One Switch game revealed earlier this year at E3 that you might have forgotten about was The Elder Scrolls: Blades. It's a free-to-play mobile title being ported across to Nintendo's hybrid device this Fall and will support both cross-play and cross-progression.
During an interview with Nintendo Everything, the Bethesda team revealed some additional information about the Switch release. Due to its mobile links, it'll require the player to be online at all times:
having an offline mode is something we definitely hear from a lot of people for the game in general, so that’s something we always constantly look at – like how would we do it. We want to make sure – the online game, we’re adding PvP in the fall, we want to make sure cheating isn’t an issue. So it’s like, how do we do an online mode that makes sense? Right now we’re requiring an internet connection, but in the future it’s something we may add if we can have a good solution for it.
In the same interview, Bethesda confirmed the Switch release would not include touch controls. The team "found that playing with the Joy-Con feels great, and having to take your finger off the Joy-Con to touch the screen was not".
As for amiibo support – it's "something that's on the table" but will depend on the timing and what else is planned for the Nintendo version of the game.
Are you looking forward to the release of this free-to-play Elder Scrolls when it arrives on the Switch later this year? Have you already played the mobile release? Let us know in the comments.
[source nintendoeverything.com]
Comments 63
Might as well say "please forget about this game"
As it's free-to-play and I love the Elder Scrolls series I'll give it a go. But like Asphalt 9 Legends, when I run into a pay wall I'll plan on deleting it.
Of course, how is Bethesda going to push those micro transactions if the game can go offline. 🙄
Yeah, how about no.
@JayJ
Considering the Switch already has Skyrim, ES Blades isn’t even worth the starting price of free.
Besides, that price goes up within a very short time based off of the limited amount of time I played it on my phone. Prior to deleting it for good anyway.
At this point, at least there isnt a $100 subscription.
Just get Skyrim.
From the studio that brought us Fallout First, they hope they can coast on ZOMG NEXT GEN!!!!!111 for ES6 otherwise they’d be going the way of BioWare, they’re never make a game like Skyrim ever again it’s all gonna be GAAS s***shows.
Still hoping for a Switch port of Oblivion.
@westman98 Great now you just gave them the idea.
Once again, this company is the butt of all jokes.
Bethesda being extremely stupid, lazy, and anti consumer #47
I DL'd it to my iPad right after Bethesda announced it at E3. I played it for a week, didn't excite me.
I'll just keep playing Skyrim and hope they come out with Elder Scrolls Online.
Solution:
Don't download this game.
Coming soon: The Elder Scrolls Blades 1st. Pay $100 a year to give gamers the offline single-player game they so desperately desire.
Gee, considered. How magnanimous of Bethesda.
How about we don't bother with this travesty ?
@westman98
Not yet you mean.
@SeerCoot
Well The Outer Worlds is coming to Switch early next year. It’s basically Fallout in space. Too much like Fallout unfortunately. I’ve been playing it all day but I find it too similar, and the Fallout gameplay has grown stale for me long ago. At least it’s on GamePass so I’m not out any money.
Lol, Bugthesda, keep doing what you do best
It's a terrible f2p game. Theres a few articles you can google if you're curious. Just play Skyrim. Or if you're broke, play Warframe or Asphalt 9.
@Nico07
So counting down then.
@PhilKenSebben Yeah I agree, better off just forking out some cash for Skyrim instead of bothering with this trash F2P version. As much as I like the Eldar Scrolls series, the idea of turning these massive rpg games into a watered down F2P experience does not sit well with me at all. And I'll also add Paladins to your suggestions for decent free alternative games 👍
@Dakka-Dakka Absolutely. And Bethesda is getting more horrid by the week it seems on top of it all. Also, yes to Paladins. Great game.
Ahhahahahaahha
hahahahahaha
hahahahahahahahahahaha.
RIP Bethesda.
@Tyranexx I've been looking forward to Elder Scrolls 6 but then again with what Bethesda has done with Fallout lately, I'm hesitant. So maybe the best thing would be to port over another classic like Oblivion.
@KitsuneNight Yeah, I hadn't forgotten this game was coming but I'm not even that enthusiastic about its release. I'm way more excited for Luigi's Mansion and Mario Sonic coming this week and then Pokemon in two. Past that Nintendo really doesn't have much coming soon so I may have time after the games I've mentioned. As for Asphalt 9 I've put in 15 hours and reached a pay wall. I paid the $2 for the Porsche early on but told myself that was it. At this point the game doesn't offer any real way to progress without either grinding or paying massive amounts of money. I haven't played Blades yet, but would imagine it has a similar theme.
Tried this on mobile. So, so so boring and constant reminders to buy stuff from store
The mobile version of this game is absolute f2p trash and I can't imagine this version will be much better just because it has less crappy controls.
@Nico07
Guess I might as well not bother with Asphalt 9 then.
She sad state of modern gaming is a pretty sorry affair indeed, with all these naked shameless cash grabs.
After dozens of server-tied freemiums on eShop, I'm not sure how newsworthy this is.
@nhSnork
Ah, but its news cause it's TES.
and Bethesda is busy doing a Konami.
@KitsuneNight TES Legends has been a thing for quite a while. It was even announced for concoles including Switch last year - and with ambitions of full account synchronization across all platforms, you can bet it's bound to remain server-tied on Switch as well.
@Kang81 exactly how I feel about The outer worlds. Got it on ps4 and chucked about 10 hours in to it but to me it just feels like Fallout with a lot nicer, colourful skin.
All I'd like from Bethesda on Switch is the Fallout Legacy Collection I heard about, even without Fallout 4 in there I'd happily pay £50 for those classics on one little cart with no silly mandatory game downloads.
This however........meh
As others said, I'll play until I hit a paywall/it isn't enjoyable anymore. Asphalt 9 while annoying at times, hasn't yet hit that point with 30 hours in.
Sad if it is online only. Seems especially pointless to a portable console that needs to be tethered to maintain an internet’ connection.
@Nico07 I played some of Oblivion years ago on a relative's Xbox 360 but unfortunately never got to finish it. I'd definitely welcome another chance to play it on the Switch, plus it'd be easy money for Bethesda.
Nintendo releases mobile games with microtransactions - we can forgive that because it's Nintendo.
Anyone else does it (and also ports it to Switch) - unforgivable, they are a terrible company.
And I get the anti-microtransaction thing. I don't get the "degrees" of it that people seem to find forgivable or just because it's a certain company/game. They're all bad, including Nintendos.
Cloud and microtransactions, that's the easiest way to profit 10 times more than what they'd get from the same game if it were just a "pay once" one, as they get money from lots of people, not just from those willing to pay 50-60 bucks a game.
I wish them luck with that, but they're sure risking to lose a customer here.
How about lowering the damn prices instead?
Oh god no! They will be using the game to introduce horrible micro-transactions onto our beloved console. Bethesda are a horrible manipulating company now preying on peoples wallets like vultures.
@Kidfunkadelic83
While there isn’t anything wrong with the Outer Worlds, the minor changes to gameplay aren’t enough to deviate itself from its Fallout comparisons. Good news for Fallout fans, less so for those that wanted something a little different.
I don’t believe I’ve put in ten hours yet, but I did all the early side quests and just unlocked my first follower. I’m guessing I’ve played about 5 hours due to my exploration play style in games.
The best things I can say so far is that they removed the percentage stats of actually hitting enemies, gave the game some nice colorful visuals, and added in different planets to give the game some biome diversity. I’ll play some more to test out the party mechanic and see what some different planets feel like. Hopefully they are quite different from one another.
Unfortunately, I’m not really engaged in the game or story, I feel like I’m working through the game just because it’s something to do.
Hopefully Obsidian can deviate further from the Fallout formula with DLC and future sequels to truly make the game something unique.
I played this game in beta whilst on iOS before it officially released. It’s is a big disappointment especially on touchscreen as the controls were terrible, to strike you hold your finger on the screen and release at a sweet spot to strike, it felt unnatural to play that way and even when I got used to it, it sapped any resemblance of fun from the game. So on the switch, even with controls I can tell you this is a very bland, repetitive experience that doesn’t feel like Skyrim in any way apart from the items and weapons having names you recognise from Skyrim. You slowly collect gems and scrolls which are needed to build the town and upgrade the shops, so of course being free to play you hit a point where it’s such a grind that you have to spend more money then the price of actually buying the actual elder scrolls Skyrim the game! So unless you don’t have any money to buy a game at the moment, or your a kid with a switch, it’s ok for free but if you have played Skyrim, then I would say stay away from this as even for free you will not enjoy it.
@westman98
"At this point, at least there isnt a $100 subscription."
I don't play 76, but I gotta ask, what's wrong with paying the subscription price? 12.99 a month correct?
$12.99 multiplied by 12 months(without tax) comes out to $155.88 for a year with a monthly subscription,
So call me crazy but it appears Bethesda shaved off $55.88 for a yearly subscription.
So whats the problem?
It's far easier to monetise when u are online
CD Projekt Red: We'll continue to make high-quality games, refuse exclusivity bribes from Epic, and won't shaft you with shady DLC practices, micro-transactions, or bonuses for paying extra or always being oline.
Bethesda, Blizzard, Gearbox, Capcom and tons of indies devs: We'll continue*mumblembumble* money mumblemumble uh...money mumblemumble...quality? Yeah maybe mumblemumble ooh look one of our commercials on TV!!!!
@hemonecrophagia
I think you missed the point.
It's not that paying $100 annually is better than paying $13 monthly. It's that paying any subscription at all, let alone an expensive one, to access somewhat basic online features in a premium "AAA" game, let alone one that is as broken and janky as Fallout 76, is absolutely ridiculous.
Not to mention that the subscription ended up launching broken anyways...
And I’m out. I won’t do always online for a single player game.
i forgot this game was a thing.
I'm not a fan of the mobile game touch screen.
“It just works*”
*as long as you’re online and we don’t break our game.
If it's free to play, I can understand it being online only. Offline modes would be nice too, and not just for this game. Sometimes I'd just like to play DC Universe om the go and not have to worry about other players completing tasks before I have a chance to.
only good and fun free to play game on Switch is Dawn of the Breakers
@R_Champ Indie Devs? You're really including them here? Yes, those god damn developers who aren't backed by a big studio wanting money for the work they put their energy and creativity into! Indie devs are creating some of the most critically and culturally acclaimed games in recent memory off their own back and you want to slag them off because they'll take money from Epic to make their game exclusive to their completely free-to-use launcher?
Oh no I have to click on Epic instead of Steam because I'm too much of an idiot to make a shortcut to the game on my home screen! This is industrial terrorism! Damn those indie devs who need money to live!
It also requires me to not give a damn about mobile crap on the Switch with shady business practices.Always online? what is the reason? how do they justify this? why is it required? gaming slowly moving in a worse direction. if this is what's to come and more common in the next generation of consoles with regards to game designs,then I'll be sticking to current and retro games for the foreseeable future
One would think that the concept of the Switch is a simple one to grasp. It's in the name. You switch up your gameplay style. Play anywhere. Home or otherwise. Either Bethesda didn't get the memo or they lack the sufficient reasoning skills to understand that.
I've tried it a bit on someones's phone and I didn't hate it actually. I thought it was kinda nifty.
Of course it doesn't compare to Skyrim. Just because it takes place in the same realm doesn't mean it has to be the same game. You can't compare Mario Party to Mario Oddysey either.
I like simplistic city building RPGs so this sounds like my cup of tea.
And that is what it is. A cup of tea. Something to enjoy for 15 minutes a day. Nothing earth shattering. Doesn't have to be for me.
@Nico07 you're going to delete it relatively quickly just a heads up
This is a easy choice.... Hard Pass..... I'll take W3 and SkyRim instead.
Well, I may try it (although no offline mode limits its apeal a lot as I do most of my gaming on the go, in the train ride everyday).
Sure, "Get Skyrim instead". Which is still $80 (near $100 if you add sales tax) over here. For such an old game I already bought for less than $15 on PC... hmmm.... Nope. lol!
But aside from that... I find it ironic that the team at Bethesda found that having your hands over the screen to play a game is not ideal... which is the whole point of why many find gaming on mobiles (other than casual stuff) to be not worth their time.
Or you could just... you know... get Skyrim.
So many great games in Bethesda’s back catalog, and we’re getting this crap instead. Sigh.
@westman98 But I thought this game was broken from the beginning, why would anyone play this game or even continue too, if it has such horrible features?
but even more so, why should they give anyone the subscription for free?
if it's that bad, shouldnt everyone just stop playing it and move onto another one of the hundreds of MMO's around the internet today?
@hemonecrophagia
I think most people who know about 76's massive shortcomings have already abandoned it.
It's the casual everyday consumers who will buy anything with the Fallout name that are getting shafted by Bethesda's incompetence.
@westman98 well, that's their fault for not researching it, reading about the games launch and history up until now, I can see why those who purchased it are upset, however I cant understand why in their heads the answer for them is to continue playing.
If I were in their shoes, I would stop playing this game, and give a year in between each Future Bethesda Studios release before Purchasing them, it appears everyone who bought 76 day one, didnt even know what the game was.
Bethesda sold a shady game, and the suckers bought it, the solution.... stop being a sucker, don't ever buy Bethesda Studio games Day 01, looking at the past games over the last 15 years, they've been going down hill since they split from Obsidian.
Research your game before you buy it, be a smart consumer.
Shop smart, S-MART...
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