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Disclaimer: Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs) are immense games, containing content enough for, theoretically, years of gameplay. As such, this review is not comprehensive, but rather a review of the experiences I have had with it in its first few weeks of being live.

Over the past 10 years, one franchise in particular has consistently been setting standards in the gaming industry: the Elder Scrolls series. The last generation in particular was punctuated with three releases in the series, Morrowind, Oblivion and Skyrim, each of which offered experiences that were more than gamers thought was even possible. When Elder Scrolls Online (ESO) was announced, people rejoiced at the idea of playing Skyrim within the scope and scale of an MMORPG. However, if you are expecting that this game will be an MMORPG Skyrim, I am afraid that you are going to be sadly disappointed. This is not to say that ESO isn’t a great experience but, rather, due to the differences in genre this game is only set in the same universe as the others and does not offer the same experience. It is important that if you are going to delve into this game you recognise this, because 90 per cent of feedback I have seen online has come from people who didn’t expect this difference in experience.

What ESO does offer on the other hand is perhaps the most innovative MMORPG we have seen in recent years. Zenimax Online must be commended for the risks they have taken with this game, because many of the decisions they have made could easily have been a disaster. Thankfully, they are not. The biggest innovation is ESO’s use of real-time combat. For those familiar with MMORPGs, you have no doubt grown tired of the tireless grind of targeting and loading spells and actions. With ESO, all combat is real-time, meaning that you have full control over the timing and method of your attack.

What attack you’re dealing, however, depends entirely on which weapon class you are using. Like its use of real-time combat, ESO also contains the most diverse and innovative class and weapon system I have ever seen. The game offers complete freedom as to the combination of weapons, armour, and class that you use. This, again, is such a breath of fresh air considering that every other MMORPG asks you to make a generally uneducated decision as to how you are going to play in the first few minutes in the class selection screen – a decision you are stuck with for the next 100+ hours of gameplay. ESO offers players the freedom to experiment with different combinations of weapon, armour and class during gameplay, meaning that players can create a character that is truly a representation of the way they like to play. For example, when I first started out with my Argonian (Kaabaz on the American megaserver, feel free to add me) I opted for the use of two-handed weapons, wanting to feel like an unstoppable death machine, and so I did. After a while, however, I got sick of the slow pace of these heavier weapons and decided to try out sword and shield. Now I am experienced in both these styles and swap out of them at will. This kind of freedom creates an incredibly diverse gameplay experience and it is so refreshing to not have to create a whole new character just to try how other styles feel.

ESO ties in the Elder Scrolls lore beautifully, containing all of the sorts of quests and characters you would expect. Unfortunately, the game still suffers from the MMO curse in which story and large chunks of dialogue are cumbersome and drag down the pace of what you are doing. It would require a more patient man than me to read every bit of text. This is alleviated somewhat, however, by a cast of excellent voice actors. Despite the inattention to this dialogue, however, fans will be pleased to know that the game tonally, at least, feels like an Elder Scrolls game.

Unfortunately, there is not enough room on this page to truly outline every detail of ESO. I opted instead to show you what the game is doing that is different from other MMORPGs on the market. However, the game still includes all of the things that you love from this genre, including group dungeons, PVP, end game content and a huge amount of crafting (which is so fucking good, I can’t get enough of it). My final verdict is that this is a really fun MMORPG that executes the tone and ideas of the Elder Scrolls games very well. I’m looking forward to continuing my adventures in Tamriel.