Review: ArenaNet Has Hit Their Stride With Janthir Wilds

The Janthir Wilds expansion marks the next thrilling chapter in ArenaNet's innovative approach to Guild Wars 2. Embracing a new model, these expansions may be more compact, but they're packed with content and will drop yearly, promising a steady stream of adventures. After the recent preview for Janthir Wilds, I was keen to dive into everything and see if they could improve on the foundation they set with Secrets of the Obscure.

Story

When I first saw the Janthir Wilds expansion announcement, I was initially concerned we’d be moving on to an entirely new area, and everything we’d learned and discovered in SotO would be set aside. Thankfully, this was proven untrue from the story's first moments. We immediately kick off with the formation of the Tyrian Alliance, which, it turned out, was convened to reveal the true identity of the invaders who had been attacking Tyrians and to reveal the existence of the Wizards. Isgarren showed up in his typical fashion and quickly turned things on their head.

We met with the Alliance a few times, and I understand that some players find these sections tedious. When Jenna mentioned going around the room and having everyone talk about why they are there, it gave me the twitches because I hate meetings where everyone needs to talk about why they are there before the actual work can begin. That said, I recommend talking to everyone whenever the opportunity arises. There are so many fascinating updates with all the different groups we haven’t heard from in a long time. In particular, the sylvari and norn have interesting updates. It was lovely to revisit some of these story threads we hadn’t touched in years.

Something I also really enjoyed about the story's first half is its laid-back feel. There was no immediate world-ending threat that had to be dealt with right away. We were going to explore, check out some strange reports, and find Waiting Sorrow. Since there was no immediate urgent threat, spending time learning about the new kodan