The Elder Scrolls® Online Reviews

left the game to update overnight now i have 20 hours playtime

A Massive, Ever-Expanding Elder Scrolls Adventure If you've ever wanted to explore Tamriel with friends (or solo), The Elder Scrolls Online (ESO) is the best way to do it. Whether you're diving into rich storylines, battling in epic PvP, or just exploring the world, there's always something to do. [b]Why ESO is Worth Playing[/b] ✅ Huge Open World – Travel across iconic locations from Skyrim, Morrowind, Cyrodiil, and more. New expansions keep adding fresh content. ✅ Solo or Multiplayer Friendly – Play at your own pace. Quest alone or join a guild for group content like dungeons and trials. ✅ Deep Customization – Mix and match abilities to create your own unique playstyle. No rigid class restrictions! ✅ Engaging Stories & Lore – Fully voiced quests and immersive storytelling make ESO feel like a true Elder Scrolls experience. ✅ Endless Content – With frequent updates and expansions, there's always something new to discover. [b]Performance & Monetization[/b] ✔️ Runs Well on Modern Systems – Stable performance, but large PvP battles can still be demanding. ✔️ Fair Monetization – Base game is affordable, expansions are optional but add tons of content. ESO Plus (subscription) is worth it if you play regularly. [b]Final Verdict[/b] If you're an Elder Scrolls fan or love MMORPGs, The Elder Scrolls Online is a must-try. There's no shortage of adventures, and with continued updates, it just keeps getting better. 🔥 Verdict: One of the Best MMORPGs Available! 🔥

If you like games like world of war craft and wizard 101 you would probably like this too, nothing like previous titles combat or story wise.

Wide as an ocean, deep as a puddle. I did enjoy walking around the areas I had access to, and there were a few "Oh it's that character, fun!" moments throughout the story. But so many parts of this game are locked behind paid content, even if you have ESO+, and it is not worth a monthly subscription + the price of DLC. The combat is a lamer version of Elder Scrolls mainline games, though the varied enemy types are appreciated. The crafting, guilds, currencies, etc. are all incredibly confusing. I found myself Googling something every fifteen minutes while playing. It just gets boring so quick. The style of combat actually is to its detriment, as something like LOTRO or Runescape feels clunky, so its okay that the UI is clunky. The combat in this game makes you expect a smooth gameplay experience, but there is nothing smooth about inventory management, submenus, etc. Go download more mods for Morrowind / Oblivion / Skyrim and play a better game!

I love this game. There are so many different things you can do. I've played over a thousand hours and I still haven't explored all of the things there are to do in this game. From crafting, daily quests, main story quests, dungeons, Tales of Tribute, and more, there's something in this game for every gaming mood. If you feel like striving, there's plenty to keep you occupied, but if you're feeling a little more languorous, you can decorate your house, or just explore to find skyshards, or gather resources, or craft something to sell in a guild store, to name a few. I've been playing off an on since launch, and at first I was skeptical of the change that was made many years ago to auto-scale everything pve on any map. This is because I wanted to be able to breeze through the lower level enemies to gather resources. But now I see the wisdom of the decision. I can now explore any map with ease (especially with a fully-leveled companion by my side) and it really opens up the sheer size of the game world. There are so many locations that are still relatively new to me, and they just keep adding more! To me, this game truly has it all, and no matter what kind of gaming I'm up for when I have the time, I can find something to fit that vibe in ESO.

The Elder Scrolls Online – A Costly Adventure with Gated Content I started ESO with an ESO+ subscription right away, unaware that zones and dungeons were locked behind DLCs. This became immediately frustrating when I tried to play with my friend, only to realize that much of the world was inaccessible to him unless he also paid for DLCs. It severely limited what we could do together, making the co-op experience feel restricted. One of the biggest disappointments was mounts being character-specific, meaning every new character starts painfully slow and requires individual mount training—a tedious process. The biggest paywall frustration was the Crafting Bag, which is only available with ESO+. Without it, you either have to put an extreme amount of effort into managing inventory across multiple characters or constantly run out of space. This feature alone makes it feel like a subscription is required just for basic convenience. The game’s monetization feels overwhelming. DLC zones are expensive, and major features like professions, guilds, high-end gear, dungeons, and trials (raids) are all locked behind paid content. While the community is generally friendly, my experience in dungeons was mixed, with some toxic players ruining the experience. If you're looking for an MMO like World of Warcraft with engaging group-based content, this isn't it. However, if you approach ESO as an expanded single-player Skyrim, you might enjoy it. The game has a lot of solo content, but for me, the multiplayer experience was disappointing due to excessive content gating. The initial game price is cheap, but once you're in, it becomes clear that a lot of content is locked behind an expensive paywall. Final Verdict: ✅ Great for solo RPG fans ❌ Bad for multiplayer unless you're willing to spend a lot ❌ Heavy reliance on ESO+ for basic convenience ❌ Expensive DLC model Would I recommend ESO? Only if you’re prepared to spend a lot—or play it as a solo RPG.

Tons of in-game transactions but doesnt really stop you from enjoying the game, especially when you find the Elder scrolls lore interesting already, 1. You can still get some cool items from Monthly Events or as you level through 2. There's a great deal of PVE content in Base game already for you to even run out of things to do. 3. Some items may seem Pay-to-win as they introduce items with some increase in damage for 15-25% but you can still have a good build even without those. 4. Competitive aspect of the game would heavily depend on how you will play. 5. Economics system is decentralized, you can join a trading guild to be able to participate in the in-game economics but still depend on your needs and how much you get from them.

ESO is one of those games where people either love it or hate it; And after 2000 hours I would say I fall in the love it camp but can definitely acknowledge there is flaws within the game. One of my favourite things about ESO is the freedom to play the game as you wish, pretty much whatever content you enjoy doing can be your endgame whether that be: questing, dungeoneering/raiding, PvP, crafting or trading; These systems also flow into each other very well to create a cohesive flowing gameplay experience. Combat in ESO isn't really one of it's strong suits, combat can feel very unresponsive and floaty with not a lot of impact being shown on enemies beyond the enemies being dazed when you either block or interrupt a heavy attack; The combat is fun at first but after a while it does just become "A thing you do". I do appreciate how gear in ESO is handled with horizontal progression, a piece of gear from the base game will have the same base statistics as a piece of gear from the latest expansion with only the set bonus of the gear changing the effectiveness of the gear; That might make you assume that the gear from the latest expansion has the best set bonus and will be the most optimal thing to use but you'd be surprise, different classes and builds can make use of sets from numerous different sets from different expansions. I very much dislike when gear is made redundant by a new expansion and the hip new thing on the block becomes all people use. Visually ESO is very impressive, even zones from the launch of the game in 2014 have a lot of visual depth and flair which only improves as you get into the expansions with some particular highlights for me being Apocrypha and the Clockwork City, if eye-candy is your thing ESO has you covered. ESO is filled with a gargantuan amount of quests, you can't kick a rock in a zone without hitting a quest giver and their cat (who is also a quest giver). These quests can range from the grand main story about fighting Molag Bal's Planemeld to save all of Nirn from being consumed by his thirst for power; To a guy who's trying to get away from his overbearing wife an we hand him right back to her unknowingly, I do love the variety in stories but from a gameplay perspective they could be better as most quests are just "Go here, kill this, interact with that" not all but a good majority. There are other types of quests thrown in like where you follow people in Assassin's Creed-like sections, solve puzzles to progress forward or even some quests that are collectathons requiring you so search far and wide for specific things across Nirn. I like the little sprinkles of variety but just wish that the philosophy wasn't "Break up the safe quests with a more unique one" and instead focus more on all quests having some flair and draw to them which I do understand is easy to ask for but in practice is tough. Think that about wraps it up, gonna go play Tribute and get Law of Sovereign Roosted.

Playing this game in 2025. It looks okay if you are not crazy about graphics. It gives you skyrim vibes although mechanics and gameplay are different. Anyway i manage to get my weird pleasure out of this game.

I've done everything there is to do in this game. Group Content, Solo Play, Housing, Fishing, Card Game, Achievement Chasing, Questing, Thievery, Murder, Melee and Range Weapons, PVP and PVE, became a multi-millionaire and have played dirt poor. There is no "End" in the game, do whatever parts you like and leave the rest or do it all. Ask questions respectfully in zone chat, someone will answer. There are always events to look forward to or take part in, join Guilds and talk to people or join guilds and don't talk to people. There is something for everyone. Make your character look and act however you'd like. It's up to you. Make multiple characters. I like that today I can focus on doing dungeons and trials with my guild or with a random group and tomorrow I can craft things to make myself and my house look pretty, and the next day I can race around the world rescuing NPCs or aiding fellow players who are on the same world quests as I am or are in my PVP alliance. In ESO the world is your oyster, just find your groove.