The murmurs of an Oblivion remake brewing bring more questions regardingThe Elder Scrolls 6and the direction that Bethesda will take the series in the future. WithSkyrimbeing fifteen years old in November, it has been a while since Bethesda has made a newElder Scrollsgame, and it isn’t clear whether the studio will make the games more streamlined or will return the series to its roots and make them more role-play heavy again. These questions remain unanswered since Bethesda has only worked on FPS titles in the last decade (Fallout 4, 76,andStarfield).
How the game will feel will largely depend on whereThe Elder Scrolls 6is set,with the deserts and jungles of Hammerfell looking like the most probable next location. Hammerfell would also be one of the safest bets, considering that the area has distinct inspiration from the Middle East and North Africa, unlike regions like Black Marsh and Valenwood, which can be very alien to many fantasy fans. Being safe might not help Bethesda withElder Scrolls 6, and with players more likely to embrace the niche, it is the perfect time to lean on the strange lore.
Elder Scrolls 6 Should Embrace Its Weird Lore
It Will Help The Game Stand Out In A Sea Of Fantasy RPGs
One ofStarfield’s main criticisms is how bland the game is, especially compared to theunique worlds ofFalloutandThe Elder Scrolls. With the streamlining ofThe Elder Scrollsseries fromMorrowindtoOblivionandSkyrim,it feels like Bethesda will makeES6more generic to appeal to a wider audience, but this might be a mistake considering how unique the source material is.
I Got Tired Of Waiting For The Elder Scrolls 6, So I Decided To Play The Next Best Thing
The Elder Scrolls 6 feels like it will never come out, so I decided to play the next best thing: a huge open-world fantasy RPG no one talks about.
The Elder Scrollslore is strange, and this strangeness is an advantage that Bethesda should use inES6to help make the game stand out, keeping it from suffering from one ofStarfield’s biggest criticisms.
Blandness and playing it safe aren’t only a Bethesda issue, since many recent RPGs have been criticized for it too.
Blandness and playing it safe aren’t only a Bethesda issue, since many recent RPGs have been criticized for it too. Controversy aside, one ofAvowed’s problems is how safe and generic it felt, a title that had many comparisons to theElder Scrollsseries, which is a shame given how interesting the world lore is (as shown in the twoPillars of Eternitytitles). Although they sell well,this is also a criticism of the RPGAssassin’s Creedgames,whichES6can easily avoid by embracing its strange lore.
The Elder Scrollsbegan in 1994 withArena, allowing players to explore all of Tamriel.
An exampleof how strange the lore can get comes with Pelinal Whitestrake, possibly the greatest elf-hater ever created, who many theorize is a cyborg from the future. In lore, many consider him a relative of the divine, but he essentially comes out of nowhere with armor from the future, starts killing elves in ludicrous numbers, and allies himself with the Slave Queen Alessia, who falls in love with a Minotaur. His unassuming, generic paladin design and appearance inOblivion’sKnights of the Ninedon’t really show how strange a character Pelinal really is.
Skyrim Obscures A Lot Of The Elder Scrolls' Stranger Aspects
Wood Elves Are Meant To Be Cannibals, And There Are Supposed To Be Flying Whales
WhileMorrowindthrives on its alien aesthetic,Skyrimplays it a lot safer, leaning into its Nordic design, which was rarer at the time the game was released. Still, that doesn’t mean thatSkyrimas a country doesn’t have weird aspects,many of which are obscured by the game and ironically added by many popular mods. One example is the Snow Whales, which have symbols in many ancient ruins. These whales fly above the clouds ofSkyrim, although they were excluded from the game, possibly due to being too strange for what the average player expects from a fantasy world.
The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remake May Release In Just A Few Months
According to a reputable leaker, the long-rumored remake of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion may finally see the light of day sooner than fans expect.
Then again, there are reasons to exclude the Snow Whales. The arrival of the dragons could cause them to flee to Atmora, butSkyrimdoesn’t include the most interesting aspects of Bosmer (wood elves) and the Khajiit. The religious Bosmer from Valenwood are cannibals and cannot harm plant life because of the Green Pact; however,Skyrim’s wood elves don’t reference this at all, with Faendal working as a wood cutter.Auriis a follower mod with 4.5 million downloads onNexus Mods, showing what Bosmer inElder Scrollsshould be like, and Bosmer already inSkyrimshould have referenced the Green Pact.
Part of the Green Pact that includes cannibalism is the Meat Mandate, in which a Bosmer must consume the flesh of any enemy they have felled.
Khajiits have many forms, from little house cats to massive, fierce tiger-like humanoids, yetSkyrimonly shows one type. Some Khajiit are built like chimpanzees with cat-like faces and fur, while others look almost human. Others look like caracals, and some are just talking sabercats.These forms depend on the phases of Nirn’s moons when a Khajiit is born, yet the caravans traveling toSkyrimdon’t show this variety. A mod with almost 1.5 million downloads calledProject ja-Kha’jayon Nexus Mods shows Khajiit variety in all its glory, whichElder Scrolls Onlinealso does.
Players Are Embracing The Niche
Baldur’s Gate 3 And Elden Ring Are Evidence Of This
Players are more receptive to strange games now, especially with RPGs.Two massively successful RPGs that have won GOTY in the last four years areElden RingandBaldur’s Gate 3, but it should not be underestimated how weird those games are. Both are in relatively niche genres, at least compared to the action RPG genre, and have some bizarre aspects for the average person.BG3’s main villains are squid people that eat brains, whileElden Ringhas jar people from avillage called Jarburgand a talking turtle pope that oversaw the marriage of a god.
Although niche in its historically accurate setting,Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2sold five times more than the original in its first month, showing an appetite for the niche and strange.
These strange aspects helped these games stand out, andThe Elder Scrollshas benefited from this before withMorrowindandOblivion, particularly with its most loved expansion,Shivering Isles. EvenSkyrimhas benefited from its strangeness, namely with Apocrypha in theDragonbornexpansion, andElder Scrolls 6should embrace this to keep the game memorable.ES6needs to leave an impression to deserve a place next to its predecessors, and becoming more generic won’t help it do that. A strong art design and embracingTheElder Scrolls' weirdness will be especially relevant in the current gaming landscape.
10 Best RPGs To Play While Waiting For Elder Scrolls 6
Bethesda is taking a long time developing The Elder Scrolls 6, but, fortunately, there are plenty of great RPGs players can enjoy while they wait.
Bethesda is already leaning into the modding scene, and looking at what mods are popular could help decide the directionTheElder Scrolls 6has taken. With mods likeAuribeing famous for their lore accuracy and having more downloads than most games, it should be clear that the loyal players want moreElder Scrollslore in the next title. Recent gaming trends show that this will appeal to a large audience too, and it is time for Bethesda to embrace the lore of its IPs to get it back to its prime.
