Oblivion; Is it worth it?

[kouriichi]

I can whole heartedly say yes. Theres no question about it.
Buy it. Now. Faster slave! FASTER!!

But if i had anything to add, id say get it for the PC. The modding community is huge, and you cna litterally reshape the game to whatever you want with a few clicks of your mouse. Ive had both, PC and 360 ((rebought it because it was on sale, and my 360 dissc was ruined)) and the 360 version may look better if your computer is a low-end model. But the PC version is just leagues more fun once you start modding. And modding is really easy to. just drag and drop really.

Moral of this story: Buy it now. Perferably for the PC, but any system will do.

 

[Mortons4ck]

Personally, I couldn't get into it all that much.

If you like Bioware RPGs, then you may be disappointed. Oblivion's strengths are not in its writing and the combat is more free form and definitely less squad based. Some one on the Escapist (can't remember who, might've been Yahtzee) once mentioned that it was called an RPG only because "Fantasy Sandbox" doesn't exist as a genre.

And not to turn this discussion into a PC-console debate, but Oblivion is one of those games that benefits significantly from community modifications. So PC would be the way to go in this particular case.

In short, if you ever wished the maps were more free roaming in a Bioware RPG, and the combat was a little less restrictive, then you should give Oblivion a try. Just don't be surprised if the dialogue isn't up to Bioware's level of polish.

 

[Teh Flembo]

Yes, it's worth it.
Get it on PC, I say.
GO
NOW.

This.

 

[Delusibeta]

Mixed opinions?

- Who the hell doesn't like Oblivion?! :O

People who bought it on console or didn't mod the heck out of it. I would strongly advise anyone who wants Oblivion to buy it on PC and mod it. Don't touch the console versions with a bargepole.

 

[Daedalus1942]

I've been thinking about getting Oblivion but I'm hearing mixed opinions about it. Any thoughts?

Do some real research into the game and you will see in about twenty minutes how broken the game really is.
Don't buy into the hype. I tried really hard to like TES:IV.
The battle system and spellcasting is broken, the guest guidance system is beyond retarded and cumbersome, the little minigame to get people to like you is tedious and repetitive...
The variation is quests is really all the game has going for it.
That and the customization of your character's appearance.
My advice, play a much etter game like Dark Messiah.
the battle system for that was immense fun and the gameplay sucked me on for hours like a ten dollar whore.

my advice... avoid Oblivion like the plague.
the plot makes no sense and the only remotely enjoyable part of the game for me was The knights of the nine dlc.

-Tabs<3-

 

[The Red Spy]

It's a fantastic game, one of the first games I owned on the Xbox and one I still go back to occasionally now and again. The story is reinforced with fun gameplay in the form of fighting, side quests, the environment and travelling, all coming together to form an captivating gameworld. The game is now at the tail end of 4 years since going gold, nearing 5, so don't expect the graphics to be on par with Crysis or more recent title.

Personally, I spent dozens of hours alone walking through the gameworld, discovering new locations in a beautiful gameworld. The soundtrack may be a bit odd to point out specifically, still I personally enjoyed it to the point I still listen to it when revising or other work.

I'd recommend it, it's cheap now no doubt and the GOTY edition will give you some fun extra quests and another area to explore.

 

[TriggerHappyAngel]

Mixed opinions?

- Who the hell doesn't like Oblivion?! :O

People who bought it on console or didn't mod the heck out of it. I would strongly advise anyone who wants Oblivion to buy it on PC and mod it. Don't touch the console versions with a bargepole.

True; I can't even imagine my Oblivion without mods

 

[vato_loco]

Everybody's saying that he should get it for PC or 360. What happens with the PS3 version? Is it bugged, flawed or somehow unplayable? Because I don't have a gaming PC or a 360, and I really don't care for bugged games.

 

[manaman]

EDIT: ON the other hand, if you are just after the pretty graphics of Oblivion, Morrowind can be modded [http://forums.encyclopediadramatica.com/showthread.php?p=321965] to look better than Oblivion.

The MGE works great for adding lighting and water effects without being to much of a resource hog, it also allows non standard resolutions (and higher resolutions) to play the game at, and if you have a really powerful computer you can mess around with a few other things, but try much more then that and you are going to see the FPS drop like a rock. Even with my beast of a machine really cranking it up resulted in 7 FPS. Over all the game looks much better, and probably better then vanilla Oblivion, but using high resolution textures and mods to fix the bodies and faces in Oblivion results in the same thing.

 

[Creator002]

It's pretty bloody good. If you can, get it on PC. That way you can take advantage of any mods and unofficial patches (the latter of which I use).

 

[Lazy Kitty]

It's definitely worth it.
Even more so on PC where you have mods.
I have it for 360, but some time ago I got it for PC so I could get the mods.

 

[V8 Ninja]

Well, if you're looking at comparisons, the general thought is that Morrowind is better than Oblivion. However, I've never heard someone say that Oblivion is a bad game in general. If you're talking about the console versions, I haven't really heard anything bad about them. I'd say go for it, especially if you have a PC.

 

[hyzaku]

Everybody's saying that he should get it for PC or 360. What happens with the PS3 version? Is it bugged, flawed or somehow unplayable? Because I don't have a gaming PC or a 360, and I really don't care for bugged games.

Not that I noticed. I first played it on PS3 and sunk a lot of time into it without noticing any problems. Not to say I don't have gripes with it, but it plays fine on any version. Though the PS3 version does not have the evil lair update so playing evil is not as viable as being good.

If I had to gripe about one thing it would be the leveling. I wasn't fond of enemies leveling with me in Fallout 3 and I really didn't like it here. But really the stat gains aspect of leveling pissed me off something awful. Simply put it is very possible to screw yourself later in the game. You get a bunch of different skills you can level, then pick a set of major skills. When you get 10 skill ups in major skills you gain 1 character level. Each skill is linked to a stat. When you gain a character level you get to choose 3 stats to raise. The amount you can raise any given stat is dependent on what skill ups (in minor or major skills) you got during that level. If you raise your major skills too much you will gain a level and have poor stat boosts available. If this happens frequently you end up getting weaker as you level because enemies grow at the same rate each level. This isn't to say you have to do perfectly efficient leveling (which feels really grindy when I tried it) but you do need to be getting some solid boosts or you will fall behind.

The main reason I found this to be an issue is the way you choose your major skills. I foolishly started the game with a combat heavy character in mind and chose lots of combat skills like blocking, archery, weapon skills, and some stealth for sneak attacks. So I plod on and level up very quickly when suddenly at level 9 I noticed combat was becoming very difficult to the point that by level 11 I could not win at all, ever. I did a bit if research and found the problem was indeed leveling too fast gave me poor stat growth. So I make a new character (some 15+ hours of sodding around and exploring down the tubes) and take a different approach. I aimed for a more efficient leveling plan and leveled much slower, but I did get stronger and could keep up or out pace the enemies. The thing I didn't like was having to plan skill ups. Having to count how many blocking skill ups I got + the number of athletics skill ups + any armor skill ups I got to total 10 so I can get my +5 endurance at next level was tedious. I just wanted to play the game not be an accountant. The idea of having to plan your levels to at least some extent in order to play the game was what really turned me off.

Other gripes are minor in comparison but are worth mentioning. I had one heck of a time making a non-lizard/no-cat person look not hideous. The faces felt too weird to me. Even the cat race looks really goofy to me. Though you won't really be looking at your face much so it was very minor but I do obsess over little stuff like that, so grain of salt and all that jazz. The towns felt very empty, not nearly enough npcs to feel populated. The social mini-game gets old fast though it is really easy. The dialog options are not really choices as much as topics that get you information. There is no real sense of your character actually saying anything which is a downer for this RP lover. Voice acting is limited in variance. Heard one human male you've heard em all, except Patrick Stewart who was around for maybe 10 minutes. The weight limit is strict (a warning more than a gripe), hit it and you can't move. I could think of more if I tried but it has been a while since I played and I don't see myself going back.

One other note is that the create your own spell feature can seriously break the game.

To be fair, I know that mods (on PC) can fix many of the game's issues. Personally if I don't like the base game it really isn't worth my time. I should not have to mod a game to make it playable.

TL;DR
I never played the game with mods (just to be clear) and I did not find myself a fan of it. It was far from unplayable or being terrible, but it was a sandbox game that forced me to play a certain way that felt really grindy. Either mod it or leave it.

 

[vato_loco]

Everybody's saying that he should get it for PC or 360. What happens with the PS3 version? Is it bugged, flawed or somehow unplayable? Because I don't have a gaming PC or a 360, and I really don't care for bugged games.

I'm just quoting this part, but I did read all the post.

I've been searching around and I've seen a lot of complaints about the PS3 version crashing and bugging and doing weird stuff. It's not weird, I mean, at the time, not many people knew how to effectively program for the PS3. But reading about how you have to put thought on the leveling up process.... that doesn't sound like my cup of tea.

 

[VanillaBean]

If you find it for a good price then definitly get it, otherwise rent it first.

 

[Toasted Nuts]

No it sucks..

 

[teh_gunslinger]

Its a genuinely good game, and at this point, its pretty damn cheap. If you have some disposable income and time on your hands, why not give it a go?

If you have a PC that will run it they yes buy it. If your getting it on your xbox your shooting yourself in the foot and should probably take that money and put it into a bank account to make your computer better so it will handle oblivion and the new elder scrolls game. The Mods you can get for these games makes the ability to play it endless with user created quests and items.

In short) Buy it for the PC not Xbox.

You know, there are plenty of people out there who enjoy games perfectly well without mods. Consoles also have convenience, a controller, and a lack of console commands (irony_1) that just make the experience different. Again, some people enjoy playing games this way.

Video games are generally about having fun. Gaming on a PC is superior in your opinion. In many ways, objectively, it can be. But as long as gaming is about enjoyment, the bottom line is going to be whatever's the most fun for the individual.
Its polite to point out the advantages of getting a game like Oblivion on the PC, but its just poor etiquette to attempt to derail a thread into a "Console-PC" debate and assert that the view you don't like is some kind of big mistake.

Problem is that there is a lot of piss-poor design decisions they made for the game, and mods can fix those. I just maxed my level in Merchantile today and that's because I had a simple mod that allowed me to sell one item at a time instead of moving a slider after every sale. The 360 actually has a shortcut button for this that the PC doesn't but that still means hitting 3 buttons or so between each sale, in a certain order. I don't really care about mods that expand the game, but I want some to fix the bad UI the game has by default.

OT: To answer the question in the title, I give an emphatic... "Meh..."

The game is good, but I just can't get excited about it. I loved Morrowind far more than Oblivion, but I can't say that's the best game for you because you might not like RPGs and their rules as much as I do.

EDIT: ON the other hand, if you are just after the pretty graphics of Oblivion, Morrowind can be modded [http://forums.encyclopediadramatica.com/showthread.php?p=321965] to look better than Oblivion.

Thank you very much for posting that Morrowind link! I've been meaning to mod it for ages but never really could be assed to actually do anything about it. That was a nifty thread. And by Blind Io, does it look awesome.

As for the question in the OP: depends. I don't really like the game. I've bought it for both PC and PS3 but I never got more than 5 or 6 hours in before walking away in disgust. So much squandered potential. I recommend Daggerfall or Morrowind if you want some Elder Scroll games.

Oblivion is not very good. Animations are bad, conversations feels like talking to a robot, dialogues are simple and stilted and I don't really care for the main plot. Oh, and the inventory system is a joke (that can be modded to actually be functional.)

If you decide to play it I recommend getting it on the PC as that will allow you to correct a lot of design flaws and even make it a pretty game.

 

[Ossian]

People tell me its deep and worth playing, I've never really gotten into it. The combat is horribly boring. "left click, dodge, left click, dodge. Magic attack, dodge, left click...." repeat for the entire game...

World feels kinda empty, even though there are a ton of NPCs. When I play bioware games I don't get this same feeling, heck, I don't get that same feeling from Fallout 3/New Veg.

People claim these mystical mods make it awesome, yet I've never seen anyone suggest one in particular.

I beg of someone, PLEASE tell me different, show me the light. I have a sickness that troubles me when people have fun playing a video game that is supposed to be GOTY etc and I can't even have a wee bit of fun playing it.