Skyrim: Get or Not Get

[Feraswondervahnn]

I never understood Skyrim. I played about 20 hours in the end and just had nothing to show for it. The combat is simple, boring. If you use stealth then once stealth has reached 100 you are pretty much unstoppable. I admit that walking around the world was pretty cool for a little while, big old mountains and such to climb. This was until I realised if you've climbed a mountain, walked through a foresty area and then crossed a river then you had seen everything the world had to offer.

If you want a big old exploration game then yeah get it. If you want a game with substance and a story then don't.

 

[gorfias]

Good old Skyrim....
<youtube=lsqiSknjHK8>
What it lacks though, and this is what saddens me the most, is meaningful consequence.

Agreed: get it now, but I am puzzled by consequences. I was trying to save a magic tree, but caused havoc in a sanctuary trying to get some sap I was told to leave alone. Good people died due to my choice. So far, sucks to be them, but nothing bad appears to have happened to my character.

What I love most about the PC version of this game is the ability to use cheats and mods. I was pretty bored with this game till I started doing this sort of thing. Now I can focus on sights and story that used to be getting me killed! I've got about 40 hours into it. Well worth the 20ish bucks I'm seeing for it.

 

[SajuukKhar]

Agreed: get it now, but I am puzzled by consequences. I was trying to save a magic tree, but caused havoc in a sanctuary trying to get some sap I was told to leave alone. Good people died due to my choice. So far, sucks to be them, but nothing bad appears to have happened to my character.

You basically killed the tree you got the sap from, but at the same time the tree in Whtierun gets restored.

Had you take the other path, the tree in the cave lives, and while the tree in Whiterun remains dead, you get a sapling to replace it. They eventually cut down the big tree in Whtierun and put the new sapling in it's place.

 

[Sonicron]

There are soooo many aspects to mention about Skyrim, both in pros and cons, but I see other forumites are already busy covering that angle, so I'll leave you with a personal note instead.
I've never been much of an RPG player, a trait I put down mostly to both limited free time and attention span. I only played through vanilla Skyrim once, exploring much (but not all) of its content, and I racked up around 120 hours. I enjoyed every moment.

 

[dimensional]

If you have waited this long I would hold off for the game of the year edition and wait till that gets discounted shouldnt be more than a few years away but what I have played it is quite a good game and if you liked Oblivion you nwill probbaly like Skyrim.

I wouldnt get it in the steam sales though that price is a tad expensive for such an old game if you can find it in a shop you will likely get it cheaper I saw it for 12 pounds yesterday (still bit pricey for me but then I know I can just borrow it for free) that was the 360 version however. If you dont mind the cost I would say get it as from what I have played its fun but the longer you wait the better deal you will get as 50% off isnt that great a deal to my mind.

I would check online first as I reckon you could get a new boxed copy for about the same price or cheaper than it is on steam atm.

 

[DalekJaas]

Of course you should get it, I find it hard to believe that your mind isn't already made up on the matter. It is a great game, perhaps not the best Elder Scrolls, but still better than most releases over the last year.

 

[Azahul]

I just bought the game from the same sale yesterday (and played about 10 hours). I'll admit, I'm already finding the combat fairly boring, and it's sort of sad that the hardest fight I've had so far has been against a bear, or possibly a troll, rather than any of the four dragons I've already killed.

Despite that though, I am enjoying myself. I'm getting my $30 worth, anyway. When you're a low level there's still a good bit of tension in the game, and trying to pick off a mammoth for its horns (some miscellaneous quest) while dodging the rest of the herd and their attendant giants has been great fun. I've been playing an Orc berserker, since the game I was playing right before this was Of Orcs and Men (which I bought in the same sale, and it is a fantastic, if very different, RPG that I heartily recommend), although I've been dabbling in some stealth and archery, the former because it comes naturally in the dungeon crawling when I'm on the lookout for traps, and the latter because I need something to do while those dragons are doing their strafing attack.

 

[gorfias]

Agreed: get it now, but I am puzzled by consequences. I was trying to save a magic tree, but caused havoc in a sanctuary trying to get some sap I was told to leave alone. Good people died due to my choice. So far, sucks to be them, but nothing bad appears to have happened to my character.

You basically killed the tree you got the sap from, but at the same time the tree in Whtierun gets restored.

Had you take the other path, the tree in the cave lives, and while the tree in Whiterun remains dead, you get a sapling to replace it. They eventually cut down the big tree in Whtierun and put the new sapling in it's place.

Drat. That is better. Now I'm a werewolf and I'm killing people with Silver Swords. I get the impression they may be innocent monster hunters.

 

[Rose and Thorn]

I think Skyrim is a must have for RPG players. I love that game. I really don't have any gripes with it, I would if I had it for PS3, but I don't.

Great game.

 

[Padwolf]

I loved the game, it's a big world and it lets my imagination run wild. There is so much to do and see, admittedly I found some dungeons boring, but there is more than enough that makes up for the small gripes I have. The player economy is not a problem at all. I sunk in over 200 hours on the xbox version of the game. There I so much to explore. They books are good fun to read through too, the lore is interesting. The game is not overrated at all in my opinion, I say get it, get it and have fun fighting dragons, have fun shouting people off cliffs, have fun doing whatever you please.

 

[Headdrivehardscrew]

What? Economy? This ain't Sid Meier we're talking about here? If you don't like the price tags, just bring a bucket and skillfully place it on people's heads. A bucket's worth a thousand shilling in the bush.

Come on, you absolutely need to play Skyrim. There's no way around it. It's buggy, it's at times ugly and mean, but it's not something you want to miss. I think the click-click-clickedy click combat can be sucky, but if you've got a battle-hardened mouse that is your mouse and allows you to become one with, or, alternatively, a wireless game pad controller of sorts, you absolutely need to give Skyrim a spin. Even if you should decide to not like the game, the mods alone are the best thing since Barbie's Dreamhouse and model trains. You know you want it, so get it.

 

[hazabaza1]

In terms of content, I think TotalBiscuit can sum up Skyrim fairly easily:
"As wide as an ocean but as deep as a puddle"
Everything apart from the amount of content is fairly simplistic, but get a few mods to make the combat play better and get more of the "immersion" factor (darker dungeons, removing level scaling, etc) then it becomes pretty fun.

 

[Mister K]

For me, this game has more cons than pros:

Cons: story, characters, gameplay itself, lack of stats, enemies level up with you(makes leveling your character up kind of obsolete),coersion is poorly done+ bugs, but thats problem with all Bethesda games.

Pros: crafting, perks.

Could be better: leveling system. While I do like that you level up as you gain expirience with your skills, this system has two major flaws: 1) It depends more on grind than on questing; 2) To max out your level, you'll need to max EVERY SINGLE skill. Why couldn't it be done as in Oblivion: pick a set of skills, raise them, level up and boost minor skills if you want to. In Skyrim, your dashing rogue conjurer simply must swing two-handed weapons and wear a heavy armor. It may not be a problem for those, who don't care about level, but I personally like to max out everything possible in RPG's.

 

[ZippyDSMlee]

The big sand box Bethesda games need to be purchased when they release all the DLC, IE get the game of the year edition.

As far as game play goes its a joke, but it can be fun.

 

[The White Hunter]

shouting people off cliffs

This is all you need to know about the game really. GFet heavy armour and a warhammer just in case they somehow can't be shouted off a cliff.

OT: Drab combat but a pretty world and a shitload of exploration to do, I definately recommend it on PC and I'll be rebuying it on PC soon.

 

[spartan231490]

Skyrim is currently discounted by 50% on Steam, and the discount goes in 15 hours. I've heard good things about the game, but also gripes about the imbalanced in-game economy, the constant bugs and the fact that it's 'overrated'.
Come on Escapists, win me over. Should I buy it?

YES.
There hasn't been a game that came out since that I would rather play. If i had to give up all of my games one by one, skyrim would be one of the last 3.

 

[Acton Hank]

It's a boring repetitive piece of trash with a shit lock pick mechanic and shit combat on top of numerous graphical and gameplay glitches.

If that sounds good to you then knock yourself out. If not then you'd probably extract more enjoyment from getting your crotch waxed.

 

[babinro]

Wait for the Game of the Year edition next year.

I should say that Skyrim is a major disappointment of a game for me personally. I put well over 300 hours into Oblivion and so when Skyrim came out I was psyched. All of the game of the year claims only helped boost my enthusiasm.

In the end I only put about 65 hours into Skyrim before giving up on it.
The game was a let down in terms of hype, but still worth the $60.00 price tag.

Pros
- If you like prior Elder Scrolls titles, you'll like Skyrim
- There are a few memorable moments and quests
- Huge modding community allow you to tailor this game significantly to your liking
- Dynamic character leveling, your skills are boosted based on what you do. Blocking a lot raises your block. Taking hits raises your armor. Attacking with offensive spells improves your offensive magic.

Cons
- The combat system is terrible. It's an improvement over Oblivion but feels seriously dated for this generation of gaming. Think of how Resident Evil controls are terrible for it's genre and you've got Elder Scroll combat.
- The game offers a lot of choice but the impacts of your decisions are hardly noticeable.
- This is basically an oblivion expansion with updated graphics and a few minor improvements.
- Massive amounts of grind built into the game in terms of character leveling
- It's a Bethesda game, save often, save of different files, and expect glitches.

If you've NEVER played a prior Elder Scrolls game than give it a try.
It's very hit or miss based on your preferences.
If combat and gameplay seriously matter to you over choice and story, pass on this game.

5 / 10

 

[epidemia]

You should definitely buy it. Yes its flawed but its one of those games that will take quite a few hours before they become apparent. I would personally reccomend not wasting your time with the crafting though because you will already be spending waaaaaay too much time selling junk so why sit and stare at yet another user interface instead of exploring and killing? In fact, Ive found that bethesda games are best played as a nomad who doesnt buy or sell anything at all. and just runs around wherever he feels like it, looting whatever dungeons he happens to be near and often completing quests inadvertently.