Reviewing a massively multiplayer game like The Elder Scrolls Online is an enormous task. With a sprawling world, vast character and class options, a colossal number of quests, and untold hours of voice work, writing a full review after playing for a few days isn’t fair. It isn’t fair to you, it isn’t fair to me, and it absolutely isn’t fair to the game and it’s creators.
So, here’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to explore the game until my eyes water and burn, until my fingers become gnarled claws above my keyboard. Every few days I’ll tell you about my experiences, and once I’m satisfied that I’ve seen enough, I’ll assign a score. Without further ado…
Functionality
A big part of any MMO is how well it functions. So far I’ve had a mixed experience – at times everything seems ok, but problems crop up a bit too frequently – many of the bugs I encountered in the beta are still here. Some quests are broken, and I’ve had numerous instances where I’m unable to interact with the world. Presumably this will improve with time, but for $15/month things ought to be pretty smooth out of the gate.
It became evident that the game was an online game first and an Elder Scrolls game second when I took down an archer with a cool looking bow – and was only able to loot him for 1 gold. It’s an adjustment I’m having to come to grips with, as the gods of loot are singularly responsible for the spoils of battle. The MMO focus became more apparent when 15 or 20 player characters lined up in front of a cell to release the same guy from custody. Immersion has always been a strength of Elder Scrolls titles, but typical MMO tropes smash any semblance of that.
The interface has definite usability issues. The map is irritating – it’s only possible to view the current area in any amount of detail, making planning journeys unnecessarily difficult. It’s tough to sort through the inventory, and the menu as a whole uses only a tiny portion of the screen, wasting a whole bunch of space. Finally, it’s VERY difficult to pick out NPCs among groups of characters, and finding the owner of a shop has been a nightmare. Fortunately, the game supports add ons and mods, and the community has already crafted a number of useful additions.
The Story
If I were to count the number of hours I’ve spent in Tamriel over the years, I probably could have invented cold fusion in the same amount of time. A big part of that is the lore of the realm. That depth and breadth of lore is present in spades in ESO, so long as you’re willing to go looking for it. Like past games, there is an absurd amount of backstory hidden in books, and most of seems to be on par with similar tomes from Skyrim. The voice acting is by and large excellent, with Michael Gambon standing out in particular. Although many characters sound similar, the effect is less obvious than previous games thanks to more creative work from the core actors. I’ve also encountered a couple of strange voice over situations where a unique character (Gambon) is voiced by a generic voice for a few lines. It’s jarring, and breaks immersion.
The Combat
It’s a strange balance. On one hand it feels like an MMO, but on the other hand they’ve tried to shoehorn traditional Elder Scrolls combat into the mix. It fits kind of a glass slipper on Cinderella’s ugly step sister; while combat is more responsive than a typical MMO, it feels imprecise compared to Skyrim. It’s clear that there is some amount of calculation going on behind the scenes, and it makes skills like archery frustrating to use.
3rd person combat exists, but should be avoided like a severe and deadly plague. It feels wrong, especially with ranged attacks, where things feel downright clunky. It’s surprising that the first person perspective was added so late in development, yet is far and away preferable to play.
The Crafting, Smithing, Picking et al.
Up to this point, I’ve dabbled in ‘provisioning’ – cooking and brewing, and it seems to be a fairly robust system. Recipes can be found everywhere, with a decent variety of ingredients and properties to discover. I’m planning to play around with smithing and enchanting, but haven’t had the resources to do anything of note up to this point. Stay tuned for that.
The Aesthetics
On a technical level, it looks good. The models are all of high quality, and the textures look great on a higher end machine. My problem is with the design of the world. Where Skyrim was jaw dropping at every turn, ESO tends to be somewhat boring. Open areas are clearly designed to hold huge numbers of player characters, and the general design of areas is somewhat generic – nothing I’ve seen to this point has the visual impact of Skyrim’s signature cities.
The music is totally rad though. The Elder Scrolls theme is prominently trumpeted at every turn, and makes everything feel epic – even hunting rats. Sound design feels like a step up from previous games too, with combat coming off as brutal and realistic.
The Exploration
There is no shortage of things to do in ESO. The compass indicates quest givers nearby, and they are abundant. They are quite literally everywhere, and surprisingly devoid of the stereotypical “kill 10 rats” type of quests. It’s great to see, and bodes well for the longevity of the game.
Other Thoughts
ESO seems to be trying to walk a very thin tightrope. They’re trying to build a solid and long lasting MMO, while still making it an Elder Scrolls experience. I haven’t decided if they are succeeding or not, but I’m intrigued enough by what I’ve seen to want to play more. That’s a good thing.
