Gaming giantBethesdahas been at the helm of theElder ScrollsandFalloutgames for quite a while now and both franchises have left a huge impact on the gaming industry. The former is what everyone thinks about whenopen-world fantasy gamesare mentioned and the latter is the equivalent for the post-apocalyptic science fiction genre.
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But what is not often spoken about are the connections between these two vastly different franchises. Tamriel and future Earth don’t share plenty of similarities, but that does not mean they do not relate to one another.
10Sweet Rolls
Seems like an odd connection at first, but only until one realizes that memes are the greatest gap-bridgers.This tasty little jokeoriginated fromstarting-class relatedquestions in the very first game of the famous fantasy RPG franchise:The Elder Scrolls: Arena.From there, the same funny little questions appeared in laterElder Scrollsgames and eventually found its way into theFalloutseries, appearing in a run-down bakery or two. Beyond the class-related questions, sweet rolls have been mentioned in quite a few lines of character dialogue, including the well known condescending quip from aSkyrimguard.
9A Glowing Plant
Nirnroot inElder Scrollsgames, the glowing plant found near water, is a harvestable ingredient one can use inpotions and other alchemic pursuits, but it is not exclusive to this fantasy world. InFallout 4, a very similar glowing plant can be found aboard The Prydwen, the Brotherhood of Steel’s flying flagship. The biolab area of the vessel has a few samples for experimentation and terminals onboard have entries pertaining to research conducted on this luminous plant.
8Big Meaty Claws
Both franchises include crustacean enemies that just love to pinch and snap at the player if they get too close to the water. Mirelurks in theFallout series, with their high defense, can be muchtrickier to deal withthan the puny mudcrabs fromElder Scrollsgames and are very different from one another to most players. Though, not for theFallout 4NPC Porter Gauge, who has a line of dialogue which refers to the mirelurks as mudcrabs in a derogatory manner.
7Licensed Reference
The newer iterations of these separate games series are not the only ones packed with connections. InFallout: New Vegas, the city of Freeside has some subtle, yet numerous, shout-outs toThe Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.
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On many of the city’s telephone poles, there are metal license plates with “TES-04” on them, that references the aforementionedBethesdagame which was released four years prior toNew Vegas.
6The Sounds Of A Sword
For the sake of efficiency and reducing budget stress, it makes sense thatBethesdawould re-use some elements between their biggest open-world franchises. One such example is the katana fromNew Vegaswhich can be acquired with the Gun Runner’s Arsenal add-on. The textures of this blade are different from those onsimilar swords inElder Scrollsgames, but the sound effects when sheathed and unsheathed are virtually identical.
5Legs For Days
Not only are visual and sound effects re-used, but so are in-game functions. InOblivion, the Boots of Springheel Jak are leg armor that protects the player from fall damage.Fallout 4has taken this concept and applied it to some of its own leg armor in the Freefall Legs that can be found inside the Mass Fusion building. They have alegendary unique effectthat is very similar to the fall damage resistance found on Jak’s handy boots. This is something many adventurers are likely glad for, as equipment like this makes traversing the sometimes mountainous landscape far less treacherous.
4Mark Of The Dragonborn
Throughout Boston’s wastelands, the Sole Survivor can find issues of the magazine Taboo Tattoos, which grants players the ability to add cosmetics onto the face of their character.
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On the cover of issue #12, in the bottom right, there is a skull bearing the famous helmet fromSkyrimthat is usually seen upon the Dragonborn’s head in promotional material for the game. Unfortunately, the tattoo does notgrant one the power to shout enemies into submission.
3Cut Quest
Sometimes great content just doesn’t make it into games due to various reasons. One such bit of content is a quest that was supposed to take place in a town close to Salem inFallout 4called Danvers, though it never made it into the game. The quest in question involved children who gained magical powers through mutations and were prosecuted by townspeople. Many of which were spells lifted directly fromSkyrim.An appropriate, and very interesting, concept to have tied to Salem. Sadly, due to technical difficulties and other issues, this quest was left upon the cutting room floor and was replaced by the one called “The Devil’s Due”.
2Crowns Of Power
This helmet is one that can be found inFallout 4but cannot be acquired by the player without the use of console commands. Though, its effects yield a great boost to strength and resistance while granting localized telekinetic powers and immortality at the cost of one’s sanity. The player can learn of the NPC, Lorenzo Cabot, who succumbed to the madness brought on by this helm and was locked away in Parsons State Insane Asylum for the good of all. There is a similar helmet, the Ayleid Crown of Nenalata, that can be found inOblivionand also fortifies the wearer, albeit less drastically. This crown’s Reflect Spell enchantment and the buffs to Alteration and Conjuration are nothing to scoff at, though.
1Giddy-up!
For those unaware of the hilarious controversy surrounding the horse armor DLC fromOblivion, know that this has been a running joke for quite a while. It even invadedFallout 76in anincredibly similar way. The aforementioned DLC forOblivionwas considered overpriced by gamers, though that didn’t stop many from buying this add-on.Bethesda, seemingly loving all memes borne from their games, decided to make a reference to this inFallout 4by adding the Horse Power Armor to the game. Thankfully, there is no micro-transaction involved in acquiring this set and it can be found on the ground level of the Wilson Atomatoys Corporate HQ.
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