In this post I will attempt to provide a constructive criticism to a game and world that I love. Please, feel free to disagree, agree or share your own thoughts. I start off by saying that Skyrim, although flawed, was still a great experience. In this post I would like to adress some of these flaws in hopes that it will stir a discussion that might influence things in the future.
I've noticed a trend in the fantasy genre worldbuilding and that is assigning your fantasy culture a real-world equivalent. I mean, there's nothing wrong with being inspired by real-world cultures, implementing their aspects into your own fantasy, but there is a certain treshold when being inspired simply becomes uninspired copying with no wit or style. The resulting culture then feels too generic and bland - a watered-down version of its real-world equivalent.
When I hear word 'Gondor', immediatelly Minas Tirith appears in my imagination. I can see an ancient culture long after its glory days. When I hear 'Gondor' I can see and feel 'Gondor', a nation/culture that stands on its own. That's what a fantasy culture should be like. TES3: Morrowind did that right as well. Almost every aspect of Dunmer culture (and the whole world) felt so distinctive, even alien I would say, and therefore set itself apart from everything else. That's why I feel like Dunmer are one of the most fleshed out cultures of Tamriel and that's why Morrowind is so praised even today by many, even those who have never played it, like myself.
And then we have TES5:Skyrim. What I personally consider to be done right by Bethesda are the Ancient Nord dragon-worshipping culture and Dwemer. I won't go into much details about Dwemer, since I think it's quite obvious. Distinctive feel, the mystery, the questions that were raised - simply said, everything about them is great. That's how you make a fantasy race. Then we have the Ancient Nords with their dragon temples reminiscent of great Egyptian pyramids mixed with Scandinavian influences. There's not much left of them, but they have their own feel to them as well.
But then comes the present-day cultures of Tamriel. And here we have imperialized Nords. Contrary to the opinion of many critics, I have nothing against them being imperialized. (What I find worthy of criticism is that Imperials have become a little bit too Ancient Roman). The point is, the Nords have been a part of the Empire for too long not to adopt many Imperial customs. What I find lacking is their inspiration. This is supposed to be a fantasy race in a fantasy world and yet from TES5 we have: Scandinavian names, Scandinavian artistic patterns, Scandinavian architecture, Scandinavian mythology, Scandinavian afterlife, the clichéd viking horned helmets. Why do I feel like their ancient predecessors whose ruins lie around the country had more soul than the present-day Nords? Alright, alright, I get it. They are supposed to be "inspired" by real-world medieval Scandinavians, but to me this seems to be a lack of inspiration than anything else.
Then there are Redguards, my dear Redguards, oh what have they done to you... I was quite disheartened to find them being dressed as if they've just come from Middle-East. The last thing Bethesda needs to do to put a nail in the coffin is to make their architecture look like medieval Turkey or Arabia, with minnarets and domes and spires. If at least they rather took inspiration from the old central African kingdoms, if they really have to.
My final thought is that when I play a fantasy game, I guess I just don't want to feel like 'Oh, this is Ancient Rome/Scandinavia/etc 2.0' When creating a fantasy world, making the environment too distinct and too interesting is not going to chase off potential players (especially when you have a brand 'Bethesda' strapped on your product.) Being bland and lazily uncreative simply lowers the overall quality of the art piece. Look at what Morrowind did right when it came to worldbuilding. Let's do more of that.
Submitted October 18, 2019 at 06:57PM by NativeEuropeas https://ift.tt/2oJWznJ
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