Addictiveness

So, typically I can’t really seem to put games down due to how much fun I’m having/ And, while Elder Scrolls Online is most certainly fun, it’s not the kind of fun (for me anyhow) that keeps you on for long periods of time. It does keep you coming back though, I do admit. I just can’t seem to sit down and play for extended periods of time though. I don’t know. Might have to do with how intensely I play Skyrim? Might not. All I know is that it can’t capture my attention for as long as other RPG’s can, which is odd for me considering how much I enjoy those types of things. But, again, it does make you come back for more at the very least.

So, not exactly a game that keeps you going for long periods of time, but certainly a game that gets you to return at the very least. I’ll give this section a 6, which is higher than I thought it would get at first all things considered.

Difficulty

I wouldn’t say that Elder Scrolls Online is a hard game to understand or play. Really, it allows you to just hack-n-slash for the most part. There aren’t any mechanics that are hard to understand, and it isn’t hard to find out where you need to go (good ol’ quest markers, am I right?). The only bit I’d consider ‘difficult’ is leveling up, because it takes so long to do so if you don’t play your cards right. Otherwise, it’s just a simple RPG. Only thing that really makes it difficult is the amount of stuff there is to do. But, it’s a good game for those just starting off in the RPG world. Easy to understand, and a good way to introduce yourself into one of the biggest RPG series around. Win-win situation there.

I’d have to give difficulty a 6 as well. Not something that is hard to do, but it has its moments as all games in this genre do.

Depth

To be honest, it’s sad I can’t seem to play for long periods of time, considering the sheer amount of exploring you can do and all the quests to complete, the dungeons and the PvP elements… There’s a whole ton to do in this game, with more coming in when DLC is released (you do have to pay for the DLC however. Unfortunate, I know. But worth it!). The game takes you across many areas of Tamriel. And, to be honest, you’d have to make characters from each of the ‘alliances’ that the game has to even get close to exploring all it offers. It offers areas that the main games haven’t even touched much upon yet, so that you can finally get a glimpse of how areas like Black Marsh and Elsweyr look, or return to the lands of Morrowind and Summerset (Summerset Isle’s being a area that hasn’t been seen since the first Elder Scrolls game). There’s so much to do in this game, I can’t even begin to list all of it. Honestly, the download size should be telling (game is gigantic, make sure your computer or station can handle the sheer size of it).

There’s such a large amount of things to consider and do with this game, even without DLC, that I can’t even put it into words. I still haven’t done everything it has to offer, and I honestly doubt I’ll be able to do that any time soon simply because you have to dedicate a lot of time to it (plus, the simple fact I just can’t force myself to stay on for very long).

So yeah, gigantic game with a lot to do. Solid 10 in Depth, definitely.

Story

The Elder Scrolls Online has a interesting story, which also makes me further regret the fact that I just can’t play the game for long periods of time. It’s basically going back into the history of the main games, considering the fact it’s before them all. It’s interesting to see the lands as they are before everything that happened in the main series, and experiencing the turmoils of then. There’s also the fact that, with the expansions, the game has multiple stories to tell. The many side quests available serve to tell miniature stories as well, little bits and pieces that aren’t essential but are fun to learn. This game also builds up more of the lore of Tamriel you pick up from playing the main games, which I always enjoy because I love knowing everything I can about a game’s universe.

It just… Does a lot to build up a world we still don’t know all that much about. It allows us to finally see the lands we’ve only been hearing about, and learn more of the stories that come from them. It’s an interesting campaign to go through with, even though I personally still haven’t finished it (haven’t bought the DLC). They did an amazing job with how they tell the stories they have in the game, and with giving us interesting lore and background that has yet to be explored in the main game.

I’d have to give what I know about the story as it stands a 10.

Sound

Like Nintendo, the Elder Scrolls series knows how to make some seriously good soundtracks. The music is honestly very fitting for the series, and each song sounds unique. Much like Breath of the Wild, there are a ton of songs in the soundtrack (some, however, might not be in the game anymore as far as I’m aware. Still good songs though!). I can’t really say anything negative for this soundtrack, as I thoroughly enjoyed listening to it and still do enjoy listening to it. From older songs to the newest songs, they never fail to impress me with what music they can bring to the table.

They also did a lot better with the voice acting in this game, especially when compared to Skyrim. As far as I can tell, each main character as their own voice this go around, and the other characters do have different voices as well. The voice actors also did a good job with portraying emotion and giving the character they played a personality, which is more than Skyrim really did. They did have moments where they could be better, but nothing that would make me consider the voice acting to be sub-par like the voice acting in Skyrim.

All-in-all, they did a solid job with sound. Amazing soundtrack as always, and a major improvement in the voice acting this time. I’ll be giving this section a 10.

Graphics

They did an amazing job in the graphics department as well, if I’m being honest. The lands look amazing as always, and I love seeing all these lands that have yet to be explored. They know how to make a very pretty land, and have definitely improved since the Skyrim graphics. I love how Skyrim looks, don’t get me wrong, but they somehow managed to make Online even more pretty. Plus, I like the character models in this game a whole lot more than the ones in Skyrim for some reason. The models just seem… Better. More appealing. Which is a good thing, since no one wants to see graphics devolve or even stay the same these days (I wouldn’t mind, but I do prefer improvement haha).

They just did great in improving their graphics for this game, though there is a definite difference between PC and Xbox. But, that doesn’t take away from the score at all. I still give it a solid 10 outta 10 in this department.

Overall

Once again, we reach the end of yet another review. As per usual, I’ll be showing two overall scores. One is my own personal rating (What I’d give it if I there weren’t any sections to break it down into), and the true overall rating (The rating it gets when I average up all the scores). For accuracy purposes, I use the true overall rating when I put down the overall score for the review. Now, let’s discuss the overall ratings shall we?

Personal Rating: 8

Online is, overall, a pretty solid game. Like I said, I love games like this that allow us to learn more about the lands of Tamriel, and also enjoy the fact that it separates itself from the main storyline. I find that it can get a bit icky and messy when something like this happens during the main storyline, as those kinds of things can lead to inconsistencies and mistakes. It’s enjoyable to play, and a great time-killer if you don’t have anything to do and don’t want to play something that can be a bit more on the challenging side. It doesn’t get higher than a 8 in my book though, because of the simple fact I can’t force myself to play for long periods of time. When I play a game, I play it in the hopes that it will keep me entertained for quite a few hours. This game, however, can’t really seem to do that. At most, I can stay on for 2 hours, with the average being 1 hour. Other games, I can play for 3+ hours without getting bored. It just doesn’t give the same energy other games give? I suppose.

I love the game, I have fun with it when I do play it, it just doesn’t have that same kind of hook games like Skyrim or Breath of the Wild have.

True Overall Rating: 8.6

This game has some solid improvements in the graphics and sound department, compared to the last installment of Elder Scrolls (aka Skyrim). It has a beautiful land, and character models that I can actually tolerate this time. The soundtrack is probably just at least a tad better than Skyrim, with voice acting that is definitely a lot better than the voice acting in Skyrim. It tells a pretty awesome story, and gives us more information on the lands yet explored in the main series (something many people, including myself, have been dying to have for a while), and gives us more lore to mess around with. It also has an insane amount of depth, that they keep adding on to every year. There’s so much to do in the game that I’m still in awe of the sheer volume of it. So many quests to deal with, so many areas to explore. It also isn’t a very difficult game, and is great for killing time when you happen to have a bit too much of it, and is a great way to introduce yourself into the land of Tamriel and the genre that is RPG.

The thing that kills it, like a few other games I’ve reviewed, is the fact it just isn’t super addictive to me. It keeps me coming back, definitely, but it just can’t keep me playing for as long as other games in the genre. I wouldn’t say it isn’t completely addictive, but it definitely isn’t something I’d play for more than 2 hours at a time (and quite honestly isn’t something I do that with anyhow).

Overall, a good game for people just entering the world of RPG, and for those who just want to play a game real quick and not feel super hooked. It has solid sounds and graphics, and gives you plenty to do so that you’ll at least want to come back if you don’t want to play for long periods of time, and gives us plenty of lore and the likes to mess around with and get us hyped for the next game in the main series.

That’s all for this review, folks! Thank you so much for joining me and reading this review, and I really hope you enjoyed reading. I’d love to hear some feedback! What’s your personal opinion on this game? Do you think I went too easy on it, considering its past? What do you think I could improve on in the next review I do? Thank you for your time, and I hope to see you all in my next review!