A fresh look at The Elder Scrolls Online

PC, PS4, and Xbox One in spring 2014

The thought of a massively-multiplayer online The Elder Scrolls on consoles terrifies me. Perhaps I’m just cynical. Logistics aside, it’s great in theory to see MMO support on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One — confirmed for TES Online this week — assuming, again, that it isn’t a buggy mess.

Chris did a heck of a job covering the game already with an extensive preview. In only seeing the title for half an hour or so of low-level play, it’s challenging to get a true sense for anything but your gut reaction. That’s true of a typical TES game, and it’s even more true of an MMO take on the exploration-heavy RPG franchise.

I was not expecting particularly great things going in, I’ll be honest. That said, I came away feeling much more optimistic about what ZeniMax Online Studios is building. The quality is there, as is more of a “Elder Scrolls” feel than anticipated. The guy next to me kept audibly cheering during his playthrough — like, this happened at least five times. So there’s that.

Sadly, first-person combat did not make the cut for the E3 build of The Elder Scrolls Online, but the attached trailer gives a good look at how that’s coming together. That’s going to be the way to play, from my experience.