With this years PAX East finally over we can finally sit back and let all the new info we obtained about TESO sink in. A bunch of different sites and journalists got to try out the game at this years event and boy, do they sure have a lot to say about it! Luckily all the different impressions and articles from the show were gathered up and put on one big page for our connivance!
Continue reading to check out what everybody has to say. Did the game live up to everyone’s expectations? Or does it still have a ways to go before it delivers on the promises made to us?
Action Trip
“I’ve never played an Elder Scrolls game (even though I’ve meant to play Skyrim, really) and I’m not a really a fan of MMOs. However, despite these facts and despite the fact that I needed a Bethesda representative to hold my hand and tell me how to do everything, I had a blast playing The Elder Scrolls Online.”
Destructoid
Elder Scrolls Off the Record
I am here to tell you that my fears have been erased, and I hope yours have as well. Elder Scrolls Online is a true Elder Scrolls game. It feels and plays like the single-player Elder Scrolls titles that you and I love. What could be better than that?
- Elder Scrolls Online at PAX: Developing Stories
- Elder Scrolls Online: A MMO Newb’s Reaction
- Elder Scrolls Online: Nick Konkle Breaks Down Gameplay Mechanics, Endgame, and More
- Episode 60: Pax East, ESO News and 1.9 Oh My
- Episode 61: ESO Pax East
- PAX Day 2: ESOTR’s 2-Hour Playthrough with ESO – First Impressions
- PVP in ESO – Controlling Cyrodiil
- Wrap-up of Saturday’s Events at PAX East
Force Strategy Gaming
Front Towards Gamer
All told, Elder Scrolls Online is exactly what we expected it to be, but still a pleasant surprise. The gameplay just plain works in an MMO format.
Game Industry Biz
Firor and Bethesda aren’t afraid of the player expectations when it comes to the Elder Scrolls brand. In fact, Firor said that Elder Scrolls has always lent itself to a possible MMO.
Game Shampoo
The combat has a speed to it that other games in the series would be jealous of. You have to keep your wits about you as enemies pelt you with AoEs and lumbering power attacks. Each must be countered in its own way.
GameBreaker TV
The combat system is fun and you gain access to awesome abilities fast. The whole system is significantly better than anything in the single player Elder Scrolls games.
- Elder Scrolls Online Hands On – This Week In MMO Ep137 (Video)
- First Look At The Elder Scrolls Online Hands On Demo!
GameSkinny
- Elder Scrolls Online: ZeniMax Shows PAX East Attendees a Little Tamriel Hospitality
- Nick Konkle Lead Gameplay Dev for Elder Scrolls Online
Imperial Library
John’s Gaming Channel
Kotaku
I tend to stay away from MMOs because I know it’s in my personality to explore every facet until I look up and realize it’s been three years and I haven’t paid my electrical bill and how has my laptop been running this long without juice. But ESO feels like something I want to get involved in. It’s a Skyrim MMO in (as far as I can tell) every sense of the meaning. I just need a few more days with it to be sure.
Massively
Each new zone brings with it a new and varied aesthetic, and there were more than a few occasions when I simply had to stop and admire the scenery. From strange, curved Orcish longhouses to massive, towering Redguard fortresses and mysterious ancient ruins, the art style of the game remains true to the source material and brings environments last seen in the old-school Elder Scrolls games (in this case, Daggerfall) to life.
MMO Reporter
MMORPG
I’m really digging a lot of the stuff Zenimax Online is doing to bring Elder Scrolls into the MMO genre. And most important of all, I came away from my demo feeling like Zenimax Online is handling the IP with a great deal of respect for the source material and the series’ storied history.
New Game Network
A couple hours barely scratches the surface of what is sure to be a game that aims to addict players for years. But I found that Elder Scrolls Online is truly seeking to preserve what makes the series so great, continuing a tradition of exploration, surprise, and the feeling like someone built an entire world just for you, even if there are other people playing it.
NVidia
Pixel Enemy
For those who are long-time Elder Scrolls fans, such as myself, you know that the series is absolutely perfect for an MMO component. The game’s setting is already vast, the character development is immense, and each player can play the game they want, whether it be as a lone ranger or a member of a large horde. The storyline isn’t narrow, and you have many opportunities to branch out.
Pokket Productions
Polygon
Combat is fast and fluid, non-playable characters are fully voiced, quests are clever without solely relying on fetch questing and similar MMORPG tropes.
The Shadowed Mare
In MMO history you rarely got the options to truly customize your character, you had the typical Male, Female, Race, Body Type, Skin Colour, all of which did not have very many options. Elder Scrolls Online is our chance as MMO gamers to have that plethora of customization options, and trust me there is a plethora of them.
- Elder Scrolls Online – Character Creation
- Live Stream: Elder Scrolls Online PAX in Review
- Live Stream: The Elder Scrolls Online at PAX East
- The Elder Scrolls Online at PAX Overview: Day Two
Shoddycast
- Elder Scrolls Online Weekly – PAX EAST & Press Event Updates (Round 2)
- Elder Scrolls Online Weekly – PAX EAST Wrapped-Up w/ a Bow
Tamriel Foundry
I was nervous that a development studio other than Bethesda was working on an Elder Scrolls game – not anymore. I have no doubt that Zenimax will produce a game that we can all be proud to own.
- Ask Me Anything – ESO @ PAX
- Konkle in a Box – Byronyk’s Play Through
- PAX Day One Recap
- PAX Day Two Recap
- Pre-PAX Reactions and Musings
TESOF
UESP
I was merely a little excited for Elder Scrolls Online before the event but now I absolutely can’t wait to get into the game more! Hopefully this good first impression will last through long term play of the game.