» Tue Mar 04, 2014 3:28 am Sorry for the long post! I just have so many feels and thoughts in my tiny brain that I need to let them out. It is worth your time, I assure you!
As a hardcoe lore fan of the TES series, it was very exciting for me to finally get a chance to explore some unique spots on Tamriel in this weekend's ESO beta. It was exhilirating, unique, and very immersive and I certainly enjoyed every single quest and the overall aesthetics of the game. Since Bethesda has explored the visuals of only 3 provinces in detail (Morrowind, Cyrodiil and Skyrim), I was so excited to finally be able to explore the Summerset Isles, see where those haughty elves live and experience for myself the level of sophistication, grace and beauty that was supposedly their architecture. As a dedicated Breton roleplayer, I was also very, very eager to finally see how Daggerfall looks like, to talk to other Bretons, to experience High Rock, which I've been dying to do. Yet, as much as I enjoyed the game, I think on several notes I was disappointed in the visual design decisions when it came to environments, architecture and interior designs. To give 9 races completely unique armor, clothes, architecture and even furniture designs is commendable, but I think Zenimax was not able to fully realize the potential in some of the races. For me, visuals are actually quite important in a game, as they are the primary medium for you to get immersed and to feel like it is a real, breathing world. We are not talking about Skyrim-level visuals here - I am perfectly aware that ESO can only go so far as an MMORPG. But let me share with you some of my thoughts while I was exploring the dominion and the covenant.
The Covenant:
I think the Daggerfall Covenant expressed familiar cultures and architectures from the real world the most, but also managed to make these styles unique enough to fit into Tamriel. I really loved the arab motifs in Stros M'kai - the golden domes, the archs, the heavy ochre stone architecture, the blue and gold coloring - it was a very richly coloured and distinctly arabic visual. Coupled with that were the deserts and the beautiful, beautiful fauna and flora on the island, the lavish and ostentatious decorations inside the palace - gorgeous. Nothing new and unexpected, but as a whole I think they did a very good job on the Redguard environment, although they did have a very clear inspiration from Arabic motifs. As for the Bretons, I was really, really curious to see how they will visualize them, as there is no clear-cut style for them, really. How do you express in architecture and environment a race that is passionate, flamboyant and sometimes outright eccentric? I was expecting multi-colored banners, weirdly shaped castles and floating lanterns! When I first entered Daggerfall, however, I was very disappointed to see that is was more or less a generic, European medieval setting, with tall spires, grey stones and blue rooftops. It was very... gloomy actually, even grim. All I could think was "where are the colours?! How is that anywhere near flamboyant?!!!!". After a couple of hours spent in Daggerfall and the surrounding areas, however, I came to realize that actually this design fitted the Bretons perfectly. It was practical and heavy, but at the same time subtly decorated and beautiful, complete with floral motifs and celtic knots! When I thought about it, Bretons are pretty much descendant from Wales, Cornwall and Brittany, so it would make sense for the environment to be a more medieval, sort of British, rainy and a bit gloomy. Nevertheless, by the end of the weekend I was simply in love with Daggerfall and Glenumbra and I can't wait to get my wallet and pay for the game now, since I want to explore more of High Rock!
The Dominion:
I've never been a big fan of the Khajiit, but oh my was Khenarthi's Roost beautiful! I saw a very unexpected sophistication and lavishness in the Khajiit visuals - clearly southeast asian/buddhist inspired buildings, lots of crescent moons and stars, bright colours, it was just fabulous. There were even frickin temples of monks and moon priestesses - we have to agree that Khenarthi was very, very well done. Not to mention the interiors - the little cushions, vases, flower pots, shisha, finely furnished beds and furniture. Simply breathtaking. Meeting the Maormer and seeing a bit of Tropical Elven designs was also very nice, with the whole serpentine theme. At this point I was getting really, really excited to finally visit Auridon and see some REAL sophistication and high culture from the Altmer. And I arrived. And this one was very, very disappointed. I can understand that they were going for a more quaint and subtle design, but really, all the buildings were just bland, short and just.... forgettable. It was actually confusing to navigate around as it was hard to tell them apart. I didn't get why gold wasn't use in the colour palette, and instead we got green and grey.... There was nothing majestic or superbly elven about the designs... it was just a bunch of nice, quaint cottages. The trees and arcs were very, very beautiful, and the whole place was very serene, don't get me wrong. But seriously, the Altmer are supposed to love magic and sophisticaton - I didn't quite see that in the visuals... They are good gardeners, but not very creative architects it seems. The temple of Auri-El was just a crime - a temple dedicated to the GREATEST ancestor of the Altmer, yet so meagerly decorated, it was sooooo empty and just bland. The Daggerfall Cathedral is just majestic compared to that temple. I don't know, maybe it was just me, but when I hear "high elf" I think of what WoW and TERA have done with their high elven designs - lavish, tall, regal and just plain awesome. ESO design? Just plain bland. Quaint and relaxing at best, I guess.
Unfortunately I didn't have time to play in the Ebonheart Pact, although I would have loved to, so please share with me your thought on the Pact visuals, and just in general - what did you think? Was it an immersive experience? What did you think of the interior designs, the architecture, the general environments? I would love to hear more opinions on the matter, and feel free to vote on the poll as well! Beauty is subjective, of course, but perhaps the majority of the community might reach a general conclusion on how well Zenimax dealt with the visuals.
