The Elder Scrolls Online: Summerset Previews
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Arrogant elves, expensive wine, sunny weather, and demonic conspiracies - the upcoming Summerset expansion for Bethesda's MMORPG The Elder Scrolls Online will have them all. And if you're interested in what the expansion has to offer in terms of new content, features and gameplay, you can check out the previews below:
Here's PC Gamer describing a particularly interesting quest:
I only went hands-on for a couple of hours—barely enough time to make sure my slottable items were properly organized—but that was enough to give me the impression that the Elder Scrolls Online team are up there with some of the hardest working in the business.
I should have been a good reporter and headed off on the main quest line, guided by everyone’s favorite Khajiitt Razum-dar, but I got distracted by a murder mystery at a local vineyard. I did manage to start one of the bigger plotlines in the expansion, smashing up Skaafins in an Undercroft for the quest ‘The Queen’s Decree’ with the Psijic mage Valsirenn, which had a distinct odor of Daedric Princes and treachery about it all. In the space of 30 minutes there was a “life sucking pearl,” political drama, murder and an anecdote about pudding tarts.
I was supposed to be whacking on an elegant outfit and infiltrating an important meeting when I wandered off to the Ghost Of Green case. You can watch it play out in the video above.
Forget the demands of local royal Queen Ayrenn, her gaunt accomplices or her khajiitt emissary who may or may not have featured in a number of my sexual fantasies. Or that whole Daedric thing—nothing screams "living fantasy dreams" like doing your best Miss Marple impression among the grapevines while decked out in heavy armor.
It was a quest called "Old Wounds," starring a pair of elven Jurisreeves (we muggles would call them investigators) who are 90% cheekbones, and a killer called the Ghost of the Green, supposedly dealt with but now returned and killing innocents with his signature wood elf arrow to the heart. This being ESO, my part in it all was less finding fingerprints or sending off forensics and more searching the fields for clues, finding chatty bystanders, observing magical rites and reading extensive exposition from everyone in sight. And damn it was satisfying following every lead, bringing it to a satisfying end and being patted on the head by all involved. Honestly, this stuff is crack for people-pleasers.
WCCFTech offers a general feature overview:
One of the most exciting additions to Summerset is the all new skill line. This chapter will enable players to join the secretive Psijic Order, consisting of a strange group of sages that supposedly predate the Mages Guild. For the first time in any ESO game, players will have the opportunity to travel to Artaeum to unlock powerful new abilities, including an ultimate. Joining the ranks in the Psijic Order will add a mystical flavor to the game and players are going to explore Artaeum as a result of the main quests in the skill line.
ESO: Summerset will also launch with the Cloudrest Trial. This trial will support up to twelve players and is located on Summerset’s highest peak. The usually bustling city of Cloudrest has mysteriously fallen silent and its protectors (the Welkynar) have also disappeared. Players that have already played through Asylum Sanctorium will understand the basic structure of how this trial will unfold however, Cloudrest will have four bosses, opposed to the three in Asylum Sanctorium. With the new trial comes new loot too, in the form of four new item sets along with “perfected” versions of the sets for those who are able to complete the hardest version of the trial.
Trusted Reviews calls Summerset a "solid expansion":
Summerset Isles hasn’t been touched since Elder Scrolls: Arena in 1994, meaning Bethesda has an opportunity to introduce a niche location to an entire new generation of players. From what I’ve seen thus far, it’s presented a gorgeous yet predictably buggy locale I’m eager to explore, even if I might find myself overwhelmed by mountains of daunting lore. However, the general flow of gameplay is introduced with such finesse it feels like a manageable task for me and, hopefully, many others.
While not playable in this demo, Summerset Isles will introduce a new playable class as part of the Psijic Order. This secretive organisation introduces a new skill line you can adopt with a variety of skills and equipment to obtain. Long-awaited changes to the jewelry crafting system and other mechanics will also be introduced, included 12-player trials and more.
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Elder Scrolls Online: Summerset appears to be another solid expansion to an MMORPG that has carved its own unique identity since launching in 2014. The fact this also feels curated for newcomers is an excellent move by Bethesda to get the uninitiated involved.
PlayStation Universe seems particularly impressed with the setting:
If Summerset Isle is beautiful then Artaeum in spellbinding. There’s a dreamlike shimmer to the high fantasy here. It was gorgeous enough for me to stop and take a good look around. I was happy to hear from Matt Firor that it’s a place we’d be exploring more in the final build. It will also have its own side quests to go along with the main quest line missions that bring you here.
It’s here that you get a bit more detail on the Psijic Order. It’s available not only as a story thread, but also as a new skill line. This skill line features some time-bending abilities (which I sadly did not have time to discover for myself). These will include freezing enemies in a time bubble, and being able to jump back a few seconds and recover your original position, health, mana et al.
In the hour or so I played, I uncovered the first threads of the overarching story. Personally speaking, it’s already a more appealing one than Morrowind’s. It helps that you get the likes of Khajit spy Razum-Dar returning from the base game narrative. He plays a big part in the opening hour, bringing his charm and humour with him. Even with voice work not ready, the writing for the character is already proving a triumph. The Elder Scrolls Online needs to have more characters like Razum-Dar, and as the development team gain more confidence with each passing update, Razum-Dar is becoming less of an exception.
And GameWatcher thinks the expansion will be a good place to jump into the game:
I spent over an hour with ESO: Summerset and thoroughly enjoyed exploring the region and completing various quests. Summerset is supposed to be a beautiful area that feels very manicured and that certainly comes across when wandering around. Joining forces with a friend was easy to set up and even though the game is still in development, it was clear to see that there will be a lot of content to keep players occupied. I’ve spent little time with The Elder Scrolls Online in the past, so as a relatively new player I can confirm that this is a good time to jump in, even if you haven’t played any of the previous chapters. Summerset begins with a helpful tutorial that quickly brings the player up to speed and prepares you for the rest of the game. Enemies are not too challenging to handle and are not particularly life-threatening either, so even if you’re looking to play the game with friends who have played before, you won’t feel out of your depth.
