What started out as a review turned into a life story.....Once upon a time...

I was planning on buying The Elder Scrolls Online (ESO) base game from an online digital marketplace, then maybe pick up the Morrowind chapter later on "if" I could get into it. To my surprise when I went to check it out on Steam it was £9.99 "WITH" the Morrowind chapter included in the overall price. A nice little surprise.
If you do decide to purchase this game I recommend creating an account on:

"account.elderscrollsonline.com"

first, which you will have to do anyway in order to play the game as it's run through a 3rd party but it's easy enough. Just be aware though the “userid” you choose on the 3rd party site will be the “userid” displayed while you’re in game.

After I finished downloading the game through Steam I did have a slight issue with the installation... I noticed a few other people who have written a review for this game have also had the same hiccup but it is easily sorted out by "repairing" when prompted. Also, another thing to point out, you can play ESO with a controller (I am currently using a wired XBOX controller) if you fancy sitting back and relaxing, while you play on your big T.V then I’d strongly recommend not using KB/M. Unfortunately, it’s not as easy as the conventional “plug and play” you do have to enable it in settings-gameplay. Also, like Skyrim you can toggle from first to 3rd person with the touch of a button.

Now on to the best part... The game is truly TRULY beautiful, the colours are vibrant, stand out and feel genuinely warm. The Elder Scrolls Online really does a fantastic job making sure you feel completely immersed in the environment. For me, this is a huge plus! Personally when I am playing a game like this I want to feel like I’m no longer sitting on my sofa, in front of the T.V, I want to feel like I’m actually running around Tamriel, taking in the sights and sounds. This is what I mean when I stipulated I feel “completely immersed” and ESO does a hell of a job creating that escape into that magical fantasy world.

As crazy as this sounds, one of my favourite things about not only this but every game or movie I play or watch is its soundtrack and wow!! The Elder Scrolls Online is on the money again!! In my humble opinion a great soundtrack can make or break a game. Just look at “The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt” as an example, an amazing soundtrack = amazing game… “ELEX” ♥♥♥♥ soundtrack= ♥♥♥♥ game LOL (I know these are just my opinions but you get my point lol). ESO’s soundtrack is really something special... I looked into The Elder Scrolls Online soundtrack and they created it over a few YEARS and honestly it truly is a masterpiece. Amazon’s review has it 4.5/5 stars. It gives you this warm sense of nostalgia as it contains music from Skyrim.

I was racking my brain thinking what game The Elder Scrolls Online reminded me of… I know I'm kinda showing my age a little here but it's a lot like "Fable 3 crossed with Dragon Age: Inquisition" with some of the grand designs of some of the buildings and the atmosphere but again this is subjective as it purely my opinion.

The NPC's really blend in well with the environment and are able to create a truly unique atmosphere. Also, NPC's involved in the quests you partake in look amazing when you’re speaking to them. The body language feels genuine and the words are actually synced with the movement of NPC’s lips plus no crazy facial expressions like “Mass Effect Andromeda” LOL.


DIFFERENT RACES, FACTIONS & CLASSES

Another aspect I absolutely LOVE about this game is the “freedom of choice” and the “character customisation”. It is head and shoulders above most MMORPG’s on the market today. As far as I’m aware you are able to choose between TEN different races with THREE different factions that looks like this:

“Ebonheart” Pact Faction Races

Argonian (Reptilian), Dunmer (Dark Elves), Nord (Human)

“Aldmeri” Dominion Faction Races

Altmer (High Elves), Bosmer (Wood Elves), Khajiit (Feline)

“Daggerfall” Covenant Faction Races

Breton (Human), Orc (Also known as Corrupted Elves), Redguard (Human)

Imperials (Human) I think you have to purchase the “Imperial Edition of the game” to get access to this class and I think Imperials are able to join “any” faction.

CLASSES

Dragon Knight
Nightblade
Templar
Sorcerer

http://uk.ign.com/wikis/elder-scrolls-online

If any of you guys want more information on Elder Scrolls Online this site has “EVERYTHING” you would ever want to know LOL


NOTE
I was checking out benchmarks on YouTube so I would have a rough idea what kind of FPS I could expect when I ran into something I think 99.9% of novice, semi and pro gamers would be interested in. Check out

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKRnY0YLLbc

on YouTube. The difference between choosing the minimum settings in comparison to the maximum is “Night and Day” TRULY! The textures, terrain, rendering ect are all obviously superior on the highest setting. I personally did the test myself using the R9 390X and can attest & confirm the evidence of the results. As most are aware it obviously depends heavily on what GPU you’re running ESO on but “if” you’re GPU allows you to run ESO on the highest settings I strongly recommend you do as you won’t be disappointed. Also, if you fancy pushing your hardware that little bit further and tweaking your graphical settings to improve your average FPS check this out on google, it’s pretty cool. This is, however, for advanced P.C enthusiasts not novices (No offence intended).

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/368986/mega-thread-eso-performance-tweaks-fps-improvements-stutter-free-graphics-tweaking

As I stipulated above I'm running ESO on my R9 390X and FX 8350 OC’ed @ 4.5GHz it truly looks AMAZING. It hardly puts any stress on my GPU at all which in my opinion is particularly impressive as my CPU is ancient (6+ years old) is more than likely bottlenecking my GPU. There is no stuttering, lag, tearing ect and my GPU temps are well within the respectable limits.

Honestly, I am struggling to find anything negative about this game... Obviously I am aware that there was a fair amount of problems when the game was initially released back in 2014 but given the amount of time from then to now I think it’s fair to say the patches and updates have done their intended job. One thing I will mention is this game can get REALLY expensive if you let it... True, it’s not a "Pay to Win" kinda game in the conventional sense but you do get the feeling with how slowly you acquire gold that it would most definitely be easier to just buy crowns (in-game currency) but that's something you have to search your own soul in deciding if it's worth it.

In my opinion the game is amazing, the soundtrack is amazing and what's more the customisation of your character is also another huge plus.

Overall Score:
9.6/10 – Amazing!!

One final comment I wish to end with and for me was kind of a make or break, potential deal-breaker was the ESO community… This community, for me is without a doubt the best community I have played online with to date. If you need help and ask 9/10 you get it. An example, I went into a dwarven mine while I was lvl 2 or 3 and kept dying so I asked someone who I had never spoken to before, who was on his/her way out if they could help me. We went back through everywhere they had been before, with me.. So I was able to complete that quest. Proper top draw community!!

...The End.

What started out as a review turned into a life story.....Once upon a time... I was planning on buying The Elder Scrolls Online (ESO) base game from an online digital marketplace, then maybe pick up the Morrowind chapter later on "if" I could get into it. To my surprise when I went to check it out on Steam it was £9.99 "WITH" the Morrowind chapter included in the overall price. A nice little surprise. If you do decide to purchase this game I recommend creating an account on: "account.elderscrollsonline.com" first, which you will have to do anyway in order to play the game as it's run through a 3rd party but it's easy enough. Just be aware though the “userid” you choose on the 3rd party site will be the “userid” displayed while you’re in game. After I finished downloading the game through Steam I did have a slight issue with the installation... I noticed a few other people who have written a review for this game have also had the same hiccup but it is easily sorted out by "repairing" when prompted. Also, another thing to point out, you can play ESO with a controller (I am currently using a wired XBOX controller) if you fancy sitting back and relaxing, while you play on your big T.V then I’d strongly recommend not using KB/M. Unfortunately, it’s not as easy as the conventional “plug and play” you do have to enable it in settings-gameplay. Also, like Skyrim you can toggle from first to 3rd person with the touch of a button. Now on to the best part... The game is truly TRULY beautiful, the colours are vibrant, stand out and feel genuinely warm. The Elder Scrolls Online really does a fantastic job making sure you feel completely immersed in the environment. For me, this is a huge plus! Personally when I am playing a game like this I want to feel like I’m no longer sitting on my sofa, in front of the T.V, I want to feel like I’m actually running around Tamriel, taking in the sights and sounds. This is what I mean when I stipulated I feel “completely immersed” and ESO does a hell of a job creating that escape into that magical fantasy world. As crazy as this sounds, one of my favourite things about not only this but every game or movie I play or watch is its soundtrack and wow!! The Elder Scrolls Online is on the money again!! In my humble opinion a great soundtrack can make or break a game. Just look at “The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt” as an example, an amazing soundtrack = amazing game… “ELEX” shit soundtrack= shit game LOL (I know these are just my opinions but you get my point lol). ESO’s soundtrack is really something special... I looked into The Elder Scrolls Online soundtrack and they created it over a few YEARS and honestly it truly is a masterpiece. Amazon’s review has it 4.5/5 stars. It gives you this warm sense of nostalgia as it contains music from Skyrim. I was racking my brain thinking what game The Elder Scrolls Online reminded me of… I know I'm kinda showing my age a little here but it's a lot like "Fable 3 crossed with Dragon Age: Inquisition" with some of the grand designs of some of the buildings and the atmosphere but again this is subjective as it purely my opinion. The NPC's really blend in well with the environment and are able to create a truly unique atmosphere. Also, NPC's involved in the quests you partake in look amazing when you’re speaking to them. The body language feels genuine and the words are actually synced with the movement of NPC’s lips plus no crazy facial expressions like “Mass Effect Andromeda” LOL. DIFFERENT RACES, FACTIONS & CLASSES Another aspect I absolutely LOVE about this game is the “freedom of choice” and the “character customisation”. It is head and shoulders above most MMORPG’s on the market today. As far as I’m aware you are able to choose between TEN different races with THREE different factions that looks like this: “Ebonheart” Pact Faction Races Argonian (Reptilian), Dunmer (Dark Elves), Nord (Human) “Aldmeri” Dominion Faction Races Altmer (High Elves), Bosmer (Wood Elves), Khajiit (Feline) “Daggerfall” Covenant Faction Races Breton (Human), Orc (Also known as Corrupted Elves), Redguard (Human) Imperials (Human) I think you have to purchase the “Imperial Edition of the game” to get access to this class and I think Imperials are able to join “any” faction. CLASSES Dragon Knight Nightblade Templar Sorcerer http://uk.ign.com/wikis/elder-scrolls-online If any of you guys want more information on Elder Scrolls Online this site has “EVERYTHING” you would ever want to know LOL NOTE I was checking out benchmarks on YouTube so I would have a rough idea what kind of FPS I could expect when I ran into something I think 99.9% of novice, semi and pro gamers would be interested in. Check out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKRnY0YLLbc on YouTube. The difference between choosing the minimum settings in comparison to the maximum is “Night and Day” TRULY! The textures, terrain, rendering ect are all obviously superior on the highest setting. I personally did the test myself using the R9 390X and can attest & confirm the evidence of the results. As most are aware it obviously depends heavily on what GPU you’re running ESO on but “if” you’re GPU allows you to run ESO on the highest settings I strongly recommend you do as you won’t be disappointed. Also, if you fancy pushing your hardware that little bit further and tweaking your graphical settings to improve your average FPS check this out on google, it’s pretty cool. This is, however, for advanced P.C enthusiasts not novices (No offence intended). https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/368986/mega-thread-eso-performance-tweaks-fps-improvements-stutter-free-graphics-tweaking As I stipulated above I'm running ESO on my R9 390X and FX 8350 OC’ed @ 4.5GHz it truly looks AMAZING. It hardly puts any stress on my GPU at all which in my opinion is particularly impressive as my CPU is ancient (6+ years old) is more than likely bottlenecking my GPU. There is no stuttering, lag, tearing ect and my GPU temps are well within the respectable limits. Honestly, I am struggling to find anything negative about this game... Obviously I am aware that there was a fair amount of problems when the game was initially released back in 2014 but given the amount of time from then to now I think it’s fair to say the patches and updates have done their intended job. One thing I will mention is this game can get REALLY expensive if you let it... True, it’s not a "Pay to Win" kinda game in the conventional sense but you do get the feeling with how slowly you acquire gold that it would most definitely be easier to just buy crowns (in-game currency) but that's something you have to search your own soul in deciding if it's worth it. In my opinion the game is amazing, the soundtrack is amazing and what's more the customisation of your character is also another huge plus. Overall Score: 9.6/10 – Amazing!! One final comment I wish to end with and for me was kind of a make or break, potential deal-breaker was the ESO community… This community, for me is without a doubt the best community I have played online with to date. If you need help and ask 9/10 you get it. An example, I went into a dwarven mine while I was lvl 2 or 3 and kept dying so I asked someone who I had never spoken to before, who was on his/her way out if they could help me. We went back through everywhere they had been before, with me.. So I was able to complete that quest. Proper top draw community!! ...The End.