So, the new chapter is arriving !...
The Summerset previews have had quite some controversies, and definitely, some disappointments. One may have imagined a fully different Summerset landscape, environment and architecture.
Well, to speak for myself, I have mixed feelings. On the one hand I'm glad that Summerset is released and revealed, on the other hand I admit that some design choices lacks ambition.
I think that the choice of a mediterranean-californian overall setting, as a climate for Summerset isle, was the best option. I really disliked the tropical-hawaiian option as it fits better for Pyandonea to my eyes. And a cold-temperate climate would fit better for Balfiéra.
I have no huge problem against the disney-mario-zelda castle trope for altmeri architecture. In fact, I appreciate it more than the grey-and-a-bit-disproportionate Auridon architecture (that was grey at release, iirc).
Of course one could expect a crystalline design... or alien-organic seashell design... or byzantine-persian-warcraftian sin'dorei design (as it was intended to be
in older games). It's a kind of a letdown and a retcon, but okay, that's it now. ...And I can agree that it makes some sense eventually.
The
Cucumber Tower is not that bad in fact, it reminds me
Brancusi shapes like his own
tower (I also imagined a tower like in
The Place Promised in Our Early Days but ofc it wasn't realistic enough)
The Artaeum architecture is way more organic so we didn't lost it all.
The pieces of story and lore that was leaked untill now let me expect something really nice and interesting.
But let's come back to the climate. I worry about the landscape being too uniform in spite of the relief...
Here I must confess I'm biased by my own expectations and headcanon (my characters Ajaxandriel and Altarya being from some fictional place called Skyfrost), but I'd rather see Eton Nir a really different way that it will appear actually.
"Nir" sounding like Nirn, I was expecting some kind of a "World's Roof" for the altmer, symbol of their own "high-ness".
To sum up, that's what we'll get :
A
beheaded banal mountain, with a little grove on top
And that's what I expected :
An imposing peak covered in snows, a perfect metaphoric
mirror of the Red Mountain of the Dark Elves.
One would argue that we can't have both a (seemingly expected by fans) tropical climate, and a snowy mountain... Then I would say "Kilimanjaro".
And anyway, the climate is mediterranean now.
Even the actual lore text of Cloudrest will tell about the "
thin air" that is "
chilled".
Now let's see how Summerset places were designed in the previous game... Arena.
Of course it was a mere
draft, no one would expect the ugly papercraft buildings as canon haha, but there was already the basis of the lore.
I'm glad to see that the dev team has followed the Arena plan mainly
"Sil-Var-Woad" for
Silver Wood
The "Dusk Keep" for
Dusk
"Russafeld" (in french beta version at last, idk if it'll be the actual name) for
Rosefield
and so on
I'm even identifying the Colossal Aldmeri Grotto (Homestead) to
the Archen Grangrove
Snow can definitely fall in Summerset, at least I'd say on the higher refiefs of the north and the south, in winter. Fortunately, screenshots from Arena support this fact :
RiverfieldHolly FallsCorgrad WastesKings Haven
(compare with actual
King's Haven Pass
So I'm wondering
How far we will be able to explore the northern mountains of Summerset (I've read about Crystal Tower during quests, King's Haven Pass instanced, Clourest raid, and a cave dungeon)...
Will we discover the grove at top of Eton Nir later ? an enchanted one, at least ! And could I even dream it as snowy, winter-themed place (like the Scalecaller Keep, mountain-designed in a temperate region like Stormhaven)
as a dungeon, but it seems too tiny, so, SO, dreamily, a homestead estate !!
… And how far we will be able to explore the southern mountains of Alinor (southwestern between Alinor and Sunhold, and southeastern near Dusk Keep)
Will they be the counterparts of Sheogorad island in Morrowind chapter...
P.S. some references of past and newer threads worrying about Summerset :
edit: typos, typos everywhere!