Bethesda have carved themselves out as the dominate force when it comes to RPG’s spending the last twenty years creating open world games in that genre. Unlike some other studios that will try to work on new game worlds with each successive game, Bethesda have spent all their time re-working and refining the one map, that is the continent of Tamriel. Although some alterations have been made from time to time they have managed to remain true to the world they established way back in 1994 with the first Elder Scrolls game. That game of course still holding the record for the largest game map standing at 6 million km2, although a lot of it was randomly generated which might bring that record into dispute. It is the province of Skyrim in the game carrying the same name that is the far more impressive map despite its inferior size.
Many would have instantly cited Vvardenfell from Morrowind as a more impressive setting and they would be right except for one missing element, Dragons. It is hard to quantify the feelings you get when you run over a hill and hear the distant roar from the ancient ‘Dovah’. To see such a massive creature circling a distant peak waiting for you to stray to close is quite a nerve wrecking site, especially as a low level character who has just got the hang of killing wolves and rats. The richness of the world is not just simply limited to the encounters with Dragons as all aspects of the frostbitten terrain have been carefully constructed. It goes back to their work with the series over the years; there isn’t a town or castle that doesn’t have a detail history behind it. Simply trying to read up on the Lore of Tamriel and beyond could take lifetime with new games constantly adding to immense amount of information already complied. When you roll up on an ancient tomb or dungeon it is not just some pretty art asset it has a reason for been there as explained of the many tomes scattered around the map.
