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Skyrim is one of the best selling single player rpgs ever made, yet Bethesda’s unique ambition for massive worlds hasn’t been copied. (Gene Park)

kingfey

Banned
I think the importance and pressure on starfield can hardly be overstated. Skyrim is one of the best selling single player rpgs ever made, yet Bethesda’s unique ambition for massive worlds hasn’t been copied. There are no Skyrim-likes, most studios can barely touch that scale.


Making fun of Bethesdas massive RPGs is easy but every single one seems like the most difficult game to make ever, a feat basically that hasn’t been repeated by anyone. Even Elden Ring still doesn’t approach the variety of interactivity in an elder scrolls game.


none of this is to say I’m super optimistic about starfield lol. if anything I’m wondering if they’re even able to replicate the way Morrowind broke our brains with its size and interactivity. But I’m excited nonetheless at the possibility.
 

Krappadizzle

Gold Member
I dunno. Kinda depends. I absolutely have loved the Elder Scroll series since Morrowind. I've been with it since it really caught the mainstream and it's been a great ride over the years. I'm super excited to play Starfield and still occasionally get the itch to play Fallout 4 or Skyrim with a ton of mods to make it the way I like it.

CDPR Witcher 3's world was as compelling and more believable as far as a base experience straight from the devs is concerned. As far as interactivity I've still yet to play a game that scratches that "feet in the dirt" feel that I get playing Breath of the Wild. As far as pure exploration and awe, I've yet to find a more compelling looking world, from a purely art driven stance than Elden Ring.

They all have their place and suit the experiences the devs are shooting for. Skyrim's "massive" world has been beaten and improved on by many games since it's release. Doesn't stop Skyrim from being a special game and that's ok.
 
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Hugare

Member
Not many studios with the size to make something like that or the money to afford it

I'm sure that Obsidian would have loved to have the budget to make a New Vegas out of Outter Worlds

Sony 1st party doesnt make RPGs, Ubisoft/EA are focused on microtransactions and etc.

The studio/publishers that could have the budget for a game like Skyrim arent even trying to make a game like Skyrim, because its easier to maximize proffits with a 10h singleplayer game or some new GAAS game

The Witcher 3 was that and much more, tho

I am now more optimistic for starfield. Bethesda has the stage for this year. I hope they deliver a game, which can topple Skyrim.

Elden Ring has the stage for this year and it aint leaving it
 

Greirat

Member
Most game devs don't understand Bethesda's way of doing things. They always want to make smaller more polished games. Bethesda embraces the large scope and knows that the rough edges and the bugs are worth it to have such a big world full of possibilities. You can't have one without the other.
 

kingfey

Banned
The Witcher 3 was that and much more, tho
The Witcher 3 doesn't come close to elder scroll games.
Elder scroll games are more of complete RPG, considering the amount of things you can do on their games.

Elden Ring has the stage for this year and it aint leaving it
Elden Ring has the highest chance. Considering it has the highest metacritic.
But goty isnt only that. Starfield and god of war Ragnarök has a chance, if they bring that wining formula.
 

PSYGN

Member
Most game devs don't understand Bethesda's way of doing things. They always want to make smaller more polished games. Bethesda embraces the large scope and knows that the rough edges and the bugs are worth it to have such a big world full of possibilities. You can't have one without the other.
I think Rockstar is the closest we've seen to polish and scale. But you're right most devs go for the safer controlled option of smaller worlds.
 
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Amiga

Member
Skyrim and Fallout 3 novelty wore off. Fallout 4, New Vegas and Outer Worlds didn't grow or sell as well as the 1st 2. That is why they did Fallout/Skyrim online, to monetize the established base.
Also, Witcher 3 came out. players want clarity in progress and a strong narrative structure along with as much freedom as possible.
 

EDMIX

Member
I think because that concept is harder to do then many realize. Even I was naive to this, I was like "why can't day just do da NPCs walking around, daily lives and all those objectz doe" lol

It sounds easier said then done and I believe because many are not able to even come close to what Elder Scrolls or Fallout have done, it shows they have something going on that their pretty fucking good as if many don't attempt this.

Skyrim and Fallout 3 novelty wore off. Fallout 4, New Vegas and Outer Worlds didn't grow or sell as well as the 1st 2.

Thats actually not true at all, Fallout 4 literally is the best selling Fallout game...

It outsold Fallout 3, in 1 week..

Players want more freedom, yet you reference Witcher 3? A game by default that has less freedom then Skyrim and Fallout etc? Nah man lol Witcher 3 has its own reason why people like it, but I don't think it has shit to do with freedom, as the game be default offers less factually, objectively a list of things exist that you simply can't do in Witcher that exist in the Elder Scrolls IP and Fallout.
 
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Plantoid

Member
In Skyrim the amount of replayability and build variety is only matched by Elden ring

In Skyrim the npcs are a league of their own, every one of them has a name, routine, loot... No game comes close in this aspect

You can drop a fork anywhere, go on playing for 40 days and when you come back it will be there, never seen something like this in other games,

If you steal and someone sees, guards will come, you can kill everyone that witnessed and run, surrender maybe? What about bribing? And paying the fine$$$, you're broke? go to jail, choose escape or sleep through it, whatever, the possibilities are unmatched
 
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bender

What time is it?
Fallout 4 literally is the best selling Fallout game...
that-70s-drunk.gif
 
Skyrim is a joke compared to some of the open-world games we've gotten since it released.

Witcher 3, Breath of the Wild and especially Elden Ring make Skyrim look cheap, janky, and pretty boring in comparison. We will see how Starfield turned out, but unless Bethesda has improved a lot since Skyrim, I won't set my hopes too high.
 

Varteras

Gold Member
To me, Elder Scrolls does a pretty good job of replicating Dungeons and Dragons into a single-player RPG video game. I'm still not a big fan of Bethesda's style but I'll give them credit where it's due. They nail the old fantasy game feel.
 

DavidGzz

Member
I'll take a dead world with good gameplay over a bunch of brain dead townsfolk and janky uninteresting gameplay from Skyrim. The loot is also terrible. I hope Starfield improves on Skyrim 10 fold.
 

Fredrik

Member
Avowed is supposed to be Obsidian’s Skyrim I think.
But yeah it’s the size of the world and interactivity combined with exploration that makes Skyrim stand out. When you play it in VR and can physically touch everything you really understand how insane the interactivity is. It’s just smoke and mirrors in most games. BOTW is close though with it’s world physics and Elden Ring is close too even though you don’t have objects placed in the world in the same way.
 
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pust

Neo Member
lol what? I like skyrim because of its mods. I play with them to this day. It is the sole reason that I care about it at all, and there are many more games besides witcher 3 that I take over skyrim during times that I don't feel motivated to do modding... Make no mistake, this isn't an indictment on skyrim. The modding scene for skyrim is like a whole workshop of tools, materials and templates, and you can spend a thousand hours building mod lists without knowing everything because new things are invented on a regular basis for Skyrim mod makers.
 
The one thing I'll give Bethesda is that they're one of the few, if maybe only company, that makes huge video games where you can interact with nearly every single object in a room, no matter how useless the object might be. You can pick it up, put it in inventory, store it, throw it, etc. A lot of games still don't even approach anywhere near that level of interactivity. The last one I can think of is Half Life: Alyx, which is the only game to actually improve upon the interactivity in a few ways of it's own.
 
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Trogdor1123

Member
Skyrim and Fallout 3 novelty wore off. Fallout 4, New Vegas and Outer Worlds didn't grow or sell as well as the 1st 2. That is why they did Fallout/Skyrim online, to monetize the established base.
Also, Witcher 3 came out. players want clarity in progress and a strong narrative structure along with as much freedom as possible.
Fallout 4 sold gang busters and Skyrim outsold oblivion…

They continue to sell well too
 

Hugare

Member
The Witcher 3 doesn't come close to elder scroll games.
Elder scroll games are more of complete RPG, considering the amount of things you can do on their games.


Elden Ring has the highest chance. Considering it has the highest metacritic.
But goty isnt only that. Starfield and god of war Ragnarök has a chance, if they bring that wining formula.
Oh wow, so many examples of things that you can do in Skyrim when compared to Witcher 3, OP. Now I'm convinced!

In terms of scope and immersion Witcher 3 beats Skyrim by a mile. And thats fine, considering that Skyrim came 4 years before.

Fallout 3 is one of my GOATs and Skyrim is awesome, but I dont think that they will able to deliver GOTY material with Starfield.
Bethesda havent delivered a good game since ... Skyrim in 2011.

Thats a long ass time and they have lots to prove after F4 and F76
 
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I dunno. Kinda depends. I absolutely have loved the Elder Scroll series since Morrowind. I've been with it since it really caught the mainstream and it's been a great ride over the years. I'm super excited to play Starfield and still occasionally get the itch to play Fallout 4 or Skyrim with a ton of mods to make it the way I like it.

CDPR Witcher 3's world was as compelling and more believable as far as a base experience straight from the devs is concerned. As far as interactivity I've still yet to play a game that scratches that "feet in the dirt" feel that I get playing Breath of the Wild. As far as pure exploration and awe, I've yet to find a more compelling looking world, from a purely art driven stance than Elden Ring.

They all have their place and suit the experiences the devs are shooting for. Skyrim's "massive" world has been beaten and improved on by many games since it's release. Doesn't stop Skyrim from being a special game and that's ok.
I dunno tho - as one game in terms of interactivity with various systems I do actually think Skyrim has all the ones you’ve listed beat. Feeling wise I see what you’re saying with BOTW - but the amount of shit and way to do little minute detailed stuff - I don’t feel like it had nearly as much. Art wise Elden ring beats it for sure - not really content and interactivity wise - Witcher 3 to me I don’t really get how people give Cyberpunk so much shit and Witcher 3 gets a pass. There’s so much gamey stuff in that game - the scripted story elements/side quests are great but it feels super designed.

Not saying that makes those games worse than Skyrim - I actually like all of them Better, they just they aren’t doing all that Skyrim does in a single package.
 

Jaybe

Member
I’m curious if Starfield will be more like Skyrim (more classes, builds) or more like Fallout 4 (more streamlined). I suspect people are expecting Skyrim and may be disappointed if it is more like Fallout.
 

Dirk Benedict

Gold Member
I finished F4 and I didn't need alcohol to completely forget it.

I finished it several times and I think it is average. Mods breathed life into this half empty husk, for sure. The jetpack mod is still a bit of fun when revisiting it.
Personally, I enjoyed New Vegas the most, out of the modern games that came after 2.
 

Fredrik

Member
The one thing I'll give Bethesda is that they're one of the few, if maybe only company, that makes huge video games where you can interact with nearly every single object in a room, no matter how useless the object might be. You can pick it up, put it in inventory, store it, throw it, etc. A lot of games still don't even approach anywhere near that level of interactivity. The last one I can think of is Half Life: Alyx, which is the only game to actually improve upon the interactivity in a few ways of it's own.
Install HIGGS and VRIK in Skyrim VR, they’re mods that adds new collision detections and limbs with physics to Skyrim like in Alyx, it’s awesome 👍


Thinking about this makes me wonder if MS will ever allow Bethesda to make Starfield VR for Steam VR, if not it could be a serious downside to the acquisition.
 

bender

What time is it?
I finished it several times and I think it is average. Mods breathed life into this half empty husk, for sure. The jetpack mod is still a bit of fun when revisiting it.
Personally, I enjoyed New Vegas the most, out of the modern games that came after 2.

I skipped New Vegas when it released because Fallout 3 did nothing for me (still better than F4 even if I can barely remember anything beyond Megaton). I've tried to go back and play New Vegas, but it just feels sooooooooooooooo antiquated.
 

Kagey K

Banned
I’m curious if Starfield will be more like Skyrim (more classes, builds) or more like Fallout 4 (more streamlined). I suspect people are expecting Skyrim and may be disappointed if it is more like Fallout.
I suspect it will be neither, but plenty of people will be pissed off that it's not both.
 
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Fredrik

Member
I’m curious if Starfield will be more like Skyrim (more classes, builds) or more like Fallout 4 (more streamlined). I suspect people are expecting Skyrim and may be disappointed if it is more like Fallout.
They’ve referred to it as Skyrim in space so if it’s actually Fallout in space they’ve messed up the PR.
But there will be guns instead of swords and bows. I don’t like that to be honest but I like space games so I hope there is more to the action than some boring Call of Duty shooting.
 
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DenchDeckard

Moderated wildly
Great comments from Gene. No one makes games like Bethesda. World's to get lost in and explore, meet crazy npcs and do some awesome quests. Even cyberpunk couldn't match their magic. I have high hopes for starfield. Can't wait.
 
It really really hard to copy it. You have to make a good game in order too. Elden Ring and BOTW are from the Skyrim mold while many other less quality rpgs took from the ubisoft mold. You can't just copy paste Skyrims gameplay philosophy easily...need genuine effort so it will scare most away.
 

Chukhopops

Member
My dream is that Obsidian makes a game in the Starfield engine now that they are under the same banner. Bethesda makes the best open worlds to play with but Obsidian makes the best stories out of them, as shown by New Vegas.

Give me Starfield : New Cassiopeia in 2025 and my life is complete.
 

Filben

Member
After Fallout 4 and 76 I don't think they got it anymore.

Although I'm not a particular fan of Skyrim, I much prefer this formula over the Ubisoft open world standard.

Anyways, for all its jank, it's still Piranha Bytes' open world concept that's still the benchmark for me.
 
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Perrott

Gold Member
People who hate on Skyrim literally have no idea about what they're even talking about. Ask any game developer out there what they think of Skyrim and they would tell you that it is a a miracle as well as remarkable achievement in our medium's history that Bethesda were able to deliver on such an ambitious concept, at that scale, on the PS3/360 generation and at an absolute cutting edge level of quality for it's time. Legendary game.

So haters, please, shut up and show some respect to the king.
 

brenobnfm

Member
It's not very good or ambitious, it's just accessible for the bro crowd. The right game from that year, Dark Souls, is the one that rightfully took the gaming industry by storm.
 

Jormatar

Member
Will be interesting to see how Bethesda's slow combat style will click with people after decade of great open world action RPGs. I feel like Starfield will be the next RDR2 where people love it for its world and exploration but hate the gameplay loop which I assume will consist of slow paced shooting with your space guns ala Fallout. Hopefully it won't feel like as derpy as in recent Fallout games.
 
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