The Elder Scrolls Online Game Review

The Elder Scrolls Online is fantasy MMORPG developed by Zenimax Online that was released back in 2014.

The Elder Scrolls Online, or ESO henceforth, is set in the same fictional world of Tamriel that all other Elder Scrolls games also occupy.
Featuring impressive graphics, large, open zones to explore, and action combat reminiscent of its console counterparts, it’s no wonder ESO is one of the most played MMORPGs on the market currently.

The Elder Scrolls Online, after 7 years in development, released to incredibly mixed reviews, to the surprise of the general MMO community.
People expected a game like Skyrim that could be played online – something people had been anticipating ever since its announcement.
People were initially turned away by ESO’s poor optimization, game-breaking bugs, inferior graphical stylem and surprisingly average combat system.
Many of these were overhauled and improved upon quite significantly with its re-release and rebranding under The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited, which met with much more critical praise.
Initially beginning as a Pay to Play MMORPG, ESO transitioned over to a Buy to Play model, following their desire to go in a new direction.
Being one of the most densely populated MMORPGs – housing over half a million active players in a given month, you’re bound to find many differing opinions on the game.
Therefore, in this video I plan on going over what I’ve experienced, talked about with people that actively play, and witnessed in The Elder Scrolls Online and whether I believe it’s worth playing going into 2018.

Graphically speaking, The Elder Scrolls Online looks and feels great. It isn’t up to the quality of Black Desert Online or Blade and Soul, but those are games built around their graphics.
Whereas ESO is built around the game itself.
That doesn’t in any way mean that the game looks bad – quite the opposite. It looks like better optimized, yet less resource intense version of an official Elder Scrolls title.
They manage to keep the feeling of the core Elder Scrolls game intact, but for a game with the funding ESO had – they definitely could have gone a step further to really push the limits of their engine.
At least, with regards to character models. Which is what I based the former part of this section on.
The overworld itself though – the world you run around in – that is beautiful. The varied environments, the sheer size of the world you explore, it’s all crafted so, so beautifully.

This is the part of the game I actually didn’t enjoy.
Sure, The Elder Scrolls Online has a good character creator, with a fair amount of character customizability options. That isn’t where the problem lies for me.
The problem lies behind the locked Imperial race.
Don’t get me wrong – I’m not saying the character creator is poor or that it is in any way affected by the locked race, it is merely that I believe it should come unlocked by default.
Back to character creation however – you’re given quite a lot of freedom to customize your character.
Not only do you choose your base “class”, but you’re given access over the general build of your character, tattoos, facial hairs, scars and more.
Which is a fairly redundant thing to point out, sure, but facial hair, tattoos.. they assist in crafting the perfect character.
The only problem I have with ESO’s character creator is the fact that I can’t have my traditional “pretty” female characters. Which is a little sad.

Combat is fairly straight forward as far as action MMORPGs go.
If you’ve ever played an Elder Scrolls game before, then the look and feel of the combat should come as no surprise to you.
I’ve put hundreds of hours into Skyrim and ESO feels so reminiscent of it that it’s almost unbelievable.
So, while the combat isn’t fast, fluid and flashy like Black Desert Online, the combat is still entertaining to take part in.
Add on to that the fact that you can do so much with your class.. like being a heavy armor wearing mage, or a warrior that shoots fireballs with a stave.. mmm. God, I love ESO.

The Elder Scrolls Online occupies a mostly large, sandbox world.
However; at least with regards to the beginning of the game, ESO feels a lot more instanced than it really is.
As you progress through the game you’re given access to larger more open areas, allowing for more exploration and more collaboration with other players.
The game world that ESO inhabits is absolutely astounding. It is beautiful – absolutely beautiful. Couple that with the lush, varied environments, and you have one of the most beautiful game worlds in an MMORPG.

In The Elder Scrolls Online, there is a main story that you partake in that leads the player along through the game.
While traversing through each of the large zones, you’re given the option to follow through the zones storyline – something I believe really helps ESO stand out as an MMORPG.
I’ve played through a fair amount of the game so far on three separate characters so far, and I’ve enjoyed playing through multiple of the zones’ storylines, meeting characters specific to the zones you’re in, and making choices that affect the zone you’re in.
Occasionally you’re given the option to make choices in the game that affect the people you’re traveling with – I strongly feel that that is something missing in MMORPGs of this generation.
Something Guild Wars 2 did as well, although in a different way.

In The Elder Scrolls Online, PvP takes a unique form, in that to PvP, you must partake in something referred to as an Alliance War.
Alliance Wars are huge zone-wide battles that take place between what seems like millions of enemy players. But more realistically.. about a hundred.
To access PvP, you must first hit level 10. Then, players between level 20 and 50 gain a temporary buff that temporarily boosts their attributes in PvP to assist with the disparity between levels.
This doesn’t change the fact that more or less, you end up useless until level 50, however, as you’re essentially a meat shield.

There are plenty of things to do with regards to PvE in The Elder Scrolls Online. So, allow me to go through them one by one:
Dark Anchors – If you’ve ever played RIFT or Final Fantasy XIV – these function the same way as invasions do in those games. In essence – your goal is to drive back the forces at the invasion.
World Bosses – These you should be familiar with, as they are ever present in every MMORPG. I actually had a run-in with a world boss with a group of two other people, and we were met with swift and utter defeat.
Dungeons – What would an MMORPG be without dungeons, amirite? Oh, wait. Black Desert Online is what it’d be.
Public Dungeons – Essentially.. dungeons with random party members that can enter said dungeon and help you push through. Actually a cool feature, until you run into that one idiot that is ruining the experience for everyone.
Trials – 12-player challenges that have multiple, scaling difficulties. These function a little more like a raid than a dungeon, as the difficulty is more like a raid would be.
Arenas – Don’t let this fool you. Arenas aren’t aimed at PvP in ESO. Instead, they’re aimed at smaller parties of players, or even solo players that pit you against wave after wave of monsters with rewards at the end.
And.. then traditional leveling. Which I’m sure you’re aware of how to do.

The Elder Scrolls Online has a fairly traditional crafting system.
There are 6 professions in total; to progress through each crafting tier, therefore making the profession more profitable, you are required to invest skill points into your chosen craft.
Crafted gear is very useful in the game, and is generally usable in both PvE and PvP if you’re not obsessed with having the Best in Slot gear, and instead just want to enjoy your playthrough.
Therefore investing time into crafting is almost a requirement! .. but not really.

Some people might argue that PvP is endgame, and for avid PvPers, that holds true, sure.
For people with a more PvE-centric mind, however, outside of running dungeons and trials, there isn’t much to sate your appetite with regards to having things to do.
Sure, you can re-run dungeons and trials over and over to get better gear, to learn the dungeons better. You can explore the world. You can PvP.
But outside of that – there isn’t anything to do.
So if you’re not into PvP, and you’ve completed all the dungeons and trials on veteran, then you’ve essentially completed the game and are left waiting until the next large content update.

The Elder Scrolls Online is definitely a viable choice for an MMORPG to play in 2017.
Yes, the combat may not be up to par with games like Black Desert Online or Blade and Soul.
The graphics may also be inferior to people that enjoy that specific style of animation.
But ESO offers a lot to the MMORPG genre.
Large scale PvP. Fun, engaging PvE. Huge, open environments to explore, a variety of fun quests and storylines to progress through. Full voice acting.
There is so much ESO does right, that it’s no surprise it’s in the three most popular MMORPGs on the market. It deserves to be, and deserves to continue growing and flourishing into the future.

Operating System: Windows XP 32 bit
CPU: Core 2 Duo E4400 2.0GHz or Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 4600+
RAM: 2 GB GB RAM
Video Card: GeForce 8800 GT or HD i7 2600
Hard Disk Space: 60 GB Free Space

Operating System: Windows 7 64 bit
CPU: Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4GHz or Phenom 9750 Quad-Core
RAM: 4 GB RAM
Video Card: GeForce GTX 560 Ti or Radeon HD 6950
Hard Disk Space: 80 GB Free Space