Beautiful, difficult, and reflective. Mists of Pandaria is as versatile as its new monk class.

User Rating: 6.5 | World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria PC

You've conquered Outland, burned through the frozen wastes of Northrend, survived the world altering brought about in Cataclysm and now get set to explore a whole new world in the latest expansion for Blizzard's massively multiplayer online addiction, World of Warcraft.

As its fourth expansion for the base game, released in 2004, Pandaria boasts a much lighter affair than all of its predecessors. This keeps it fresh but ultimately makes it feel like there's something missing.

The new race, Pandaren, are more or less what you'd expect. They are rotund panda bears, who like to eat and fight and well ....eat more. With skills like rolling and bonuses to their cooking ability, there isn't much that's terribly surprising about Pandaren, gameplay wise.

The new monk class. however, is nothing if not versatile. Monks can direct damage with palm strikes and spin moves, and heal as well as tank. As healing monks or "mistweavers", your heals are mainly single target channeled affairs, with special options for group heals opening up as you progress in level.

Much different than the traditional druid, paladin or priest healing classes, the monk as a healer takes awhile to get used to and even longer to become skilled at.

For monks that want to tank, they are called "brewmasters" and their art is somewhat derived from the drunken boxing school of fighting. Tossing and drinking large barrels of ale and other viscous consumables play a part in the tank's arsenal, as does various taunting abilities.

Whichever way you choose to play your monk, careful resource management is key. Monks develop a unique resource known as chi over time and use this chi to power many of their abilities. Sometimes you can spend mana to get chi, sometimes you can spend chi to get mana and sometimes you can trade life for chi. Managing all three resources effectively in the heat of battle can be a challenging affair, especially when in a raid or a dungeon setting.

The new starting areas involving Pandaria are gorgeous, the asian inspired designs dripping with color and depth. The advanced areas aren't nearly as eye poppingly beautiful, as the color palette is more muted, thanks to an invasion storyline, but are still interesting to explore in their own right.

Aurally, the soundtrack to Pandaria is as lovely as ever, and plays a complimentary theme to whatever you happen to be doing in Pandaria, whether fighting hordes of demonic spirits or staring at the lovely vistas.

Bold, difficult, and eye catching, Mists of Pandaria may be as multifaceted as the monk class itself. It's beautiful, yet understated. The new areas are often difficult, yet easily accessible. The new dungeons, while vast, don't convey that same sense of wonder to those that came before it.

That may be Pandaria's legacy, to follow, instead of lead. Where Outland had Black Temples, Pandaria has breweries. Where Northrend had frozen wastes, Pandaria features lush jungles and disease ridden forests. Where Cataclysm had a world seared by destruction, Pandaria seems to exist simply as a place for quiet reflection, from its monk class to its many waterfalls and jade temples and pagodas.

It's by no means a bad thing, but a feeling of something missing seems to overshadow the expansion. Perhaps after so many dark turns in the franchise's storied past, we shun a lighter, more accessible fare, suspicious of shadows lingering just outside our field of view. It's hard not to wonder what if, had certain strokes been made with a slightly darker brush.