The Elder Scrolls Online Preview

There’s a brief hands-on preview for The Elder Scrolls Online over at GameInformer which covers “an impressive side quest” the writer find out while trying the title. Read on to find out how he found it, and the premise:

I wander along the main road, which stretches out from a nearby castle city. I accept a quest from a man with a ghost problem. This frightened individual has inherited an estate that lays mostly in ruin. Nevertheless, he’s interested in the land and wants me to drive out a malicious spirit. This sparks a chain of quests that sweetens my barebones combat options with an engaging story about love, betrayal, and revenge.

The local fauna has invaded the ruined estate. These winged pests are easily distracted by my imp helper, freeing me up to rifle through the rubble for clues about the ghost. Instead of collecting meaningless quest objectives, I uncover entries from a heart-breaking diary. Each page tells a unique section of the tale, complete with voice acting (which is a robotic placeholder voice at this point in development). I learn of an affair between a young noble and the family’s servant girl. The noble shows his love to the servant by giving her a family heirloom. The matriarch finds the prize in the servant girls’ quarters and accuses her of theft. The noble refuses to speak up in the servant’s defense, and she’s then locked away in a tower as punishment.