The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim is one of the most recognizable games in the industry. Since its release, it has been subject to praise, countless re-releases, and more memes than anyone can count. The fact that Skryim's opening scene can be played on a pregnancy test is just proof of that. With such a solid foundation, Bethesda has a great place to start for The Elder Scrolls 6, but also must overcome the monumental task of matching Skyrim's glory. One way it could go about this challenge is by putting control of the experience in the hands of the player, particularly without requiring heavy modding to do so. This would allow players to tailor the experience to their own liking and result in a more satisfying game as a whole.
The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim released way back in 2011 and is coming up on its 9th anniversary soon. Though Bethesda has certainly kept itself busy with the likes of Fallout 4 and Elder Scrolls Online, fans are clamoring for the sixth main entry title to finally release. Unfortunately, there's not telling when that will actually happen, especially since it was announced over two years ago and there has been very little in the way of news. In the meantime, fans find themselves preoccupied with predicting where the game might take place and other details.
Modding in The Elder Scrolls
Mods have long been a pivotal part of The Elder Scrolls experience, hence why there was such a fuss when PS4 Skyrim mods were limited to such an extreme degree. With mods, players are capable of taking this already amazing game and sculpting it to be exactly what they want. This can range from quality of life changes like increasing carry capacity to absolutely bizarre mods that let the Dragonborn use Kamehameha. Though it's understandable that a developer may want to keep their game away from things like that, the modding community breathed more life into Skyrim in the past 9 years than the developers ever could.
Mods are great, but they are particularly difficult to use on consoles and shouldn't be necessary to enjoy the game. For those players that still feel the need to turn Skyrim's enemies into Randy Savage, mods will be the solution, but certain other changes should be made within the game itself. If players are able to customize their experience to something that suits them, they will obviously be able to have more fun, and that's what games like Skyrim and probably The Elder Scrolls 6 are all about.
The Elder Scrolls 6 Adjustable Difficulty
There are a few pre-existing examples of games with adjustable difficulty that would work as great models for this. Naughty Dog's latest release was hailed for its penchant for accessibility, to the point where a blind gamer was able to beat The Last of Us 2. This was done with the help of these incredible accessibility options as well as the adjustable difficulty found within the game. Players can choose exactly which aspects of the game they want to be easier or harder, creating an experience that can't be defined simply with a typical Easy/Normal/Hard scale.
Along a similar vein, Ark lets players change nearly any setting they could think of when creating their world. Players have control over how fast they gain experience, what engrams they start with, how many resources they get from gathering, how long it takes to tame and breed dinosaurs, and even things like how much health and damage they or enemies have. This level of control helps immensely, as Ark is a game that can be played a lot of different ways. In a massive server, the default times for things might work, but on singleplayer, making eggs hatch faster is hardly a crime. Skyrim struggled with some pacing issues as well, so giving players these options would go a long way for setting The Elder Scrolls 6 apart.
The Elder Scrolls 6Â is in development.