The Elder Scrolls Online: High Isle

The Elder Scrolls Online: High Isle may not be a total home run, but it is another solid installment to the MMORPG despite its weak story. High Isle itself is a gorgeously realized location that feels more alive than other settings have thanks to the incredible attention to detail by the art team, and the gameplay is a lot of fun where it matters most. The inclusion of Tales of Tribute works wonderfully, and the game itself was clearly well-designed and executed. However, it could have been even stronger as a base game feature that all players could enjoy. This might have added to the social aspects of Elder Scrolls Online by giving players more to do while in-game besides group combat encounters. Players have likely not seen the last of the Ascendant Order and its leader in Elder Scrolls Online expansions, and time will tell whether dragging out the reveal of the Ascendant Lord's identity was a worthwhile move. In the meantime, fans are likely to find many things to like about The Elder Scrolls Online: High Isle that add some welcome variety and lore in Tamriel, and it is well worth checking out.

The High Isle chapter provides players with some great new story content and a beautiful new region, but with its lack of quality side content, low amount of new items, and underwhelming card game, it is hard to recommend to anyone who isn’t a story buff of TES series and is a more of a hardcore MMO player.

High Isle feels the closest ESO has come to offering a meaty, single-player campaign in years but those ambitions butt heads with the core mechanics of the MMO. As ever with ESO, this isn’t going to be for everyone, but for those who already love sharing the world of Tamriel with others, this is the prettiest playground yet.