The Elder Scrolls: Arena
Overview
The Elder Scrolls: Arena is an action role-playing video game developed and published by Bethesda Softworks. Released in 1994 for MS-DOS, it is the first installment in The Elder Scrolls series. The game is set in the high fantasy world of Tamriel, a continent on the planet Nirn. The player assumes the role of a prisoner who must travel across Tamriel to collect pieces of the Staff of Chaos to defeat the evil sorcerer Jagar Tharn and rescue Emperor Uriel Septim VII.
Development
The Elder Scrolls: Arena was initially conceived as a medieval-style gladiatorial combat game, where players would travel from city to city fighting in arenas. However, as development progressed, the focus shifted towards a more expansive role-playing experience. The game was developed by a small team at Bethesda Softworks, led by Julian Lefay, who is often credited as the "Father of The Elder Scrolls."
The development team aimed to create a game that offered a high degree of freedom and immersion. To achieve this, they implemented a large, open world with a day-night cycle, weather effects, and a complex system of character attributes and skills. The game also featured a rudimentary form of procedural generation to create its vast dungeons and wilderness areas.
Gameplay
The Elder Scrolls: Arena is played from a first-person perspective. The game world is divided into various regions, each with its own cities, towns, dungeons, and wilderness areas. Players can travel between these regions using a fast travel system, although they can also choose to explore the world on foot.
Character Creation
At the start of the game, players create their character by selecting a race and class. The game features eight races, each with its own unique attributes and abilities. The available classes include traditional fantasy archetypes such as warriors, mages, and thieves, as well as hybrid classes that combine elements of multiple archetypes.
Combat and Magic
Combat in The Elder Scrolls: Arena is real-time and involves a combination of melee attacks, ranged attacks, and magic. Players can equip a variety of weapons and armor, and they can learn and cast spells from several schools of magic. The game features a mana system, where casting spells consumes a character's mana, which regenerates over time.
Quests and Exploration
The main quest of The Elder Scrolls: Arena involves traveling across Tamriel to collect the eight pieces of the Staff of Chaos. Along the way, players will encounter numerous side quests, which can be undertaken to gain experience, gold, and items. The game also features a variety of dungeons, which are randomly generated and filled with enemies, traps, and treasure.
Story
The story of The Elder Scrolls: Arena begins with the player character being imprisoned by the evil sorcerer Jagar Tharn, who has usurped the throne of Emperor Uriel Septim VII. Tharn has hidden the pieces of the Staff of Chaos, the only artifact capable of defeating him, across the continent of Tamriel.
The player is aided by Ria Silmane, a former apprentice of Tharn who appears to the player in dreams and visions. She guides the player to the locations of the staff pieces and provides information on how to defeat Tharn. As the player collects the pieces of the staff, they must also contend with Tharn's minions, who seek to stop them.
The game culminates in a final battle with Tharn in the Imperial Palace. Upon defeating Tharn and reassembling the Staff of Chaos, the player frees Emperor Uriel Septim VII and is hailed as a hero.
Technical Aspects
The Elder Scrolls: Arena was notable for its technical achievements at the time of its release. The game featured a large, open world with a high degree of interactivity and detail. The game's graphics were advanced for the time, with detailed character sprites and environments. The game also featured a dynamic soundtrack that changed based on the player's actions and location.
The game was released on floppy disks and later on CD-ROM, which allowed for higher quality audio and additional content. Despite its technical achievements, the game was also known for its high system requirements and numerous bugs, which led to mixed reviews upon release.
Legacy
The Elder Scrolls: Arena laid the foundation for the The Elder Scrolls series, which has become one of the most successful and influential franchises in the history of video games. The game's emphasis on open-world exploration, freedom of choice, and immersive storytelling has been carried forward in subsequent titles, including The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall, The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.
The game has also been re-released several times, including as a free download from Bethesda's website in 2004 to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the series. It remains a beloved title among fans of the series and is often cited as a classic of the role-playing genre.