The Elder Scrollsfranchise is one of the popular and long-standing video game franchises out there, and for a good reason. There’s few people who have never heard of or touched its most popular game,The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Released for just about every possible major platform, the game has dominated the markets for the past decade since its release. However, no matter how big Bethesda is, they’ve made some bad decisions in the past decade as well. From two million releases of the same old game to wasting time on somewhat redundant platforms like VR and mobile, it hasn’t always been a road filled with success. Here are 5 of the best and the 5 worst things to happen to the franchise in the past ten years.
10Best: Skyrim: A Very Special Edition
It’s no secret that people have been insanely fed up with how many timesSkyrimhas been released and re-released time and time again. Considering the game is definitely showing signs of aging today, people are ready to move on and mock Bethesda for its obsession over the same game. Luckily, Bethesda took the joke and made it even better by releasing aVery Special Editionof their beloved game on Amazon Alexa. Yes, really! You can get it to this day and play a speech-based adventure of your own, inspired bySkyrim’stale.
9Worst: The Elder Scrolls Online: Summerset
The Elder Scrolls Onlinehas known a couple of additions since its initial release, but to say they’ve all been equally good and fun to play with would be a bit of a stretch.Morrowindwas incredibly well received and added a ton of new features to the base game.
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However,Summersetwas criticized for how little it really provided for players, considering it had an identical price tag toMorrowind. With no new class and only a bit of story to distract the player, it definitely remains a flop in our books.
8Best: The Elder Scrolls Online
Its additions aside, theElder Scrolls Onlinewas an interesting step forward for the entire franchise. When people were hoping to playSkyrimwith friends, Bethesda replied by giving us this game. While many of its kind require a subscription,ESOhas a non-subscription option as well, which allows you to play the game with the basics. This is definitely a bonus inaccessibility, since not everyone wants to splurge. While the game was first very bare-bones, it has grown really beautifully through additions likeMorrowind, and its challenging MMORPG genre continues to flourish.
7Worst: The Elder Scrolls: Blades
Back in 2018, whenDiablodevelopers were almost booed off the stage at Blizzard Entertainment’s Blizzcon event after announcing aDiablomobile game, everyone thought developers would learn that mobile games are not something you should attempt to sell to your core audience. Mobile games remain a niche, which is whyTES: Bladesis such a controversial product from Bethesda. Not only is it riddled with microtransactions, but its controls are also extremely clunky and it leaves a lot to desire.
6Best: Dragonborn DLC
AfterSkyrim’srelease, Bethesda had tons of content and story ideas it wanted to put out in the form of DLCs. Much of it was content which hadn’t made it to the final cut of the game. TheDragonbornDLC introduces to the island of Solstheim, and to a brand new, engaging storyline, with a brand new antagonist.
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What makes this DLC so powerful is the bang it gives for your buck, and just how much better of a storyline it is compared to the actual main story ofSkyrim. Alduin isn’t scary at all, but facing off against Miraak is an actual challenge.
5Worst: Hearthfire DLC
WhileDawnguardandDragonbornDLCs were well-loved by Skyrim fans,Hearthfirewas a bit of an odd one. The only new thing it truly introduces is building houses and adopting children, but since Skyrim is fundamentally about adventuring, the popularity and scope of this pack was extremely limited. Realistically, how much will you spend time building your own house inSkyrimwhen you already have a few really nice ones to choose from? And also, who asked to be able to adopt children? They all look eerily the same inSkyrim.
4Best: Announcement Of TES VI
After almost ten years ofSkyrimand not a whisper from Todd Howard about a possible sixthElder Scrollsgame, it was a massive relief to everyone when he finally announced the game back in 2018. It was about time, too, withSkyrimreleased on all possible platforms and Bethesda having carefully milked every single penny from its fans. Waiting this long is definitely a bit of an insult, but boy are we glad to finally have an official confirmation from the developers that something new is indeed in the works.
3Worst: Skyrim VR
As already mentioned,Skyrimsaw release in all major forms and on major platforms. It didn’t come as any surprise to anyone when it was released as a VR game, although the question “why” was probably on a lot of people’s lips.
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And you’d be right to ask for a reason, because VR games generally aren’t that popular. With technology still lackluster, most games support VR very, very poorly, andSkyrimisn’t any different in that regard. The gameplay doesn’t feel fluid, and you’re probably more likely to just get motion sickness from the experience than have fun.
2Best: TES V: Skyrim
About ten years ago, Bethesda releasedSkyrim, the fifthElder Scrollsgame. Since then,Skyrimhas been a massive success in every regard. With all of its flaws aside, such as the myriad of bugs, repetitive quests and bland storyline, the game managed to leave a lasting impression on this generation of gamers. Anyone anywhere could pick up and playSkyrim, and the number of memes and references the game has enjoyed should prove that it’s definitely one of the top games of our times. If you still haven’t played it, what are you even doing?
1Worst: Trailer For TES VI
While the announcement of the sixthElder Scrollsgame had everyone let out a bit sigh of relief, what we actually received in the trailer was a bit of a slap in the face from Bethesda. After years upon years of profit and the team expanding, you’d really think Bethesda would give its fans a bit more than a few seconds of a landscape view withThe Elder Scrolls VIfading in view. Considering how patient most fans have been, we definitely deserved to know a bit more, including which location the team is considering and what we can expect in the future. And let’s not even talk about howStarfieldis scheduled to come out first, its trailer even more cryptic thanThe Elder Scrolls VI’s.
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