Cities have never beenThe Elder Scrolls' strong suit. While the lore is packed full of lavish descriptions of Tamriel’s towns, the ones found in the games tend to be lackluster, just small parts of the far larger worlds which bring the games to life. That could all be about to change inThe Elder Scrolls 6.
The Elder Scrolls 6has the potential to reinvent the wheel with the series' cities. There’s evidence that cities could be very different in the next game, which comes with some big implications for the layout, gameplay, and overall feel of the franchise’s next chapter.
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The Elder Scrolls 6 City Changes
The Elder Scrolls 6, in theory, should be bringing some big changes to cities. When speaking atBrighton Digital 2020, Todd Howardmentioned that the nextElder Scrollsgame would make significant use of procedural generation. Procedural generation is a technique where much of the world is automatically generated by a computer, then allowing developers to go in and flesh out the details. This can allow for the creation of far larger worlds.
Howard suggested that this could also be used to makelarger cities inThe Elder Scrolls 6. Fans of the franchise will know not to believe everything they hear about the game’s scope before more is revealed, but the potential for larger cities does raise some very interesting possibilities. To understand why, however, it’s important to first unpack the weaknesses ofThe Elder Scrolls' cities so far.
Why Skyrim and Oblivion’s Cities Didn’t Quite Hit the Mark
Cities inThe Elder Scrollsare small to the point that they can be immersion breaking. When enteringWhiterun, Nazeemwill assume the player has never had the opportunity to visit the Cloud District. The Cloud District, however, is less than 100 feet away and contains only one building. In Windhelm, players will find themselves hunting for a serial killer in the streets of a city that has only 50 NPCs in total. The worst offender inSkyrim, however, is Falkreath. This hold capital manages to have a population of just 20, which is 9 NPCs less than Winterhold, most of which has collapsed into the ocean.
Oblivionhad multiple cities with similar sizes toSkyrim’s, but it also had a larger urban center in the form of the Imperial City. There are still many ways, however, that the Imperial City isn’t nearly as immersive as it could be. WhileRPGs likeThe Witcher 3create cities with bustling streets, active trade, and visible farmland beyond their walls to supply its citizens with food, the Imperial City feels far less alive. Despite this, the principle of a single, larger city could be interesting if applied toThe Elder Scrolls 6.
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The Elder Scrolls 6: Learning From Cyberpunk 2077
Cyberpunk 2077may have had a disastrous launch, but the design of its world did show the RPG industry an interesting possibility.Cyberpunkfocuses on a single city, Night City, developing it into a far more realistic urban center with diverse inhabitants, fleshed out districts, and a large population of NPCs.
The Elder Scrollsseries has never claimed to accurately represent the lore sizes of its in-game locations, otherwise the entire province of Skyrim would be no larger than a New York borough.The Elder Scrolls 6has the opportunity to focus on a smaller area ofTamriel, but to make that area more realistically sized than the worlds of previousElder Scrollsgames. LikeCyberpunk 2077,The Elder Scrolls 6could finally include a fully fleshed-out city that feels like an immersively sized and detailed medieval town.
If Bethesda goes in this direction, it could open up some great roleplaying opportunities. AnElder Scrollsgame on the same scale asSkyrimbut focused on a smaller area of Tamriel in the lore would harken back toDaggerfall, which was set around the eponymous city. WhileDaggerfallrelied on random generation to create its impressively huge world, however,The Elder Scrolls 6could actually create a detailed, scripted cityscape.
The Elder Scrolls 6 Cities, Factions, and More
Focusing on a single large city, or even simply including several larger cities as part of a larger procedurally generated world, would have huge implications for the rest ofThe Elder Scrolls 6’s design. In particular,the Dark Brotherhoodand the Thieves' Guild have always felt like they’re getting the short end of the stick when it comes toTES’s tiny towns. Both of these factions could tell fascinating and immersive stories in an urban environment. There’s a reason the Thieves' Guild quests are so tightly tied to Riften and the Dark Brotherhood questline begins in the eerie streets of Windhelm, even if the cities' small sizes require the questlines to take the player elsewhere.
Despite their small sizes,Elder Scrollsgames in the past have had a degree of success creating distinct personalities for their cities, with Riften and Windhelm providing good examples even if places like Falkreath and Dawnstar feel underdeveloped.The Elder Scrolls 6could finally create cities which have truly distinct feeling districts. Areas likeWindhelm’s Gray Quartercould be expanded to have their own full questlines and unique aesthetics. The Gray Quarter as it appears inSkyrimattempt that to a degree, but is hugely limited by its small size.
Large cities could also helpThe Elder Scrolls 6accomplish one of its most difficult tasks - distinguishing its setting from Skyrim, and stepping out of the shadow ofThe Elder Scrolls 5.Skyrimfocused on vistas, vast landscapes, and mountainous wilderness.The Elder Scrolls 6could tell a very different kind of story, set in the winding streets, taverns, and alleyways of a bustling city truly brought to life by the technological developments made sinceSkyrim’s release, such as the number of NPCs that can be rendered in a single area.
For now, however, fans will have to wait and see ifBethesda’s promise of larger cities is actually realized in the next game. If it is, the change in design could be a risk, but it could also have the potential to reap far greater rewards than playing it safe, and attempting to recreate the formula found inSkyrim.
