The simultaneous success and failure of Bethesda games

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For over a decade, Bethesda games have always been given a bad wrap for their buggy releases and broken engines. Yet somehow, some of their games hold up well over modern AAA games released nowadays. At the same time though, they can still be just as buggy or broken as modern shooters.

Bethesda has quite a plethora of different types of games. They have everything from single player stealth games, to action RPGs, even to MMOs. When looking at their entire catalogue, there are actually quite a few that have stood the test of time (at least compared to modern AAA games).

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The Elder Scrolls

When people think of The Elder Scrolls they probably think of Skyrim or TESO. However, other games in the series like Oblivion, Morrowind and even Daggerfall have kept a their niche fanbase for all these years. This is thanks to both the games themselves and the mods the community has made for them.

As for the games themselves, they are actually pretty sophisticated and (with some getting use too) offer solid mechanics that can be fleshed out through multiple playthroughs. Nowadays, the most popular of the Elder Scrolls games is Skyrim but Oblivion and Morrowind both offer their own classic formula on the RPG series. For example, npc are smarter as they will recognize when you have a stolen item or have skooma on you (Morrowind). Little things like this can change the dynamic of the entire game and it's NPCs.

Nothing comes close to the success of the modding community for the Elder Scrolls games. For the three mentioned games in total, there are over 100,000 mods to choose from on the Nexus page for pc. Also, for Skyrim, Bethesda does offer their own modding page for consoles that is available right on the main menu. With mods, the Creation Engine offers limitless creativity and fun to be had on already compelling games.

However, the same engine also comes with some sad downsides as it's verry buggy. This has given Bethesda a reputation for making broken games. In Skyrim for example, the most notorious "glitch" is the giant launcher. When fighting a giant he can sometimes launch you into the sky when he strikes you, killing you instantly. Fun fact, this was actually recognized by the developers but they decided to keep the bug in as it's pretty funny. The engine has many limitations with ragdolls, buggy ui, teleporting objects/enemies, and many other little things you may never see. Despite all of that however, The Elder Scrolls still remains the top dog in Bethesda's lineup, followed closely by Fallout.

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Fallout

Fallout is a pretty complicated beast as the community is split on the success/failure of each Fallout game. Some believe that Obsidian Entertainment was the best with Fallout New Vegas and other believe Fallout 3 to be just as good. When it comes to their entire series though, Bethesda delivered an earned rivalry for the popularity of their original Elder Scrolls series and their acquired Fallout series.

Like Elder Scrolls games, Fallout has it's fair share of content and game mechanics that are solid. Some games are cared for more though as Fallout New Vegas is touted the best in the series in terms of RPG mechanics, and worldbuilding. With four main questlines to choose from and over 75 different marked and unmarked side quests, the game offers plenty of content. With it being an RPG, this also allows many mechanics to be repeated and experimented on, adding to the overall re-playability.

(The same can be said about Fallout's modding community as I've said with TES)

Again, there are the same limitations with Fallout's engine because it too uses the Creation Engine.

Honorable Mentions:

• Doom (entire series)

• Wolfenstein (entire series)

• Dishonored 1&2

• Prey

• The Evil Within 1&2

• Arx Fatalis

These games also offer amazing single player experiences that aren't offered by today's modern games. Coincidently, they do come with their own problems and bugs as they are Bethesda games.