Summary
Bethesdahas developed countless well-known RPGs and has beenwidely praised for creating incredible franchises, such asThe Elder Scrollsand the most recentFalloutgames. While some gamers may feel that either of these franchises are not as ambitious, with Bethesda repeatedly releasingSkyrimin recent years on different platforms, there are some games that can still be considered pioneering forBethesda.
These include not only classic games from the company that was founded in 1986 but also a few recent titles that have shown that Bethesda is capable of trying something new every once in a while, even if they are connected to the RPG genre in some way. Here are some of themost ambitious gamescreated by Bethesda.
Gamers may be surprised to see a mobile game on the list of games developed by Bethesda. However, with the popularity of Bethesda’s two iconic franchises, there have also been attempts to get these incredible games onto mobile devices.Fallout Shelteris one ambitious example of this, as the game may not play like the otherFallouttitles created by Bethesda, but it is instead one of the few management titles to be developed by this almost 40-year-old company.
While simplistic, with players allowing various settlers into their vault and building extra rooms to keep said vault running,Fallout Shelterhas been an incredibly addictive game that continues to entertain those who wish to play something for a few hours on their phone.
Skyrimis one ofBethesda’s best-selling RPGs. Since its release in 2011, it has graced a variety of platforms across the generations of consoles, with many players hoping that, one day, it will be retired in place of a newElder Scrollstitle. However, it cannot be denied thatThe Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrimwas by far one ofBethesda’s most ambitious RPGswhen it first released all those years ago.
It first wasone of the largest maps to ever be createdby Bethesda, as players were free to explore the entirety of Skyrim and truly become a part of the homeland of the Nords. While some may have found the main story ofSkyrimto not be as entertaining – something that has been somewhat consistent withThe Elder Scrollsfranchise – the wide abundance of side quests that allow the player to become a member of some of the classic factions, such as the Dark Brotherhood, the Thieves Guild, and the Mage’s College, make for a world that players still continue to get lost within.
Although Bethesda didn’t create the originalFalloutfranchise, it took over ownership of it when the company developedFallout 3.Although it may not be considered ambitious by Bethesda,Fallout 3played nothing like the previous games in the franchise and it breathednew life into the post-apocalyptic RPG.
BesidesFallout 3playing from an entirely different angle, the entirety of theFalloutfranchise was transformed when it was put into Bethesda’s hands. A oncepredominantly computer role-playing game, it is now easily enjoyed on various consoles, with less of a tactical feeling to its gameplay. Bethesda’s ambitions saw the franchise transform into something that classic gamers were not familiar with, though this change also brought plenty of new fans into theFalloutseries while also marking a new chapter forFalloutand all of its future titles.
Skyrimwasn’t the only ambitiousElder Scrollstitle, as before the RPG could be released across various generations of console,The Elder Scrolls 2: Daggerfallwas the RPG title to prove the potential thatThe Elder Scrollshad. Some players may have even consideredDaggerfallto be overly ambitious for the year it was released, due to many of the features found within thisclassic RPG title being unfinishedor slightly broken.
Nevertheless,The Elder Scrolls 2: Daggerfallreceived critical acclaim and paved the way for the rest ofThe Elder Scrollsfranchise that has continued to work off of the classic. Even though it was created in 1996 for MS-DOS,Daggerfallis still one of the biggest RPGs Bethesda has created, featuring 15,000 cities, towns, villages, and dungeons for the player to freely explore.
Although many classic titles have been some of the most ambitious games to be created by Bethesda, one of the most ambitious of them all has to beStarfield. Throughout its creation and marketing, Bethesda pushedStarfieldas being one of their boldest games to date, especially with them developing an entire universe within a single title.
In many ways, Bethesda may have once again been too ambitious with their creation, as many players foundStarfieldto not be as incredible as Bethesda believed it to be. Some even felt that the game was missingmany well-needed features. However,Starfieldstill shows promise, with Bethesda dedicating their resources to updating the RPG to include many of the features that originally felt absent, including a map to make it easier to explore the large planets Bethesda praises itself for.
