tea_and_crumpets
Member
In many ways Skyrim was a fantastic Elder Scrolls game; it built a vast, expansive and deeply immersive world, it had a huge variety of compelling quest lines, characters and locations, it streamlined some of the outdated systems from earlier games and improved upon the core gameplay too.
However, Skyrim was first released almost six years ago and has begun to feel a little dated. Despite the ability to mod and enhance the game in a multitude of ways, I'm sure we would all agree there are a number of areas any future Elder Scrolls game could improve upon.
To that end, I thought it would be helpful to list out the things that the next game should either conserve and built upon, or overhaul more radically to improve the experience.
The two core things that I think need little change are firstly, the world itself, and second, the quests. Let me explain:
World Building: Skyrim's world is huge. It is filled with an incredible variety of locations, from wooded glades to monstrous mountains. Its cities are all distinctive and memorable, each having a unique look and feel. While the world is vast, it is also populated with an incredible amount of detail and almost everything can be picked up and interacted with in some way.
It is very easy to get immersed in the world, and Bethesda has triumphed in making a location with its own history, culture and lore. Most of us can likely remember our first journey to the top of high hrothgar, or the first time we stumbled across a deadric shrine or into an undead tomb. For me this is the games strongest aspect, and while it can be improved upon, I would be worried if Bethesda changed too much of it's approach for any future Scroll's location.
Quests: Skyrim didn't necessarily have the best quest lines of any Elder scrolls game, but I thought most of the biggest quest lines (main + 4 guilds) were all strong and compelling. In addition, there were a huge variety of high quality side quests, many with fantastic stories, locations and characters. My favourite quest line was the thieves guild, although I found the Dark Brotherhoods a little weak, especially compare to the masterful way they were handled in Oblivion.
There is certainly room for improvement here, but I think Bethesda have the right fundamental approach, and there are a huge variety of compelling quests, all worthwhile completing in their own right. The one thing I would argue for is the removal of radiant quests, which were low quality and added little, ultimately feeling like unnecessary padding to an already huge game.
Some that's what works well. But there are some areas needing more radical changes, and I can think of three main ones. First the combat, second the levelling system, and lastly the weapons/armour and crafting system.
Combat: As has been widely acknowledged, the core combat systems (melee, archery and magic) within Skyrim and the other Elder Scrolls games aren't fun. Nor do they have any sense or depth, or offer any levels of mastery. The melee combat feels clunky and lacks impact, while the magic often feels totally ineffective and dull. The best is probably the archery, which works like a basic FPS, but is still fairly underwhelming.
Lots of third person action games provide examples for how to offer better combat systems (Dark Souls and Dragons Dogma are two that spring to mind), and its clear Bethesda needs to fundamentally reassess how basic combat is performed in order to make the core game play a lot more compelling and fun. This is probably the area that I would argue Bethesda should focus the most on in developing any new game; a slightly more refined version of Skyrim's combat simply wont cut it.
Levelling: A unique part of any Elder Scrolls game comes from its levelling system, where levels are earn't by performing actions rather than through XP or a more traditional system. It would be a shame to do away with such a system, but it needs some work.
I think the total number of skills is about right, and the removal of certain skills, like athletics, was ultimately the right move. But how about a wider variety of ways to earn skills than simply grinding away at casting spells or swinging swords? I know there are trainers and skill books which help, but what about some unique quests linked to each skill set which offer faster levelling (or additional levels) in these skills. If I recall correctly, some of the magic skills had 'mastery' quests, but this could be greatly expanded upon (e.g some sort of archery contest with the 'world's best archer' to earn your last 10 skills points etc. - or some sort of hunting style quests to earn archery points at lower levels).
In addition, the perks system should be made more unique. Bethesda should put greater effort into coming up with some better ideas rather than simply +10 to damage with this type of weapon!
Weapons/armour/crafting: At the core of what makes many RPGs compelling is the hunt for loot in the form of better armour, weapons and other collectables.This is something I think the Skyrim and the Elder Scrolls series misses the mark on.
The tiered weapon/armour system from your basic rusty iron armour up to daedric works, but it's often too easy to get the best weapons and armour fairly early on and then spend at least half the game with no room to earn further rewards in this area. I would argue for more armour sets to be introduced and doled out more slowly, and for more unique weapons and armours which are sealed off until later in the game.
As mentioned in the 'levelling' point above, there could be quests to track down or forge 'ultimate/legendary' pieces of armour or unique weapons, as while the game is fairly good at offering unique one off items, these are usually much worse than the standard weapons you already have.
Perhaps its a bit much to ask for weapons and armour to be given a wider variety of stats or some randomised loot elements like Diablo, but I think Bethesda should think of introducing something to keep the player going beyond just getting a deadric weapon or armour set and then simply 'being done' with this aspect of the game.
The crafting system could also be expanded; give us the change to forge one off legendary weapons or further customise what we can already create. How about letting the player choose the colour of his armour, or offering the ability to tweak certain aspects of it (e.g different variations of horns and spikes on the deadric armour). All of this would allow players to feel more ownership of their own character, whose face can be customised endlessly, but whose sartorial options are much more limited.
Those are my top three picks for any future game, but I'm sure there are many others. Do you agree with my points about what Skyrim got right? Do you actually love the combat? What would you do to most improve the next entry in the series?
However, Skyrim was first released almost six years ago and has begun to feel a little dated. Despite the ability to mod and enhance the game in a multitude of ways, I'm sure we would all agree there are a number of areas any future Elder Scrolls game could improve upon.
To that end, I thought it would be helpful to list out the things that the next game should either conserve and built upon, or overhaul more radically to improve the experience.
The two core things that I think need little change are firstly, the world itself, and second, the quests. Let me explain:
World Building: Skyrim's world is huge. It is filled with an incredible variety of locations, from wooded glades to monstrous mountains. Its cities are all distinctive and memorable, each having a unique look and feel. While the world is vast, it is also populated with an incredible amount of detail and almost everything can be picked up and interacted with in some way.
It is very easy to get immersed in the world, and Bethesda has triumphed in making a location with its own history, culture and lore. Most of us can likely remember our first journey to the top of high hrothgar, or the first time we stumbled across a deadric shrine or into an undead tomb. For me this is the games strongest aspect, and while it can be improved upon, I would be worried if Bethesda changed too much of it's approach for any future Scroll's location.
Quests: Skyrim didn't necessarily have the best quest lines of any Elder scrolls game, but I thought most of the biggest quest lines (main + 4 guilds) were all strong and compelling. In addition, there were a huge variety of high quality side quests, many with fantastic stories, locations and characters. My favourite quest line was the thieves guild, although I found the Dark Brotherhoods a little weak, especially compare to the masterful way they were handled in Oblivion.
There is certainly room for improvement here, but I think Bethesda have the right fundamental approach, and there are a huge variety of compelling quests, all worthwhile completing in their own right. The one thing I would argue for is the removal of radiant quests, which were low quality and added little, ultimately feeling like unnecessary padding to an already huge game.
Some that's what works well. But there are some areas needing more radical changes, and I can think of three main ones. First the combat, second the levelling system, and lastly the weapons/armour and crafting system.
Combat: As has been widely acknowledged, the core combat systems (melee, archery and magic) within Skyrim and the other Elder Scrolls games aren't fun. Nor do they have any sense or depth, or offer any levels of mastery. The melee combat feels clunky and lacks impact, while the magic often feels totally ineffective and dull. The best is probably the archery, which works like a basic FPS, but is still fairly underwhelming.
Lots of third person action games provide examples for how to offer better combat systems (Dark Souls and Dragons Dogma are two that spring to mind), and its clear Bethesda needs to fundamentally reassess how basic combat is performed in order to make the core game play a lot more compelling and fun. This is probably the area that I would argue Bethesda should focus the most on in developing any new game; a slightly more refined version of Skyrim's combat simply wont cut it.
Levelling: A unique part of any Elder Scrolls game comes from its levelling system, where levels are earn't by performing actions rather than through XP or a more traditional system. It would be a shame to do away with such a system, but it needs some work.
I think the total number of skills is about right, and the removal of certain skills, like athletics, was ultimately the right move. But how about a wider variety of ways to earn skills than simply grinding away at casting spells or swinging swords? I know there are trainers and skill books which help, but what about some unique quests linked to each skill set which offer faster levelling (or additional levels) in these skills. If I recall correctly, some of the magic skills had 'mastery' quests, but this could be greatly expanded upon (e.g some sort of archery contest with the 'world's best archer' to earn your last 10 skills points etc. - or some sort of hunting style quests to earn archery points at lower levels).
In addition, the perks system should be made more unique. Bethesda should put greater effort into coming up with some better ideas rather than simply +10 to damage with this type of weapon!
Weapons/armour/crafting: At the core of what makes many RPGs compelling is the hunt for loot in the form of better armour, weapons and other collectables.This is something I think the Skyrim and the Elder Scrolls series misses the mark on.
The tiered weapon/armour system from your basic rusty iron armour up to daedric works, but it's often too easy to get the best weapons and armour fairly early on and then spend at least half the game with no room to earn further rewards in this area. I would argue for more armour sets to be introduced and doled out more slowly, and for more unique weapons and armours which are sealed off until later in the game.
As mentioned in the 'levelling' point above, there could be quests to track down or forge 'ultimate/legendary' pieces of armour or unique weapons, as while the game is fairly good at offering unique one off items, these are usually much worse than the standard weapons you already have.
Perhaps its a bit much to ask for weapons and armour to be given a wider variety of stats or some randomised loot elements like Diablo, but I think Bethesda should think of introducing something to keep the player going beyond just getting a deadric weapon or armour set and then simply 'being done' with this aspect of the game.
The crafting system could also be expanded; give us the change to forge one off legendary weapons or further customise what we can already create. How about letting the player choose the colour of his armour, or offering the ability to tweak certain aspects of it (e.g different variations of horns and spikes on the deadric armour). All of this would allow players to feel more ownership of their own character, whose face can be customised endlessly, but whose sartorial options are much more limited.
Those are my top three picks for any future game, but I'm sure there are many others. Do you agree with my points about what Skyrim got right? Do you actually love the combat? What would you do to most improve the next entry in the series?
