Elder Scrolls Online: Morrowind DLC (english)

Return to Morrowind

Five years after Planemeld war our hero is once again called to help Vvardenfell. The ship, however, does sink and familiar Morag Tong agent Nayru Virian rescues the hero. At first, hero runs to the manifestation of Azura and learns that demigod Vivec is losing his power. Additionally, cloak&dagger policy between the houses is going on dangerously

Seems like we do have need of heroes… Elder Scrolls Online: Morrowind is a hefty dose of nostalgy after 15 years. The game was played through the PC version early access.

Game information

Name: Elder Scrolls Online: Morrowind DLC Publisher/Developer: Zenimax (2017)
Platforms: PC,Mac,PS4,XBox One Type: RPG, MMORPG, DLC, Retro
Age Ratings: PEGI 18 (Tamriel Unlimited), ESRB: Mature
Reviewer: Rami (37)
Links:
Return to Morrowind Gameplay Trailer
Warden Gameplay Trailer
Morrowind vs Morrowind ESO - Side By Side Comparison
Let's Play Elder Scrolls Online: Morrowind BLIND

First impressions

The strongest sense I got from the Morrowind was extreme nostalgy. The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind was hallmark when it was published in 2002. A game with way too much to play. The Morrowind DLC has waited dearly and with it, the game has received lots of updates, the new playable character class (Warden).

The tutorial has also changed so that the new character will start from Morrowind. From starting island one can get directly to… Seyda Neen. It would appear the place hasn’t changed much in 700 years. The third chapter of Elder Scrolls told about the destruction of the Morrowind but Online is set to the second age when demigods of Tribunal were still in their power. This means the game isn’t thematically as dark as TES 3.

The game has several long quest lines. Nayru has taught a young noble girl to the grim business of Morag Tong but she decides to investigate on her brother's sudden banishment. Morrowind politics are grim and unforgiving. Meanwhile, in the other side of the island great House of Telvanni hasn’t given up from slavery and an Argonian magician is planning to rise in power and free her man. One can find a number of daily quests and new Battlegrounds-game mode.






Battlegrounds work with four-character teams fighting against two other teams. The game modes are Capture The Flag, Domination and Team Deathmatch. During early access it was possible the squads not being filled to the brink, meaning one side would lose. There’s also the new trial for 12 players as the form of Halls of Fabrication. Additionally, there’s eight dungeons and six boss monsters. Morrowind has three cities and eleven smaller habitats.

Game mechanics and playability

The game received an update with many things getting the update from animations to damage. Sitting on the chair works now and character doesn’t jump up when the player decides to use menu. PvP damage got nerfed badly and armor bonuses are now even more important. Templars did loose some of their healing abilities which meant that players started to look for the new character class. The warden is interesting addition with nature magic and animal familiars. With the two handed weapons, he can deal huge damage while keeping his friends fighting. However, it is believed that this class will be nerfed in some point.

The Morrowind offers many sneaking missions, where just being seen is enough to generate hefty fines. The knife from Dark Brotherhood DLC helps a bit but sometimes failed sneaking missions give large amounts of fines to the player.

Much like other DLC the new craftable sets and styles are found. I did like Morrowind clothing a lot. For example, Velothi-set looks like the barbarian style but with much more style.

Interesting features?

Zenimax decided to let some players to beta test and after this large amount of players to ‘early access’. The peculiar early access meant that player had to send the picture of their receipt to Zenimax. Of course, they had problems to accept one from Finnish Gamestop. Well, I was mostly wondering about why they didn’t include original beta-testers from 2014 to the mix? Practically Morrowind was tested same people that were testing the earlier housing update.

Morrowind costs 39,99$ as an update. The DLC doesn’t belong to the monthly ESO Plus-service, which would otherwise give the player free access to all DLC. The cost is rather steep although players have praised its beauty and quality

One player commented:

“I think it is overpriced. I also think it is absolutely awesome. But still overpriced. They charged for it like for a totally new game, and even broke the promise that the subbers would get DLCs included in their sub by labeling it a "chapter".

I mean, I would be content if subbers got a discount at least, but otherwise... that's not fair.”

Despite the stiff start, Morrowind has played remarkably well. Few quest pointers are in wrong places and couple times I did run to stupid invisible walls. However, most of the mountains can be climbed and that is in stark contrast with the 2002 game. ESO version of the Morrowind feels smaller but in theory, there’s more land. 31 square kilometers by my calculations meaning it’s bigger than Wrothgar. However, the numbers can be disputed since some of the cells are made with different scale and TES3 slow walking around made the whole place to feel larger (TES3 had 9.3 sq/km playable area). Let us say that the southern coast is clearly made with smaller scale while some places are huge. Confusing, eh?

I do make the automatical comparison with the ‘Morrowind Overhaul’ modded TES 3. Of course, the old game was beautiful when modded but ESO version is vibrant with the colors. Sure, it's built with MMORPG logic. New collectibles, furniture, styles and homages to the earlier game are quite interesting. For example, Vivec City is under construction! And one can get a room from there!

It’s said that Morrowind offers ‘about 40 quests’. However one should remember that some quests are lengthy and have many turns. Additionally, Dailies can be made to both Velothi and Ordinators, which means players can do stuff for two interesting sides in the Morrowind.





One unexpected bonus is that roleplayers have been interested about angsty dunmers. The roleplaying guild is still in the progress of being formed but I have been waiting for this possibility for last 12 years.