The Elder Scrolls 6 is one of the most highly anticipated titles in the gaming world today. Officially revealed in 2018 with a short, cinematic teaser, Bethesda has remained mostly silent on its next fantasy RPG since then. Of course, the studio has been hard at work on its upcoming sci-fi RPG Starfield, but even though that game hasn't yet released, plenty of Elder Scrolls fans are still hoping they'll find out some more about the next title in the iconic franchise soon.
If The Elder Scrolls 6 matches Starfield's ambition, it will likely be filled with plenty of space to explore, hundreds of thousands of lines of dialogue, and plenty more for fans to get excited about. However, despite The Elder Scrolls 6 clearly marking a step forwards for the franchise, Bethesda should look to its past when deciding on what features the latest game could include. Namely, if The Elder Scrolls 6 is going to be a return to glory following over a decade of Skyrim re-releases, Bethesda should look to include the unique navigation system of Morrowind.
How Morrowind Changes Up Its Quests Compared to Other Elder Scrolls Games
The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind, which has just celebrated its 20th anniversary earlier this year, is fondly remembered by fans of the series for a multitude of reasons. From its overpowered magic system to its unique story centered around the Tribunal and their rule over Morrowind, it's no secret a lot of Elder Scrolls fans look back on the third game with a great amount of nostalgia. Even today, ambitious mods are coming out for Morrowind that attempt to fix some of the more outdated aspects of the game.
One unique feature that still stands out to many Morrowind players is the game's lack of minimap, which essentially left gamers on their own to figure out where to go next in questlines. There would be vague directions given by NPCs that guided fans on where they were meant to go, but otherwise, there was a lot less of what some would describe as "hand holding" in Morrowind. While some might find it difficult to think of an open-world RPG that doesn't have some sort of minimap or compass guiding the player to their next objective, a lot of players actually enjoyed the immersion that came with having to figure out where to go.
While it is somewhat difficult to find a modern example to compare Morrowind's vague direction system to, FromSoftware's latest RPG Elden Ring also tries its best not to hold the player's hand and guide them. While Elden Ring does provide the player with a compass at the top of their HUD, its quests don't exactly tell the player where they must go next through markers on the map. It is possible to see where an NPC last was on the map, but through exhausting dialogue options and following clues that are incredibly vague at times, Elden Ring invites the player to figure out where they should go next. While this can lead to fans just googling where they need to go to complete certain Elden Ring quests, the lack of guidance in FromSoftware's games evokes a similar sense of immersion in the world to Morrowind.
How Morrowind's Vague Directions Could be Implemented in The Elder Scrolls 6
While some see Morrowind's lack of a minimap as a product of gaming's past, the success of titles that give the player extra challenges by letting them figure things out on their own shows there is certainly still a desire to wander through a fantasy land with nothing but vague hints as a guide. However, should Bethesda include this feature in The Elder Scrolls 6, it is unlikely that it will look exactly as it did in Morrowind for a multitude of reasons.
Firstly, if Bethesda does bring back these nostalgic features for The Elder Scrolls 6, it is likely that this will be in the form of an option players can turn on or off throughout their playthrough, similar to Fallout 4 and Skyrim's Survival Modes, which increase the difficulty of the games by making the player focus on eating, drinking, and sleeping to survive. Were Bethesda to rid The Elder Scrolls 6 of its minimap without the option to add it back in, this could prove too controversial of a feature for many gamers, who have become used to the helpful mechanic in the titles they play. Therefore, it would work best as an optional mode for those who really want to explore the world with nothing but a mention of a character or objective as their guide.
It is also likely that should this mode be included Bethesda would have to make the guidance from NPCs a bit more obvious than it was in Morrowind. Something that allowed Morrowind to have no minimap was that its world was not as large as that of Skyrim, for example, meaning that there was less space to get lost in. So, unless Bethesda wanted to turn down the size of The Elder Scrolls 6 to accommodate this feature, it likely means there will be a bit more hand-holding to ensure players don't lose themselves in the wrong corner of the map. With the rumors pointing to The Elder Scrolls 6 containing the regions of High Rock and possibly Hammerfell, this makes it seem as if Bethesda is aiming for a huge map, which might not be complemented by a lack of direction for the player.
Currently, there are a lot of building expectations for Bethesda's upcoming games, and with the disappointment that Fallout 76 was at launch, a lot of players aren't as forgiving of the famed developer as they used to be. While this means Starfield and The Elder Scrolls 6 have a lot to prove, should Bethesda look to combine the ambitious scale of its more recent titles with features that fans have loved from past releases, it could restore its slightly damage reputation.
The Elder Scrolls 6 is in development.