The heatwave currently scorching the country is a grim reminder that summer is upon us and the outside world is a terrible, terrible place. Hot temperatures, high humidity and swarms of blood-sucking bugs make the outside world as appealing as entering an Oblivion gate. But the start of summer also means that a new chapter gets added to The Elder Scrolls Online, giving players a new reason to get lost exploring a newly-opened location in Tamriel from the comfort of their indoor gaming setup that hopefully has air conditioning or at least a fan. High Isle is the latest expansion for the MMO and we’ve spent the past week exploring what it has to offer while avoiding all natural light.
High Isle is located in High Rock, home to the Bretons and a location that hasn’t been visited since The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall. The politically-charged story begins in Gonfalon Bay where the Society of the Steadfast is hosting a summit in an attempt to usher in a new age of peace, ending the Three Banners War. The seems good but things are never easy in Tamriel, as The Ascendant Order is lurking about their shadows with their own agenda and motives. Meddling in political affairs is always a good idea in RPGs, but there are plenty of other activities to occupy a player’s time in The Elder Scrolls Online: High Isle.
The story of High Isle was a surprising change of pace, centering the nuanced politics of the region instead of a cataclysm-inducing Daedric super villain. Dealing with political affairs seems far less epic than preventing the gates of Oblivion from opening to usher in the end of the civilization but it actually seemed like a decent change for variety. The characters and dialogue are extraordinarily well written which makes the journey through High Isle such a pleasant outing in spite of all the nefarious plots unfolding in the background and dangerous creatures trying to end the player’s life.
When an RPG gets major content updates every year it helps if the new content extends beyond just a new map to explore. The recently-introduced companion system introduces a couple new NPCs. Isobel Velois is a powerful Breton knight but a firm believer in justice and the law, so it’s best not to murder innocent NPCs around her or take with you while doing work for the Dark Brotherhood. Ember is a streetwise Khajit who has great magical proficiency even if her lack of formal training can lead to unintended but humorous consequences. New world events are also to be found in High Isle. Volcanic Vents are this province’s equivalent to Harrowstorms and Oblivion Gates. These events will face players aiding Stonelore Druids in the fight against fire Daedra. A new 12-player trial also exists, where the threat of pirates in the Systres Archipelago need to be eliminated. Taking on these pirates will not only pit the players against new bosses, but can also grant new items and achievements.
The most notable addition to High Isle is the Tales of Tribute card game. Like Triple Triad, the players of Elder Scrolls Online will soon appear in memes asking people to play cards at the most inappropriate times. Tales of Tribute has the objective of getting the most points which are accumulated through gold and power. Gold buys the cards which can get the power which is then converted into points. There’s a tutorial in game that explains how everything works. Tales of Tribute is completely optional, so those who aren’t into deck building can go back to slaughtering the myriad crabs of High Rock, but for those that do it is a nice addition, especially since there are nice prizes to be won in the ranked tournaments.
High Isle has the same pitfall many Elder Scrolls games have which is that it can take a ridiculously long time to complete a quest. This isn’t because the quests are that long, but because so many side quests get discovered on the way to completing the primary objective. Getting distracted by all the side quests can be detrimental to those who wish to tackle the main storyline in an efficient way, but getting lost in the all the different problems in High Isle is part of the charm that always made Elder Scrolls games so engrossing. One of the more memorable ones involved a mishap with spells that resulted turning people into livestock. As easy as it is to get lost in the multitude of side quests and other activities where many interesting NPCs can be encountered, the main story is written well enough where it’s worth returning to and completing. The gameplay and exploration aren’t drastically different than previous installments but story and dialogue keep this one interesting.
High Isle has minimal loading times during start up and runs smoothly for the most part on PlayStation 5. Whether it can be attributed to game glitches or network connectivity issues, there were a couple times during the review where a quest could not be completed due to tech issues. This is a similar situation that most players of Elder Scrolls games have been in at one point or another where they are at an endpoint in a quest, but the prompt to advance the quest won’t populate. The objective will be in the player’s reach with all the marking indicating such but the prompt to press X won’t appear, freezing the quest in limbo. This only happened in side quests, so it didn’t break the game, but is still a major irritant. Rebooting the game fixed this issue with one quest but not the other. Hopefully patches will correct this issue in the near future.
The Elder Scrolls Online: High Isle is a welcome addition to the long-running MMO. The gameplay remains familiar enough so regular Elder Scrolls Online players won’t be in for any unpleasant surprises and the world building and storytelling makes High Isle a worthwhile visit. The story feels more grounded in reality than some of the other chapters while the characters and dialogue make this a fantastic chapter. The new content is a great addition to the massive MMO and in reality this new chapter should be given a higher score. Unfortunately, in the current state where bugs prevent quests from being completed, point deductions are in order. High Isle has potential to be a grand adventure, but until some of these quest-breaking bugs are addressed, it’s recommended to proceed with caution.