Pros
+ Huge expansive open world
+ Fully voice acted
+ Builds on the Elder Scrolls universe
+ Active player base

Cons
- Some dislike the combat (varies per person)
- Issues with server performance, especially with PVP
- Hefty file size

Skip to the bottom for my final thoughts


With the latest expansion Greymoor on the horizon, I thought I'd write my review for The Elder Scrolls Online a few months in advance for new players who may be interested in the game currently. It's best to get a head start before the content drops!

The Elder Scrolls Online, which I shall refer to as ESO, is a popular open-world MMORPG developed by ZeniMax Online Studios, and allows its players to explore a vast amount of Nirn during an unfamiliar time period in the Elder Scrolls universe.

Play as you see fit
One of the best features of ESO which I highly commend is its easy accessibility to all players. That isn't to say that the game is easy - rather, it doesn't punish new players for mistakes they may make in the early stages of the game. Trust me, I myself made countless mistakes across a few characters before really getting a foothold. The learning curve may be a bit steep, but the early stages aren't absolutely brutal on new players. Feel free to put your character points into whatever you deem fit - you can always respec your points cheaply later on when it really matters.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1975511257

I'm not the best person to go to in terms of advice for beginners; there are plenty of in-depth beginner guides that can help you off your feet. But if you like going in blind as I did, know that it's never too late to follow a build. Furthermore, ESO is available to play in two main ways, PVE (player vs environment) and PVP (player vs player). I personally stick to the PVE aspects of the game, notably dungeons, delves and questing. I haven't quite gotten to the raids yet.

Choose your role (Damage Dealer, Tank or Healer), set up your skill bar and prepare for battle. I've heard mixed reviews of ESO's combat system, but I personally have no problems with it and enjoy combat. Furthermore, there are currently six playable classes (four of which are available for free with the base game), ten races (nine of which are available for free with the base game), and thousands of unique viable builds to choose from for your gaming pleasure.

Puts the Massive in Massively Multiplayer
One of my biggest gripes with ESO, that is also simultaneously one of my favourite features of the game, is its ridiculously massive world that is incredibly easy to get lost in. But with great power (huge 3D world with nice models, fully voice-acted characters, etcetera) comes great responsibility - in the form of 100-odd gigabytes on my hard drive. You read that right: over 100 glorious gigabytes of disk usage.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1975507520

On the other hand, ESO is also massively multiplayer in the sense that it is still very much alive. Unfortunately, the game isn't cross-platform, but on NA PC you still see other adventurers *mostly* wherever you go. The community is also *mostly* friendly, with many guilds waiting to welcome you in with open arms. By the way, you can be a member of up to FIVE different guilds, so there's really no excuse not to make some friends.

If you're the type of player who likes playing through content by yourself, don't worry. You're not alone. You can play through the majority of ESO's content, sans high-tier PVE challenges.

In my humble opinion, ESO is one of the best MMORPG story content-wise. I used to be the type of player who would skip through dialogue and cutscenes to get straight to the combat. Eventually, though, I started taking the time to listen to the fully voice-acted dialogue. Some quests are certainly better than others, but overall the quests are of good quality. I highly recommend you level your main character through questing rather than grinding. Not only do you get to experience the quest, but you can also get unique rewards and lots of XP.

ESO is a great looking game and is again one of the best MMORPGs visual-wise in my opinion. I'll admit, there are definitely some meshes that look better than others (outlier examples), but for the most part, the game looks great. I really enjoy riding on my mount from point-to-point rather than just teleporting. The better rig you have, the better the game looks. The soundtrack is also superb, and as I've mentioned, the dialogue is fully voice acted.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1975507736

In terms of the base game, which frequently goes on sale, there are hundreds of hours of content available with no other purchases, microtransactions or otherwise.

The Business Model
On the other hand, there is also a plethora of paid DLCs, expansions, and microtransactions available in ESO's Crown store. The game's premium currency, Crowns, can be traded among players in the form of gifting items in exchange for gold. This is often done through middlemen and can be risky. ZeniMax offers no other form of currency exchange. There also exists a paid membership, ESO Plus, which is not required for the base game, that grants subscribers unlimited access to all DLC (excluding new expansions), a number of crowns and other benefits.

Again, the aforementioned microtransactions are not at all necessary for hundreds of hours of enjoyment, but I myself have made purchases on the Crown store and am currently an active ESO+ subscriber.

In the actual game itself, you don't run into issues all too often. I experience the occasional crash, but this may not necessarily be due to ESO. Regarding server performance, however, much of the community have raised complaints about the poor performance of the games servers and matchmaking capabilities specifically. This problem mostly applies to those interested in PVP, however, problems do exist with the Dungeon Finder (hit-or-miss queue times).

In general PVE play, especially if you're sticking with the overworld content, you shouldn't experience many problems. If necessary, restart your game every few hours to keep the memory usage low.

My computer (see below) has no problems running ESO at high settings, however, I acknowledge that for lower-end rigs you may encounter difficulty in running the game. Make sure to check the minimum specifications, and if your PC has equivalent or better parts. The in-game settings menu allows you to customize the graphics settings to suit your needs.

CPU: i7-8750
GPU: GTX 1060
RAM: 16GB DDR4

Greymoor is coming.
The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited is one of the best MMORPGs currently available on Steam. Play how you want in the game's expansive world, against other players or enemies, and prepare yourself for the Dark Heart of Skyrim.

Click here to view my complete rating chart, and what this rating means.

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