Today is The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim’s fifteenth anniversary, a sentence so shocking it’s liable to turn your bones to dust. With the series entering 15 years without a new mainline entry and Bethesda Game Studios showing no signs of announcing news about The Elder Scrolls 6: Sentinel, a fan is helping fill the void by re-releasing an obscure seriesspinoff.
The Elder Scrolls Travels: Shadowkey Reforged is a fan-made port of a lesser-known Nokia N-Gage game. Originally released on Nov. 9, 2004, for Nokia’s unsuccessful handheld, Shadowkey is an RPG built around exploration, combat, and quests. It didn’t receive particularly positive reviews at release, with most critics arguing the N-Gage’s tiny screen and unresponsive buttons constrained the game’s potential. More than two decades later, we’ll finally get a feel for what the game is like when freed from that unfortunate platform.
As for Reforged, this unofficial remaster for Mac, Windows, and Android is built on a new game engine. The port’s website explains, “It runs the original game files and scripts in widescreen, with recreated artwork, new lighting, and controller support.” Players will need a copy of the original game files to play.
What’s new in Reforged?
The trailer shows off the port’s 3D graphics, which look fairly in line with Morrowind. This new version adds features like stealth, new character animations, ambient lighting, improved attack hit detection, a new skill system, world and local maps with quest markers, a modern save system, bug fixes, and more. It’s out on Nov. 11. Beyond these new features, players can also play classic mode, which keeps the game’s original look and behavior, including its original UI.
Unfortunately, this fan project comes with a significant caveat: AI was used in developing this port. “I used AI to assist with both the development of this port and recreating image assets,” developer Dan Whelan discloses in the trailer’s YouTube description. Given the ongoing debate over the negative implications of generative AI for labor, the environment, and artistic expression, the disclosure will undoubtedly be a deal-breaker for many.
