Skyrim

[DerBear]

I know we've had a dozen threads on this game since the launch back in 2011.

However, I was wondering now the game has settled and you don't have as many bugs as the game once did and you know have the level caps removed and various other things.

What do you think of the game overall?

In all honestly the game was great but I can't help but feel very disappointed about the overall lack of in game choices and different ways to do things. I guess an example would be that some skills like speech weren't really useful unless you wanted to become a merchant and let's face it, being a merchant isn't all that exciting --what would have made speech more interesting would have been if you could have talked your way out of fights with characters and offered more of a diverse outcome if you choose a non violent method--

I also was very disappointed that hand to hand wasn't a skill category because I enjoy not having to use a weapon but after round 20 hand to hand wasn't really that useful against foes.

I felt some of the main faction quest-lines such as The Dark Brotherhood were also very predictable endings where you become listener --same with the companions -- you become the leader. It was too predictable and while you had fun doing it, you knew it was going to be like that.

Overall the game was fun but their wasn't very many good plot twists and the gameplay was very predictable and you knew you were going to defeat people and rise up and become famous. I think a little more in-depth Character choices --that will make you evil or good-- is needed that way you can really play as an evil character or good character and your reputation in public can reflect this.

So what do you guys think after playing the game for sometime?

[Stronk Serb]

Yeah, I agree with you. I think Oblivion gave you more choices, and the general feeling is better then the one I had in Skyrim.

[Harry Smith]

Firstly the scale of the game is great and the environment looks quality for a 2011 game, I mean when your on horseback and you can see the mountains in the distant it looks beautiful, I also think that the heart fire DLC did a lot of good, it was amazing to be able to build your own house.

The issue I have is that the Civil war sucked, dragons were cool but I got it for the civil war- I was expecting raids, sieges and much more but all I got was a quick fight for white-run and then fighting general Tuilus

[DerBear]

Yeah, I agree with you. I think Oblivion gave you more choices, and the general feeling is better then the one I had in Skyrim.

Oblivion did give more choices, granted.

Firstly the scale of the game is great and the environment looks quality for a 2011 game, I mean when your on horseback and you can see the mountains in the distant it looks beautiful, I also think that the heart fire DLC did a lot of good, it was amazing to be able to build your own house.

The issue I have is that the Civil war sucked, dragons were cool but I got it for the civil war- I was expecting raids, sieges and much more but all I got was a quick fight for white-run and then fighting general Tuilus

So you went as a stormcloak? *cough* stormcloak scum *cough* jks

I thought you'd maybe have to battle for each city, so like you'd do some side missions e.g. taking out forts and then once all the forts in the area were taken out then you'd have a fight for the city and push back the opposing force and then you'd kill the leader of the other faction.

[Harry Smith]

Oblivion did give more choices, granted.



So you went as a stormcloak? *cough* stormcloak scum *cough* jks

I thought you'd maybe have to battle for each city, so like you'd do some side missions e.g. taking out forts and then once all the forts in the area were taken out then you'd have a fight for the city and push back the opposing force and then you'd kill the leader of the other faction.

I'm a storm cloak through and through imperial scum!

I would of loved that, if it was more open rather than just six generic missions. I also would of loved being able to attack the Thalmor embassy as well

[DerBear]

I'm a storm cloak through and through imperial scum!

I would of loved that, if it was more open rather than just six generic missions. I also would of loved being able to attack the Thalmor embassy as well

I'd agree with that, even though I'm an imperial piece of scum I still hate the thalmor embassy.

[Funny 3 Scene]

Skyrim was good for the dungeons, exploration, and all the other small things, but I was disappointed with the civil war and the main quest line. That is why Oblivion and Morrowind are my favorite Elder Scrolls storylines. As for factions, it was also very bland. The Dark Brotherhood was short and predictable. Oblivion's Dark Brotherhood gave you a challenge (eg, remain undetected and only kill the target(s), no one else).

[Cygnus]

My main problem with Skyrim is that the 3rd person camera sucks, and RPGs are meant to be played in 3rd person. Other than that the gameplay is great yet the story as stated before is so predictable. I didn't finish the game since it was belittled by Dark Souls in my collection.

[Sugaree]

Modding it leads to a much better experience than vanilla. I can't even play the game on PS3 because it's so bland without the mod support included in the PC version.

[gothicsanctum]

Skyrim itself is bland compaired to oblivion.
Quests where predictable
Combat was bland
Leveling up was a aborted child between Oblivion and Fallout 3
Less unique characters - no Necrophiliac wizard in Skingrad

[DerBear]

Skyrim itself is bland compaired to oblivion.
Quests where predictable
Combat was bland
Leveling up was a aborted child between Oblivion and Fallout 3
Less unique characters - no Necrophiliac wizard in Skingrad

The Skyrim levelling up system did make sense compared to Oblivion. You could never really tell when you were making good progress on a particular skill with oblivion. Whereas at least with Skyrim it was clear.

[Syvelocin]

Adore Skyrim. At this point, I feel like I've exhausted everything I could say about it. I'm still open it up even two years after its release.

My biggest disappointment is the Dark Brotherhood questline. So, I'm a sister to the core. Favourite faction and what not. I really wish they gave us more dynamic quests in which you could have more options for traversing the questline, and it would change depending on your choices. I wanted to say "fuck you" to the Night Mother and loyally serve my mistress Astrid. I mean, I love the old corpse but I both sympathize with Astrid and find her and her voice sexy. I've tried numerous times to kill the dog and force her to marry me, never really works. Also, I resurrect her every time I play through the questline. I agree that the faction questlines are predictable. Sometimes I just want to be a peon! I'm already the Dragonborn, I don't need to be a Mary Sue and be the Listener, Harbinger, Arch-Mage, etc.

The only thing I thought Skyrim lacked, being a nostalgia junkie, was the atmosphere of Morrowind and then they gave me the Dragonborn update complete with the original soundtrack and Netches.

RPGs are meant to be played in 3rd person

I actually feel like RPG is the most viable genre for first person. Immersion and what not. When I play my games, I like to feel like I'm not playing a game but I'm actually in the game. Looking at a character's back annoys me unless the gameplay requires it.

[DoodleSnap]

I'd agree with that, even though I'm an imperial piece of scum I still hate the thalmor embassy.
This ^
Although I do have a softspot for the Snow Elves so I dislike the Companions for that reason.
Anyway, I would have liked to be able to have more choice about your background as I had to make up my own backstory that I was a fleeing Breton noble, (Had to use console commands for a little bit of help in this part :D) with LOTS of money. But yeah, I wish there was an option to not kill Paarthurnax and kill the companions instead, etc, etc... But overall I love the game for all its bugs and imperfections. But yeah, more choice would've been nice.

[JessTom]

I still play Skyrim. I love to just wander around, not even do a quest or anything. I really liked the dlc too.

[thewhiteyeezus]

Its so ahead of its time, like you can naturally get into quests like in markath i believe there was this mofo trying to get this guys rent and asks me help him out so i do and turns out the asshat has been daedra summoning and summoned molaug baul and hes pissed and wants me to beat his ass so i do and later he gives me this fucking amazing mace so yeah i do not judge the game

[Sugaree]

Its so ahead of its time, like you can naturally get into quests like in markath i believe there was this mofo trying to get this guys rent and asks me help him out so i do and turns out the asshat has been daedra summoning and summoned molaug baul and hes pissed and wants me to beat his ass so i do and later he gives me this fucking amazing mace so yeah i do not judge the game

lol "ahead of its time". By that logic, every other RPG in the vein of Skyrim is ahead of its time. That's such bullshit. Skyrim was a generic RPG with simple quest lines, very little character depth, and no emphasis on immersion. The combat was stylized in such a way that is so unrealistic for an RPG that it's ridiculous. Mashing mouse one a few times kills an enemy? That's not what an RPG is supposed to entail through combat.

The only semi-good quest was the Molaug-Baul house, and even then the reward was so unsatisfying. By the time the average player gets to Markarth, they're already overpowered as fuck and the mace makes barely any difference.

There is a lot in this game to judge. Everything that progressed in Oblivion was thrown out the window for this casualized garbage that was passed off as a "Role Playing Game". Oblivion had such an amazingly progressive and intuitive leveling system that I have never played an RPG, other than The Witcher series, that felt so true to itself. Then comes along Skyrim, which could have used that same system, yet completely threw it into the garbage and used a half-assed system to level up. Seriously? Choosing from a few different abilities that were less than half as powerful as Oblivion's system? No thanks. Look at all the overhaul mods for the PC version of Oblivion and see how improved the community has made the game. While it might not be much, in my eyes at least, it improved upon the base game. To me, a modded Oblivion highly outranks vanilla Skyrim. And it's such a shame that it's going to be a few years, at the very minimum, before a major Role Playing overhaul mod is made for Skyrim.

If you want true RPGs, go play the classic Dungeons and Dragons games like Icewind Dale, Planescape: Torment, and even the Baldur's Gate series. THAT is what an RPG should be like. Combat should be dynamic and strategic, character development should affect every single outcome, and the world should feel natural. Skyrim does not have any of these traits, and anyone who passes this off as a bonafide RPG is just...I don't even know a proper word.

[thewhiteyeezus]

lol "ahead of its time". By that logic, every other RPG in the vein of Skyrim is ahead of its time. That's such bullshit. Skyrim was a generic RPG with simple quest lines, very little character depth, and no emphasis on immersion. The combat was stylized in such a way that is so unrealistic for an RPG that it's ridiculous. Mashing mouse one a few times kills an enemy? That's not what an RPG is supposed to entail through combat.

The only semi-good quest was the Molaug-Baul house, and even then the reward was so unsatisfying. By the time the average player gets to Markarth, they're already overpowered as fuck and the mace makes barely any difference.

There is a lot in this game to judge. Everything that progressed in Oblivion was thrown out the window for this casualized garbage that was passed off as a "Role Playing Game". Oblivion had such an amazingly progressive and intuitive leveling system that I have never played an RPG, other than The Witcher series, that felt so true to itself. Then comes along Skyrim, which could have used that same system, yet completely threw it into the garbage and used a half-assed system to level up. Seriously? Choosing from a few different abilities that were less than half as powerful as Oblivion's system? No thanks. Look at all the overhaul mods for the PC version of Oblivion and see how improved the community has made the game. While it might not be much, in my eyes at least, it improved upon the base game. To me, a modded Oblivion highly outranks vanilla Skyrim. And it's such a shame that it's going to be a few years, at the very minimum, before a major Role Playing overhaul mod is made for Skyrim.

If you want true RPGs, go play the classic Dungeons and Dragons games like Icewind Dale, Planescape: Torment, and even the Baldur's Gate series. THAT is what an RPG should be like. Combat should be dynamic and strategic, character development should affect every single outcome, and the world should feel natural. Skyrim does not have any of these traits, and anyone who passes this off as a bonafide RPG is just...I don't even know a proper word.

Sure the characters may have not been the best or the combat but think of all the handcrafted dungeons; environments, beasts, 100s of hours, quests, feeling of victory as the dragonborn slaying evil. They clearly tried here, and plus the quests didnt seem boring they seemed natural and varied not stupid fetch quests. Whatever haters can hate, its an overall adventure when youre sucked in

[DerBear]

All I know as a console player, the Oblivion ranking up system was horrific to follow, at least with skyrim you could understand it better.

[Suave]

I thought it was pretty good but yeah I was predictable sometimes.... or actually most of the time now that I think about it. There are rarely games today where they are unpredictable/varying endings and choices. I liked fallout 3 a little better (never fully play oblivion) because it just felt more engaging to me and i had to earn certain stuff not just craft it. I liked skyrim but I alway have moments where I think to myself about what i would do to change the game. I would change skyrim to be more challenging but rewarding, like not just holding a sword and killing everyone without blocking, or using multiple potions to make your weapons one hit kill (don't know if they patched it), and change the story to be more...immersive, unpredictable, and longer. Also a lot of side/mini activities not just side quest.