The Elder Scrolls 6: 9 Things It Must Do Better Than Skyrim

5. Progression & Customisation

The Elder Scrolls 6
Bethesda

For a series that sells itself on allowing players to forge their own path through the world in whatever fashion they see fit, Skyrim never quite manages to provide the tools to facilitate that. Once your physical appearance has been decided and you've escaped the chopping block in Helgen, what is there to differentiate your Dovahkiin from the millions of others roaming the land?

Short answer? Nothing.

For all the attention it attracted prior to launch for doing away with the restrictive progression systems of past ESO games, Skyrim's literal star-studded progression system felt frivolous and aimless. With no level cap or branching paths, every Dovahkiin would ultimately end up the same.

Smithing and enchanting, touted as the ultimate way to make your Dragonborn stand apart from the rest, ended up offering nothing but static armour sets and abilities with no room for individuality. In essence, everything was diluted.

No one change will turn the ship around, but bringing back Oblivion's spell crafting system, as well as allowing players to further customize their gear with recolours and a Transmog system à la World of Warcraft would be a good start.

Contributor
Contributor

Joe is a freelance games journalist who, while not spending every waking minute selling himself to websites around the world, spends his free time writing. Most of it makes no sense, but when it does, he treats each article as if it were his Magnum Opus - with varying results.