It’s been a while since I went on an unintentional Elder Scrolls Online hiatus, and I guess I stopped right at the start of the big climax to Blackwood. The Waking Flame cult is heading toward the fortress where the good guys and the ambitions are preparing to make their stand, which means that it’s time to play One Girl Army again.
Admittedly, this set piece is full of terrific moments, from Oblivion portals popping in left and right to a demon that uppercut punched a guy off a ledge.
None is quite as impressive as this big red dude coming through the dimensions. You know how MMO raid bosses are always orders of magnitude larger the normal mobs? This guy is the epitome of that. As with most ESO main questlines, the ending was a long slog to a boss fight that effectively serves to say “Sorry, but the REAL boss is in the fall DLC. See you then!”
After the main Blackwood storyline, I turned my attention to tidying up some of the loose ends — skyshrines, delves, side quests — around the area. This is probably my least favorite part of doing zones, just because it’s a lot of busy work done for that feeling of completion rather than progression.
I am currently planning on playing High Isle this month, but I’m not exactly champing at the bit for it, either. ESO is fine and agreeable to play, but the current game and upcoming expansion don’t have a lot to dangle to excite me other than “more story.” And don’t get me wrong — I like more good stories, but I really would like to feel like my character has some strong chase goals in front of her. And I don’t know what ZeniMax could do right now to make that happen. More skill morphs? Different weapons? Jet packs?
I really wouldn’t complain if the studio took next year to work on a completely revamped combat system rather than another expansion, but I know that is a foolish wish. “Revamped combat” doesn’t get sales.