The Elder Scrolls Online Review

Later, you discover another escalating instability, as three factions- the Daggerfall Covenant, the Aldmeri Dominion and the Ebonheart Pact vie for control of the Imperial City and land’s iconic White-Gold Tower. With each alliance designated by a different creature and a struggle for an emperor’s cathedra known as the Ruby Throne, comparisons’ to George R. R. Martin seem inevitable. Undeniably, TESO’s storytelling is proficient, raised by well-written dialog, and first-rate voice acting- but lacks the pathos which drives A Song of Ice and Fire. That said, the game’s expansive areas, which encompass everything from the swampy Black Marsh, lush plains of Cyrodiil, and snowy peaks of Skyrim, help to adhere Elder Scrolls’ geography and mythology into a cohesive piece of lore.

About 45 minutes into The Elder Scrolls Online, the leash is unfastened, and players are allowed to dictate their own destiny. Naturally, missions abound, indicated by NPCs with a marker over their heads. Unlike many other MMOs, where it feels as if the world isn’t altered by player actions, TESO demonstrates tangible change, marked by seemingly irreversible events. Naturally, decisions come into play as well- it’ll be interesting just how much these can influence the overarching narrative. One shortcoming which plagues the game is the lack of completely autonomous exploration; move into an area soon and you’ll be attacked by swarms of high-level enemies and missions which are far above your current pay-grade.

Undoubtedly, combat draws inspiration from the Skyrim’s tenets, albeit with a selection of five hotkeys. Holding down the right mouse button puts players into a defensive stance, while the left button initiates either a melee or ranged attack; holding down the button for longer period increases the power of the strike. Courteously, opponents telegraph their offensives, with red translucent shapes displaying area-of-effect spans and red outlines around an enemy advising for players to sidestep an imminent strike. While battles feel immersive in TESO’s default first-person view, players might prefer the third person perspective when scrapping with several nearby foes.

Consistent with Elder Scroll canon, crates, bookshelves, urns, boxes, and tables conceal a sundry of items. But before long, searching every vessel in the expansive world becomes a bit of a chore. Fortunately, for crafters, most items are out in the open, allowing players to stockpile supplies with ease. Pleasingly, the vocation doesn’t feel like an empty endeavor- with dedicated players able to create good which compete against valuable dungeon spoils. Certainly, TESO seems to have the foundations for a thriving economy- it’s be interesting to see if the developer’s intentions take hold.

As virtuous as many of The Elder Scrolls Online’s components are, it’s the title’s multiplayer elements which reveal need for improvement. Public dungeons can be disappointing affairs, as players skulk hallways filled with the corpses of freshly slain foes. Likewise, respawning mini-bosses tends to become magnets for avaricious players- soiling the thrill of what could have been an engaging confrontation. Likewise it’s frustrating to open successions of treasure chest, only to realize it’s been emptied by a player twenty steps ahead of you. Ideally, the developer would implement some type of phasing to lessen the impact of miserly loot whores. Although players can working cooperatively without linking through a more official LFG systems, TESO’s group functionality grants access to multiplayer-only dungeons.

Beyond a few malfunctioning quests, The Elder Scrolls Online needs improvement in its PvP realm. After hours were spent learning how to become competent in combat, the real pleasure was found in performing reconnaissance missions or the thrill of traveling in a large group of mounted warriors rather than engaging in the confrontations themselves. Conflicts felt unfocused with little sense of unit cohesion, and even when I was dispatching enemies or offering AOE assistance, it rarely felt as if my actions were making that much of a difference. Overall, other MMOs have offered better interpretations of large-scale conflict, and TESO needs a bit of improvement is this area.

Unmistakably, the game’s other stumbling point is its price. After a sixty dollar investment for the base game, participants must still ante up a $15 per month subscription fee to play the game (following a complementary 30 day period). For MMO aficionados, this might be a fair proposition- since The Elder Scrolls Online is unquestionably one of the better entries in the genre, and is poised to release a substantial quantity of additional content. For more casual gamers and those easily aggravated by bugs or wayward online behavior, it might be worthwhile to adopt a wait and see approach with TESO. If ZeniMax shows a resolute effort to quash bugs or drop the purchase price, then the game could receive a full recommendation.

The Elder Scrolls Online was played on the PC with review code provided by the publisher.