The Elder Scrolls Online

There are a lot of things they got right about this game. I'm an Elder Scrolls fan, not an MMO fan. I do recommend checking it out if you have a chance, but it's really just a placeholder until TES VI. Because it's an MMO, it's less enjoyable than it should be. The devs do a great job, but the people are generally awful and ruin the experience.

I was expecting more, considering all the hype. For me it felt flat and lacking, because the races and classes are a little too cosmetic. They are so "open" to crossover, that it doesn't feel there is much difference in choosing one or the other. And then there are so many tweaks you can buy, that characters have no distinctive flair. Which also makes this game a great money pit for players into building mega-characters.

But the deal-breaker for me was that, something about the visuals caused me vertigo. No matter the adjustments I did. Tried switching perspective, reducing head-bob, and just about any other recommended tweak. I couldn't play for more than 45 minutes without getting nausea. The funny thing is that a friend also got vertigo from the game. I looked around and vertigo seems to be an issue for some people.

So, no, I wouldn't recommend this game.

Firstly, ELDER SCROLLS ONLINE (2014) is a great game, so fun, so much to do, absolutely beautiful landscape and cities, great characters and backstories, excellent music, vast amounts of questing, so much lore and great storytelling. It's a Fantasy MMORPG game (but can definitely be played Solo). Aside from quests and main stories, there are dungeons galore, delves, events, world bosses, game achievements, DLC, etc. Tons of stuff to collect as well.

I've been playing Elder Scrolls Online for quite some time now and I must start out by saying it might be easy to pre-judge the game in the beginning, especially when you might feel initially compelled to compare it to ES V: Skrim. Being a fan of ES V: Skyrim (as well as ES Oblivion, Morrowind etc.) and solo gaming in general, I felt torn, reluctant to play this. I really didn't want to hate it but certainly wasn't expecting to love it...

For Skyrim fans out there, I'm know it's easy to want to compare the gameplay, graphics, design etc. I remember being very annoyed at the differences initially and hesitant to play on, but I got over myself and really ended up enjoying this game. It has sooooo much to offer. Quests, Adventure, Exploration. There's so much to do, so much going on. Also, if you want to play solo you absolutely can (that was one of the aspects which I misunderstood in the beginning). I hate online games that make it impossible to play solo, and force social interactions at every turn. While that can be fun in certain times, sometimes you want the freedom to play your game as you choose and not automatically pushed into teams, guilds, clans etc. Sometimes you just want to escape people and reality and the drama that comes with. Many of us introverts play games! I digress.

My only annoyance is all the in-game purchase options that seem to infect so many games these days. I wish there were better ways to earn more Crowns (game currency for bonus content). I feel like that tends to detract from a solid game and always tends to feel profiteering and greedy, but it's not overy forced down your throat here and you can certainly play without buying stuff. You will probably want the main DLC to unlock new countries and questlines, but the other stuff (skins, costumes, pets etc.) is not necessary, but secondary and not much of a complaint. You can still win items and things like costumes and pets by finishing quests and participating in events etc. Some are gifted on holiday seasons. That's been cool.

Overall, this turned out to be a really great game. Great mechanics, fun gameplay, beautiful world design. It really has a bit of everything for everyone. Hard to understand someone hating it, in my opinion. It's definitely one of the better Fantasy MMORPG's out there and a great solo Fantasy RPG as well.

STORY: 9/10 GAMEPLAY: 10/10 GRAPHICS: 10/10 ART DESIGN: 10/10 MUSIC: 10/10 OVERALL RATING: 10.

...if you enjoy PvP in open world Cyrodil, you're in for a lot of laggy times. It's such a shame, too, because Cyrodil is such a unique experience when it works correctly. But, hey, I still come back and play several times per week after all these years... so I can't knock it too much.

If the lag in Cyrodil was fixed, this would be a 10/10!

ESO is an absolutely wonderful game with such a vast and beautiful world with so much to explore! Lots of quests, lore and characters to interact and learn about. So much content and beautiful scenery. Definitely a game worth your time!