The Elder Scrolls Online (TESO) is a massively multiplayer online (MMO) version of The Elder Scrolls series of games. To play you do need an online subscription for the console you are on. Be careful when buying the game because you may only get the standard game when you think you are buying a different version.

The plot is standard Elder Scrolls fare as it involves what is basically a demonic invasion of the in-game world known as Tamriel, this time by the realm of Coldharbour and Molag Bal who is the main villain of the game.

TESO features a surprisingly advanced combat system with special attacks being slotted to certain buttons with block, hit, parry, dodge and counterattack features all being available to the player. Players can even work together to take down many of the constantly respawning foes the game has to offer. There are even specific dungeons designed specifically for co-op which will match you to other players if you don’t have a full group.

Disguises can be found and worn to make some areas of the game nicer to be in which also changes the pace of the game as you carefully dodge around sentry patrols. This gives the player a choice of how they play which is always appreciated in an open world game.

I briefly had a go at using the crafting system and I got lost, not in a bad way. I spent so much time gathering materials, trying to find the right item and messing around with random things that I spent an hour having fun even though some of it was just navigating menus.

Character progression is all about levelling up and selecting skills but there are alternative ways of gaining skill points such as Skyshards which are the game’s collectables.

I don’t like that the bounty system can force you into not playing the game as you wait for the guards to forget about you; the way the game randomly kicks you out of speech; the way it constantly tries to sell you things; the way it crashes sometimes; how complicated it can be to play with friends or the fact that its being online means that if the servers are down or full then you can’t play.

Overall I think this game does brilliantly on the lore and references to the main series games but I’ve never been a fan of the MMO genre. Being an MMO it has a lot of features that I don’t like and it feels slower than main series games. It is however one of the few MMO games that I play so even though it isn’t giving me huge amounts of fun I do find it enjoyable to play.

 

The art that I’m using as the featured image was found on the achievements section of the Xbox website. It shows a ring of things eating each other in the shape of an ‘O’ which doesn’t say much about the game but is easily recognisable to fans of the series.