While Elder Scrolls fans are more than likely going to answer Morrowind, Oblivion, or Skyrim when asked what their favorite entry in the franchise is, there's still something special about the first two games in the series, Arena and Daggerfall. But while the core pillars of those games are still present in recent entries, the formula has seen major changes. Traditionalists looking for a return to form have had few alternate options, at least until The Wayward Realms was revealed.
For those that missed the announcement, The Wayward Realms is an RPG coming from former Elder Scrolls developers Julian LeFay and Ted Peterson. LeFay and Peterson were both leads on Arena and Daggerfall, using their experience to craft an entirely new experience with The Wayward Realms. Little is known about the game so far, but the information on its Steam page paints a bright picture of where it's headed.
RELATED: Original Elder Scrolls Dev Working on Spiritual Successor
One of the most interesting details about The Wayward Realms, at least as far as what fans know right now, is that it features procedural generation. The game is set in an archipelago of over 100 islands, and will evidently use procedural generation to help breathe life into each one. It's a common feature to see in certain games, but few RPGs have managed to execute the feature well. It's difficult to capture a deep, living world with so much randomization, so it's understandable that so few developers are willing to go there.
If any team has the know-how to do it, however, it might as well be LeFay and Peterson's studio, OnceLost Games. In fact, the procedural generation might just end up being what makes the duo's experience working on Daggerfall so important. Daggerfall used procedural generation to create a massive map, one that still stands as one of the biggest video game maps ever created despite the game releasing all the way back in 1996, before many Elder Scrolls fans of today were even born.
This doesn't mean that the system will be perfect, of course. Daggerfall's map is massive, it's true, but a lot of it is taken up by rolling hills and empty forests, rather than the unique locations clustered together that fans will find in modern RPGs. Just look at the divide between Daggerfall and Skyrim, for instance, as there's a clear difference in how games approached their respective worlds.
On top of the procedural generation, though, The Wayward Realms is promising a world full of NPCs and a feature called Virtual GM, which could help flesh the game out a lot more than Daggerfall was able to. At its core, it appears that the goal is for the game to give players the freedom to create their own stories within a larger world, a concept that has defined the "ideal" RPG for years.
All of this still sounds relatively high concept still, but the developers do have the experience to back their planned features. If the duo is able to pull it off, then fans could have a successor worthy of Daggerfall's acclaim. It's going to be a while before fans know for sure, but things are looking hopeful.
The Wayward Realms is in development.
MORE: Skyrim vs Oblivion: Which Elder Scrolls Game Is Better?