Starfield and The Elder Scrolls 6 are intimately tied together and not because they are both Bethesda RPGs. The two games were announced with just a logo trailer during Bethesda’s E3 showcase in 2018. It took Bethesda five years after that to release the game and in that time the company was bought by Microsoft.
This was an unfortunate acquisition for PlayStation fans who got excited in 2018 when these games were announced. Now what are they supposed to do? Buy an Xbox? PlayStation troubles aside, these two games can learn a lot from one another. Here are the mechanics and ideas in Starfield that should make it into The Elder Scrolls 6 in approximately another five years.
8 Weapon Rarity
One of the biggest trends in looter RPGs like Diablo is having colored gear. The colors represent tiers, making it easier for players to figure out which weapon or piece of armor is more valuable devoid of just the straight numbers. The main entries in The Elder Scrolls games do not have this distinction.
Starfield brings this relatively old mechanic to Bethesda RPGs and it’s something that the company should implement in their sequels even beyond The Elder Scrolls 6. Also, the armor and weapons in Starfield do not need to be repaired which is also something The Elder Scrolls series should keep in mind for equipment.
7 Jumping Into The Multiverse
This one is a bit of a spoiler and explicit details about the story will not be shared. However, Starfield does get into the idea of Multiverses. What is in the game is small, but it could have been so much more.
It’s like Bethesda wanted to dip their toe into the idea since so many other properties are trying it like the MCU and even games like Final Fantasy 7 Remake. The Elder Scrolls 6 should dive deeper into this multiverse concept to create a game in the series, unlike anything before it.
6 One Planet, But Many Islands
One of the biggest changes in Starfield is that the game does not take place on one open-world planet. There are many planets to visit in Starfield is almost like a new category: the open-universe RPG. Space travel should not get added to The Elder Scrolls 6 as that would be too wild.
The pure concept can still be explored though. Players could be able to travel to many continents or small islands via a boat. These places could have distinct biomes to give the game more environmental variety.
5 A Mobile “House” For Companions
Managing companions in the past games in The Elder Scrolls series has been kind of a mess. Starfield mostly fixed the companion problem by allowing players to move them around like items across their fleet of spaceships. It makes finding them easier and it’s nice to have a ship full of companions to switch out at a moment’s notice.
Again, The Elder Scrolls should not have spaceships but there are other mobile solutions to think about. A big boat like the aforementioned island idea could work. Players could also have a large caravan or stagecoach to house companions in.
4 A New Way To Pick Locks
Picking locks has been the same across Bethesda RPGs for the past decade for the most part. Starfield changed things up by getting rid of pins to tweak. All players have to do now is match slots into rings. It’s still not easy to accomplish, but practice makes perfect.
It’s a lot more intuitive than a regular lockpick in The Elder Scrolls games. The next game doesn’t have to use Digipicks like Starfield, but The Elder Scrolls 6 should get as close to the concept as possible.
3 Use Backgrounds And Traits
There are good things about The Elder Scrolls’ customization options in the past that Starfield lacks. For example, there are no races in Starfield which is odd, especially for a game about space travel. Where are the wild aliens in the game?
What Starfield’s customization does have though are Backgrounds and Traits. These two ideas give players bonuses and skills at the start, making things a bit easier. So, The Elder Scrolls 6 should give them a shot or something like Backgrounds and Traits.
2 How The Encumber Meter Works
Nothing is worse than getting into a dungeon in an entry in The Elder Scrolls only to figure out you are carrying too much. Carrying more than the allotted weight limit will slow characters to a crawl. What is one to do with all of the loot then?
In Starfield, weight limits are still a problem but being encumbered will no longer slow players down. Instead, players will lose Oxygen in Starfield while moving meaning that they have to take more breaks to recharge. This could work in The Elder Scrolls 6 too, but Stamina would probably replace Oxygen.
1 The Photo Mode
Photo modes have been a standard in games for a while now. The PS4 and Xbox One generation of consoles is when things truly took off with this concept. These systems debuted well after the last main entry, The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim, launched in 2011.
It’s about time the series caught up to the modern age, which The Elder Scrolls 6 probably will. A photo mode exists in Starfield, so it is almost guaranteed, but a friendly reminder from fans shouldn’t bother Bethesda.
Starfield was released on September 6, 2023, and is available on PC and Xbox Series X.