Elder Scrolls 6 Step Aside, Skyrim: New Dawn Is Here

When The Elder Scrolls VI was officially confirmed all the way back at E3 2018, almost nobody watching would have thought that we’d be entering the big year of 2026 without playing it, let alone not hearing anything else about what it’s actually going to be like from developer Bethesda Entertainment.

Todd Howard has recently adopted the tactic of essentially pretending that announcement never happened, giving journalists and fans absolutely nothing to go on for the time being. That means that we’re having to get our Elder Scrolls kicks elsewhere, and the older games still have a lot to offer, particularly when modders get involved and do their thing.

Skyrim: New Dawn Is A Huge New Overhaul

Bethesda Entertainment/Nexus Mods: NEW DAWN Redux

The best bet for new experiences is old reliable Skyrim, where the game’s extensive modding community continues to bring us new ways to play the classic RPG. One of the very best is NEW DAWN Redux, which really does transform the base game in every conceivable way.

As first reported by DSOGaming, New Dawn includes a bunch of DLC-sized fan expansions that will give you hundreds of new content to jump into. At the same time, it also transforms the combat from top to bottom, taking inspiration from games like Dark Souls to turn it into a dynamic, skill-based system that should test even the most experienced of players.

All of the animations in first and third-person have been reworked to add realism, while all of the game’s visuals have also been overhauled, with realistic lighting, cinematic weather, and ultra high-quality textures. The RPG systems in the game have also been built upon, with expanded perks, changes to magic and additional forms of progression.

Skyrim Fans Ensure This Game Will Never Die

Bethesda Entertainment/Nexus Mods: NEW DAWN Redux

The big advantage to all of these tangible changes coming in one huge pack is that they have all been extensively tested to ensure compatibility with one another. This removes one of the main points of friction when setting up mods for a game, and should save you plenty of time picking out and installing individual files.

The developers have also continued to update and improve the overall offering in New Dawn, rolling out a 1.2 version recently that leaves the modlist in the best state it has been in so far. Skyrim’s players continue to pump out genuinely interesting new content for the game all the time, and after a decade and a half it’s just as healthy as ever, thanks to their efforts.

Systems

Released

November 11, 2011

ESRB

M For Mature 17+ Due To Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Sexual Themes, Use of Alcohol

Developer(s)

Bethesda Game Studios

Publisher(s)

Bethesda Softworks

Engine

Creation Engine