Two years since its announcement and little to talk about yet a continued presence in gaming conversations shows the pure pedigree and fan hype behindThe Elder Scrolls 6. Recently, that discussion has been focused on platform, as many debate whether or not it’ll appearon 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 firstElder Scrollsgame to take full advantage of next-gen hardware, it’s not likely to release until 2024 or 2025, it’ll probably have that peculiarElder 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 6may be the first game to feel the growing pains of that.
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The Elder Scrolls 6 Location
There are other continents on Nirn besides Tamriel, and it’s not impossible that they actually matter inThe Elder Scrolls 6. But the safest bet is that, like games before it,The Elder Scrolls 6will 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 invarious games inThe Elder Scrollsfranchise. These include the following games and locations:
However, the map above does not takeThe Elder Scrolls Onlineinto 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 Onlineshows how slow progress is in Tamriel. The differences are small, and that makes a big problem.
The Magic and Mystery of Tamriel
Taking all of these into account shows that there’s not much left of Tamriel to uniquely explore inThe 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 lesserElder Scrollsfanatics and could be off-putting, makingrumors like Valenwoodand Hammerfell seem much more likely.
Speculation as towhereThe Elder Scrolls 6takes placeis 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 inStar Warsis kept secret, but the magic and mystery behind Tamriel is fading fast, withThe Elder Scrolls 6likely being the first game where balancing this magic and mystery may just be one of its biggest factors for success.
