Is The Elder Scrolls Online Worth Playing in 2026? An MMO Veteran’s Review

Re-evaluating Tamriel’s massive online world amidst its 2026 Battle Pass overhaul, fresh gameplay updates, and shifting monetization strategies.

With the latest information trickling out regarding the upcoming Elder Scrolls VI, crossing an old item off my to-do list felt necessary. Seeing if Elder Scrolls Online still holds up as an MMO worth playing in 2026 required serious investigation. A few years ago, I briefly logged into the game when my FFXIV friends jumped over during a content lull. To be perfectly honest, that stint lasted maybe two weeks. Feeling completely detached from the experience meant I only hung around to run activities with friends before dropping it.

So, my return to Tamriel with full attention seemed exciting.

For this review at Gaming Coven, focusing on the base game experience seemed like the best idea. Looking back at my account history, my last login happened in 2018 during the Summerset expansion. That era marked where my original journey started and ended and starting completely fresh in 2026 seemed like the perfect way to wipe the slate clean.

A Fresh Start in Tamriel

Logging in threw me right into the Hero’s Return tutorial. Archmage Vanus Galerion summoned me for The Rogue Mage quest to defend the Aetherian Archive against power-hungry intruders. This 15-minute introduction helps refresh combat fundamentals and UI navigation before dropping players into the wider world. Which is a nice idea. Relearning the mechanics gave me a short, fun, albeit non-challenging experience.

I skipped picking up my old character, which apparently sat at a much higher level than I remembered. So, after completing the Rogue Mage quest, my adventure continued in Mistral. This port city is a quest hub located in northern Khenarthi’s Roost. Mistral also functions as the starting area for the High Elf race, known in-game as Altmer.

Questing, Treaties, and Unexpected Voices

The very first questline I stumbled into involved a tense treaty between the Maormer and Khenarthi’s Roost. Our Silvenar needs someone to be his voice with Ambassador Ulondil and Headwoman Harrani. Headwoman? Hell yeah, she became my spirit animal immediately based purely on her name. My initial assumption involved going on a long adventure, killing a bunch of badass enemies, and threatening locals to sign the paperwork.

Then I remembered treaties rarely involve violence. To top it off, both targets literally stood in the same building as the Silvenar.

Suddenly, Ulondil opened his mouth. Is that Gideon Emery? Hearing the voice of Lor’themar Theron himself got me hyped. My time in World of Warcraft made his tone almost comforting. That sense of finding a home away from home was lovely.

Ulondil quickly proved to be a bit of a shithead. My next objective involved sneaking into the Maormer embassy. Still, no combat happened, just forging a letter.

The experience wasn’t terrible. After the action-packed Rogue Mage quest, expecting a nice flow of continuous fighting made sense. I very much understand that MMOs don’t feature combat every single second. But going from magical explosions to bureaucratic forgery felt slightly jarring. Which, if you start entirely fresh then you won’t get that weird up and down sensation but this initial action refresh makes the slower new player tutorial feel weird.

Boom, treaty acquired. Discovering the corpse of the Silvenar happened next. Well, shit.

Immersion Through Stellar Voice Acting

Having fully voice-acted questlines feels amazing. In World of Warcraft, players spend countless hours reading quest text blocks. My playthrough in ESO so far shows almost every interaction includes spoken dialogue. Realizing how much I needed that level of immersion surprised me.

On top of that, the audio quality is fantastic. Around an hour into my playtime, a character called The Prophet appeared. His vocal performance belongs to the late Michael Gambon. Yes, Dumbledore is in Elder Scrolls Online. The Prophet becomes a highly important figure who hands out plenty of quests.

John Cleese shows up too. Hearing two British entertainment titans voicing MMO characters blew my mind.

Listening to these characters speak makes the world feel so alive. Baldur’s Gate 3 comes to mind in that respect. Added onto the stellar audio, ESO delivers a genuine RPG feel where your decisions actually impact the narrative. At the end of the treaty questline, choosing a specific fate for Ulondil falls on your shoulders. That kind of agency goes missing in a lot of modern games.

Customization and Keybindings

Character creation in this game is huge. Countless choices await you. Choosing your race stands out as the most important decision on this screen, since everything else is just cosmetic and won’t impact your gameplay. Classes remain open to every race. Certain preferences do exist depending on what type of setup you want to run. An MMO featuring racial traits isn’t a new concept. Planning builds out adds a nice little extra element.

The default Key Bindings layout works well enough. Coming from WoW, FFXIV, or any other massive online game means you probably want to map your own. Personally, mapping Caps Lock for the map, Tab for inventory, and C to crouch feels right. ESO defaults use M for the map, which acts as a standard for many games. The ‘I’ key opens the inventory, and CTRL triggers a crouch.

Combat: The Bone of Contention

Combat remains a major point of debate among players across the internet. Many players ask if the combat feels amazing. The answer is no. People also ask if it plays terribly. The answer remains no. Honestly, the system operates as a hybrid of manual aim and tab targeting. This design feels very similar to Guild Wars.

Impact feels lacking. Hitting enemies comes off as hollow and unsatisfying. Victory requires a genuine element of skill. Leaving the overworld for instanced dungeons demands serious attention to mechanics.

Leveling Rewards and Mount Collections

Progression items feel very clever. Everyone should take a close look at the rewards they receive. At level 10, the game hands you a horse to travel faster. Hitting level 15 grants a second weapon slot and introduces the ability to barswap.

Checking my collections revealed a mount from my previous playtime. This beast features a cute glow pattern and heavy armor. Developers awarded it during the Summerfall Event in September 2018. Eligible users who owned the Summerset chapter received it when the community achieved 66% completion of the Pathfinder Achievement.

It looks really cool. Mount collecting brings me joy, similar to running after the top 5 easiest World of Warcraft mounts, and seeing so many options in this game fuels that obsession. Every 20 hours, paying 250 gold increases one Riding Skill. These upgrades cover Speed, Stamina, or Carrying Capacity.

Real Estate and Housing

Housing brings another great element to the table. Added back in 2017, players can own and decorate personal homes. Other popular MMOs utilize this feature too. For instance, FFXIV has a robust housing system, and World of Warcraft finally released theirs with the Midnight expansion.

ESO real estate feels different. Available choices range from Inn Rooms and Apartments to Manors and Crown Store Exclusives. Returning to the game gave me incredible luck. To my surprise, I owned the Grand Psijic Villa, one of the largest properties available. Decorating it back in 2018 resulted in a bizarre setup. That interior design choice of placing a tree directly through the wall seemed brilliant to my past self.

2026 Monetization: ESO Plus, DLCs, and the Battle Pass

Elder Scrolls Online changed its entire monetization model in 2026. In an unprecedented move, ZeniMax shifted away from paid yearly Chapters. Now, all future playable zone and story content is completely free for base game owners.

A new Battle Pass system called Tamriel Tomes acts as their primary revenue stream. General consensus from the player base seems split on this. Many hardcore veterans dislike the heavy focus on Crown Store progression. Fresh recruits love getting access to updates without dropping cash. Simultaneous console and PC updates represent another massive win in 2026.

ESO Plus is the optional subscription element. Its greatest strength lies in being completely optional. Players avoid buying the base game for £75 and then paying a mandatory monthly fee. Enjoying Tamriel without it is entirely possible.

Subscribing makes a huge difference if you enjoy gathering items. The infinite material bag alone justifies the $14.99 monthly cost.

Here are the core ESO Plus benefits in 2026:

System Requirements

Planning to jump in requires decent specs via the Steam client or direct launcher.

Frequently Asked Questions

About the Author: Jess

Jess is a gamer, writer, hobbyist developer, and virtual world business owner. She has built a brand based in gaming and virtual worlds over the past 5 years.

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