Developer: ZeniMax Online Studios
Publisher: Bethesda Softworks
Platform: PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tested on: PC
The Elder Scrolls Online: Summerset – Review
Finally, the long-awaited second expansion of the Elder Scrolls Online series is upon us. For the first time in the online series, the long-closed borders of Summerset are open for foreigners. Queen Ayrenn gave us permission to set foot on the sandy beaches and help her with the problems she cannot face alone. Are you ready to face the threat that lurks into the shadow of the ancestral home of the High Elves?
Story
“Queen Ayrenn rules over the Aldmeri Dominion. She is young and progressive, seeking to change some High Elf traditions that she feels hold her people back. Before ascending the throne, Ayrenn travelled the world as an adventurer and warrior. While thoughtful and kind, she is also a decisive leader with a stubborn streak. It is by her decree that you can now enter Summerset, and although she does not currently reside on the Isle, her impact on her home and its people cannot be questioned.”
When you arrive in Summerset it will be a completely new area to explore, the first time we encountered this isle was in Elder Scrolls Arena, this was the first game from the series made in 1994.
One of the first important characters you’ll meet is your old friend Razum-dar. He is the eye of the queen and will guide you through the problems that the Summerset Isle is facing. Besides that, you can explore the area and help out some locals along the way. Not everyone is so keen on foreigners, most of the High Elves who lived their lives on Summerset Isle never met such a wrongfully living creature like you. Surprisingly, some will like your presence, so don’t hesitate to help them.
For the first time in the Elder Scrolls Online series, you can join the Psijic Order, this order is mastering the art of mysticism or “The Old Ways”. Unlike the mage guild, they don’t want to teach others anything. Their island vanished 350 years ago, along with their secrets. Now is your chance to learn more about their ways by joining them and stand together to face a sinister threat.
When you continue on in the main story, you will discover a lot about the areas on the Summerset Isle and of course at the end, you will face the threat they are so afraid of.
Graphics
The Elder Scrolls Online series always had a great variety of scenes in its world; which are, of course, a joy to look at. With the appearance of the Summerset Isle and the lost Isle of Artaeum we have a new landscape to explore. The High Elves have their own unique style of architectural designs that gives us a totally different view of their world. Outside of the structures, we come across many new beasts and monsters to kill. The dungeons and delves feel a little bit repetitive towards the previous ones in the game, it still features unique new aspects, but not enough in our opinion. With the deluxe edition you get a new mount and two non-combat pets which are gorgeous. Overall the graphics of this game feel very up to date but still the same as the previous parts of the online series.
Sound
If this game wasn’t already amazing, the sounds sure add to its value. Quests are voice acted and even when you enter a shop or run by a couple of High Elves it is narrated. All of that because of the cast of 20 voice actors who are featured in Summerset Isle. Besides the good voice acting there is a notably large amount of music which makes this game even more magical. If you aren’t convinced yet, try out the combat. You’ll hear every grunt, slash, stab, collision or squeak and if you listen carefully, even the background music changes to add to the depth of the game.
Gameplay
The Elder Scrolls Online: Summerset is like the other parts of the series, an MMORPG in which you progress throughout different zones to earn experience and collect hard to obtain gear. Which prepares your character for the endgame content, raid bosses and dungeons. Apart from the combat-related playthrough, you encounter materials to level up the crafting skills that will give you benefits at a later stage. The least you can say is that it’s a heavy grind fest.
Summerset Isle is perfectly playable for starting players. It starts a new storyline based on the needs of the High Elves and The Psijic Order. The mobs and quests you encounter scale up with your character as you progress through your levels. Each questline or side quest will give you a decent amount of experience and gear by completing it. When you level up you get attribute points which you can insert into your Stamina, Health or Magicka. You also receive skill points, which can be used in your ability skills. You have a bunch of possibilities here because of the fact that you have racial, class, world, guild, weapon, armour and crafting skills. Skill points can also be obtained by finding skyshards around the world of Elder Scrolls, for each skill point you need to obtain 3 skyshards.
The other main part of this game is the crafting system. You’ll be able to train every single one of the crafting skills, unlike in some other big MMORPGs. The whole world is filled with resources, which you need to manually gather. You need to get a lot of those if you want to level up your crafting skills, don’t be lazy and gather them all, it will benefit you greatly. In this expansion, they released the first new crafting skill, Jewelry Crafting, since the release of Elder Scrolls online.
The combat is very fast paced and a lot of enemies have special abilities which can stun or knock you down, or even worse do a lot of damage. So you better learn to dodge or block, otherwise, you’ll be dead in no time with a more difficult enemy. If you die you can use a Soul gem or teleport to the nearest shrine, where you resurrect. Shrines are the teleportation method in this world, but be careful, if you are not next to the shrine when you teleport it costs you a lot of gold.
You’ll also notice you can join a new order, the Psijic Order. This will give you new abilities that will allow you to bend time itself, if you succeed to unravel their mysterious ways. Those abilities include passives, actives and even an ultimate.
What concerns the endgame content there will be a whole lot of new adventures waiting for you and your allies. Don’t be afraid to run out of options, at least if you don’t play 24 hours a day, because the Summerset Isle provides you with unique bosses, dungeons, delves and a new group challenge, Abyssal Geysers.
Conclusion
The Elder Scrolls Online was released in 2014 and it originally started off a bit rocky. We can only commend the amazing ZeniMax team for turning things around, making this game something to look out for. Their hard work and commitment got rid of the many bugs and initial problems. The Psijic Order and Jewelry Crafting are the most exciting new features of this expansion but nevertheless, the sound and graphical aspects seem to amaze all of us over and over again. With The Elder Scrolls Online: Summerset their player base keeps on growing and it is one of the top MMORPGs of the moment. Don’t hesitate to try this one out!
The Elder Scrolls Online: Summerset - Review,
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