The Elder Scrolls Blades is a beautiful mobile RPG. At Gamescom 2018, we were able to briefly play the glossy game from Bethesda for the first time in short play.
Mobile games have become increasingly better. Thanks to powerful new smartphones, graphic gems for on the go are possible. The latest prime example of impressive mobile graphics is The Elder Scrolls: Blades from Bethesda.
Here you set out as a member of the Emperor’s legendary elite troop to explore and loot dungeons. At Gamescom 2018, we were able to play Blades on an iPhone X for the first time. But does the game deliver what the graphics promise?
Glossy graphics on the smartphone
One of the most beautiful mobile games: When I started Blades for the first time, I was immediately impressed by the magnificent graphics. Whether in the forest or dungeon: The Elder Scrolls: Blades simply looks good.
- In the forest, light flickers through the trees, everything is green and alive. Goblins and spiders lurk in between.
- In the dungeon, it is dark, but light effects create a great atmosphere. Undead monsters look creepy.
What hardware was used? The powerful graphics of Blades are not a problem on modern smartphones. Our demo ran on an iPhone X without any issues.
With some limitations and lower details, the game should also work on older devices.
How does The Elder Scrolls Blades play?
How does the control work? You control The Elder Scrolls: Blades by moving your hero on the left side of the screen. With your right hand, you look around and determine your direction of movement.
This works pleasantly intuitively, after a short time you will confidently run around and explore vaults and forests.
How do the fights go? When you encounter a monster, the game centers the view on you and the opponent you are facing. You then exchange blows with the enemy. However, it seems you cannot dance around the enemy too much
Attacks and Defense: If you want to strike, you must tap briefly on the right side and hold your finger there. Once your hit is charged, you can release it at the targeted spot on the opponent.
Whether it matters if you hit selected body parts, however, we could not determine in the demo.
With the left side, you can raise your shield to block or trigger magic. Alternatively to blocking, you can perform a shield bash and thus start a powerful combo attack. This way, you can quickly take down strong enemies.
Not Skyrim’s combat system: Overall, the combat control is somewhat static and takes getting used to. Those who expected the dynamic movement from games like Skyrim or Oblivion might be disappointed.
More content at launch
What was our conclusion? At Gamescom, I could only play two short scenarios. They only featured battles against simple enemies. Therefore, we still have many unanswered questions:
- What does the progression look like? Mobile games thrive on keeping players entertained with constant rewards. In the beta, we found plenty of gold and gems. However, it was unclear what you would do with them later.
- What about the own city? According to Bethesda, you should be able to build your own city in Blades. This was not seen in the demo either.
- How can I create and develop my hero? We could see nothing from the character creation. Likewise, we couldn’t see how the inventory or skill selection looks.
Blades has not yet answered any of these questions.
The first impression at the moment is: If Bethesda implements a fair reward system without an overly aggressive real-money shop and brings enough variety to the gameplay, then The Elder Scrolls: Blades could become a pleasant and motivating mobile game.
