Bethesda Veteran Says It Will Be 'Almost Impossible' For ES6 To Meet Expectations

It just works.

@Frmknst I see what you did there.

One thing I've learnt to accept is never compare. It leaves a really bad taste. I've gone with zero expectations with each games I've played and more times than not came out extremely happy with the experience. But constructive criticism is really necessary to keep everything in check. As long as they learn from their mistakes who knows ES6 could be one of the greatest game for me.

Hopefully I'm just alive to see it god knows when we will see it Skyrim was 2011!!!

I played Skyrim on the PS3. I hope it's better than that

It's wild that people consider fallout 4 disappointing at 87, same with starfield at 83. Both games are amazing.

It is weird how out of hand expectations get. People were calling starfield the most important xbox release of all time before it launch. I can't imagine how many articles will falsely imply that the entire future of xbox rests solely on ES6.

The expectation is it’s better than Starfield.

That’s a pretty low bar to start from!

(And I like Starfield)

I want to see some major improvements for ES6. I’d like basic character movement to feel less like the world map is a 3D treadmill under my character that I adjust with the right stick.

Better combat is a must. Less ‘Did I hit him? I think I hit him. I can’t tell if I hit him. Wait, did he hit me?’ and more tactile feedback reinforcement along with other subtle nuances like better lateral movement to tighten combat.

Better visuals. I don’t just mean higher resolution, I mean higher detailed models with higher poly counts. Maybe some actual facial capture instead of rudimentary animations from 20 years ago? Cloth physics, subsurface scattering, self shadowing, better PBR materials etc etc etc.

Better NPC/enemy AI is an absolute must. Maybe this game will have companions that can successfully navigate minor obstacles without having to hold their hand every step of the way. Maybe they’ll attack the enemy standing in their path and currently body blocking them instead of fixating on one hiding behind cover at the far end of the room.

For the love of god I would like to be able to play for more than 15 minutes without falling through the map, getting stuck in the floor, being caught waist deep in a staircase, clipping through walls, having enemies/objects randomly disappear or experiencing yet another crash and being booted to the dashboard. Maybe this time I’ll be able to complete all the quests, instead of only some due to game breaking bugs and glitches.

Is that too much to ask?

I think ES6 will be impossible to be a great game. I just don't think Bethesda have the game engine to do it. Or did I hear they are moving to Unreal? They have to do something. Starfield was outdated the day it released and was still impossible to play for more than an hour without crashing (for me at least).
It also needs to do something innovative. The success of ES5 will be its downfall as everyone has played that to death, multiple times and likely very recently with updated face paint. Unless ES6 does things differently it will very easily feel like the same game without some major changes.

if it isn't perfect, it just doesn't get a 95 plus on Metacritic", a product can then be met with extreme criticism and deemed a "failure".

True and this is partly because some games are massively overrated (and underrated) depending on who is publishing them. Those overrated games aren't perfect either, but people use them as examples of what are considered quality games (and failures) and that's absurd.

If they don't want comparisons, then simply do a new game.

If you are building on an existing franchise, then of course players have the right to compare it with what has come before - its stupidity to suggest anything else.

Making these pitiful excuses this far out from release is a huge red flag. Bethesda really need to get their sh*t together and deliver a great game with no bugs. First port of call is ditching their engine which is simply not up to task. They can then use the extra resource to get gameplay being fun, create some fun new systems etc.

Almost zero loading open world game.
Starfield you walk into out of a cave and there is loading, that’s a joke nowadays.
Even BOTW and TOTK you can walk into and out of a cave without loading.

There world engine needs massive modern improvements, also to take advantage of modern hardware.

But we will probably get a slightly update Starfield game engine and also the time the game comes out it would have aged even more.

Sorry I have no faith in Bethesda with this.
Id and doom yes.

"The day BGS moves away from the Creation Engine is the day BGS dies", said a modder in a video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cZWCaH0Zrs&t=199s.
I completely agree, yet people still don't get it. If you want a top of the art game (technically), then play something else. This is not what BGS games are.
But these games allow stuff that no other games ever will. And that's why it has one of the strongest communities in the gaming space.

Just never liked Bethesda art style / game movement … first person also isn’t my thing unless r6 and halo

That's because studious keep trying to reinvent the wheel. They take a perfect formula like Oblivion or Skyrim and try "new things". Modern game studios disregard the success of the past and do all this new bs instead of giving players what they want.

I don't agree with that.

It is possible for Elder Scrolls 6 to meet my expectations and the expectations of the majority. But they need a cohesive vision — both for the overall game and for individual regions — that prioritizes environment, story-building, characters, combat, and having fun.

Does anyone have high expectations for a Bethesda game? We love Bethesda games because they're really the only ones that do what they do the way they do it. But we also have low technical expectations and expect tons of jank. The part I worry about is they seem to be declining rather than improving. Morrowind was an amazing experience. Oblivion, IMO was the high water mark, it was the peak of everthing Bethesda does, doing it in a way that felt tight, yet still completely unrestrained. IMO Skyrim was a step down despite being more commercially successful, their Fallouts were always "ok at best" and IMO distracted them far too much from making TES great (Obsidian did the best "new" Fallout anyway), and Starfield is......honestly IDK why they made it, it was too ambitious, and again took them away from making TES the best it could be, while also faffing about with Fallout they're not great at.

They need to stop focusing on side projects and really focus on getting back to the momentum they had with Morrowind and Oblivion. But of course they won't because the stupid Fallout TV show means MS will make them milk an FO cashcow now.

I haven't had any expectations from them since I saw an interview with Todd after the release of Skyrim where he proudly admitted that since Morrowind the focus has been to remove systems and choices so that it's easier to pick up and play.

Since then they've been on a unrelenting journey towards casual slop. But it made them mountains of cash so I can't blame them. 🤷‍♂️

@RadioHedgeFund low how?

He's right, it won't live up to expectations. Not because it won't be as good, but because Skyrim was slightly head of the curve for western open-world RPGs, and it's been built up into this monolithic "best of all time" game over the years...when really it's just a pretty good wrpg.

I think it's a pretty safe bet gameplay wise compared to procedural generated starfield, they just reaaaallly need to make it look okay + run okay. A tall order from bethesda

@KvallyX I really don’t mean to sound sarcastic here but surely you must be aware of the furore over Starfield? I enjoyed the game but nobody would describe it as Bethesdas finest hour.

@KvallyX Well except for some of their skybox renderings name one thing that was exceptional.
I can't think of a single example, but I can give you lots of " it was okay"

@Titntin They did make a new game (Starfield). And it was still compared to their earlier work.

@LastSaneManOnEarth You know deep down that isn’t true. I enjoyed Starfield but you surely can’t be that blind to its faults? I’m not trying to be insulting here, just realistic.

Terrible main plot. Barren procedural planets. Repetitive space combat. Too many nonsensical ammo types. Dismal space magic ‘puzzle’ on repeat. Footslogging over miles. The same deserted outpost on every planet. Etc etc.

It’s a fun space role playing game with a lot to love but at launch at least it was far from perfect. 7/10 tops.

And whilst we’re here there is no such thing as a ‘real’ video game. People who play titles like Fortnite and FIFA are as much gamers as enthusiasts like yourself or the commuter on the bus playing Candy Crush. There is room
In the industry for all sorts of players, friend. Hobbyists or not, if people enjoy a game then that’s all that matters. Just because you don’t enjoy something doesn’t make it invalid.

Remember those mobile games people despise so much are no different to the simple arcade titles of the 1970’s. They all featured a 25c paywall once all your lives were up.

Skyrim set standards many years ago. Many good RPGs have came out since then. So the team has it’s work cut out for them to set the standard again.

Bethesda have been on a slow decline since Morrowind. They peaked by creating a hugh world rpg which forced you to get invested in the game if you wanted to play it well. The issue is that they would not get away with tha style of game now, obtuse travel, levelling which could ruin your character etc. Shivering Isles for Oblivion was excellent but I found the base game to be a bit dull and KotN was also kinda boring.

As for the games not meeting expectations they can pin that blame squarely on Todd as he is unable to keep his mouth shut. If they want to set peoples expectations then stop saying dumb stuff like "it just works" when it really means "It will work 18 months after release"

Just set it in Hammerfell please. That’s all I want. The rest we can work out with mods and meta gaming (and in my case, fanfiction lmao). Give us a good sandbox and we will do the rest.

I loved skyrim thpught starfield was average at best so I hope the next elder scrolls is a return to form fingers crossed

Can’t wait to play ES6 in 2036

I literally just expect your typical Bethesda game...with slightly better graphics....which I am very burnt out on....don't really know what else they can do though ...

Personally much prefer fallout....and even when that comes out....I still expect it to be the same old story ...same old slightly better looking

@StonyKL moving to Unreal would be incredibly stupid, as a lot of what the Creations engine can do, Unreal can't out of the box, so they'd have to build their toolset from scratch, it'll take 10 years and introduce gazillion of new bugs. And for what, a game so heavy (physics, lots subsystems, characters with schedule instead of just being standing there a la horizon zero dawn) that they wouldn't be able to use Lumen or Nanite.