Elder Scrolls 6. What will it be like?
Are you ready to spend rounds of sleepless nights on another swashbuckling role-playing game? The thing is, we’re not talking about just any RPG here – it’s the much-awaited Elder Scrolls 6. We know you can’t wait for the next elder scrolls game to come out and we’re as excited as well.
What will it be about, where will it take place, and how will it connect with the story of previous installments, are the questions running though everyone’s mind. More questions are being raised but answers are still scarce.
So what now? Is there truth to this or it’s just another product of fans’ wishful thinking? Whichever it is, we’re sure that even the slightest hint of confirmation from Bethesda is sure to make fans across the world hysterical.
All we can do for now is hope, pray, and try to sleep our days until its release. To give you another thing to do, other than checking Bethesda’s official site for news every 5 minutes, join us in analyzing what the next Elder Scrolls game will bring to the table to keep its hold on the RPG throne.
A Trip Down Memory Lane
Elder Scrolls: Arena. We’re witnessing the birth of a legend.
The first Elder Scrolls game where it all began, The Elder Scrolls: Arena, came out in 1994. It was meant to be a team tournament, with gladiator-like combat concept and never an RPG. But as the developers build the game, the tournament idea was dropped and it became the RPG game we all know of.
Despite the bugs and taxing machine requirements, it became a cult hit for its originality, potential, and wide room for improvement.
Daggerfall in 1996 came out as the second installment of the franchise, improving the role-playing and leveling system from Arena. It was still quite buggy when it was released but the gaming community supported the game by releasing unofficial patches, quest fixes, and even language translations. It still did not achieve widespread popularity but it’s already gaining ground as seen from the love fans gave it.
Morrowind. Graphics-wise, it’s leaps and bounds from Daggerfall and Arena.
Learning from their past mistakes, Bethesda took their time revitalizing the company and improving their technical capacities. The result is the third major installment in 2002, The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, which was well-received and cemented the franchise’s spot in the action-RPG genre. It finally achieved how its developers projected the game should be.
Further improving Morrowind, Oblivion raised the bar high for graphics quality.
Oblivion in 2006 garnered even more fans and received critical acclaim from critics worldwide. Its polished gameplay, much-improved graphics, uniquely varied environments, and expansive questing, earned it several game of the year awards. It was the standard at that time and it still is considered to be one of the best RPG ever made. Its fame was eclipsed only when Skyrim came out in 2011, with even more impressive graphics, vast open world mechanics, and more freedom in character creation.
Skyrim will remain as one of the most recognized action RPG of its generation.
Throughout twenty years since its inception, the franchise keeps getting better and better, picking up on their shortcomings and strengthening their best points. Analyzing this pattern, we’re anticipating Elder Scrolls 6 will be stellar.
Rumor has it
Argonians. Waiting to make their appearance in the next Elder Scrolls game.
Though there are several names vying to carry the title of the next Elder Scrolls game like Redguard, Summerset Isle, Valenwood, and Orsinium, Argonia seems to be leading the race. It will be presented using a new game engine to optimize the capabilities of next-gen hardware. It will also support multiplayer features, allowing players to play cooperatively or against each other.
A little FYI: Black Marsh (also called Argonia), is one of the nine provinces in the huge continent of Tamriel. Made mostly of dense and swampy rainforests, it is home to the reptilian citizens called Argonians. It’s filled with venomous plants, thick, crawling vines, and dangerous predators, which many have tried to breach only to face agonizing demise.
Official trailers are yet to be released, but if you’d like to pass some time, there are several fan-made trailers to laugh your ass off. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
You decide if it’s troll or not.
Living up to expectations
Many were pleased to see the numerous improvements Skyrim introduced from its predecessors; the weapons, leveling system, skills selection, and astounding graphics are some of the most praised aspects. With new standards set, fans are expecting nothing short of a 9/10 on the next Elder Scrolls game. Yes, there’s still room for improvement and fans expect to see them in the upcoming Elder Scroll 6 game.
Combat
Versus an Orc. Animations are okay, but not good enough to be on par with other RPGs of this era.
Combat in the past Elder Scrolls games feels generic and lackluster which several gamers pointed out as the weakest spot the franchise.
Remember when you were hammering a poor fellow with a two-handed axe made of solid dragon bone? Did he stumble to the ground when it hit? Nope. How about attacking a dragon with a melee weapon? Did you feel your hit connected or it was all just air slicing? You know the answer to that.
It’s like you’re playing Fruit Ninja with axe and swords. There’s really no weight behind those swings when they connect. The wild swinging animation made by clicking both mouse buttons is nothing sort of an illusion to make the attack look heavy.
Decapitated. It would be nice to see physical effects of hits where they landed.
We want to feel the impact more when hitting opponents in combat. Bethesda has polished the combat system on each major release so let’s hope they introduce an improved combat mechanics for Elder Scrolls 6.
Weapons
Buster sword. Thanks to mods, a plethora of weapon skins are available to expand the limited vanilla choices.
The latest installment presented us a Viking theme, wielding axes and shield as we wander around the region facing all sorts of foes. We all know the whole franchise adopts a medieval setting, with a gladiator-like combat and weaponry, but we all want to see more of the game’s potential.
Where are the spears? Throwing weapons, anyone? Let’s hope Bethesda adds more variety in weaponry and combat preferences for players to enjoy.
Story
Dragon approaching. Though thrilling because of Dragon fights, the main storyline is rather stereotypical and shallow.
A sequel to Skyrim? Hopefully not (Read Bethesda VP says “No” to Skyrim 2 to know more). TES fundamentalists and a number of fans say the last installment ventured far from the roots of the Elder Scrolls saga, and how it kinda sidetracked from the central plot of the whole franchise. Many are asking for a deeper and more immersive storyline, unveiling more of Tamriel’s political history and how all events are intertwined.
You might have encountered elf refugees in Skyrim, especially in the city of Windhelm. Their exodus was caused by the destruction of their homeland as told in Morrowind. If you also noticed, the Empire’s power has been greatly reduced in Skyrim due to the emperor’s assassination which happened in Oblivion.
As we can see, events are interconnected and their effects can be felt in the sequels.
The siege of Solitude. I still think the Stormcloak/Imperial quest has more meaning and impact to the world of Skyrim over the main quest.
How will the events in Skyrim affect the environment and people of Tamriel? Critics are saying Skyrim’s story is too self-contained and it will have difficulties melding its storyline with how Morrowind and Oblivion started things. We’re yet to see how Bethesda will play their cards on this one.
Fans expect to see more clear-cut connection between installments, tackling more of the people’s struggle against inequality and cutthroat Imperial control. Best if there’s an even bigger picture and twist behind all of it.
Environment
The Solitude Marsh. Even tiny features are carefully detailed to bring more realism to the game.
Though created with a very old game engine, Skyrim is one of the most beautifully designed games out there, hands down. The lack of copy-paste designing made each field, forest, cave, or mountain uniquely picturesque in each area. It contributes to the joy of exploring new lands, excited with what danger and reward awaits you.
Sudden rainfall, heavier snow storms as you ascend mountain peaks, strong river currents dragging you away from your destination, Skyrim captured natural reactions of the real world, making the environment more realistic. Bethesda is doing great already in the field of game design. They just have to exert a little more effort on the next game to make the world even more vibrant and engrossing.
I’d love to see more interactive wildlife as a start: bears hunting fishes, gangs of elk running around the forest, bats, owls, and deadly predators lurking at night. How about beards growing on characters that are too lazy to shave? Rich men getting plump, slaves revolting against their captors, jails getting full of criminals, these subtle but natural occurrences adds more flavor to a game, creating a more vivid replica of the real world.
These kinds of changes have been implemented in recently released games, so it wouldn’t be too much to expect these graphical enhancements in the next Elder Scrolls game when it comes out in public.
Modded forest. There are lots of mods to enhance vanilla textures, meaning the graphics quality can still be pushed further.
The Elder Scrolls games are known for their vast settings that make players spend countless hours exploring every inch of it. Skyrim is big but we want an even bigger area to navigate. There’s a certain kind of thrill and excitement in exploration that fuels the little adventurers in us.
Just like in the previous installments, it’s highly possible the setting will only involve one province. Having two in one game seems a bit too much in terms of production cost, game size, bug fixing, and plot concentration. Although we obviously want to get something bigger, one huge and enchanting swathe of land is better than having multiple locations blandly designed.
Quests
Visit from the Dark Brotherhood. One of the most morally challenging quests in the game.
One of the strongest points of the franchise is the enormous amount of quest you can explore and complete. Most of the time, it’s even more fun and rewarding to do side quests and faction missions than to proceed with the main quests.
As a strong suit, the next Elder Scrolls game will surely have a tad full of side quests, faction stories, dungeon missions, and relic-hunting adventures. The main quest sure is fun, but feels like it directly came out of a textbook. At some point in the game, I even thought that the civil war is more important than the Alduin storyline.
A much more mature storyline with deeper and more impacting events will surely make Elder Scrolls 6 the benchmark of RPGs for generations to come.
When’s the party?
Once TES 6 is out, we’re gonna party like it’s the end of the world.
Tracing back, TES games come out every 4-5 years: Morrowind came in 2002, Oblivion in 2006, and Skyrim sprouted last 2011. It wouldn’t be a surprise that after another 5 years, meaning this coming 2016, the next in the franchise will wave us hello.
My speculation: December 14, 2016 will be the date which equates to 12.14.16. Not as epic as Skyrim’s release date of 11.11.11, but it’s still an Elder Scrolls game and that’s all that matters!
Morrowind, Oblivion, and Skyrim were huge during their time. It’s hard to top each predecessor with a sequel, but the developers continue to prove us wrong in each and every turn. That’s a good sign because it means they can always give us something better.
Take your pick. Only a few remaining lands have not been visited by the franchise.
The franchise had its ups and downs, but as of now, it’s on a bull run. We’re expecting that the upward momentum will continue for the next Elder Scrolls games to come. So far, Bethesda hasn’t let fans down and we hope they continue the positive trend.
What are your expectations on the next Elder Scrolls game? Share it with us by using the comments section below.
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