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Elder Scrolls on mobile - 5 things we'd want to see

Pure fantasy

Elder Scrolls on mobile - 5 things we'd want to see

One of the big game series that seems to be in sore need of a mobile version is The Elder Scrolls. Bethesda's epic RPG series regularly brings down the house on console and PC, but we haven't had a sniff of it on mobile.

If anyone just said The Elder Scrolls Travels, well done. You're officially old. And no, The Elder Scrolls: Legends doesn't constitute a sniff. It might well turn out to be a great card battler, but it's still a card battler.

We're talking about the real deal here. Some might argue that such an ambitious game has no place on mobile platforms, but we'd argue quite vociferously otherwise. We're not going to get into that debate now though - we'll just leave this here.

Let's discuss precisely what we'd like to see from a mobile Elder Scrolls game. How could it work? What wouldn't work?

As ever, we'd love to hear your own thoughts on the subject, so do share in the comments below.

Open world with fast travel

The temptation when bringing such an adventurous open world game over to mobile is to constrict the game world and cut out the hours of wandering that don't naturally gel with the mobile experience.

This would be a mistake, in the case of Elder Scrolls. The exploration of sprawling environments is as key to this series as it is to something like GTA.

Rather, we'd propose going the whole hog with an open, explorable world, but installing a generous fast-travel system for those who want to complete a task in between bus stops. Speaking of which...

Bite-sized missions

While the hub world of a mobile Elder Scrolls game should be big and open, we reckon that the missions should be relatively short and snappy. You should be able to complete your average dungeon in a ten minute tea break - or less.

We're not discounting the possibility of some meatier discrete missions here, but these could perhaps be optional challenges for those who want to linger in Tamriel. The essential 'story' sections should be far more condensed.

Social care

How would you implement one of mobile gaming's most fundamental elements - social play? We don't think an outright co-op multiplayer mode has to be tacked on. Obviously that would be sweet, but the mainline games don't have such a thing, so why should the mobile version?

Rather, we can envision being able to send your character out as a kind of NPC sword for hire to help your fellow players complete tricky dungeons and earn yourself a stack of XP while you're away from the game. Naturally, you could call in help in a similar way.

Another possible social element could be a Dark Souls-like system whereby you can leave tips in the world for your fellow players to heed or ignore.

Proper touch UI

One thing that can really harm an epic RPG is a dodgy control system. Just look at the difference between Knights of the Old Republic and Jade Empire - two RPGs built by the same team using the same engine, but with very different mobile control systems - for an example of that.

Recent Elder Scrolls games have controlled like a first (or third) person action game, but we don't necessarily think that this needs to be replicated like-for-like on mobile.

A KOTOR-like touch and swipe movement system would work, and similar semi-automated tap-the-enemy battle system could also be good.

Of course, the closest thing we have to a mobile Elder Scrolls, Ravensword: The Fallen King, goes the virtual controls route, and that's pretty decent.

Go wild with the visuals

One thing that really doesn't need to be painstakingly faithful to the source material is the graphics. With the current power levels of top-end smartphones, we're not even suggesting that Bethesda couldn't create a recognisable version of the Elder Scrolls world. It almost certainly could.

But is that what we really want? Going back to the Ravensword series again, the most interesting and exciting thing about the forthcoming (and tantalisingly 'on hold') Ravensword: Legacy is that it's taking the visuals in a new, heavily stylised, minimalist direction.

Why not take a similar approach with Elder Scrolls? Quite apart from considerations of aesthetic preference, it would make the game playable on a wider range of devices. It would also solve the potential issue of all those muddy shades of brown and grey moving around on tiny 4.7-inch displays.

A mobile Elder Scrolls could be bright and bold - and no less beautiful for it.

Jon Mundy
Jon Mundy
Jon is a consummate expert in adventure, action, and sports games. Which is just as well, as in real life he's timid, lazy, and unfit. It's amazing how these things even themselves out.