What parents need to know
The Elder Scrolls Online (also known by the acronym ESO) is a MMORPG (Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game) that takes place before the five games in The Elder Scrolls franchise.
The game takes place during the Second Era of Tamriel. There is no Emperor in Cyrodiil and a war opposes three alliances: the Aldmeri Dominion Domain, the Ebonheart Pact and the Daggerfall Covenant. In addition to this conflict, the player character is involved during his adventures in intrigues mixing Daedras, various factions and various characters.
After being sacrificed by Mannimarco, the player character flees the realm of Daedric Prince Molag Bal with the help of allies who will be present throughout the main quest. He or she must unravel the shenanigans of the Daedric forces, assist various characters and, if desired, get involved in the war of the three alliances.
Each area offers a series of main quests as well as numerous side quests that allow the player to immerse themselves in the world of Tamriel and discover more about its different peoples and locations. As usual in the franchise, the player can fully edit his or her character.
The majority of areas and their quests are in PvE (Player versus Environment), which means they can be done solo and in cooperation with other people. Dungeons and Trials require teams of four and twelve people respectively. Only the Cyrodiil area is dedicated to PvP (Player versus Player) and this is where the battles between players of different alliances take place.
Details
Level of experience required
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Evaluation
The narrative of The Elder Scrolls Online deals extensively with themes such as war, murder and the damnation of souls in a fantasy world. The creatures are whimsical and the enemies are fictional, but the fights and some cutscenes can feature graphic violence.
Somewhat suggestive themes can be addressed and players have the opportunity to choose revealing costumes for their characters, but there is no complete nudity.
Taking into account that it is an MMORPG, the opinion of this article relates exclusively to the content of the game, not to the interactions between players since these are variable and their content is not part of the game itself. The chat window interface allows you to block and report people who have inappropriate comments.
Like previous games in the franchise, The Elder Scrolls Online requires you to be able to read and have a good vocabulary to understand plots and interactions with NPCs.
Some NPCs may use foul language, make threats, and talk about sensitive topics.
Choosing a language will automatically change the interface language, subtitles and voices.
The narrative context in which the player character evolves is dark, but the majority of quests have a positive message since they ask to help and defend NPCs. The player character is often called upon to find solutions in collaboration with other players and NPCs. Some quests require making moral choices.
Despite the great mistrust that the people of Tamriel have towards each other, many quests result in alliances, compromises and openness to each other.
The controls of the character, their attacks and interactions are quite standard for an RPG game and can be edited in the settings.
Some areas are made to be easily explored by beginner characters, but the majority of DLC areas can be more challenging for a brand new character. Some enemies, especially at the highlights of the main quests, can be more difficult to defeat early in the game. Group bosses, marked with a skull on the map, usually require a minimum of 2 players to be defeated.
There are two difficulty levels (normal or veteran) for Group Dungeons and Trials,
Acheter le jeu une fois, microtransactions prévues
Buying only The Elder Scrolls Online base game allows for many hours of playtime and a lot of content.
However, microtransactions, unlockable content, and inventory limits are clearly visible and can be felt over time.
Local game modes
The Elder Scrolls Online is a game without single player or local mode.
Online Game Modes
As its name suggests, The Elder Scrolls Online is played online on a megaserver (NA for North America or EU for Europe). The guild system allows you to join up to 5 player guilds. Many of these guilds also have a Discord server to facilitate interactions. Several dungeons allow a limited number of player characters (between 4 and 12, depending on the type of dungeon) to be in the same instance.
Expansions/Add-ons (DLC)
There is a lot of additional content for The Elder Scroll Online: downloadable game packs (DLCs) of area, dungeons and chapters.
The area DLCs Imperial City, Orsinium, Thieves’ Guild, Dark Brotherhood, Morrowind, Clockwork City, Summerset, Murkmire, Dragonhold, Markarth, Deadlands and Firesong all offer an area to explore with its multiple quests and characters. They also offer either a Trial (challenge for a group of 12 people), a new class for player character, a guild or an arena. The Morrowind Zone DLC became free for everyone since April 2022.
The dungeon DLCs Shadows of the Hist, Horns of the Reach, Dragon Bones, Wolfhunter, Wrathstone, Scalebreaker, Harrowstorm, Stonethorn, Flames of Ambition, Waking Flame, Ascending Tide, Lost Depths, and Scribes of Fate each offer two dungeons to complete in groups of 4 players. People who have the ESO+ subscription can access it at no additional cost as long as their subscription is valid.
Chapter DLCs are larger bundles of additional content, as they each feature two or three complete areas, a trial, multiple dungeons, and a new game system. They are not included with the ESO+ subscription and must be purchased separately. There are currently four and a fifth is to be released in June 2023.
The DLCs chapters already released are, in chronological order: Elsweyr: Season of the Dragon, Greymoor: The Black Heart of Skyrim, Blackwood: The Gates of Oblivion and High Isle: The Legacy of the Bretons.
The chapter to be published in June 2023 is Necrom: The Shadow on Morrowind. So far, we know that this chapter will allow players to explore two areas: the Telvannie Peninsula east of Morrowind and the Infinite Library of Apocrypha, the kingdom of the Daedric prince Hermaeus Mora. This chapter also features a new class (the Arcanist), two new Companions, a Trial and at least a dungeon.
For a complete list of additional content: ESO DLCs & Chapters
For more information on the chapter Necrom: The Shadow on Morrowind coming soon: Official website
Our opinion
The universe of The Elder Scrolls Online is very rich and will undoubtedly appeal to those nostalgic for the five solo games of the franchise. The Necrom chapter DLC scheduled for June 2023 is also eagerly awaited by many fans of the game The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind.
It’s great that each area of The Elder Scrolls Online features a main quest, multiple side quests, and dozens of NPCs. This earned this game the world record for the video game with the most unique NPCs (non-playable characters). The open world is vast and allows you to explore a wide variety of environments, but many locations that appear in single-player games seem smaller when visited in the MMORPG.
The few cutscenes, the extensive narrative and the plethora of NPCs add greatly to the immersion. However, the multiplayer aspect cannot be ignored since other players are very visible, which can break the immersion. Our advice is often to ignore the small chat window if you’re not in a group that uses it to communicate.
The six classes currently available and the ten possible races for a player character are quite versatile and allow you to customize your playstyle. The mechanics of using offensive and defensive skills are quite common for an MMORPG and the ability to create multiple characters allows you to explore the available classes. We cannot yet give our opinion on the forthcoming seventh class.
The loot system is well balanced, all weapons and pieces of armor can be obtained by exploring areas and completing quests, Dungeons and Trials. However, the available inventory space can become restrictive when playing without the monthly ESO+ subscription (which allows you to store almost an infinite number of ingredients and materials, accessible to all characters in the same account).
The customizable home system is interesting from a community perspective, but it’s entirely incidental. Several houses can be purchased with the gold coins collected by the characters during their exploration, but some large houses as well as cosmetic accessories require microtransactions.
In summary, The Elder Scrolls Online promises a gaming experience almost as immersive and customizable as previous games in the franchise. The size of the world and the multiplicity of quests are strong points for RPG enthusiasts, but this game can also represent a lot of information at the same time for people less accustomed to the Open World formula.
