Skyrim European-ish ?

[aquarius87]

Ola !

Don't know if any of you people ever thought about it, as I do, but TESV: Skyrim has a certain European RPG feel to it...especially compared to Oblivion.

Now...please let me explain

As a huge RPG fan, I've played a lot of different games in this genre. From Fallout to Pokemon...
It's a fact that most European RPG's tend to be a lot more darker and grittier than American RPG's and not only in it's use of colours.
(Japanese RPG's can sometimes be completely bonkers, but that's beside the point )

Of course, you've all heard of The Witcher (Polish developers)... this game is know for it's adult content and dark atmosphere.
I bet less of you ever heard of the Gothic series (German developers). This game too, had a very heavy atmosphere (and was unforgiving and sometimes brutally hard)
To get back on topic: Skyrim seems to have taken a lot of hints from games like these.

Gothic was known for making the npc's act like they're actually busy with their own lives, apart from the protagonists quests.
Oblivion sometimes failed to convince me, with its robot like movements and cut-paste-conversations. Skyrim nails it, just like Gothic did.

Also, American games tend to have lighter and brighter colours, visually.
Oblivion's Orcs nearly lit up in the dark. Even Dragon Age's colour scheme was pretty bright (even if Bioware said they where aiming for a dark fantasy )
Arcania: Gothic 4 even lets you choose the colour scheme in the option menu (American or European).

As for the more adult content...
Skyrim starts of with a beheading and I won't mention some stuff you see while questing for the Dark Brotherhood...

Don't me wrong, I'm Dutch, so I love gritty, atmospheric games !
There's only one thing games like Gothic and The Witcher offer, that The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim still hasn't: nude romance scenes 0

 

[SidingWithTheEnemy]

Uhm, while I do see your point Gothic 4 wasn't that dark and gritty... Granted it was not as childish as Fable but Dragon Age felt to be more aimed at a mature audience than Gothic 4, but maybe that's just my opinion.

The problem about the lack of some natural sexuality in American games has been already discussed a few times. It's a typical American problem Sorry, I meant feature.

 

[Smooth Operator]

"-ish"? Well I don't know about others but that Nordic theme is a bit hard to miss.

Wouldn't mind a bit of variety though, looking at the same environment in a game of this length get's quite dull.
They could easily do a hot spring / geyser area with lush flora, or an underground city where they only have lava for lighting, hell do a water level, everyone loves those

 

[Loop Stricken]

Ish?

Ish?!

Nords are practically Viking in all but name; damn right it's got a European feel.
Shame they sound like a cross between Swedish and Canadian though.

They could easily do a hot spring / geyser area with lush flora, or an underground city where they only have lava for lighting, hell do a water level, everyone loves those

I take it you haven't been to Blackreach yet? Place was gorgeous.

 

[RanD00M]

Well there are a lot of Nordic/Icelandic names in the game from what I have noticed watching my friend play. Like Heimskr, the preacher for Talos in Whiterun. Well Heimskur isn't really a name, but idiot. And I do mean that heimskur means idiot. Also Gerdur is just just Gerður with a regular D. I would name more shit but can't remember them at the time.

 

[Arrk]

Well, one of the Companions is named Vilkas, which is Lithuanian for Wolf.

 

[aquarius87]

"-ish"? Well I don't know about others but that Nordic theme is a bit hard to miss.

with European-"ish" I meant "like the game was made by European developers"

 

[BrotherSurplice]

There's only one thing games like Gothic and The Witcher offer, that The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim still hasn't: nude romance scenes 0

Don't worry; I'm sure the modders will fix that soon enough

 

[EmperorSubcutaneous]

Wow, proof that 4 out of 5 posters don't read past the thread title.

Anyway, I haven't played any European RPGs so I can't really contribute to this thread.

 

[Areani]

I wonder if the writers took some hints from old nordic/Icelandic sagas since they tend to be pretty grim. Some quests kinda have that gritty realistic feeling, but they also tend to be... silly at times.

Well, one of the Companions is named Vilkas, which is Lithuanian for Wolf.

And Farkas which is Hungarian for Wolf.

 

[Loop Stricken]

Wow, proof that 4 out of 5 posters don't read past the thread title.

Anyway, I haven't played any European RPGs so I can't really contribute to this thread.

Yeah, I went back and re-read it. Basically I think it's difficult to justify bright green snow, so in a land like Skyrim your colour palette is pretty much well-defined anyway.
The Dwemer ruins and Blackreach are very nice departures from all the bloody rocks and trees though.

 

[Switchblade 327]

There's only one thing games like Gothic and The Witcher offer, that The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim still hasn't: nude romance scenes 0

Don't worry; I'm sure the modders will fix that soon enough

Well, the Skyrim Nexus (because the nexus sites are my personal favorite for Bethesda game mods) already has several different nude patches, so we're almost there. A few new animations and a little script doodling and it shouldn't be too long.

 

[Valdsator]

I've noticed how similar Skyrim is to Gothic 1 and 2, which just makes it cooler. Gothic is a great series.

 

[Sigmund Av Volsung]

It's more northern/north east european.
Incidentally, I'm from a country which is in northern europe, and yeah, there are a lot of norwegian-ish names, some danish names and viking mythology included so there.
Also, in my language Vilkas(a Companion in Whiterun) translates as wolf, weirdly.

 

[Shirastro]

Dear god people read the damn thread before you post.

He isn't talking about the setting but about the atmosphere of the game.