Story wise, it was intense, especially since I'd unintentionally picked the one race that would be featured the most in the first expansion. A lot is revealed about who the Sylvari really are, or at least who they're related to. Also, a core character from the Sylvari starting story ends up dying to save the world. Very dramatic. I cried a few times.
The new world maps were a pain in the ass. Heart of Thorns introduces the gliding travel mechanic, and they make it incredibly necessary at every turn. I was not at all used to such vertical maps. Much to my dismay, they had no heart quests. Mastery XP could only be earned from random event grinding, which feels more high stress to me. But the next zone would be locked behind leveling up in Mastery, so no choice but to do it. Hated that.
Gliding, the new travel mechanic, was fun and cool, but also very difficult to master. It's tons of fun to climb up high places and just glide down, but when you're trying to get somewhere specific, it takes a little more finesse. I will make an effort to level up this skill when I'm finished with Season 3 unlocks. Season 3 is tied to Heart of Thorns.
About Season 3, the episodic bits between Heart of Thorns and Path of Fire, things got considerably better when they started having heart quests on the maps again!
Overall, I don't regret getting Heart of Thorns. I prolly won't be able to complete the HoT maps until I get a flying mount in Season 4, but you know. But hey, I got to feel important as a little Sylvari with a jungle dragon god telling me to murder my friends.
