One thing that sometimes gets lost in the game development industry is how certain games affect others in key ways. Sure, we all know about how when Epic Games launched its big live-service title, everyone tried and failed to replicate it, but it’s also more nuanced than just that example. Sometimes, games come around and have such an impact on gamers in a fundamental way, even if it’s just via game mechanics and interfaces, that other companies have to take notice and adjust certain things to capitalize on that. For example, while The Elder Scrolls 6 is coming out eventually, you likely won’t see it do too many things similar to Baldur’s Gate 3.
Confused? It has to do with how the former used to have very D&D-esque character sheets and systems and then moved away from them once it was clear that gamers didn’t want that anymore. However, Larian Studios’ title brought them back and made it clear why they were important, and thus, some think Bethesda might do that again. In a chat with VideoGamer, former Bethesda lead designer Bruce Nesmith discussed how Larian did right by D&D fans with its game but why Bethesda likely won’t try to copy it:
“When you look at something like Baldur’s Gate 3, I think that’s a very different animal. They had a very specific charge. They were taking Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition and putting it onto a computer game. So it was intentionally looking backwards, intentionally seeing the old tabletop presentation with the die rolls and all of that.”
He feels that the game was an “exception” to the rule and not the “standard” that many will follow going forward if they follow certain D&D paths. He even used the game he helped work on with Bethesda to point out why things likely won’t change for the series going forward:
“You see that everywhere in Skyrim. Todd [Howard] is a big proponent of the interface vanishing if you’re not doing something that needs it to be visible. So, all you see is the world. That’s it. You just see the world.”
Indeed, and while we don’t know what The Elder Scrolls 6 will be like overall, we can look at the journeys many took through Skyrim to get a clue. Plus, remember that RPG has sold countless millions, won Game of the Year honors, and more.
Then again, when you look at a certain OTHER RPG that Bethesda made and bungled, you might hope that they “right the ship” with this sixth entry.
