Is High Isle free with ESO?
No, High Isle is not free and must be purchased separately to access the content. It is the latest Chapter expansion for The Elder Scrolls Online released in 2022. There are a few different purchase options depending on your situation.
Purchase Options for High Isle
Here are the different ways you can buy High Isle:
- High Isle Chapter – $39.99 standalone purchase just for the High Isle chapter.
- High Isle Collection – $59.99 bundled with the Base Game and all previous Chapters.
- High Isle Upgrade – $29.99 if you already own the Base Game to unlock just High Isle.
High Isle can be purchased digitally from the in-game Crown Store or from online stores like Steam, PlayStation Store, Microsoft Store, etc.
It is not included with an active ESO Plus membership, which only grants access to previous Chapters and DLCs, not the newest Chapter.
What You Get with High Isle
Here‘s an overview of the major features and content included with High Isle:
- New zone of High Isle located west of Hammerfell
- 30+ hours of main Story Quests and side quests
- New companions Bastian Hallix and Isobel Veloise
- New 12-player Trial, Dreadsail Reef
- New Tales of Tribute card game
- New world events, delves, bosses, and collectibles
- Hundreds of new items including gear, costumes, furnishing, etc.
What Players and Critics Are Saying About High Isle
High Isle has generally received praise from both critics and players:
- It holds an 85 critic score on Metacritic, denoting generally favorable reviews.
- On Steam, it has an 82% positive user review score from thousands of players.
- Major outlets like IGN and GameSpot gave it 8/10 review scores, praising the story, setting, and new card game.
- Most player sentiment across Reddit and forums is positive, valuing the new content and features.
- Some criticism stems from the relatively high price point compared to the amount of content.
My Take on High Isle as a Longtime Player
As someone who has put thousands of hours into ESO since launch, I‘ve been very impressed with High Isle so far. The new zone feels vibrant and alive, with the aesthetic of a sunny medieval island kingdom.
The main storyline is engrossing with memorable new characters like Ember and Isobel. It dives deep into Breton culture and politics with complex factions vying for influence.
Tales of Tribute brings an entirely new gameplay element that is surprisingly fun and addictive as you build decks and challenge AI and real opponents.
While I wish the expansion was a bit cheaper, I think there‘s enough here to justify the $40 price for dedicated players seeking fresh challenges. The world feels alive again, whereas zones in recent Chapter releases like Elsweyr felt small and empty to me in comparison.
Is High Isle Worth It for New Players?
For brand new players, I usually recommend experiencing the base game first before committing to the latest Chapter expansion.
The core game itself provides hundreds of hours of adventures across 23 unique zones and 10 major story arcs. This lets you determine if ESO is a good fit before spending more.
Once you‘ve sampled base game content and want more, High Isle is arguably the best Chapter release yet in terms of consistent quality and value.
But it‘s fine to hold off until you progress further, as you won‘t miss anything critical to the core experience, especially at end-game.
What Does the Future Hold for High Isle and ESO?
Looking ahead, the year-long Legacy of the Bretons saga will continue to unfold across 2022 and 2023. Two upcoming DLC dungeon packs, Mythic Items, and the massive Q4 Story DLC will all connect back to High Isle‘s narrative and characters.
This steady stream of new content will likely be included in ESO Plus membership in 2024 once the next Chapter launches.
Based on the past trend, the next Chapter after High Isle probably won‘t arrive until Q2 2023. This means you have at least 6 months to experience High Isle as the latest chapter before the next big expansion hits.
All in all, High Isle kicks off an exciting new era for ESO players. And while access doesn‘t come free, for dedicated players it provides one of the most polished and jam-packed Chapters yet for Tamriel‘s ongoing adventures.