I hate to say it, but I think I'm leaving Skyrim for ESO. Well, okay, that's not entirely true. I'll still play Skyrim on the Nintendo Switch, but I think I won't be playing it much more on the PC. Why? Because ESO is the better game. Let me break down the reasons:
UI
Passives
Worldbuilding
Housing
Crafting
Inventory
Expansions
One - UI
The user interface is a of a game is one of the most important aspects of the game. In Skyrim, the UI is geared more for controllers. Good luck trying to click on an item, when the cursor decided to select all other items around the item you want, but never that specific item. Frustrating! Oh well, just hit ESC and try again. Or, try selecting a certain skill, just to switch to a totally different skill tree. Infuriating! Speaking to an NPC and suddenly the cursor would only pick one option, the one you didn't want? Unless one uses a mod to improve the UI of Skyrim, the base UI is just horrendous.
This is where ESO gets things right. The UI is pretty simple to grasp your head around, even if it has many menus to go through. Everything is laid out in an understanable format. Oh, and you rarely ever press the wrong options in the menus or sell the wrong item to merchants. It's a completely improved and refreshed design!
Two - Passives
Skyrim offers a few basic passive skills/spells per race, but let's face it, ESO does this ten times better. ESO is almost like Diablo and Skyrim had a baby. (I play a lot of Diablo 3, Grim Dawn, and Van Helsing.) Dark Elves, Argonians, and all other races should have their own passive skills. But even better, is the fact that getting used to a weapon (aka placing skill points on the weapon skills), should grant you minor passive abilities.
Three - Worldbuilding
Now here I will admit that Skyrim tends to be a bit more immersive on the worldbuilding side. I loved walking into Solitude. It was as if I could feel the crisp cold air. So fresh and, wait, what's that? A dragon killed all the merchants? And the vampires are trying to kill the unkillable NPCs that couldn't be killed by the dragon?
You get the picture. Skyrim was very immersive and brought a lot of worldbuilding and lore to the table. Reading a book in Skyrim, to me, feels better than in ESO. The world is darker, more depressing, mimicking life. Things get up-close and personal. Still, ESO brings a majority of the regions surrounding Skyrim and beyond. It's neat to be able to visit Solitude and see a slightly different version of it than on Skyrim. It feels bigger, not so closed in. Regardless, the bigger issue with ESO regions are that, unlike Skyrim, there is too much dead space between locations. In Skyrim, you felt a forest was a forest. Bushes, trees, rocks, ferns, and other flora, all littered the locations in Skyrim. In ESO, it does lack the immersive messiness, but offers expanded regions and locations.
Four - Housing
In ESO, you are allowed to purchase homes and furnish them. In Skyrim, you can buy or build a home and pay to furnish them. Skyrim's building mechanics are great, but ESO's furnishing mechanics are even better. No longer do objects fly and scatter when you enter a home. Instead, you place the objects down, and they become mostly static with the home.
Five - Crafting
Skyrim had a decent crafting system burdened by the UI controls. ESO has a deep crafting system burdened by MMO microtransaction timers.
Six - Inventory
Skyrim's inventory was tied to a capacity based on the player's base stamina. Of course, you could get enchantments to add to the carry capacity. ESO's inventory is slot based. Every item fills one slot and some items may stack. ESO requires more micromanaging, however, you will not have to worry about picking up too many items. Somehow, Skyrim's capacity was slightly more realistic than ESO, but I'm finding myself liking ESO's slot based inventory just a tiny bit better. However, the carry capacity system from Skyrim is not bad. If only a hybrid existed.
Seven - Expansions
In ESO, you can go to other regions! In Skyrim, well, you are mostly tied to Skyrim, except for that small piece of Morrowind (Solstheim).
Look, I really like Skyrim. It's one of my favorite games since it first came out. That being said, I am realizing its age and that it no longer holds up to my expectations. Most people compare it to the Witcher 3. I won't because they are vastly different games. For a third-person story action RPG, the Witcher 3 is amazing! For an RPG about building your own character in a world, Skyrim is the better game. ESO is the better substitute, though I do hope eventually there will be a singleplayer game with a cross between ESO and Skyrim. I don't think I could handle Witcher 3 in all that.
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