Ok, after spending the entirety of Saturday wrestling with my C drive just to get enough space to download the patch, I decided to start a new Aldmeri Dominion character so that way I can see it from the perspective of a new player (even though I've been playing on and off since when the game came out).
When I created my character and started playing the supposedly "revamped" tutorial, as soon as I saw the loading screen, I almost jumped back in the chair. I was not expecting a huge change in screenshots.
Then when I approached the gate, I expected Er-Jaseen. Nope. Lyris appeared instead. And then I got out of the cage, and while I was walking through the first part of the Wailing Prison, I realized "When I heard revamped tutorial, I did not expect this."
Here were the list of changes (and all of this was in just the first part on the way to the Tower of the Eyes):
1: Lyris appears and breaks the lock.
2: You actually start with a weapon by looting a Dremora, not by going to a table and picking up a weapon.
3: There are no more prisoners running willy-nilly.
4: You actually fight one Dremora in the second room, then you fight two in the fourth room.
5: Er-Jaseen and two prisoners are basically trying with all their might to keep the door from being broken through by an unknown number of guards.
6: The Prophet appears in the fourth room after defeating the two guards.
7: After talking with Lyris (and looting and pillaging if you're like me), you go into the now final room and fight a Forgemaster, who introduces himself by impaling a prisoner onto a spike with a heavy attack.
8: When you open your attributes menu, you will find that the health, stamina, and magicka have been reworked. This is because abilities cost more, and more damage is dealt.
And then the Tower of Eyes...I found this:
1: Instead of a scene with many nooks and crannies to explore, you have a scene that reminds me of the final room in the Foundry of Woe.
2: Instead of Feral Shriven and Flame Atronarchs, instead we have Feral Soul Shriven, various Dremora, and Clannfears.
3: All monsters are now level 2, allowing you to level up to level 6 (I decided level 5 was enough for now).
4: There is far more loot available.
5: Lyris now sometimes taunts slain Daedra. This one is my favorite: "You know they're ugly when an axe in the face is an improvement."
6: There is a gate that's warded at the bottom of the steps.
7: Why does the Sentinels require stealth? Not because of risk of recapture, but because they're teaching you how to do a sneak attack.
And the Undercroft...found this:
1: Spike traps replaced by fire traps.
2: Feral Soul Shriven replaced by Skeletal beings.
3: One enemy requires you to be observant.
Next up, the room where Lyris and the Prophet swaps places...found this:
1: Now we have a defend scene.
2: You now learn how pinions work.
3: The cell is reworked, and graphics are reworked when Lyris and the Prophet exchange.
4: The room is reworked.
And lastly, the final room:
1: No more skeletal mobs, it goes straight to the Child of Bones.
2: Molag Bal's intro speech is reworked.
3: The anchor doesn't open immediately, it gradually opens.
4: You no longer have to approach the edge of the platform and press E to escape, all you have to do is approach the edge and the game does it for you.
And then when I first got a taste of the Justice System, I found this:
1: Guards are deadly, with invulnerable.
2: Most NPCs are now killable.
3: Most of the stuff I could loot from I now have to steal from, and if I can be frank for a moment, that's a good thing, because when I exited Coldharbour, I had a full inventory.
Wow. 10/10 for complete makeover of the game.
And, I hear angry footsteps coming, so I'm going to go and have some lunch. See you in game.
Signed,
Arena25
If you can't handle the heat...stay out of the kitchen!