Bethesda has gathered a following thanks to their two biggest series:FalloutandThe Elder Scrolls.Falloutdidn’t begin with them but after they took over the franchise withFallout 3, it has been grandfathered in as one of their own.The Elder Scrollshad a small following but it popped off afterThe Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrimwas released.
Now, they are off to the stars to explore new planets with Starfield. So, overall, their three settings have been a post-apocalyptic future, a fantasy world, and a sci-fi space adventure. Where could Bethesda go afterStarfield? Now, we know that the next game is going to beThe Elder Scrolls 6, but that doesn’t mean a side team can’t come up with one of the following experiences.
7The Wild West
This seems like the obvious next step for the company as they have conquered a lot of frontiers already. They are used to dealing with barren wastelands in theFalloutseries, so this shouldn’t be too much of a stretch. That doesn’t mean the entire game has to be set in another bleak area of browns and grays.
After all,Red Dead Redemption 2was a Western and it had plenty of color to it depending on the area players ventured into. In fact, fans would assuredly be happy if Bethesda just copied the world ofRed Dead Redemption 2and made it more of an RPG.
6Under The Sea
No, that title doesn’t mean Bethesda should make an RPG aboutThe Little Mermaid. Although, it is fun to think about how wild that would be especially if Disney was involved and allowed them to tie it into their movies. No, this idea would be more likea BioShock typeof world giant undersea cities.
It doesn’t have to be an apocalyptic setting either as these characters could just be avid researchers just wishing to study the unknown beneath the surface. It, like space, has a lot of uncharted territory just waiting to be explored.
5The Age Of Samurai
Bethesda has done the fantasy setting withThe Elder Scrollsplenty of times which primarily is a knights-based world of magic. A game about samurai would be another set of warriors they could explore with some magic thrown in there as well.
Ghost of Tsushimahas proven that audiences are itching to play as samurai again as the theme has declined steadily in video games since the 80s. That was a Western studio as well, meaning that all great samurai games don’t have to originate from Japan. If any giant RPG developer could do it, Bethesda could.
4The Age Of Pirates
Pirates would be another fun groupof people to follow in an RPG. Imagine sailing around to multiple islands and exploring the uncharted Caribbean or something like that. It would also introduce something Bethesda has never done before: boat combat.
They have dipped their toe into the idea withStarfield’sspace combat although the gameplay wasn’t as epic as the dogfights in dedicated games likeStar Fox. Ubisoft can’t have a monopoly on sailing RPGs viaAssassin’s Creed, so Bethesda needs to enter the ring.
3A Modern Day Horror RPG
One of the best-reviewed games from this year isResident Evil 4. Ever jump into an entry in this series, or any horror game, and imagine what things would be like if it were an RPG? Shoot zombies, loot corpses, gain levels, and so on. Another game from this year,Dead Island 2, did this basic premise, but it’s not that terrifying of an experience.
Bethesda could go above and beyond to make their next game a horror RPG that is truly unsettling to play. It could be in the modern day wherein a giant town, like London or Paris, gets overrun by some kind of supernatural phenomenon. Or the game could be set in an imaginary city that has been abandoned to time in the modern day, or past. It would certainly be a different theme for the company.
2Bring Back Sky Pirates
The 80s and 90s were filled with another kind of pirate that took to the skies. It was in games likeMega Man Legends, anime likeCastle in the Sky, and even Disney cartoons likeTailSpin. The genre has almost disappeared now, but some games are starting to inject the idea of at least sky islands coming back into popular media.
This year’s biggest example isThe Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdombut there are other, smaller indie games too likeVernal Edge. Bethesda can help give the genre a comeback in a major way too. They could add sky battles which would probably work more or less likeStarfield’s.
1Let’s Go Tomb Raiding
Another way to add green to Bethesda’s games would be to set a game during the adventure age of the early 1900s. Players could create an adventurer as part of a guild in London or maybe as someone in the criminal underbelly. The goal would be to explore a continent like South America for ancient civilizations.
Think of itlikeTomb Raiderbut with more of an RPG twist. The game could be fantastical too as Bethesda could instead create their own region of forested tombs. Either way, the concept seems ripe for the plucking since the aforementionedTomb Raiderseries hasn’t made something in a while.
