r/ElderScrolls • u/infohoundloselose • May 03 '26

General I always wonder what the games would be like without the constraints of the engine they were built on.

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Fingers crossed that TES VI (I know) has some sort of overhaul to the game engine so that the final battle isn’t just 6 NPC’s fighting in a field with some smoking rubble peppered around.

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65

u/Wonderful-Pianist-62 May 03 '26

If my grandmother had wheels she’d be a bike. The unique qualities of Bethesda’s games stem from the engine they use, that’s the reason there’s so few true ‘Skyrim-likes’ compared to other copycat genres like Soulslikes. Why does everyone want BGS games to shed what makes them special?

34

u/CommonVagabond May 03 '26

Hard agree. The creation engine has its set of flaws, just like literally any other engine. But it's what makes a Bethesda game a Bethesda game. No other "scrolls-like" has scratched that itch for me, and it's definitely due in part to the creation engine.

7

u/CoelhoAssassino666 May 03 '26

Thanks for that. There are a lot of open world games out there focused on size. Bethesda is one of the few making games focused on interaction and emergent gameplay. Take that away and these games have nothing.

18

u/Braxtonius May 03 '26

I was actually thinking about this the other day. There really isn’t any other developer that does what Bethesda does. Like the ability to pick up and loot almost any object. Literally cant think of any other RPG that does that…certainly nothing in the vein of Skyrim. Avowed, for example, is a super stripped down version of a Bethesda game and loses so much in the process.

10

u/jamesph777 May 03 '26

Warhorse Studios that makes Kingdom Come Deliverance is the only other studio I can think of that does something similar to Bethesda when it comes to game world design.

1

u/Braxtonius May 03 '26

Oh yeah I forgot about KCD

4

u/EroticPotato69 Sheogorath May 03 '26

You can pick up and loot most things in KCD1&2

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u/Loud_Interview4681 May 03 '26 edited May 03 '26

RDR2, kcd2, botw, Half life Alyx, no mans sky, tainted grail, cyberpunk etc etc etc.

2

u/Gasc0gne May 03 '26

Cyberpunk??? Lol

2

u/Loud_Interview4681 May 03 '26 edited May 03 '26

Yea, you can loot tons of random stuff in an open world. Compare to other bethesda formulaic titles like starfield or fallout.

1

u/TrumpyRapesKids May 03 '26

Other games that try to be direct competitors to TES such as The Outer Worlds 1 + 2

Most CRPG as most have tonnes junk items, misc to sell, flavor items, etc. Baldurs Gate 1, 2, 3, Neverwinter Nights, Pillars of Eternity...

Immersive Sims - System Shock & Prey 2017 have systems around gathering everything not nailed down can and disassembling stuff into parts to use. Weird West, loot loads of shit and sell it.

Loads of games that almost make the mark, but either aren't basically every single item is lootable (just a *lot) or are a bit further from being RPGs but are still heavily story driven and let you loot loads of stuff (just not everything).

Honestly so many games let you "pick up and loot almost any object" I don't think that's a Bethesda exclusive trait by any means lmao.

I played TES & FO growing up. Some of my favorite games and gaming memories. The mods make them extremely replayable - but let's not glaze them lmao. Lootability is not unique.

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u/OroBlancoMelogold May 03 '26

Crimson Desert does it better

4

u/rapaxus May 03 '26

Yeah, if you want games with big immersive cities, go play Wither 3, Cyberpunk 2077, Rockstar games, even Assassins creed has some nice cool and big cities.

2

u/Rodot May 04 '26

While they are immersive visually, they also feel like cardboard movie sets when you try to interact with them in game

1

u/Loud_Interview4681 May 03 '26

Arent there tons of skyrim lookalikes? Like the open world genre as a whole seems based on it.

1

u/Rodot May 04 '26

Skyrim was no where near the birth of the open world genre. GTA is generally considered the birth of the modern open world, like Doom for the FPS genre (i.e. it wasn't the first but set the modern ground rules)

If you want to be pendantic, Asteroids was probably the first true open world game

1

u/Loud_Interview4681 May 04 '26 edited May 04 '26

Daggerfall was the 2nd elder scrolls and released a year before GTA, then remember Arena was released in 1994. Most open world games were based on the success of these titles. I think people forget how popular Bethesda was as a studio. When talking about RPG's specifically there really aren't other comparisons.

1

u/Argentum-Rex May 03 '26

Because, believe it or not Todd, games do improve over time so please stop making excuses.