Well said. I still love this game, and I'll be the first to defend it against baseless critiques, but Dragon Soul felt underdeveloped and thrown together (at least encounter-wise.) I can't help but feel that there were originally other intentions for a lot of the raid, including some new art assets, but they had to shift gears and work with what they had to get it out on time.

I think this could have been a very memorable raid, but the bosses themselves are kind of forgettable for a few reasons, not the least of which being that we've been looking at all of these models for the whole expansion. Take Ultraxion. I get it, he's Deathwing's "ultimate creation" (I thought that was Chromatus?) but he's just a big Twilight dragon. Personally, the whole "Twilight dragons are horrifying abominations" loses a little of its impact for me when they're just purple. A resurrected Theralion and Valiona, both heads stitched onto the same body, would have been much more memorable, and would be a fitting end for their bickering dynamic (which were some of Cataclysm's more memorable raid quotes for me.)

Hagara is another example. I'm okay with another evil shaman, but for an orc boss in a raid where Thrall features so heavily, I feel like they could have set her backstory up a little better. Maybe she's former Earthen Ring, or lost her family to Alliance incursion in the Barrens, and wants revenge on Thrall for leading the orcs to settle in an inhospitable land but not taking a stand against the enemy on their doorstep. Her Tauren lieutenant could even have been a former resident of Taurajo. They set up these far-reaching Horde storylines in the beginning of Cataclysm, why not have them tie in to the final raid?

Just examples of things they could have done to make Dragon Soul feel like a culmination of all things Cataclysm. I would have liked to see Goblins and Worgen tie in somehow, too, even in some small way. Blood elves and Draenei were heavily involved in the Sunwell, and the Ebon Blade were instrumental in the attack on Icecrown. Their inclusion in the final raids brought some sense of completion to their respective storylines. Dragon Soul brings closure (hopefully) to Thrall's storyline, but other than putting a villain down, it didn't do much for me story-wise. It didn't help that a lot of folks felt disconnected from Deathwing as a character.

Now, if we had gotten a chance to encounter an pre-corruption Neltharion in a Caverns of Time instance...

Oh well. I still have faith in this game's story, and I don't mind a few stumbles. Here's to new stories and lore in Mists!