The game of peace

Elder Scrolls Online: High Isle sells a change of pace from slaying beasts to pacifying raging egos to prevent war with mixed results

Elder Scrolls Online: High Isle
Rating: 3/5
Developer: Zenimax Online Studios
Publisher: Bethesda
Platform: PC
Price: Rs 2,499

Elder Scrolls Online (ESO) launched in 2014, has been around for a while now. It is a Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG) where you get to create a character and live out their life in this online world. This world is based on the Elder Scroll games by Bethesda. The reason it has remained relevant for so long probably comes down to its release of chapters adding new storylines and places to explore.

With High Isle, Elder Scrolls has added a brand-new paid chapter to the world of ESO. In addition to an entirely new storyline, players explore new coastal landscapes, including an island meant for criminals. The architecture and look of the place seem to be inspired by European buildings and structures.

The story, unlike previous iterations, doesn’t dwell on Daedrics, vampires and the like. Instead the story for High Isle focuses on politics, where you are involved in peace talks to prevent a war from happening. It is low-key, but a pleasant change in pace. However, I felt like the story didn’t push it much. Especially when we are so spoilt with great stories coming in from both video games and TV.  I was hoping for more nuance and excitement, which unfortunately was not the case. Instead, we get a whiff of the so-called political drama before it fades into the background.

There is still a lot of combat in the game, especially if you hunt for trouble. The enemies are not that challenging, and some bosses are way too easy, making it easier for newbies. Despite the lacklustre main story, there is still a lot to do and many side-quests to explore. There is also a whole card game within the game. The card game called Tales of Tribute is a bit challenging initially, and the tutorial does you no favours. However, a few good YouTube videos later, you should be a master of playing this game. That said, it isn’t a groundbreaking card game, and you usually end up playing it when you need a change of pace.

High Isle also looks fantastic. Elder Scrolls Online looks good and plays even better for a game launched so many years ago. The wonderful thing about ESO is that you don’t need to play with other people. You can be on your merry way doing whatever you want and play the game like any other Elder Scrolls game. There is so much to do solo; you can be forgiven for forgetting that this is, in fact, an MMORPG.

The main story quest for High Isle has around 27 hours of gameplay which is not bad. What is bad though is the things I had to do to get the game to start. The game installer is very annoying. Not only did it constantly change the estimated download time, but it also would stall the installation process if I left it to do its thing. Then after the download was completed, the installer decided the file was corrupted; this meant it had to fix the download, which took another chunk of time. I also found the server disconnected from time to time, which was a bit annoying. 

Elder Scrolls Online High Isle is a pretty good addition to the franchise. It is simple enough for people who are new to the game, but at the same time, there are some challenges for veterans, making this a great game if you are looking to start playing. Server issues aside, the game looked and played well.

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