I was like you, until I took an arrow in the knee

In the world of MMO’s there are only a handful of truly breakout hits, among those counted is of course The Elder Scrolls Online or ESO for short. Set in the second era of Elder Scrolls lore players create their characters and adventure across the land of Tamerial. Having been released in 2014, ESO has had a ton of expansions and updates over the years, and we are here to talk about the latest release Necrom.

MSRP: $59.99
Platforms: Xbox (reviewed), PlayStation, PC
Price I’d Pay: $39.99

In Necrom ESO gets some new goodies by way of a new class, (the first since 2019) two new zones and two new companions for adventurers to find as well as progressing the main story. This time the story involves some Daedric Princes, and a threat that could affect the lands of Oblivion and Nirn. Bethesda has always done a fantastic job with storytelling and lore and Necrom is no different; the narrative is the highlight here and I won’t spoil anything directly. But for fans of ESO, they are already aware of how tricky those Daedric Princes can be.

The new class was what I was most excited to try out and I gotta say the Arcanist didn’t disappoint. As per usual with ESO classes, the Arcanist is flexible and has skills that can make it a healer, tank or a pretty high damage DPS. The class uses a mechanic known as Crux, which allows some spells to generate the resource which in turn can be used to buff or amplify other spells. With such a high level of versatility, the Arcanist is a great pick for solo or team play; the explosive nature of the class makes an ideal DPS/Healer which is how I ended up playing it.

Both new locations are a sight to behold. Apocrypha was aptly named as there are books EVERYWHERE, seriously its as if the books are the foundations of the various architecture around. The amount of detail that the developers can get into the world is still impressive so many years later. Telvannia Penninsula is no slouch, but its reliance on gigantic mushrooms evokes the same vibe from the Morrowind expansion that came out a few years ago. I get reusing assets and it doesn’t detract from the beauty of the new area at all. Each area is also where players will find the quests for the companion characters. Arcanist Azander can be found in Apocrypha while the Penninsula is home to an Argonian warden named Sharp-As-Night.

For the fans who are invested in the series there is a lot to find in Necrom, it even works if players have taken a break and want to jump back in. I fall on the latter side of things but as much as I enjoyed my time with the new class and in the new expansion, I don’t think I will be a full-time resident. It’s not that the game is bad at all, I just think the mission structure and all the ‘fetch quests’ to gain levels were a bit tedious for me. Necrom may be my ‘arrow in the knee’ as it stands for ESO. But that’s solely a me thing, I can say with some surety that long time fans of ESO are going to enjoy everything Necrom is bringing, and they can spend the next year thinking about the bombshell that is revealed during the story until the next expansion update.

Review copy of game provided by publisher.