I don't think current-day Bethesda has another good Dark Brotherhood questline in 'em

The Dragonborn looking up and shouting — (Image credit: Bethesda)

I don't think current-day Bethesda has another good Dark Brotherhood questline in 'em. The Dark Brotherhood questline from Oblivion is generally regarded as one of the best—and for good reason. Not only is the story pretty stellar, but "Whodunnit?" is a stand-out in that it's a genuinely impressive spiderweb of potential outcomes. The Summitmist Manor is almost like a miniature immersive sim. Obviously not as complex, sure, but a delicious bite-sized playground in which to murder its guests.

But after Starfield? Man, I don't know. No questline I played in that deeply beige game had any of that same Dark Brotherhood juice. And given what we've heard out of the studio—namely, tighter and tighter constraints on what its developers can do—I'm not sure that the magic's there for a good Brotherhood questline anymore.

I'd like to be wrong, but in my mind? A Dark Brotherhood questline requires more weirdness, creativity, and gallows humour than modern-day Bethesda seems capable of.

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Harvey's history with games started when he first begged his parents for a World of Warcraft subscription aged 12, though he's since been cursed with Final Fantasy 14-brain and a huge crush on G'raha Tia. He made his start as a freelancer, writing for websites like Techradar, The Escapist, Dicebreaker, The Gamer, Into the Spine—and of course, PC Gamer. He'll sink his teeth into anything that looks interesting, though he has a soft spot for RPGs, soulslikes, roguelikes, deckbuilders, MMOs, and weird indie titles. He also plays a shelf load of TTRPGs in his offline time. Don't ask him what his favourite system is, he has too many.