This isn’t to say, either, that the story isn’t well done or even that predictability makes it bad. One event I was so sure it was going to happen I even found myself scrolling Twitter instead of watching it unfold on screen. Pretty much every twist or turn I was able to correctly guess well in advance, which pulled me a little bit outside of the spectacle. This made romping through the main questline a bit too predictable for my liking. With recent Chapters too there isn’t the feeling of finality you might have with other MMO expansions, mainly because the story doesn’t end here, but rather with an upcoming story DLC later this year. The quest structure itself follows a similar storytelling pattern as well, with you meeting new compatriots, going to some of the major settlements, and then in the end having some final set piece battle pitched to save Tamriel from the big bad themselves. Every Chapter expansion has effectively had you “saving the world” from some calamity juxtaposed around all the other calamities the MMO throws at you when you reach a new region. However, I can’t help but shake this feeling that The Elder Scrolls Online has fallen into a comfort-fueled rut when it comes to its formula. It makes for one of the few zones I’ve wanted to explore fully - something that really isn’t my normal playstyle in any MMO for that matter. The closer you get to Black Marsh, the more the Argonian influence takes over, such as the towering Ziggurat-esque temple of Ojel-Bak.
I enjoyed running around the landscape, happening upon an Alyeid ruin one moment and a crumbling Imperial building the next. Visually it feels more unique than anything I’ve seen in ESO since the Morrowind expansion, and keep in mind that was a recreation of Vvardenfell from another Scrolls title.
Willow trees hang over waterways, mud mixes with grass at every turn. The region of Blackwood itself is a striking mix of lowland grasslands giving way to the bogs and marshes of the Argonian homelands. The ruined fort of Gideon, last seen in The Elder Scrolls II: Arena is my favorite place in this Chapter, however, as you truly see what the Blackwood region has to offer: a melting pot of Imperial and Argonian cultures built upon the ruins and legacy of those that came even before them. The Deadlands and Leyawiin, the tent-pole settlement in the Blackwood region, feel very much like I remember them from my days rolling through ESIV in years past, with the occasional change to the name of an establishment and such. Visually, the team at ZeniMax has always done a stellar job at recreating iconic areas from the series’ past but giving their own visual and stylistic flair to them. The story itself, centered around a cult loyal to the God of Destruction Mehrunes Dagon, is an enjoyable, if not predictable romp, through Blackwood’s major regions and cities, as well as the occasional jaunt into Oblivion itself. However, don’t mistake me: Blackwood is a good chapter and worthy of your time.