Elder Scrolls Online – Summerset Expansion

As the developers at Bethesda dive deeper and deeper in the world of the Elder Scrolls Online, fans of the franchise just can’t seem to get enough of what the game is offering. Through the last number of expansion, Bethesda has added some great content, including the long awaited Morrowind section of the map, which brought back so many great memories of playing The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. With the announcement of new content coming soon to the game – via the Bethesda E3 press conference – and the inclusion of the recently released Summerset expansion, the world of ESO has never been better!

Summerset is not like anything we’ve seen before in the Elder Scrolls Online. The land of the Summerset Isles has often been closed off to inhabitants of the rest of the known world, but a recent decree by Queen Ayrenn has opened it up to travelers from across the globe. Upon reaching the land of the High Elves, you will instantly be awed by the beauty that surrounds you. Cities are spectacular, rising from the ground and launching high into the sky. The woods around these fantastic cities are filled with creatures, mountains, rivers, and lakes. On the surface, it is all very beautiful to look at.

But deep down, something on Summerset isn’t quite right, and you’ll be flung into the chaos the second you arrive.

There is tons of new content added with this expansion, including new mounts, new pets, new armour sets, and an entirely new order for you to join. Adding to your Thieves Guild credentials, your fighters guild credentials, and many others, will be joining the Psijic Order.

The Psijic Order has been a mysterious and mystical force in Tamriel throughout time, and in ESO: Summerset, they have returned after disappearing for nearly 300 years.  Players will – for the first time in any Elder Scrolls game — seek out these enigmatic mages and join their order. By mastering the ways of the Psijic Order, players will unlock a powerful new skill line that includes the ability to reverse time itself.

The Psijic order does more than provide you with another guild to enter into a bond with. It also unlocks a whole new skill line for you to play with, which ultimately will allow you to manipulate time. This group of mages aren’t often found in the lore of The Elder Scrolls, but their impact on the world of Summerset is instantly noticeable.

The majority of Summerset can be played solo, although the game does introduce more dungeons to finish that require the help of a small team. Still, as with all of the ESO content, playing with someone else is definitely the ideal way to experience The Elder Scrolls Online. Myself and a fellow writer have been diving into the experience together for the last week or so, and have been thoroughly impressed with the story progression and quest structures as a whole.

Traversing some of the cities in Summerset isn’t as ideal as you would like, but as with all things in the Elder Scrolls Online, Bethesda is looking for accuracy based on lore, not making things convenient for players. The beauty that you see when making your long treks, however, more than makes up for the hassle of going from A to B. From top to bottom, Summerset is everything the lore books said it was: beautiful, full of life, and packed with mystery. Going from place to place was more fun here than in other parts of the world, simply because of the environments you will traverse.

Your quests alongside the famous and wonderfully written Razum-Dar are the most fun I had in the Summerset expansion, and these quests begin the second you arrive in the land. His witty humour and quick thinking are great for quest giving, and the information find and share with him is far reaching, branching you off into even more quests as you unravel the mystery that has fallen over Summerset. Characters like Razum-Dar can be found all over the island, and while they might not be as interesting as him, they are still great to interact with. On a writing front, things are moving along nicely with this expansion, not deviating too much from what we know and love in Elder Scrolls titles.

There is a lot to explore in the Summerset expansion for the Elder Scrolls Online, and we won’t pretend to have seen it all. That being said, for those looking to extend their ESO experience, grabbing this expansion is a no brainer.

This review was carried out using a code provided to us by Bethesda, on an Xbox One X provided to us by Xbox Canada.