High Isle is a much brighter, much more grounded, addition to The Elder Scrolls Online. While the past few chapter additions have been these grand stories of legendary heroics, High Isle brings you back into the Three Banners War. In a story rife with political intrigue, High Isle makes Tamriel feel like a living, breathing high-fantasy world and less like a battleground between mythic beings and heroes.
Over the last few years, ZeniMax has brought us some wonderful additions to The Elder Scrolls Online. Grand adventures through Elsweyr, facing off against vampires, and defying demons brought us into these larger-than-life, legendary stories. And while these adventures have been intriguing, they have been quite dark.
This year, The Elder Scrolls Online lightens things up quite a bit. High Isle is so much more visually bright. Darker environments are beautiful in their own right, but with the last couple of years being so tonally and visually dark, this is a breath of fresh island air. While High Isle has its darker moments, most of the environments are bright and very pleasing.
While not the biggest change, it is certainly something to check out. Take a peek:
High Isle brings a much more grounded addition to The Elder Scrolls Online. While past chapters and year-long events tell these legendary stories, High Isle shifts some focus back toward political intrigue. The Three Banners War has always been a large part of ESO. So much so that when you select your race during character creation, you are also pledging allegiance under one of the Banners. High Isle brings us directly back into this storyline. One that determines the fate of Tamriel.
While political intrigue is not everyone’s cup of tea, I do not think that it would be off-putting for anyone. I quite enjoy this more grounded look at Tamriel. The characters have always been one of the best parts of The Elder Scrolls Online and this chapter is no different. High Isle brings back some familiar faces for those who have played ESO and the more grounded feel really helps them shine. These include some Jakarn, Za’ji, and Caska. When the threat of dragons and demons literally loom overhead, it’s a little easier to let the favorites shine a little brighter.
Your main mission in High Isle is investigating the Ascendant Order. This organization boasts a “for the common man” mentality as they try to disrupt peace talks for the Three Banners Ware. Their cry is that nobility does not have the needs of the people in mind and needs to be dealt with. But not all is as it seems with this order.
There are also the druids. Early in the story, you meet with a druid who explains that most of them have moved to this area. While the rest of Tamriel is setting up large cities and are modernizing, the druids focus on keeping their connection with nature. With druids being discussed so heavily in this chapter, I can’t help but wonder if we will see a playable druid class appear later this year (fingers crossed!). The Necromancer class that was introduced a few years back is my favorite and I’d love to take a stab at playing a class specifically focused on life more than death. And like druids in other media, they are magic users whose power comes from their connection to nature. And the zone reflects that.
The Systres Archipelago, where High Isle takes place is idyllic. The beautiful views of the ocean, the sunflowers fields, and the brilliant white cliffs are all stunning. And that’s just one of the islands. Another is a dense forest full of lush flora and interesting, though dangerous, fauna. High Isle brings you into what feels like a vacation spot. Save for the murderous Order, volcanic vents, prison camp, gangs, and monsters that all want you dead. But other than that? Great vacation spot.
High Isle plays a lot like any other chapter in The Elder Scrolls Online. Lots of exploration as you uncover a mystery and fight anyone who gets in your way. But the world-building has always been the strongest draw of ESO. And the developers are quite aware of that.
With High Isle, comes a new addition: Tales of Tribute. This is a collectible card game that you can enjoy when High Isle releases (or even sooner on the PTS). While I am not big into card games, Tales of Tribue also brings in more world-building and lore. This is a way that people in Tamriel unwind and helps to just make the world feel that much more alive.
In past releases, we have seen additions like the Antiquities side quests that also help build out the world. Story-telling through showing and doing has always been the form of The Elder Scrolls Online. And it works. It is a perfect example of an interactive “show don’t tell.” And Tales of Tribute is just another addition to this.
The last biggest addition that High Isle brings are two new companions: Ember and Isobel. The companion system was introduced last year as a way to help players work their way through Tamriel. And while this idea was great, it was definitely something that needed some work. The original companions definitely felt like the first iteration of this new system. Now, these new companions are more interesting and feel more fleshed out.
High Isle is so tonally different from the past few chapter additions to ESO and I love it. I love the more grounded feel to the story and the political intrigue. Attention to details of the people and lore of Tamriel, instead of just the heroes, is why The Elder Scrolls Online is on par with some of the greatest fantasy stories in terms of world-building and story-telling. Every time I get the chance to take a look at one of the chapter additions, it fuels my love of fantasy and makes me want to explore all the ins and outs of Tamriel.
If you think that you might be interested in checking out High Isle, or ESO in general, they are running a free play event until April 26 and you can check out the prologue quest for High Isle while you are at it!
