Welcome back to Tamriel. If you’re like me, it’s been a long while since we took a short stroll through Greymoor. Along with a new main storyline, new events, quests, delves, & trial, what a great time to log back in to ESO with the release of the new Blackwood experience, which ignites old passions from those who’ve conquered the old 2006 installment of The Elder Scrolls series: Oblivion, while also inviting a completely new system to the online Tamriel experience, Companions. Please mind the random portals to Oblivion as we journey through these new lands in an engaging, mysterious, and humor-filled quest.
Story
The story continues the events of the Second Era, this time, focusing on the plots of Mehrunes Dagon and his rise to power some 800 years before the Oblivion Crisis in TES IV: Oblivion. The story itself is filled with mystery and intrigue sprawled across the new region and your journey to stop evil forces from gaining the power to control Oblivion. The path is filled with twists and turns that, for legal reasons, I am not allowed to spoil for you. What I can say is that you will be a surprisingly impressive cast of side-characters that breathe life into the masterfully reimagined city of Leyawiin: One of the main cities of the TES IV: Oblivion. Some characters return from previous installments of TES Online, invoking the feeling of a living, ever-expanding world whose events reach a global scale.
While the story is a MAJOR part of what makes Blackwood stand out among earlier Elder Scrolls DLC, it is accompanied by some astonishing new gameplay features that the overall community loves and welcomes.
Gameplay & Mechanics
Companions!
Similar to Followers in earlier installments of The Elder Scrolls series, Companions are NPCs that team up with and accompany you through your adventure. Companions are not locked to the region of Blackwood, which means aside from PvP and other solo events, Companions can always be by your side throughout your Elder Scrolls Online experience. There is A LOT to uncover about Companions, but I’ll give a brief overview and allow you to experience the depth of their abilities firsthand.
The Elder Scrolls Online: Blackwood brings two available Companions to start: Mirri Elendis and Bastian Hallix. These companions start at Level 1 and will level up by gaining experience as they battle alongside you. Even during these early levels, the Companion AI is somewhat competent, and does offer the player an asset in their adventure. Keep in mind, even though companions can equip special gear and skills, they are not so competent as to replace an actual player, or carry you through the story. There also seems to be a known issue where larger Mobs, or high-level enemies, will single out your squishy companion and devote all their effort to smush their faces in.
When it comes to customizing Companions, the only way to do so is by equipping them with companion-specific gear that cannot be bought or traded; only found by enemy drops and salvaged loot. While this isn’t the worst possible outcome, it can make inventory management more of a nightmare than it already is. Especially in the all too common instances where you find an impressive piece of swagger that your squishy Companion is too low-level to use. Have fun occupying that inventory slot for the next 6 levels…
Along with a fully fleshed-out dialogue tree, companions have their own unique personalities and build a relationship with the player. Bastion, for example, doesn’t like it too much when you steal from others whereas Mirri doesn’t really care so long as you don’t get caught. As their relationship increases, they unlock small bonuses when traveling and performing tasks. Lowering your relationship might cause… undesirable behaviors and even losing the ability to summon them for a period of time.
Aside from that, customizing Companions is one of the best things added to Elder Scrolls Online: Blackwood. Even though both Mirri and Bastian have their own unique skills, they can wield any type of gear, allowing them to create a supplementary healer, ranger, damage-dealer, or tank: Whatever you or your party might be lacking. Again, they will not replace an actual player-character. Only supplement a deficiency of your party’s composition. While the AI is good, your Companions will frequently walk into, and stand in front of, deadly traps no matter how loudly you scream at your screen. Good luck in Oblivion…
Speaking of Oblivion, Elder Scrolls Online has brought back a stable in The Elder Scrolls series: the infamous Oblivion Portals. Zenimax did not pass up the opportunity to bring this cataclysmic world event intro their newest DLC and, unlike the previous World Events like Abyssal Geysers and Dark Anchors, Portals to Oblivion are not shown on the map and spawn in randomized locations: Sometimes not even in the same place. Remember that quest you finally decided to do after being side-tracked by other miscellaneous busywork? Well here’s a random portal that spawns Daedra and you should absolutely ignore it and finish that darn quest you’ve been putting off.
Yeah, right.
After you fight your way into the portal, you arrive in the Deadlands, which operates similarly to a Delve: you journey deeper and deeper into this new environment and gain rare loot while fighting increasingly difficult enemies until you eventually encounter the Boss of the chamber. Bring lots of healing potions: Your companion will thank you. These portals are DEEP and can go on for quite some time, which offers greater distinction from previous dungeon-esque environments and fits in perfectly with Elder Scrolls Online: Blackwood’s Story. Good luck finding them, however. Blackwood is a large place, and with the randomness of these Oblivion Portals, it can be hard to find. Mid-level players, once entering the portal, may find themselves having to make incredibly difficult decisions: Push onward and attempt to complete the portal, or leave with whatever they can carry and wait until they can find another.
Aesthetics & Sound
For me, The Elder Scrolls Online: Blackwood has the same visual aesthetic as the previous installments to the online series. When it comes to the environment, towns and cities, there is a noticeable charred hue to certain areas and aesthetics. This works, as it fits entirely with the setting, the region, and the story. One thing Zenimax does well is utilizing visual differences in biomes to signify the contrasting regions of The Elder Scrolls online and I applaud them for this. Character faces, on the other hand, are a huge hit-or-miss. Let me explain first by saying that beauty is indeed in the eye of the beholder and, while there is nothing significantly bad about the character models, some faces still suffer from the hilarious curse that has plagued the character models of The Elder Scrolls series for as long as it has been around. Again, not the worst thing in the history of gaming, but as a long-standing fan of The Elder Scrolls series, some of their Human character FaceGens are becoming a bit of a meme.
Summary
There is a lot to enjoy here with the new release of The Elder Scrolls Online: Blackwood. Between the enthralling 15-30 hour story, the new Companion system, and the handful of new dungeons, delves, and Trial, there is a lot of content to keep players engaged. Plus, with Zenimax making mention of ongoing Blackwood expansions throughout the year, we can expect even more enthralling gameplay to come. Just one more game to take up all of my entire summer.
Check Out The Elder Scrolls Online: Blackwood Gates of Oblivion Trailer:
For more information, visit: https://www.elderscrollsonline.com/en-us/home
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As the (self-proclaimed) King of Casuals, I'm always seeking out new titles to play and experience across all platforms. Eventually, I have ambitions to take the many different styles of this medium to create titles that will wow the masses in fresh, innovative ways.
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