The Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles Previews

A pair of new hands-on previews for Bethesda’s The Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles expansion pack are now available. The first is at GameDaily:

Once inside Shivering Isles, gamers explore at will, traveling between the Mania and Dementia sides, which seamlessly blend so that players walk out of and into another state of mind. They also battle scores of terrifying beasts, from the ugly canines called Skinned Hounds to the awkward moving tree monsters, Germinal Gnarls. New plants dot the landscape, including various types of fungi and swamp tentacles. The area contains plenty of dungeons, each of which holds its own terrors and treasures. Sheogorath’s first quest occurs in one where Sheogorath asks players to locate three crystals and use them to power up a strange item/machine called the Resonator.

And the second is at Pro-G:

The Fringe, the area of the Shivering Isles in which you arrive, is the gateway to the Mad God’s realm and what would a gate be without someone to guard it? Exploring Passwall village and chatting to helpful (and strangely sane) locals leads to the eventual encounter with the Gatekeeper – a tattooed giant with a Hannibal Lector-like mask and homicidal tendencies who dispatches Champions for breakfast. But what’s a 20ft giant to the Hero of Kvatch – the bigger they are, the more satisfying it is when they fall. From the Gatekeeper come two keys which unlock the two entrances to the Isle proper. One road leads to the north side of the city of New Sheoth, known as Bliss, the other to the south leads to Crucible. The final portion of the city is dominated by Sheogorath’s Palace and its striking sky filled with pink and violet stars. It’s here where the Mad God resides along with Thadon, the Duke of Mania, and Syl, the Duchess of Dementia. Each rules a portion of his city although Thadon is more interested in feasting on intoxicating and mind-altering food, and Syl is just trying to avoid being assassinated.