Not necessarily. I like lord of the rings tropes. If they have enough original shit (the elder scrolls definitely DOES) then I'd 100% forgive the writers throwing in some homages to the granddaddy of all high fantasy.
Everything that you or I or anyone else associate with fantasy comes from Tolkien. Or from earlier source material, which is almost always linked to Tolkien anyways.
How far away from Tolkien can you get before it isn't fantasy anymore? Either it won't be western fantasy anymore, it'll be eastern fantasy, or it will be something that isn't fantasy at all. If you remove the magic, it's a medieval drama. If you make it about technology instead of magic, it's science fiction. Etc.
TES 3 morrowind is probably the furthest work of western fantasy from lotr that exists. Or actual slop like Harry Potter, which shares very little with Tolkien but suffers from it and is vapid.
On another note, the lore for the elder scrolls is actually incredibly diverged from Tolkien. The influence is there, it isn't *completely* original of course, but it's very unique in its own right.
Finding fantasy without Tolkien is like trying to find a dystopian novel without Orwell or Huxley. Or a metal band that isn't influenced by black sabbath. Or a western country that has 0 influence from Rome.
My point is that Tolkien invented every trope in that entire genre. If you diverge too far from his work, it won't even be recognizable as western fantasy anymore
Tolkien *invented* western fantasy.
Everything that you or I or anyone else associate with fantasy comes from Tolkien. Or from earlier source material, which is almost always linked to Tolkien anyways.
How far away from Tolkien can you get before it isn't fantasy anymore? Either it won't be western fantasy anymore, it'll be eastern fantasy, or it will be something that isn't fantasy at all. If you remove the magic, it's a medieval drama. If you make it about technology instead of magic, it's science fiction. Etc.
TES 3 morrowind is probably the furthest work of western fantasy from lotr that exists. Or actual slop like Harry Potter, which shares very little with Tolkien but suffers from it and is vapid.
On another note, the lore for the elder scrolls is actually incredibly diverged from Tolkien. The influence is there, it isn't *completely* original of course, but it's very unique in its own right.
Finding fantasy without Tolkien is like trying to find a dystopian novel without Orwell or Huxley. Or a metal band that isn't influenced by black sabbath. Or a western country that has 0 influence from Rome.
My point is that Tolkien invented every trope in that entire genre. If you diverge too far from his work, it won't even be recognizable as western fantasy anymore