The Elder Scrolls 6 has some huge shoes to fill. Skyrim's immense success solidified the already popular franchise's place near the top of the western RPG market. Now, ever since TES6's announcement at E3 2018, fans have been waiting with bated breath for news about the next installment in the series.
After nearly ten years since Skyrim's release, there's much debate among fans about the direction The Elder Scrolls 6 should go in if it's going to stay true to the franchise's formula while expanding upon the design principles. One key way The Elder Scrolls 6 could achieve that is by taking armor and weapon designs in a completely new direction.
Weapons, Armor, And Culture
Each Elder Scrolls game has had unique armor designs that help create a distinct feel to the areas players explore. In some cases, particularly in Morrowind, these armors are culturally specific and hold meaning within the society in which the game is set. In others, the appearance of certain generic items are redesigned to fit the culture, such as Skyrim's Viking-inspired horned version of the Iron Helmet.
This makes one direction for the design of the next Elder Scrolls' weapons and armor clear. If the game is set in Hammerfell, for example, Bethesda will almost certainly draw on the historical and pop cultural perception of Middle Eastern and African cultures when designing its items. If the game is set somewhere in the Aldmeri Dominion, players will likely find weapons and armor designed to immerse them in the fictional culture of the Altmer.
Making The Elder Scrolls 6's armor and weapons reflect the next game's setting will be necessary, but it's also obvious. It already seems unlikely that players would encounter Skyrim's horned helmets in Hammerfell, High Rock, or Valenwood. In fact, The Elder Scrolls Online has already developed many culturally specific takes on different armor types across Tamriel, introducing, for example, Mesoamerican-inspired armor worn by the Argonians in Black Marsh.
If The Elder Scrolls 6 is going to feel like a true successor to Skyrim but take the formula to the next level, it can't just take the same systems and design choices made and reapply them to a new province of Tamriel. The Elder Scrolls 6 doesn't just need to change the visual design of the series' weapons and armor, it needs to take the way weapons and armor designs work in a completely new direction.
Expanding The Elder Scrolls Formula
The Elder Scrolls games rely on freedom. Players have the freedom to choose from a wide range of races in Skyrim, for example, allowing the Dragonborn to be a High Elf, Khajiit, or Argonian, despite the game's primary focus on the Nords. Players can leave Helgen after the main quest and ignore Ralof's advice to travel to Riverwood, instead heading west and forging their own path through the world. Besides the introduction there are no required quests, and character-driven stories are largely sacrificed in favor of making the games' roleplaying opportunities as broad as possible.
If players want their character to have a background, or anything resembling the sort of character-driven narratives found in other RPG series like Mass Effect or The Witcher, it's up to them to imagine it. This is not necessarily a bad thing. The freedom to determine so much of the story against the backdrop of the game's setting is one of the main attractions of the Elder Scrolls games.
The Elder Scrolls 6 shouldn't try to one-up Skyrim by introducing a more prescriptive and character-driven story like the one found in Fallout 4. Limiting the player's ability to to determine almost everything about their character could land a fatal blow against one of the series' greatest strengths. What The Elder Scrolls 6 can do is increase the breadth of its world, the amount of characters players can meet, and the number of towns and cities they can explore. Expanding aspects like these will give players more opportunities to roleplay in the world without constricting their freedom. The Elder Scrolls 6 needs to apply this same principle to the next game's armor and weapon designs.
Diversifying Weapons And Armor
Skyrim's armor and weapons are visually impressive, but it doesn't take long for a player to see them repeating throughout the world. Bandits wear the same fur armor and iron helmets that the player likely has early in the game, all Thalmor justiciars roaming the province in search of Talos worshippers dress in either black Thalmor robes or golden Elven armor, and most participants on either side of Skyrim's Civil War dress identically based on their faction. Skyrim's guards all wear the exact same kind of tunic and helmet, with only the colors changed.
Bethesda should develop a system which allows for the creation of more diverse weapons and armor across the world. Not all leather armor should be constructed in the same way. Iron armor should show the style of the smith or the city it was made in. Some weapons of the same type could appear more worn-down than others, and have different designs despite having the same stats.
Just as Skyrim's character creation allowed for a broad range of NPC appearances, developing a consistent weapon and armor customization system allowing Bethesda to mix and match elements could allow players to discover far more unique items. It may not have been possible for Skyrim, but a system like this could be one of the benefits of the significant upgrades Bethesda's engine is undergoing before the release of The Elder Scrolls 6.
Players might find themselves attached to a certain sword, staff, or helmet that has recognizably unique features. Armor looted from a bandit that the player shot full of arrows might show signs of piercing damage. When encountering soldiers on the road, a detail on an NPC's sword might indicate that they are in charge, and some soldiers may clearly have been able to afford armor in better condition than others. In all of these cases, a flexible behind-the-scenes armor and weapon customization system like this would allow players to immerse themselves further into the next game's world, while staying true to the Elder Scrolls formula by prioritizing freedom and breadth of RP opportunities above all else.
The Elder Scrolls 6Â is currently in development.