Shadowlands is one of the most ambitious expansions in World of Warcraft. The complex and interlocking progression system can be a bit overwhelming. When I'm not whittling away a bit to expand my Covenant's Sanctum (basically my superhero HQ), I can be found exploring the dark and dangerous new endgame zones or exploring Shadowlands' excellent dungeon, essentially a self-contained roguelike or climbing the endless floors of Torghast. And then there are the familiar grind of world quests, dungeons, and the pursuit of hidden treasures like new mounts.

While this is all very much the case, and sometimes too familiar, the endgame in Shadowlands is varied and inventive enough to be enjoyable. It may not win the hearts of jaded players who have drifted away over the years, but Shadowlands is the best World of Warcraft in quite some time.

Shadowlands carries the heavy burden of making up for the frustration of Warcraft's previous chapter, just as Legion had to win back fans after the debacle that was "Warlords of Draenor." Shadowlands is tasked with making up for the tedious glade and convoluted storyline of "Battle for Azeroth". While other MMOs like "Final Fantasy 14" and "Elder Scrolls Online" are getting better and better with each update.

Shadowlands is a huge improvement over Battle for Azeroth. No more endless agony of breathless chasing. No more opaque armor systems like Azerite armor, no more joys of getting drool-worthy loot from dungeon bosses. And best of all, much of the randomness has been suppressed and left to the player's choice. Instead of praying for weeks for a particular powerful Legendary item to drop, only to get a useless item, you can procure the materials for the item you want and make it yourself. You get to call your own shots instead of following the gods of random whimsy.

This emphasis on player choice is most evident in the Covenant. The Covenant is essentially the various Hogwarts houses as individual afterlife worlds where souls are sent to live forever. Instead of Slytherin, there is Mardraxus, a green-covered nightmarish hellhole where the Necrolord Legion fights in a theater of pain. It's better than quietly indulging in meditation like the blue-skinned idiots in "Bastion.

After completing the story and reaching level 60, players will be able to choose one of these four to join the group. Each offers a different endgame story campaign, as well as two unique (and very powerful) abilities, armor sets, mounts, and even fun side activities like tending the soul garden and a forge where you can assemble Frankenstein-esque abominations. Even side activities such as tending a soul garden or a forge where you can assemble Frankenstein-esque abominations. One of the biggest decisions I've made in WoW since choosing my race and class, and I love the weight of it.

Above: numerous cutscenes make the story more coherent.

By signing a contract with Ventil, you get the Door of Shadows. If I contract with the Angels of Bastion, they are definitely not as virtuous as they first appear, but I can conjure up a cute little owl steward (slave).

However, it took me a really long time to fall in love with Shadowland. The story starts out briskly, but it quickly settles into an onerous, no-risk leveling experience that eventually just feels like a burden. Even as I wandered across the four new zones, I rarely felt challenged or excited by the task at hand. You go to a place, click on something, kill something else, and sit still for a minute or two while the character talks to you.

I don't have a problem with the script itself, and I really like many of the cutscenes, but the events move too quickly, giving the characters no time to breathe and no opportunity to really get to know them. There are plenty of long speeches and information dumps, but very little to make you feel emotionally invested in the story. Just when you think you've seen a dramatic cut scene that foreshadows a fight with the big boss, it melts away in 20 seconds without ever being cut. Everything feels monotonous.

The only exception is the Ardenwald zone, where the enchanting cosmic forest slowly withers away. There is visible sadness in this zone, but much of the emotional weight of its story is expressed in an optional six-minute animated cutscene that Blizzard released as marketing three months ago.

At this point, even the need to level up a character is questionable; in the early days of World of Warcraft, the journey was the reason. Each level was felt to be earned. But leveling up in modern Warcraft is so no-brainer that it takes the tension out of the story and makes every moment a little painful, forcing me to stop and listen to another explanation dump. Shadowlands is much more interesting when it takes a "less is more" approach, as when I discover that the cool mount actually had a tragic backstory that goes back to WoW's vanilla.

Once I got to level 60 and the story was winding down, I was able to spend more time doing the things I actually enjoy. And Shadowlands has a lot of fun in the endgame. I really love the covenant system and how much it adds texture to the routine of running dungeons, doing world quests, and exploring.

As Ventia, I relax in my underground vampire lair and travel through the ruined castles of Levandres using the Mirror of Blood. But if I had been working with Maldraxxus, my sanctum sanctorum would have been in the midst of a giant statue of their god, inhabited by a pusillanimous undead monster.The story of World of Warcraft may spin more often than it plays, but its world view is still the coolest thing ever.

Resources, called anima, are earned by completing most endgame activities and can be used to upgrade various parts of the covenant headquarters, called sanctums. It is a more engaging endgame system because it aims to unlock new ways to play Warcraft, rather than simply upgrading status incrementally.

Just recently, we were able to build Ember Court where we can host special vampire parties for our cool vampire friends. Each time I host such a ball, I have to make decisions about the guest list, entertainment, and catering. It is surprisingly fun to juggle the different personalities and expectations of the party guests and make sure everyone has a good time. If I'm inviting pompous dukes who insist on formality, it's best to provide plenty of tea.

Nothing compares to Torghast, the "cursed tower," with its elaborate tea parties, etc. Torghast, Shadowlands' masterpiece, is a roguelike dungeon that changes every time you enter it. As with any good roguelike, the real fun is in gradually acquiring ridiculous powers that warp your character into a killing machine. There are hundreds of varieties (some limited by class or covenant), but I've found powers that transform you into a giant, powers that temporarily blind you in exchange for greatly increased damage, and powers that transform you into a tiny rat so you can sneak past enemies.

Torghast is a great addition to WoW, but sometimes it's hard to escape the feeling that you've run this marathon before. I like that Blizzard swings heavily toward expansion while other MMOs are content to stick to the template, but it makes it all seem inconsequential. I can whittle away at Covenant and bust my ass, but players who start playing a month from now will catch up to me with minimal effort. Once a major update is made, the goalposts will be set back and any hard-earned equipment will be worthless trash in comparison to whatever new stuff is available. It's hard to see the value of investing a huge amount of time in a game when everything is so ephemeral.

Fortunately, unlike Battle for Azeroth, many of the new features in Shadowlands are inherently fun enough that you'll want to keep playing even if you're concerned about the big picture: the four new zones are full of surprises and treasures, the Covenant is a great place to get your exciting way to customize your character, and now that the main campaign is over, I'm enjoying the more subtle storytelling and worldbuilding.