It’s fair to say that when Bethesda’s Starfield was released in 2023 it was one of the most hyped games in years but some fans are now concerned with The Elder Scrolls VI.
Bethesda claimed that the sci-fi RPG Starfield was two decades in the making but thanks to modern-day video game technology, that vision by Todd Howard and co was able to come to fruition. Whether it's an accurate description or not, many have dubbed Starfield to be Skyrim in space and it was seen as one of Xbox’s major first-party titles of last year. But why are some fans now concerned with The Elder Scrolls VI following the launch of Starfield?
Check out The Elder Scrolls VI trailer below!
In our review of Starfield, we said: “Bethesda has created a universe that, despite its vast scale, maintains interest and an impressive attention to detail throughout. The journey you embark on will dazzle you, and I have no doubt that players will be gripped for months, perhaps even years to come.”
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As with any video game release, no matter how hyped, enthusiasm for a title will eventually dwindle and Starfield is no exception. However, it seems that enthusiasm has dwindled massively since Starfield was released and this is why some fans are now concerned with The Elder Scrolls VI.
“Starfield has lost 97% of its Steam players in less than six months,” reads a headline from PCGamesN, an article shared in Reddit. “It makes me worried for The Elder Scrolls VI if this was Betheda’s passion project,” said a concerned Redditor SwoloLikeSolo.
“Passion project is usually code for the boss's pet project that the whole team knows will fail but they have to do it anyway,” exclaimed cshmn. “Yeah, that's exactly what Starfield feels like,” replied arrantprac. “Now that we’ve played Baldur’s Gate 3, the expectations for any other RPG are much higher,” declared Xillllix. “Boring fetch quests and useless low-quality dialogue won’t cut it.”
“The main problem with Starfield is the inhumane amount of procedural generation that destroyed any excitement when it came to exploration,” explained Nachooolo. “Unless they do another Daggerfall (which might happen), The Elder Scrolls VI's map will be limited in size (compared with Starfield at least) and, as such, have way less procedural generation and more handcrafted locations (at least proportion-wise).”
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Redditor Nachooolo does make some very valid points that assuming The Elder Scrolls VI will have less procedural generation and a smaller map, as with Skyrim, it should make for a more controlled and hopefully better RPG experience. I believe that procedural generation has its place, but the caveat is that it will lose a sense of identity in comparison to a world or individual locations in a map being hand-crafted by a developer.
The Elder Scrolls VI doesn't have a confirmed release date at the time of writing, but it is currently scheduled to be released on PC and Xbox Series X|S.
Featured Image Credit: Bethesda SoftworksTopics: Bethesda, The Elder Scrolls, The Elder Scrolls 6, Starfield, PC, Xbox, Xbox Game Pass, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X, Steam