Game Review--The Elder Scrolls: Blades (Switch)

"The Bloodfall Queen sent mercenaries to collect taxes from the townsfolk.  Things escalated, and one of the men smashed the ancient statue of the town's founder.  At that point, all Oblivion broke loose . . ."
--Junius the Elder, The Elder Scrolls: Blades


Not a traditional Elder Scrolls game by any means, Blades is the Switch equivalent of what is closer to a conventional mobile game for smartphones.  In fact, there is a crossplay option that can link progress across the Switch and smartphones, so it is hardly surprising that Blades scarcely resembles more traditional console games.  Daily missions and rewards, short missions, limited features, and animation problems are constant reminders of the smaller scope of Blades, although there are those who are still happy with the release of the Switch version.

Production Values

The graphical quality of the game reflects the lack of excellence that defines almost every part of the experience.  Environmental objects like trees may pop in as you walk closer, and the game might sometimes slow down when there are not even any enemies onscreen.  As for the voice acting, only certain lines of dialogue are even spoken aloud, and the conversations between characters are relatively shallow.  There is little to no thorough worldbuilding from any of these sources, visuals and audio included.

Gameplay

Brief, confined missions let the player gain XP and gather resources needed to rebuild a town that was devastated by the Bloodfall Queen.  As you walk around the very limited environments, various enemies challenge you, often to single combat.  Combat locks the player into facing a single enemy while standing in place until that enemy is defeated.  You cannot even see the hands of your own character, as whatever weapon is being used in combat hovers when attacks are being prepared.  Spells provide some variety, but the overall mechanics of the fighting are extremely simplistic and restrictive.

More amusingly, "secret areas" in the main "levels" are pitifully obvious: they often are opened by very large, blatant switches.  There is an endless Abyss mode that lets you take your character as far into an underground area as possible before being killed, which serves as an alternate way to get XP, yet it does nothing to atone for the deep flaws of the game itself.  There is even a multiplayer battle system in the "Arena" that pits players against each other after they confirm armor, weapon, and potion selections from their respective inventories.  However, since the Arena is exclusively a combat-based mode, the stifling shallowness of the fighting system is on full display.

Story

There is scarcely anything to spoil, but some spoilers are below all the same.

After the Bloodfall Queen destroys a town, a "Blade," a skilled warrior, returns to find it in ruins.  Junius the Elder from Elder Scrolls lore awaits the Blade (who is customized and named by the player), and he provides enough information for the warrior to begin reconstructing the town, rescuing its inhabitants, and defeating groups of threatening enemies.


Intellectual Content

There are no obscure collectibles, philosophical themes, deep characterization aspects, or explorations of sophisticated lore.  Blades is one of the shallowest Switch games I have ever played.  Perhaps a handful of players will find this to their liking, but the game suffers from a thorough lack of depth on practically all fronts.  The many problems of the game do not mean that it has no basis for existing whatsoever, and it is free, yet anyone who expects a deep experience will find that the opposite awaits them.


Conclusion

Blades is no Skyrim.  Although it is not a free-to-play game, Skyrim is the wholly superior choice for anyone who wants to play an Elder Scrolls game on the Switch.  There is little offered by Blades except a miniscule, trivial look into the world of The Elder Scrolls.  It may offer several hours of enjoyment to more casual players--and there is nothing wrong with that--but it is far from a masterpiece or even an artistically significant game.


Content:
 1.  Violence:  You can use magic to attack enemies, such as by using a fire spell to ignite them, and use various physical weapons to slash at them until their health bars are empty.
 2.  Profanity:  When speaking to the Bloodfall Queen for the first time, the word "damn" is used via written text.