The Elder Scrolls universe vs other fantasy realms

Having played so many fantasy games and read so many books of the genre over the years, I have found myself comparing the various realms that act as tapestries for the storytelling. While the Elder Scroll Universe is rich in detail and history, I feel there is that elusive something missing from it; small inconsistencies (which are, to be fair, found in all fantasy settings by definition) and shortcomings which keep it from occupying the top of my list. It's a great setting, but it falls short of being truly inspired & brilliant. The moments when I find myself fully immersed in the world of Tamriel because of what it offers are few and far between. For me, Skyrim and Oblivion create immersion through music and aesthetics, but I don't feel the three-dimensional reality.

For me, the best fantasy realm is (and probably always will be) Tolkien's Middle-earth. There is something elegant and very real about it. It's one of the few fantasy worlds that has ever really sucked me in. I also like the Forgotten Realms, which probably comes in at second place. I wasn't that familiar with it until I played the Baldur's Gate games, but ever since I did, I have loved it. Then there are other fantasy universes that I find unapproachable and off-putting for some reason, such as the one in Dragon Age. I can't explain why, there was something fundamental missing from that particular world and it left me quite disappointed.

It would be awesome to see a Skyrim-esque game set in the Forgotten Realms or Middle-earth! What are your thoughts on this? Do you have a favorite fantasy setting?

I really like what Bethesda has created with Tamriel. The amount of lore and history rivals even our own world's sometimes, it's quite an impressive feat!

One fantasy world that I really have a soft spot in my heart for is Hyrule. I grew up playing the Zelda games. It's such a magical place for me, and holds such fond memories. Especially the landscapes and the grandeur created in Ocarina of Time opened up new worlds of amazement for me. Hyrule wins for me... I just feel like I will never leave that place

I feel that Skyrim is at the top or mabe a close second on my list. When i play the game, i feel like i am realy there. There is so much to do and so much to see. Sometimes i find myself playing for hours and not realy getting anything "done" in the game. Im just living my life in skyrim. The only other game that is up there with skyrim is Final Fantacy 7. Mabe because it was the first real "open world" game i have played. I remember as a kid putting countless hundreds of hours into that game at the end part, just running around, not doing realy anything, making up my own story. As far as Dragon Age, i agree. The world is a little boring, and not very well put together. Dont get me wrong, it is one of my most fav. games, but the world could be better. Then they came out with dragon age 2 and its world was 10 times worse. I had all this hype for thegame when i was waiting for it to come out. I played it for about 15-20 hrs. and traded it in for something else. I was extreamly dissapointed......Especially after waiting for so long for it to come out.

BrthrhdOfSteel said:

I feel that Skyrim is at the top or mabe a close second on my list. When i play the game, i feel like i am realy there. There is so much to do and so much to see. Sometimes i find myself playing for hours and not realy getting anything "done" in the game. Im just living my life in skyrim. The only other game that is up there with skyrim is Final Fantacy 7. Mabe because it was the first real "open world" game i have played. I remember as a kid putting countless hundreds of hours into that game at the end part, just running around, not doing realy anything, making up my own story. As far as Dragon Age, i agree. The world is a little boring, and not very well put together. Dont get me wrong, it is one of my most fav. games, but the world could be better. Then they came out with dragon age 2 and its world was 10 times worse. I had all this hype for thegame when i was waiting for it to come out. I played it for about 15-20 hrs. and traded it in for something else. I was extreamly dissapointed......Especially after waiting for so long for it to come out.

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Agreed! Dragon Age 1 was a great game in spite of the uninspired world, but then they really fl*ffed things up with its sequel, game play wise (and the world didn't get any better, either!).

Interesting, I was comparing Middle Earth to the Elder Scrolls not too long ago in my head...mostly because it's the only thing I can think of that's similar as far as the quantity of lore and mystical feeling. I do like Middle Earth stuff, but it just seems like there's so much more to TES. Did anyone ever play any of the really early games? I started with Morrowind, but played Daggerfall a bit before Skyrim came out (I thought it would be fitting to see where the series came from). It wasn't till later that I found out the books about Jagar Tharn were actually the plot for Arena - that blew my mind, Bethesda liked that story so much they put it in other games.

That's the thing, each game that comes out becomes lore, Middle Earth is kinda' over, TES is still being built upon, that's the conclusion I came to. I'm a bigger fan of TES every time I play it...so call me a fanboy, I'll take that title with great pride. TES FTW!!!

i love the forgotten realms(which few people know about) and warhammer worlds but tolkeins world is by far the best, many people know only a little about the lord of the rings world. the part of his world where the lord of the rings are set is only about a quarter of the entire world and all the other storys by tolkein like wear men came from and the defeat of sourons master. it is definitly the most detailed fantesy world there is and skyrim is dwarfed in comparisin to it

Flint firestorm said:

i love the forgotten realms(which few people know about) and warhammer worlds but tolkeins world is by far the best, many people know only a little about the lord of the rings world. the part of his world where the lord of the rings are set is only about a quarter of the entire world and all the other storys by tolkein like wear men came from and the defeat of sourons master. it is definitly the most detailed fantesy world there is and skyrim is dwarfed in comparisin to it

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I admit, I haven't read all of his books. I really should. And now you are making me want to

theres a book that maps the entire mibble earth world before and after the collapse of morgots(saurons master) ring into the ocean. some of the other books are difficult to read though.

I'm a MASSIVE Warhammer 40k literature addict. Must have... 60-70 books from black library. I find parallels in whatever fantasy im playing. All my characters are named after 40k characters. And no, I don't play the table top game. Just read the very very good books.

Su8tle said:

I'm a MASSIVE Warhammer 40k literature addict. Must have... 60-70 books from black library. I find parallels in whatever fantasy im playing. All my characters are named after 40k characters. And no, I don't play the table top game. Just read the very very good books.

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black library rules!!!!!!! which ones do you read? warhammer and warhammer 40k are a lot grimer then the elder scrolls though.

I only read 40k, and your right it's very dark and brutal compared to Elder Scrolls. I've got every Horus Heresy book in long audio dramas and Limted editions. (over $1000 worth easy!) then around another 50+ other BL books on 40k. My face are the Chaos Marines series' and the Inquisitor series(Esienhorn and Ravenor). BL books are very adult literate in both content and writing style. I used to have my own blog I reviewed BL books called 'drop site massacre' it's here: Drop Site Massacre but I've stopped doing that due to no spare time.

Any other Song of Ice and Fire fans here? The world of Westeros is the most detailed and well fleshed out universes I've ever read about. Of course there are also places like Hyrule and the Harry Potter universe that I love, but Westeros is the most well put together.

samgurl775 said:

Any other Song of Ice and Fire fans here? The world of Westeros is the most detailed and well fleshed out universes I've ever read about. Of course there are also places like Hyrule and the Harry Potter universe that I love, but Westeros is the most well put together.

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you have not heard of the lord of the rings?

Flint firestorm said:

you have not heard of the lord of the rings?

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I haven't read them. But if you haven't given a Game of Thrones a shot, I would highly recommend it.

samgurl775 said:

I haven't read them. But if you haven't given a Game of Thrones a shot, I would highly recommend it.

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just to tell you how detailed the lord of the rings are, you can get a book that can tell you every thing in the lord of the rings from rock type to population.
as for game of thrones im going to read them soon

I really do love most that this game has such a huge emphasis on Lore, history, and Role Play. Its really the core foundation that drew me to elder scrolls

Flint firestorm said:

you have not heard of the lord of the rings?

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Most people don't even know that there's books about Middle Earth outside of the LOTR trilogy and The Hobbit, and obviously not everyone's read them, some don't even know they were books and only have heard of the movies...go figure.

While I enjoy Tolkien's writing style, it's really hard to follow at times; I guess one really has to love it to want to keep reading his books. Of course, I don't read books that much anymore, so it really has to be something special to hold my interest...which is strange because I fancy myself a writer. Unpublished until just recently, I actually finished an article that I was proud of and people liked...now to write a book and officially be an author! (I know, same thing, but to me there's a difference).

Personally Middle Earth and Tamriel are number's 2 and 3 on my list, in that order. My number one is Ansalon from the Dragonlance Novels. I am just in love with the amount of history put into creating that world, even from the very "beginning" of their time.

When we compare different fantasy universes the media use to enter that realm plays an important part on how far we are drawn into it. I'm speaking about the difference between books, video games, and movies. I worked in a book store for a few years, I have read many books, and continue to enjoy reading all sorts of genres of the written word. In my opinion books offer the most in depth stories and detail, because of the fact that books are not only spoken through characters but through narration as well. Either first or third person narrative, we often have an often omnipotent voice to tell us each detail of each character's thoughts and backstory. Movies have the most limits, they not only have time restrictions which may omit important details of storyline, but our intake of the story is limited by what we see and hear. The opening words in Star Wars would be an example of a filmmaker trying to work around the limitations of movie making. How did he give a decent backstory? With the written word, a little something to think about. In movies if the viewer is blessed with a narrator. It is always told from a first person standpoint (I, me, my) and the story is still limited. Games are the same we only have what we see and hear to give us a story that draws our attention. That being said I think Skyrim does a better job of drawing me into a fantasy world than any other game. I adore Zelda games that's how I got into these types of games and books, but Skyrim offers a glimpse into a life in that world, fully customizable. Maybe our characters may have similarities, but none of our characters of exactly that same, like none of our playstyles are exactly the same.