Summary
As Xbox’s execs continue to pine for game-related announcements to fill in the gaps between their rounds of mass layoffs, The Elder Scrolls 6 is reportedly set to gain the subtitle Sentinel soon. That’s according to a report which also includes some details of where the game that’s long been a twinkle in the eye of Skyrim’s dad will be set and what its plot will involve. According to The Verge, The Elder Scrolls VI: Sentinel could be getting some sort of re-reveal in November that’ll lock that in as its full title. Skyrim turns 15 on November 11th, so if Bethesda are looking for a date with some TES significance to it, that one would fit the bill. Beyond the name, the report points to Hammerfell as the game’s setting, something the aforementioned name being confirmed would make obvious if you’re an Elder Scrolls nerd like me and know that Sentinel is the name of both a kingdom and city in the Redguards’ province. As far as I recall, Hammerfell’s also been the setting a majority of fans have believed most likely since that infamous TES 6 teaser in 2018, with some thinking a bit of nearby province and Daggerfall setting High Rock might also be included if the game’s map spans the Iliac Bay region. For now, it’s deserty Hammerfell, baby. As for what you’ll reportedly be up to there, the report points to The Emma Stones 6 having some secrets to explore linked to the mysterious provenance of the Elder Scrolls themselves. Yep, that’s the magic bits of paper which blind people by slamming dangerous and unknowable knowledge into their brains, and can also be used for handy tasks like learning the shout needed to defeat Alduin. You’re usually lugging a couple around by the time you’ve finished TES V, no doubt stuffed between cheese wheels in your massive backpack. All in all, nothing I can see seems to suggest The Elder Scrolls 6 will deviate much from the sort of adventure Skyrim seemed to be teeing up, with the Thalmor-led Aldmeri Dominion on the march to conquer Tamriel and possibly get up to some metaphysical bollocks to return the land to a state resembling a previous era when elves were on top, if theories long-discussed among fans turn out not to be bunkum. Such a setup would mirror what Skyrim co-lead designer Kurt Kuhlmann outlined earlier this year as the starting point for the direction he might’ve taken the game, if he’d helmed it rather than departing Bethesda in 2023. To be honest, the only thing - aside from the Microsoft stink the game can’t escape - that’s giving me pause in getting too excited about the direction TES 6 seems to be headed in is that fact that the series’ world has been left standing still for so long following Skyrim. I’m not saying it needs a reboot, but I am concerned that - ironically given the Elder Scrolls themselves are time-centric artifacts - this might feel like a game a bit out of time unless it can take a big step mechanically. Read this next
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