As players speculate about whether High Rock or Hammerfell will be the next game’s next location, there have been plenty of ideas for how the Elder Scrolls franchise can evolve. Longtime fans might remember that Skyrim’s follower and companion systems were not a mandatory part of the gameplay. In contrast, followers and companions were popular in BioWare’s earliest RPGs, especially in the Baldur’s Gate franchise. In the following years, companions and followers quickly became commonplace and are now a memorable part of playing Skyrim. The Elder Scrolls 6 could benefit from taking more inspiration from what makes the BioWare RPGs so effective and impactful.
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BioWare Could Influence Storytelling In ES6
While the Elder Scrolls franchise is best known for its freedom of choice and exploration, the narrative elements are less pronounced compared to games created by BioWare. While there is always a main quest line in games like Skyrim, the sandbox world allows players to almost completely skip out on any storyline that doesn’t immediately attract their attention. While this doesn’t necessarily hurt the game, it does mean that after hours of gameplay, each player may have a completely different experience of the game and the narrative elements involved.
Games made by BioWare are famous for their complex narrative elements that take the player through a dynamic and cinematic storyline. At the same time, there are certain areas of BioWare games for players to explore freely - the Citadel in Mass Effect 3, for example. Players are put in far more constrained maps when they embark on missions. Bethesda could benefit from employing a tighter narrative that incentivizes players to follow along. After all, the Elder Scrolls franchise has no shortage of great lore that can sometimes be integral to fully appreciating the games.
Bethesda Could Add More Meaningful Player Choice to ES6
What is remarkable about most BioWare games is the wealth of memorable choices that they force players to make, which dramatically alter the course of their playthrough and the lives of the characters they had come to love. During the release of Mass Effect Legendary Edition, BioWare released a number of statistics detailing the number of players who made specific game-altering choices, demonstrating the value that impactful player choice has when designing role-playing games.
While the Elder Scrolls franchise does include player choice, there are times when the choices could be more meaningful. One of the most memorable choices in Skyrim was centered around the Last Dragonborn having to side with either the Stormcloaks or the Imperial Legion during the civil war. While this is a tense choice, players could ultimately sidestep the choice and continue exploring if they still needed to make up their minds. While Bethesda might not be able to replicate the “Paragon versus Renegade” morality meter, it could focus on ultra-impactful choices, altering the experience of the main storyline depending on what faction players belong to.
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Bestheda’s Sandbox and BioWare’s World-Altering Events
While the world of Skyrim does feel more immersive and alive compared to many other game worlds, there is a lack of cause and effect. As players move through the world, it is sometimes abundantly obvious that the NPCs are running on set schedules and are locked into set behaviors that break immersion. With the technological advancements made by next-generation consoles, the Xbox-exclusive Elder Scrolls 6 should allow players to dramatically alter the game world based on certain events.
For instance, if the upcoming game continues to explore the aftereffects of the civil war in Skyrim, then players could come upon active battlefields and the remnants of war. In the case of Dragon Age: Inquisition, major events force the player to reckon with their actions, mainly because they often lock out certain areas of the world or go against the desires of NPCs. Bethesda could create a dynamic map, making everything from weather conditions to dragon attacks reflect in the game world. This would be the ultimate immersion tactic, allowing Elder Scrolls 6 to remain open-world while making the world feel realistic.
Should ES6 Follow BioWare’s Lead?
While Todd Howard and the rest of Bethesda’s team have kept quiet about the details of the upcoming Elder Scrolls game, it’s under quite a bit of pressure to evolve the franchise while keeping the game elements that make the franchise so unique. While BioWare has had massive success with its brand of tight-knit provocative storytelling, it’s important to acknowledge that some of the elements that players love in Mass Effect would change the identity of a game like Skyrim. For instance, adding locked-in, linear storytelling to Skyrim would have drastically limited the amount of free exploration that could be done.
Another example could be found in the current system for joining guilds and factions. Since these choices are less consequential, players can join the Dark Brotherhood and Thieves Guild and experience their storylines separate from their choices in the rest of the game. This multi-layered gameplay is one of the main reasons Skyrim is such a joy to play, and it might be a significant loss to players if it was eliminated in The Elder Scrolls 6. Given the high standard placed on the upcoming game, Bethesda might only be able to drastically alter the franchise’s DNA by taking out elements that players love dearly.
The Elder Scrolls 6 is currently in development.
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