The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim has a special place in the gaming community. It is one of the best-selling games of all time and enjoyed commercial and critical success at its time of release. However, over the years it has evolved into something more than a game. Known as the ‘Skyrim Experience’, it involves humorous and often ridiculous things ranging from memes to game-breaking bugs. Those who are passionate about the series will say this experience is what makes the game so great, but the less delusional among us will know that features that harm a game are not conducive to a good gaming experience. Bethesda will need to improve upon Skyrim’s faults and refine its strengths to deliver a pitch-perfect experience for one of the most highly anticipated games in history.
Better voice acting – Skyrim had some standout voice actors including Max von Sydow who played the Blade, Esbern. However, the sad truth is that great voice actors were reserved for a small number of main characters, the rest of the game has many of the same voice actors voicing different NPC’s. This takes the immersion from the player when the barkeep in one city has the same voice as the blacksmith in another. For TESVI, Bethesda will need to make an active effort to recruit more voice actors. They need not even be acclaimed voice actors, but having that variety is critical to maintaining immersion.
More complex combat – On a surface level, the combat in Skyrim is good. Players can time blocks and counterattack. They can combine spells to create an even more powerful version. They can use archery from stealth for devastating damage. Those who play on the PC scene and have had access to mods will know that it is just about tolerable though. Skyrim has always had a rich modding scene and some of these change the combat so much that it feels like a completely different game. If people at home on their computer can do it, Bethesda should be able to. They will need to focus on this and create a unique and engaging combat system for the next instalment of TES.
Mini-games – They are something that could increase the replayability of the game. Mini-games are already present in rivals like The Witcher, where they are available in the form of Gwent. Even games of other genres have mini-games of some kind. Grand Theft Auto V has a casino mimicking real life, some great online ones can be found here at casinogenie.org, so it is easy to see why TESVI should get in on this trend. Bethesda already has an Elder Scrolls card game on mobile, so they can do it. All they need is to apply that same approach to the main game.
The Elder Scrolls VI promises to be a game of a generation and if Bethesda can pull it off correctly, it will go down in history as one of the greats. Players have been waiting more than ten years for the next instalment in the franchise and will be expecting great things from the studio.
