With the first Elder Scrolls game's release in 1994, and the latest addition, the MMO, set to release in 2014, you can't deny the series has made a mark on the gaming community in its 20 year lifespan. If you count the DLC and expansion packs, there's been 19 Elder Scrolls releases, almost one for every year. Obviously, not all of us were there since the beginning, and even worse, some of us missed a few chapters of the legacy in between. No matter, because Bethesda is releasing an anthology that bundles every last game together (almost) in one tasty package, along with all the associated expansions and DLC.
Come September, $80 will net players the old school Arena to the nouveau Skyrim, and damn near most everything in between. Here's the anthology's official list:
- The Elder Scrolls Arena
- The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall
- The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind (plus Tribunal and Bloodmoon),
- The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (plus Knights of the Nine and Shivering Isles)
- The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (plus Dawnguard, Hearthfire, and Dragonborn).
For you hardcore fans trying to keep track, that means all that's missing from the released games so far are:
- An Elder Scrolls Legends: Battlespire,
- The Elder Scrolls Adventure: Redguard
- The Elder Scrolls Travels: Stormhold, Dawnstar, Oblivion, and Shadowkey
These games lack of inclusion makes a bit of sense. Out of the titles that make up the collection, these were considerably poorer received. Battlespire had no merchants or gold; Redguard was an experimentation in third person and linear gameplay, abandoning any concept of free roaming and/or exploration; and the Adventure titles were mobile titles reserved for phones that supported Java and Nokia's failed N-Gage handheld/phone...thing.
Apart from the massive amount of content that will suck up what's left of your social life, the package also offers up five maps in all, showing the various lands of the realm - Tamriel, Iliac Bay, Morrowind, Skyrim, and Cyrodiil.
So bask in the warm sun now while you still can, because the Elder Scrolls Anthology hits the PC on September 10, for $79.99.