What you need to know
- The Elder Scrolls Online: Elsweyr recently launched on Xbox One.
- The expansion adds a new region and brings back dragons.
- You have to save the Khajiit homeland this time around.
- The game can be purchased for $40 through the Microsoft Store.
The Elder Scrolls Online is popular massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) which has garnered a strong player base over the years. A large part of the game's success can be attributed to a steady influx of new content. Towards the beginning of June, The Elder Scrolls Online: Elsweyr launched on Xbox One and it adds dragons to the game.
According to Bethesda, Dragons have invaded Tamriel and it's up to you to stop them. The Elder Scrolls Online: Elsweyr starts the "Season of the Dragon" which is a year-long adventure. You'll explore and defend the home of the Khajiit from an ancient evil, and command the undead with the new Necromancer class.
We've been testing out the game for the past week and can say that it features an intruging story. The mystery behind the dragon scourge unravels steadily, and each mission gets you closer to the truth. Aside from the main quest, it's quite possibly the best story The Elder Scrolls Online has ever told. There are also from the looks of it random dragons flying around which you can work together to take down. It definitely pays homage to The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.
While the visuals are astounding, the performance – even on the Xbox One X – is horrendous. The video provides just one example of what you'll have to endure. Other regions of the game don't suffer from this issue, but the Khajiit homeworld is plagued with stuttering and lower than 30 frames per second gameplay. It seems to be an issue of optimization because old areas don't exhibit any of these problems even with the latest patch.
Hopefully the team will fix these problems because millions of console gamers won't be able to enjoy the content. We've reached out to the company to see if they're aware of these problems and have a patch in the works.
The Elder Scrolls Online launched as a somewhat broken and unbalanced experience. At one point it was even supported by a monthly subscription model. Luckily, the developer changed the business plan and added a tremendous amount of content. After all these years, the game might be the best MMORPG on consoles.
There are two ways to play The Elder Scrolls Online: Elsweyr at the moment. You can either buy an upgrade for $40 if you already own the base game, or you can purchase a complete bundle starting at $60. If you haven't played the game before, now's a great time to jump in.
Take on ferocious dragons
The Elder Scrolls Online: Elsweyr starts the Season of the Dragon which is a year-long adventure. You'll explore and defend the home of the Khajiit from an ancient evil, and command the undead with the new Necromancer class.
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