The Elder Scrolls: Summerset is ramping up to be a positive addition to the ESO family. I’m looking forward to giving you a full review when the time comes. Until then, if you’ve been playing ESO so far and you’re looking for a bit more action in your online life, then this one will surely deliver. More to come.
Welcome home, beautiful. The newest addition to The Elder Scrolls Online family, titled Summerset, is a vastly gorgeous realm that brings some of the nicest visuals to life in the series. It’s a nice change from the somewhat dreary look of Morrowind, though understandably dreary. Long story short, you’re in for a nice change of visual pace with Summerset, as you’re going to get rolling green hills and gorgeous draw distance with stunning textures beautifully detailed that you’ll swear you’re back in a remastered version of Oblivion. The lighting and shadows that fall onto those textures is equally as brilliant. Lighting makes such a difference sometimes, folks. Mmm. Anyway, the visuals stand out right away. I usually don’t write about those at the beginning of previews or reviews, but the game is something to behold to the eyes.
Visuals aside, the action in the game is more flexible and starts right away. Right off the boat, you meet Raz (an oldie, but a goodie), who is investigating a series of disappearances and murders. He believes that something evil is the catalyst for these and he isn’t wrong at all. The first part of the game, and correct me if I don’t see some political meaning behind this, deals with the acquisition of foreigners heading into Summerset, who are judged by purist (think Voldemort and you get the idea), then plucked away never to be heard again. What you find out in the first part is that something truly sinister is happening and Daedric are behind it. I don’t want to get too much into it, but it definitely hooks you from the get-go. You have to appreciate stories that do that and then have continual connections as you move through.
Speaking of moving through, the gameplay pace is quick with a good amount of run/gun throughout. I think that this part of Summerset pleased me the most, as it felt far more like Oblivion and Skyrim than previous ESO adventures. The first 3-4 hours of gameplay involved a lot of hacking/slashing and building my character as the story unfolded. The quick pace helped to keep my interest engaged and honestly I was hooked. Again, I can’t say that about other ESO adventures because those were stop/go and think through fights, mainly because most felt unfair while going solo. This adventure seems a bit less dependent on groups and more dependent on action, if even from one single player. It feels less like a chore and more like a game should feel. That doesn’t mean other people getting involved can’t make it better, but it feels comfortable with a single player going at it thanks to quickly paced action. I can dig that every day and twice on Sunday.
Outside of story and speedy gameplay, the side quests were fun as well. I haven’t met one yet that seemed like it was wasteful of my time. From checking out some pearls in a cave that bring evil into the world to staying at an inn for free (ain’t nothing in this world for free), there was no shortage of interesting side quests. Again, this game has more of an Oblivion/Skyrim feeling than previous ESO adventures.
Now, bringing it back down to ESO earth/Tamriel, there were lots of repetitive enemies, though that was to be expected. I never quite understood why ESO had to pack enemies upon enemies around the lands. I’m sure it is for grinding reasons, because, duh, it’s an MMO, but at the same time the leveling system, at least in theory, is the same as non-online ES titles, so is it really necessary? To give you an example of the repetitiveness, I must have killed every wolf in Summerset the last three days. I felt bad after awhile because some had cubs. Yes, I know they are only video game figures made up of textures that an artist put together from a photo, but good lord! I just don’t like killing them over and over again. Imps I’m fine with, though. Wolves with cubs? Not so much.
Staying with ‘things’ of Summerset, the animals and creatures they did add to to the new world are pretty and sometimes terrifying. For example, there is a really giant buck that glows in the dark that you get to kill. It’s majestic in stature and difficult as hell to beat, but a visually gorgeous animal to look at during battle. You will find a lot of new creatures in Summerset, along with some of the same, but all are pretty darn nice combined. I can appreciate the additions to the environments, but I wish they would keep those repetitive animals spaced out a bit. Just a bit. Not a lot. Just a bit.
Other additions to Summerset include the Psijic Order, which is located in Artaeum, and you’re able to join. I’m still working on joining, so I will let you know how that goes in coming updates (probably the review of the game when it is released). I’m looking forward to that order more than previous orders joined in past games.
Beyond the order, and getting back to gameplay just a bit, there are lots of time-related skills in Summerset, as well as new brutal ways of taking down enemies. I thoroughly have been more involved in this expansion than in previous, as it seems to be a bit more friendly with strategies during fights rather than depending on ‘by the numbers’ fighting. As mentioned above, I have always dreaded having to fight things in ESO because the difficulty was always ramped up on major bosses. This time around, you have a fighting chance, no pun intended, and the action seemed a lot less dependent on calculating your odds and more on ‘how are you going to kill it?’ sort of mentality. I enjoy the different combinations of how to fight and take down big enemies in Summerset. I’m not sure what has specifically changed to make it less grueling, but it feels a lot more Oblivion/Skyrim than other releases in the ESO series (haven’t read that enough, have ya?).
Overall, The Elder Scrolls: Summerset is ramping up to be a positive addition to the ESO family. I’m looking forward to giving you a full review when the time comes. Until then, if you’ve been playing ESO so far and you’re looking for a bit more action in your online life, then this one will surely deliver. More to come.
