Few games have built up as much hype without even being officially announced as “The Elder Scrolls 6” has. And while various rumors have confirmed that the game is actively being worked on, nothing concrete has come out from behind the studio’s doors so far, and it seems that the longer fans go without any news, the more their anticipation is growing. The latest rumors indicate that the announcement of the game’s release date may be sooner than some expect.
In December, Bethesda are reportedly scheduled to attend the PlayStation Experience event, where they are rumored to announce the release date for “The Elder Scrolls 6: Argonia”. While this may be earlier than what some were expecting, it definitely wouldn’t be out of line with Bethesda’s previous trends in announcing their games, as far as the length between installments in the series is concerned.
The game’s setting will take place in the swampy marsh lands of Argonia, and it will feature a darker theme than its predecessor, “Skyrim”, which was set in predominantly snowy, fresh areas. It’s expected that there will be various improvements to the gameplay, although it’s not yet known if Bethesda are planning to add more depth to the game, or continue the trend of simplifying its gameplay.
This has been a common complaint by fans, despite the overall strong popularity of each installment of the series. While the older games in the franchise had a lot of depth to their gameplay and stories, particularly “Morrowind”, this was toned down with each release. Things like quest markers, dialog trees, exploration and inventory management became progressively simpler, which made the games more popular for a wider audience, but at the same time alienated some of the older fans. In addition, while the older games offered more choices with regards to the plot’s development, this has also seen changes with each new installment, and not for the positive, according to some fans.
“The Elder Scrolls Online” was also received somewhat poorly, as the game was had some inherent flaws at launch, and not all of them have been fully corrected today. This has led to some mixed expectations for the next installment in the series, and most fans have been asking that Bethesda take a step back and reconsider their direction for the franchise, taking a more serious approach with its gameplay from now on. Of course, this could run the risk of making the game less accessible for inexperienced players, but history has shown that this won’t stop a quality game from getting all the attention it deserves and becoming a long-living title.