fallback option.
Another fun piece of PC gaming hardware I’m fortunate to have on hand is an ASUS ROG XBOX Ally. As fellow owners know, it features a lot of customization options to get most modern games running on it in some capacity. And since it runs Windows 11, apps like Battle.net can run on it too. So that got me thinking , could I get World of Warcraft: Forever running on it too? Yes, I could.