The Elder Scrolls Online: Morrowind Review – A Value Return
Morrowind is a name that makes many gamershart beating faster. According to many, the third part in the Elder Scrolls series is the best in the series and, according to some, even the best game ever made. No wonder, therefore, that the new Elder Scrolls Online expansion Morrowind threw high eyes after it was announced. But does Morrowind only stand on nostalgia or is there more on the island of Vvardenfell?
The design of the island is already timeless. For players who visited the Morrowind region in the third Elder Scrolls title or in the Skyrim expansion Dragonborn, it is often a celebration celebration. Also for those who have never put a foot in the home of the Dark Elves, the volcanic island of Vvardenfell is breathtaking. Volcanic caves are alternated with green hillsides full of giant mushrooms, which is characteristic of the region. As in the past, we can also explore some underground elven bombs and Dwemer ruins, and these also remain impressive.
That’s good too, because you will have to travel a lot during your adventure in Morrowind. Vvardenfell is quite big and you will often have to go from one side of the island to another to complete quests. Fortunately, the folder is also well stocked with content and is almost everywhere to find a dungeon, a boss or a town where you can earn your experience and gear. There are also enough wayshrines and other forms of fast travel, so you never have to walk long if you do not feel like it.
The quests themselves are especially storytelling very strong. The main question – trying to unravel why God Vivec is losing his power – may not be very surprising, but it offers enough context to keep the quests interesting. Also in some of the pagequests there are very nice story lines, such as a Khajiit who lost his drug plantation to bandits. Without the well-known dialogues and storylines, the cliche “death this, go here, gather that” quests are a lot less interesting.
Where The Elder Scrolls Online: Morrowind does innovate, is with the new class. The Warden is the first class to be added to the game since release and is by far the most interesting addition to the expansion. The class has three unique skill trees, each of which is suitable for another role in the game. With Animal Companions, call your animals to your side to harm, with Green Balance you can heal yourself and others through natural magic and with Winter’s Embrace, use your ice cream mask to make yourself an unbeatable tank. Most of the Warden skills work with a short delay, so it takes a while before your used skills actually do something. Especially AoE skills like Scorch and Healing Seed put a lot of emphasis on positioning, making the Warden one of the nicest classes to play.
If you are eager to play the new class, create a new character. Because almost all content since the One Tamriel update is suitable for characters of any level, it’s not a problem to instantly expand the extension with a new character. In fact, Vvardenfell is one of the best beginners in The Elder Scrolls Online. The island is packed with content, has a good story line with fun (but little creative) quests and rewards you with cool gear. The new armor sets, like Morrowind, look very cool and unique, and are also worth collecting or crafting for experienced players, even if it’s only for the looks.
Now that we have experienced players: Even if you’ve played the game ever since the release, The Elder Scrolls Online adds Morrowind enough. First of all, there are the Battlegrounds for the PvP fanatics. These are small-scale arenas where three teams of four take on each other in Team Deathmatch, Capture the Flag and Domination. The battles are much faster and more explosive than the slower, large-scale combat of Alliance Wars. You just deserve Just Alliance Points (the special PvP currency), so Battlegrounds offers an interesting alternative for players looking for good gear, but not wanting to take part in the large-scale PvP battles of the current game.
There is also a new Trial available in The Elder Scrolls Online: Morrowind. In the Halls of Fabrication, players together with the magic Divayth Fyr – to beat many old-known – some spicy bosses in Clockwork City. Like the other Trials, the Halls of Fabrication offers a big challenge and you will have to work hard with a group of twelve players to get a chance of strong gear.
What is noticeable is that Morrowind mainly builds on The Elder Scrolls Online. A new class here and a new trial are alive, but nowhere does the expansion solve the problems of The Elder Scrolls Online. Thus, many quests are still unilateral and simple, the inventory system is often unclear and you still can not choose a suitable reward at the end of a quest. More than once I got a weapon or a piece of armor where my Warden could not do anything because it did not fit in my build. Should you be excited for Morrowind for nostalgic reasons, but did you not find The Elder Scrolls Online anything? Then this expansion will not change. Also the current selling price is 40 euros, which is not a soft price for an expansion.
The Judgement
With Morrowind, Elder Scrolls Online does not try to find out the wheel again. Players who do not feel attracted to the MMO genre can make this title better left, but for The Elder Scrolls Online fans there is more than enough to see and do. A cool new location, a fantastic new class and a lot of new end-game content make Morrowind an excellent first expansion of an extremely strong MMO.