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High Isle brings Elder Scrolls Online up to six chapters, which doesn’t include the years of DLC before they were introduced. Exploring Tamriel's culture in a massive new zone has always been the idea behind introducing Chapters, and High Isle is no exception.
The content drop brings Bretons to the forefront for the first time since ESO was released in 2014, along with another story about the War of Three Banners.
With so many Chapters released, it’s easy to make comparisons of the past and potential future with this release of High Isle. Not only is a new Chapter always supposed to introduce a new season of stories, but it is meant to bring in the game's mechanics and skills previously unseen.
To that degree, High Isle was a mixed bag of fun in unexpected places and complacence in areas that were historically the most engaging.
High Isle brings the narrative focus to the Bretons in ESO
One of the new Chapter's main selling points was that the story would become more grounded in the political nature of Tamriel rather than a massive world-ending event.
Because nearly every other Chapter contained world-ending events, they were starting to lose their flair. High Isle keeps the focus on the chaotic island and the major players within it. On top of keeping the story contained, the War of Three Banners was also brought back into the mix.
The story in this chapter is much more similar to the Dark Brother Hood or the Thieves Guild DLCs, and that’s a good thing. Most of the time, the narrative is rewarding and serves well to bring players to each new point on the set of islands.
However, it failed to leave a lasting impression on me like earlier Chapters such as Elsweyr. Seeing characters like Jakarn again links the characters at least a little, but most of the main players in the story were out of my mind in between quests.
Instead, sidequests end up being more fun when exploring. As it usually happens, the side quests are much more daring, and some characters are perfect for the small amount of time you get with them.
Even in places like Public Dungeons, the self-contained stories against a boss like blood-mage were better for what the expansion had to offer. The entire narrative within High Isle is good, but it’s not something that blew me away.
Exploring the new zone in ESO High Isle
The zone is perhaps one of the weakest aspects of the new Chapter in The Elder Scrolls Online. High fantasy akin to the Knights of the Round Table is what Zenimax Online Studios was going for, especially with the Bretons. This was their first true zone added to the game since launch, and the developers wanted to expand on that.
But ESO is already full of high fantasy, and this new zone falls short of the uniqueness of other zones. I would even go as far as to say that the Summerset Isles Chapter had the same design but better. The zone was more vibrant and had many of the same sea-based elements, much larger cities, more diverse landscapes, and so on.
Until High Isle, every other chapter had some unique set of landscapes that we haven’t experienced to that degree. But the new zone feels like a blend of all the base Breton zones. There are some great places within the zone, especially on the second island, but this is a step down for world design. Hopefully, the next zone for this season of content will be more daring.
At the very least, the zone does take advantage of the graphics that Elder Scrolls Online has. Nothing has changed regarding graphical fidelity over the years, but High Isle makes the most of its assets and landscape.
On top of the looks, some of the music in the area certainly matches the high fantasy feel, but there were no standout tracks. What is most important, though, is that the music creates a certain feeling of the zone, and in that regard, the design works.
While the zone design itself isn’t what it could be, there is one factor that saves it. The new Tales of Tribute card game encourages exploration of the entire area. So not only does it feel as rewarding as ever to complete a map, but now there is another system beyond Scrying that encourages grinding in High Isle.
Tales of Tribute adds another layer to The Elder Scrolls Online
Without a doubt, Tales of Tribute is the best part of the new ESO High Isle Chapter. Tales of Tribute is a card game that allows players to face other NPCs all over Tamriel or go up against real players.
Mostly, the game is a resource management-based card game where management is the most important factor. When players learn to manage their resources, they must use card combos, patron abilities, and luck to win their games.
In each match, four patrons and their coinciding deck are chosen by the players. There are eight patrons and decks in total. Then those four decks are mixed, and players must use their resources at each turn to keep collecting cards in the deck. Using all the mechanics given, the first player to 40 points, or 80 if it ties, will win the game.
The game takes some time to get the hang of, but it quickly becomes addicting. Billy Boyd, the actor who plays Pippin in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, voices the main point of contact in teaching players the game.
Not only is he fantastic in the role, but it’s another layer of the whole card experience. He’s not the only character, though, and there are all kinds of NPCs tied to the game around the world of Tamriel.
For those who want to take it a step further, the Tales of Tribute can even be played in a multiplayer queue. This can be done through casual matches or ranked play. Both provide plenty of rewards, and the ranked play will even have seasons attached to the mode for incentives. This is all essentially one major game within The Elder Scrolls Online.
There are only four card decks and patrons at the start to keep the game grounded. Players need to explore the game to get new decks or even find individual cards added to older decks.
Much of the gameplay loop that players will find in High Isle is tied to the new card game one way or another. It’s by far the best part of the Chapter, and I would certainly say everyone should try it if they can.
Dreadsail Reef brings another Trial to ESO through High Isle
Every new Chapter means a new Trial for the game as well. Without new trials, the Chapter will lack pretty much any multiplayer content, and any hardcore players will look forward to these releases for new challenges and armor sets to collect. That gameplay loop won’t change with this expansion.
However, the overall theme of the Trial has changed, which implies it doesn’t hold up to other group content in the game. The entire area is essentially just Tempest Island but much bigger. There are some puzzles, like pulling three levers at the same time, that require teamwork, but it’s not unique.
Most bosses have also rehashed versions of enemies that already exist in ESO. The first boss has the most interesting mechanics, but they are done again.
Some new Mythics that can be obtained from Scrying are also more enticing than the raid gear, but neither is needed. Both aspects can be ignored entirely, and though they are powerful, players have plenty of other options in Tamriel's world. Players aren’t missing much by skipping the Dreadsail Reef in this Breton zone.
In conclusion
Tales of Tribute is fantastic, and I’m sure that Zenimax Online Studios will continue to update this new mode. Exploring the zone for new cards like Gwent and learning the game will give players hours upon hours of content if they enjoy the mode. But that’s the problem. Many players may dislike card games. Without the card game in play, there isn’t much on offer for the average Elder Scrolls Online fan.
Some of these problems come down to the current design of the game. Many players are way over the CP 160 limit for armor that was set years ago, power creep has become even worse, and skills have been stagnant in the game for years.
For those who don’t enjoy Tales of Tribute, this new Chapter doesn’t offer enough to justify jumping in. Because the current system isn’t affected by new Chapters either, most players likely won’t be in the new zone anyway, and it feels altered by that.
The story and narrative offer some additional fun on the side, but ESO is loaded with content at this point in the game. New quests aren't enough, especially when many casual players likely haven’t gone through much of the other fantastic Chapter content from previous years.
For High Isle and other Chapters of the future to be truly great, much of the group content needs to be brought to the forefront, and incentives need to be added to some degree. None of the content is terrible, and Tales of Tribute is fantastic, but the average player may feel let down in the Breton High Isle.
Reviewed On: PC (Code provided by Bethesda)
Platforms: PC, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
Developer: Zenimax Online Studios
Publisher: Bethesda Softworks
Release Date: June 6, 2022
