Once upon a time, I was consumed by MMORPGs. World of Warcraft, Final Fantasy, and the Elder Scrolls Online were in constant rotation. While hundreds of MMOs have come and gone, these — and a few others — have remained vital and viable. This is because those games constantly reassess and reinvent themselves. They try things to entice new players and hold on to faithful, long-term fans. While it’s inevitably true that nothing pleases everyone and haters are going to hate no matter what, Elder Scrolls Online has recently rolled out what amounts to a significant makeover. It has something for veterans, newbies and every level in between. With the Seasons of the Worm Cult now going live, it might be a perfect time for players to check back in.

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For years, ESO was built on the tried-and-true subscription model, plus a cash shop for those cosmetic and fast-leveling extras. Free updates — including new dungeons — and an annual pay-to-play DLC expansion kept players hooked and grew the game enormously. That all changed in 2025. Now, players can buy the base game then have the option to buy different tiers of Content Passes that include this year’s new content.

Sounds simple. But things get complicated. First, there’s a higher price Premium Edition of the game that includes the 2025 Content Pass DLC plus all prior expansions (but not future DLC). But there’s also still a paid subscription service called ESO Plus. ESO plus includes the new DLC and a large selection of game-enhancing extras, the kinds of items that can be found in the Crown Store (cash shop). The base game’s a reasonable price and free on Xbox Game Pass for new players wanting to check it out.

New for 2025

In addition to 2025’s new chapter, ESO has now added the ability to create sub-classes. This allows for thousands of class combinations, helping players to find just the right playstyle for both solo and multiplayer. However, subclassing is only available after level 50, which is basically the start of the mid-game, past the tutorials and early game content.

Speaking of the tutorial, the devs noted that the tutorial and starter areas had been remade for 2025. They promised new graphical updates and faster progression, and a return to the game’s original starter zone, Coldharbour. It has been many years since I rolled a new character in ESO, so I thought it was a great time to put myself back in those newbie shoes.

Back to Coldharbour

Players returning to Elder Scrolls Online will obviously recognize the experience of creating a character, choosing a race, alliance, class, etc. The game does a decent job of explaining each choice and the in-game codex is easily accessed. The Elder Scrolls Online’s slightly stylized art and graphics are still a bit behind the curve. However, it’s also an evergreen style that has aged reasonably well. Character classes, weapons, armor and magic all look distinct. The game offers an excellent array of starting options that should satisfy any fantasy role-player. The ability to add a subclass down the line is an exciting new element to consider when starting out.

One of the most notable changes to ESO in 2025 is that the tutorial level returns to its roots in the magically-infused Wailing Prison. As tutorials go, this is a pretty good one. It introduces nearly all the game’s mechanics around offensive and defensive movement, combat and spellcasting. Players start to assign skill points and manage inventory. Maybe most critically, it gives the player a strong sense of what ESO feels like to play. Sure, over hundreds of hours characters become much more powerful, weapons and armor and spells radically improve and the narrative spins out.

However, whether in the tutorial or deep into one of the game’s later areas, character movement always essentially feels the same. Combat doesn’t ever feel objectively any different. If players don’t enjoy what the game looks like and plays like in the tutorial, they’re not going to want to progress, no matter how rewarding the power fantasy eventually becomes.

Therein Lies the Choice

Despite the developer’s loving attention to making game look and feel more contemporary for 2025, some elements still feel out of step. The game’s inventory and upgrade interface, for example. Filled with submenus, notifications and reminders that the cash shop is only a click away, simple things like weapon or armor swaps could be challenging for new players. The game’s systems for magic and leveling are complex and not always clearly articulated. I can certainly see novices feeling confused or making uninformed choices. Generally speaking, mistakes can be fixed down the line, though at a cost.

Action RPG fans coming to Elder Scrolls Online will need to temper their expectations for lifelike animations, visceral combat or precision movement. I can attest that some of this improves in later, more recent parts of the game. Refresh aside, the tutorial still feels a bit antiquated. However, I can absolutely understand the nostalgia factor for longtime players. I felt it, too.

The wisdom of Elder Scrolls Online’s new content release schedule and pricing model is perhaps debatable and will shake out over time. There’s no question whether ESO offers a rich, quality online roleplaying experience. There’s a huge amount of lore, plenty of content for solo players, and a robust endgame for groups or individuals, either cooperatively or PvP. Bottom line, Elder Scrolls Online remains vital and very much a contender as your go-to MMORPG.