The Elder Scrolls Online may not be the Elder Scrolls game fans have been clamoring but Zenimax Online Studios have been working hard vigorously to give fans The Elder Scrolls experience in a form of an MMO. While the first three years of the critically-acclaimed MMO have had its ups and downs, the upcoming expansion, Morrowind, may be the expansion they need to put the MMO back on top. After spending many hours in the closed PTS of Morrowind, I must say that the upcoming expansion will indeed draw in the fans once again, especially those who have played Morrowind over a decade ago.
The Morrowind expansion for The Elder Scrolls Online takes place in Vvandenfell, located in the North East part of Tamriel. Those who have played Morrowind on PC or Xbox may have been enticed by the game’s exotic settings and luckily, the upcoming expansion will bring the Vvandenfel fans back to life. Compared to the other zones that Zenimax already released for The Elder Scrolls Online like Orsinium and Craglorn, Vvanderful is about 50% bigger which means the expansion is huge and could take you roughly about thirty hours or so to complete.
In my playthrough, I started a new character and chose the new class, which is the Warden. After the all the tutorials and stuff, I started my adventure in a ship putting me in the port city of Seyda Neen. The moment I stepped outside the ship, nostalgia kicked in as the Seyda Neen I knew from way back has been recreated perfectly in this game. The environments are pretty vivid and colorful. Obviously, most of the locales you find in Vvandenfell in The Elder Scrolls Online are based from the Morrowind fans knew back over a decade ago. With a few touch ups and changes to the environments, making it look like that game takes place 700 years ago before the Morrowind in the main series, the MMO exactly mimics the iconic Vvandenfel of Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind.
The first couple of quests asked me the objective of getting back my equipment. As soon as that’s over with, the real quest begins where you will be tasked to meet Vivec in Vivec City. Of course, those who have played Morrowind and know the lore of The Elder Scrolls series should know who Vivec is. As soon as I talked to Vivec, it was revealed that he has this mysterious illness that wants to be solved and the ancient daedric threat hanging over the island, which is a meteor that will strike upon Vvardenfell.
Aside from the main storyline, there’s also that political issues that you’ll experience in Vvardenfel. Prepare to get to know the different tribes and rival houses in this expansion like the Telvanni, Ashalnder barbarians, Morag Tong, and their hatred towards the outlanders.
Aside from the new zone being introduced in the Morrowind expansion, there’s also a new class called the Warden. Pretty much, the new class teams up to the lush environments of Vvardenfell where it will use the environments to your advantage. The top of the line skill that I have been using often is the Animal Companion, that allows you to call upon Cliff Racers and eventually a permanent War Bear to deal out damage. Aside from the class being a DPS, it also has the potential and skills to be a healer. One of the skills that healers will get to use is the Green Balance line, which is a cone and AOE healing. And lastly, the Warden Class can also be a tank with the highlight skill of Winter’s Embrace that allows the player to self-buff.
The last new feature for the Morrowind expansion is the new PvP gameplay called Battlegrounds. The new Battlegrounds features three modes: Capture the Flag, Team Deathmatch and Domination. I haven’t been able to spend much of the new Battlegrounds but it’s definitely something you should be checking out when it launches.
The only thing that I didn’t get to try in the Morrowind Expansion is the new trial. I’ll check it over the weeks and will let you know in the separate title.
From what I have played so far, The Elder Scrolls Online: Morrowind expansion lives up to my expectations. I haven’t reached end-game yet with the Warden class but from the new zone alone, it’s teeming up with tons of new content that further expands the lore. The new class gives flair to the gameplay and of course, the new Battlegrounds is something PvP fans of the game should look forward to. I personally can’t wait to spend more time on the live servers in the coming weeks.
