It’s been over a decade since the launch of Bethesda’s Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim, and it still rules the minds and hearts of countless fans. The game which was released in 2011 continues to be spoken about highly even in 2024 for multiple reasons. The game was built on Bethesda’s native Creation Engine, which was rebuilt specifically for the game.
It gives players a more unique and diverse open world compared to its predecessors including Elder Scrolls: Oblivion. Considered by many as one of the best games ever made, Skyrim received critical acclaim, majorly for its character advancement, world design, visuals, and dual-wielding combat. However, there was another reason, often overlooked, which proves why this game is one of the studio’s best games.
Todd Howard on Skyrim being less daunting
Ahead of the launch of the remastered version, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – Special Edition, the game director Todd Howard, in an interview with Time explained how the game stands apart from the rest of Bethesda games. He was asked the the then-upcoming game seemed to be more flexible offering unpredictable experiences. It followed a more nontraditional path as compared to other Bethesda titles.
To this, Howard said,
“We spent a lot of time on ensuring it has a good flow. A lot of times when someone’s going to pick up a game, it can be a bit daunting. Like if they haven’t played a roleplaying game, or they haven’t played things in the series. We spent a lot of time on flow. How it feels to move through the world. How the game rewards you depending on which way you turn.”
He further added that according to him that was one reason by people who don’t traditionally play these kinds of games or hadn’t played Elder Scrolls before like it even more. They could carve their own direction, and the game is pretty good in terms of “feeding them ups and downs.”
Thus the game director said even players completely unaware of Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion could easily pick up Skyrim. This is one feature that has been missing from Bethesda games. Even its most recent title 2023’s Starfield lacks the feature.
Players who are new to the genre may find it difficult to adapt to its gameplay dynamics and style. That way, Skyrim was non-daunting and highly rewarding for those who experiment. On the other hand, Starfield kind of punishes players in the long term for wrong decisions.
Why is Skyrim different from the rest?
During the interview, Todd Howard was also asked about how other games like Grand Theft Auto V and The Witcher 3 had not been able to level up Skyrim‘s “Be whoever you want to” vibe. He was asked if enormous financial resource drains were the reason for it.
To this the humble creator replied,
“I think that’s true for a lot of big, popular games out there. Particularly the larger ones. You can look at Grand Theft Auto and no one’s topped that and what they do, or some other games out there.”
Talking of The Witcher he added,
“Clearly I thought The Witcher 3 was a fantastic game. There just aren’t that many, I think, because of the time and technology involved. When you look at The Witcher, that was their third one. It’s not like The Witcher 3 came out of nowhere. They’d been working on that for a long time, building to it in the same way we built ourselves up over the years. I think that’s maybe why you see it.”
Then he goes on to explain that Skyrim’s team played a huge role,
“Skyrim was our fifth in the series, and we did Fallout 3 before it. I think a lot of it goes to the teams. I think you look at the really successful well-made games that are consistent, and they’re made by teams or studios that have been at it for a while. Our studio here, a lot of us have worked 15 or 20 years together, so the same people making what you could say is a similar style of game. This is the style of game that we love. I think that’s really rare in our industry. I think those are probably the reasons more than anything.”
Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim had sold over 62 million copies as of June 2023, making it the seventh-best-selling video game of all time. The game also had three DLCs namely Dawnguard, Hearthfire, and Dragonborn.
