The Elder Scrolls 6 is likely still years away from release. However, the game will be the first entry in the series in more than a decade, and its developer are is likely looking at more modern open-world titles for inspiration and comparison. Particularly, Todd Howard has mentioned bigger and stronger cities as a goal in the past, and that's likely to be a big changes in the upcoming entries. One of the biggest modern RPGs that the team will likely take a look at is Cyberpunk 2077, and there is a lot that the team behind The Elder Scrolls 6 could learn by looking at Cyberpunk 2077's successes and failures alike.
One of Cyberpunk 2077's biggest characteristics was its world of Night City. The world and cities players visit have always been very important to The Elder Scrolls as a series, and there are a lot of lessons that The Elder Scrolls 6 can learn from Night City. With the lessons that can be learned from Cyberpunk 2077, The Elder Scrolls 6 could have some incredible cities for players to spend their time in, which would be a massive selling point for the game. Of course, The Elder Scrolls 6's map will very likely have multiple cities compared to Cyberpunk 2077's one, but the lessons that can be learned from Cyberpunk 2077 can still be applied, even if they are on a smaller scale.
What Cyberpunk 2077's Night City Did Well
One thing that Cyberpunk 2077 nailed in its portrayal of Night City was the city's atmosphere. Walking along the crowded downtown streets surrounded by neon lights, advertisements, and racing traffic makes the city feel alive and real. Night City also manages to have a lot of variety with different districts having their own architecture, environments, characters, and tone to make each one of them feel unique and substantial. Cyberpunk 2077's Night City also has a lot of secrets for curious players to explore and find for themselves. Having hidden quests, items, and locations for players to find not only helps encourage them to engage with the game and its world more, but also adds to the feeling of Night City's scale.
Cyberpunk 2077 was also very successful in making Night City feel alive thanks to the cast of characters that players interact with. Having lively characters like Cyberpunk 2077's Jackie Welles, Panama, and Saburo helps flesh out the city and personify its various characteristics. Having deep and engaging characters also helps ground the player to the city, and gives the world a way to present itself to the player in a natural way. This is also helped by Cyberpunk 2077's good use of factions in Night City. Different areas and cultures within the city are each fleshed out with their own factions and groups that live within and influence them. This helps make the different areas of the city feel different as the player constantly runs into new types of people with their own cultures and politics.
What Cyberpunk 2077's Night City Lacked
The biggest aspect that Cyberpunk 2077 faltered on in regards to its city was player interaction. When players are out walking around Night City, there is simply very little for them to do. There are very few ways for Cyberpunk 2077 players to interact with NPCs around the city, and the only thing there is for players to do is shop at vendors or get a bite to eat. This leads to Night City sometimes feeling a bit flat for players who are looking for more to do in the city than quests. Having some mini-games for players to interact with, a way to change V's hair and facial hair after character creation, and having there be a reason to purchase some of the game's food options would have done a lot to help Night City feel alive.
Cyberpunk 2077 also did not take full advantage of V's apartment within Night City. Player housing is a staple in The Elder Scrolls and is a good way to help players create a space of their own in the world and feel more at home in it. Cyberpunk 2077 does give V an apartment from the start of the game, but there are no ways for players to customize it or make it their own. Even being able to change the color scheme in Cyberpunk 2077's apartment can make a big difference, and it is unfortunate that Cyberpunk 2077 did not give players more ways to interact with their homes in Night City.
What The Elder Scrolls 6 Could Learn from Cyberpunk 2077's Night City
So, there is a lot that The Elder Scrolls 6 can take from Cyberpunk 2077's approach. Cities will be very important to The Elder Scrolls 6, and with the game almost surely having multiple for players to travel between, it will be paramount for them each to have their own identity. To do so, The Elder Scrolls 6 should learn from Cyberpunk 2077's ability to create Night City's unique atmospheres and tones throughout. The Elder Scrolls has a lot of interesting cities in its world, and The Elder Scrolls 6 being able to bring those cities to life for players with each having their own factions and cultures within will make traveling throughout the game much more engaging.
The Elder Scrolls 6 could also improve on Night City by increasing how much players can interact with the cities within the game. It is standard for The Elder Scrolls games to have a house that players can purchase in each city, and allowing players to customize them would be a big improvement on that system. It also would help if players could interact with more of the world and people in the cities, with activities like going hunting or gambling in the taverns. The interaction would help players see a new side of the world and feel more involved with Tamriel, or wherever The Elder Scrolls 6 is set.
Of course, The Elder Scrolls 6 will likely bring many changes to the series when it does finally arrive. Fans of the series likely have quite a while left to wait for the game, but it is good that Bethesda has confirmed that the team is working on the title. The popularity of Skyrim and its large modding community means that The Elder Scrolls 6 will have to meet a high bar, but the development team has plenty of examples in games like Cyberpunk 2077 to draw inspiration from.
The Elder Scrolls 6 is in development.