Two years since its announcement and little to talk about yet a continued presence in gaming conversations shows the pure pedigree and fan hype behind The Elder Scrolls 6. Recently, that discussion has been focused on platform, as many debate whether or not it’ll appear on the PS5 after Microsoft’s acquisition of Bethesda. But there’s still as much and as little to be said about the actual content of the game.
Fans know very little other than the basics. It’ll be the first Elder Scrolls game to take full advantage of next-gen hardware, it’s not likely to release until 2024 or 2025, it’ll probably have that peculiar Elder Scrolls “flavor” to it, and it’ll likely take place on Tamriel. The Elder Scrolls 6‘s world is known as Nirn, but Tamriel has always been the focus—The Elder Scrolls 6 may be the first game to feel the growing pains of that.
There are other continents on Nirn besides Tamriel, and it’s not impossible that they actually matter in The Elder Scrolls 6. But the safest bet is that, like games before it, The Elder Scrolls 6 will be based in one of the countries of Tamriel. This is exciting in that it’ll show a new country, but it also has a diminishing effect. The more locations showcased through the world, the smaller Tamriel actually feels. For example, it’s worth looking at the countries that have been explored in various games in The Elder Scrolls franchise. These include the following games and locations:
- The Elder Scrolls: Arena (All of Tamriel)
- Daggerfall (Parts of High Rock and Hammerfell)
- The Elder Scrolls Adventures: Redguard (The Island of Stros M’Kai)
- Morrowind (Part of Morrowind)
- The Elder Scrolls Travels: Stormhold (A location in Black Marsh)
- The Elder Scrolls Travels: Shadowkey (Part of High Rock)
- Oblivion (Cyrodiil)
- Skyrim (the whole country of Skyrim)
However, the map above does not take The Elder Scrolls Online into consideration, which since launch, has explored (in whole, part, or segment) Black Marsh, Cyrodiil, Elsweyr, Hammerfell, High Rock, Morrowind, Skyrim, Valenwood, and the Summerset Isles. Albeit, each of these games are set in the far past, but at the same time, The Elder Scrolls Online shows how slow progress is in Tamriel. The differences are small, and that makes a big problem.
Taking all of these into account shows that there’s not much left of Tamriel to uniquely explore in The Elder Scrolls 6. Sure, there’s some locations that haven’t really been explored in the present, but at the same time, locations like Black Marsh and Elsweyr are less likely to be explored due to being the home of the Argonians and Khajiit, respectively. Their locations are likely far too alien for lesser Elder Scrolls fanatics and could be off-putting, making rumors like Valenwood and Hammerfell seem much more likely.
Speculation as to where The Elder Scrolls 6 takes place is plentiful and going nowhere soon, but the simple truth is that Tamriel is shrinking. The new game still has areas to explore, there’s other locations on Nirn that could be introduced, and there’s plenty of options moving forward, but unless the franchise ends or starts re-visiting locations, Tamriel and the games associated with it could start losing their magic. That’s always unfortunate and reasons as to why things like Yoda’s race in Star Wars is kept secret, but the magic and mystery behind Tamriel is fading fast, with The Elder Scrolls 6 likely being the first game where balancing this magic and mystery may just be one of its biggest factors for success.
The Elder Scrolls 6 in development.
Image Credit: Map of Tamriel with Game Locations via Reddit
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