Games Inbox: The long wait for The Elder Scrolls 6

The Tuesday letters page discusses the pros and cons of Final Fantasy 16, as another reader recommends Aliens: Dark Descent.

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Slow work
I like how Phil Spencer suddenly can’t remember saying that The Elder Scrolls 6 was going to be an exclusive, although unfortunately the story he’s sticking too is that it won’t be out for years and probably not 2028 at the very earliest. I suppose the one bright side of that is that we’ll be getting some kind of support for Starfield for at least five years? They were always pretty good with expansions and the like, so that tracks.

I do wonder why things are going so slowly, though. Most bigger indie studios can manage two games at once nowadays, let alone a studio as big as Bethesda. In fact it seems to be the only way to get things done, with how long modern games take to make, so why hasn’t Bethesda done that? I don’t want to get on the Bethesda hate bandwagon, but it does seem like they’re behind the times in a lot of ways.

Perhaps Microsoft is going to help them modernise but that’s going to take a long time to happen, and by that time The Elder Scrolls 6 will probably already be out anyway, but 17 years later than Skyrim. Has there ever been a widely popular franchise that’s had such a long wait between sequels? It was only five years between Oblivion and Skyrim!

It seems to me that there’s a lot of mismanagement and time-wasting going on at Bethesda, but I guess there’s no point rushing them. If they don’t want to make the game then you’re not going to get a good one out of them by forcing them. Here’s hoping it will be worth the wait…
Armstrong

Acceptance stage
I think we have to face the fact that digital-only is going to be the norm within the next couple of years, whether we like it or not, and regardless of whatever they decide to do with Starfield (although why they’d make a controversial experiment like that with a game they desperately need to ensure is a hit I don’t know).

I don’t like it any better than anyone else but that’s just the realty of gaming now. People care more about not having to get out of their chair to change discs than they do about cheap prices, resale value, and actually owning the game they’ve bought. It seems crazy to me but I’m afraid this was a battle that was lost a long time ago.

I’m sure there’ll be limited edition physical copies and stuff like that, as there already is for indie games and the like, but that’s all it’s going to be in the future: an expensive novelty for collectors only. I’ve accepted things are going that way but the only thing that will annoy me is if people suddenly start acting like it’s a surprise and not something they’ve been personally encouraging for years.

The time to stop all this was a decade ago, and that time has passed.
Piro

Loving the alien
Just wanted to say that I had no real interest in the new Aliens game until I read your review of it and off the back of that I decided to pick it up as CDKeys had the Xbox version for £27.50 (although even at full price I still think it’s good value for money).

I’m so glad I did, it’s a great game in its own right but it actually understands the source material and gets it bang on. It really is one of the best Aliens games ever made and certainly the best one I’ve played to be based on the James Cameron sequel.

I have encountered a few bugs but fortunately nothing game breaking, hopefully those will get patched but they aren’t enough to ruin the experience for me. Keep up the good work and thanks, I would have missed out on a great game we’re it not for you guys.
Pumpkindude86 (gamertag)

GC: That’s great to hear and you’re right, you can tell the developers are big Aliens fans.

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Second look
It’s been a family tradition for many years that my mom and dad buy me a video game for either my birthday or Christmas. It’s my birthday next month and I am getting Resident Evil 4!

Anyway, back in Christmas 2007 they got me Silent Hill: Origins on the PSP. Unfortunately, I just couldn’t get into and gave up on it. I didn’t have the heart to tell them that I didn’t like it. I also felt guilty as it had been me who had requested it. Fast forward to now and I have been recently going through my old PSP games and decided to give it another go. To my surprise I am now enjoying it! Not sure what my problem was with it before. My only issue is the lack of save game points.

Just wondering if GC or its readers have had a similar experience with games they didn’t like at first but years later do?
Tony- -1975 (PSN ID)

GC: We don’t often have the chance to go back to games, it’s one of the downsides of the job.

Incorporeal gaming
One of my favourite games is Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective; I was wondering if there will be a physical release of it, as I would like to get a PlayStation 5 physical copy.

I don’t know if someone like Limited Run Games will release it on disc and cartridge for Switch? I bought it new when it came out on DS and enjoyed it thoroughly, but stupidly got rid of it.
Andrew J.

GC: Limited Run, or a similar company, seems the best bet, but as far as we’re aware nothing has been announced yet.

Fair points
Working my way through Final Fantasy 16, although read your review and 6/10, damn! Whilst most other reviews were going for 9s you gave it what you thought it deserved and that is why I enjoy Metro reviews more than other publications.

Problem is, although I’m enjoying myself, I can’t disagree with your points. The accents are all over the place (Gav the Geordie in particular) and although the combat is great the side quests so far have been underwhelming and the emphasis on a dark brooding main character with over the top dialogue in almost every cut scene is just a bit much at times.

Sadly, on my wish list I didn’t get any base building mechanics, turn-based action, or changeable party members (so far 15 hours in), so despite my enjoyment I can’t help but think what an incredible game it could have been, because the graphics are sensational.

Still at least it’s better than 15, but it would have been an impressive feat to be worse.
Michael, Crawley

GC: We’re glad you enjoyed it more than us and we agree it’s definitely better than 15.

Current crisis
I just wanted to write in and say I hope the people who’ve clearly had their brains broken by a few clips of Starfield are getting the help they need.

Honestly though, some seriously deranged opinions floating around at the minute. Gamers can be a strange bunch.
Chris

Some time later…
I’ve just completed the excellent Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom, after a whole lot of hours.

You can absolutely hammer through it, though the final fight will be a bit harder and you’ll miss out on some of the exploration. Still, this doesn’t seem an unreasonable approach, for a game of this type, allowing players to pick the approach that’ll work best for them.

In terms of environmental puzzling and seamless integration of world and gameplay mechanics, it’s pretty much unmatched and it’s something other open world role-playing games could definitely learn from. The graphics, and particularly the draw distance, are also remarkable, especially given the constraints of the hardware.

Despite what I’d read, I didn’t find that there were any more traditional dungeons in this game than Breath Of The Wild and the breakable weapons were also very much still there, for better or worse.

Equally, as much as I enjoyed exploring the sky and the depths, they were much less well integrated than they could be and can largely be ignored, with most of the quests carrying on in the main world. The plot continues to be a bit rubbish, not aided by the dialogue and the performances (particularly poor old Zelda) and the combat is average at best.

Still, no game is perfect, and what Tears Of The Kingdom does well is more than enough to make it an outstanding game. I do wonder though if taking the open world from an earlier game, and using that as a basis for a sequel (as Tears Of The Kingdom did with Breath Of The Wild) is something that other developers could also adopt to speed up the AAA game development process?

Now, what do I play next?
Matt (he_who_runs_away – PSN ID)

Inbox also-rans
Now that the release of Codies’ F1 23 is out of the way, does GC know of any concrete news regarding game content and release date for the WRC 23 game?
Paul C.

GC: Serious racing games are not our specialist subject but a leak suggests it’ll be out on July 28. Although that seems a bit soon to us, to not have had an official announcement yet.

Does anyone actually a want a Perfect Dark reboot enough for it to be worth all this trouble? Especially as I doubt the new game is going to have anything in common with the N64 original, which is the only one anyone cares about.
Royston

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The small print
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MORE : Games Inbox: Tears Of The Kingdom is too long, Game Pass Ultimate upgrades, and Starfield defence

MORE : Games Inbox: Starfield being overrated already, Game Pass Ultimate hack, and Zelda vs. inflation

MORE : Games Inbox: Sonic Superstars vs. Super Mario Bros. Wonder, Aliens: Dark Descent, and Game Pass renewal

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