The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Wishlist

1UP sums up what we know thus far about Bethesda’s upcoming The Elder Scrolls title, Skyrim, while also listing what they’d like to see in the RPG follow-up.

Assuming that mounts do make the cut, mount-based combat would be a fun addition. I’d rather not jump off my horse each and every time I come across an enemy that needs its ass kicked, and Red Dead Redemption showed that killing enemies from the back of a horse — inelegant control scheme or not — is a heck of a lot of fun. It could also open up the opportunity for intense chase sequences where you ride on the back of your horse firing off magicka or arrows at a dragon you’re chasing.

If the developers at Bethesda are taking influence from mods for how Skyrim handles ranged combat, then they should also look at upgrading stealth combat. From the sound of it, things are remaining largely the same, except NPCs will now go into an alert mode instead of only switching between “oblivious to your presence” and “trying to murder you” modes. Bethesda is playing around with the idea of dramatically increasing the damage of daggers when used on an enemy you’ve successfully sneaked up on, which is an excellent idea. But you should be able to go all out with the Sam Fisher-style kills seen in the Deadly Reflex mod for Oblivion that make stealth combat more gratifying.

For some people’s tastes, Oblivion’s land of Cyrodiil was a bit bland as compared with the more eclectic style of Morrowind’s Vvardenfell. Howard even admits as much, having told OXM, “[W]e sacrificed some of what made Morrowind special; the wonder of discovery,” also describing Cyrodiil as, “a place that you instantly understood.” The Shivering Isles expansion’s zaniness went a long way in returning to that Morrowind feel, and was much appreciated by those like myself who preferred what Vvardenfell brought to the table. Bethesda is trying to find a happy medium between the two extremes, or as Howard puts it, a situation “[w]here it’s at first familiar looking, but has its own unique culture and spin on it.” Hopefully that won’t only be limited to the occasional dungeon, as was implied. Some unusual architecture and the occasional completely crazy NPC in the main world of Skyrim would be more than welcome.