Skyrim is bad and overrated(change my opinion)

[User12k1]

I know a lot of folks liked that game and it was praised by everything. But what about it makes it so good? I tried playing it even managed to finish the main campaign, the civil quest, dark brotherhood basically every side quest-line(not all quests though) and here are my problems with the game or rather problems that no one mentions.

- The writing is weak- From the beginning to end there is no sign of humor, everyone is either sad or angry.
- The animation is bad- Yes the character animation isn't up to the mark neither is the dragon flying or anything else.
- The physics are bad and the map is unnecessarily stretched- I realize that the world is huge but there is no point in it if it's just empty, granted there are dungeons every here and there but they are all pretty much the same; go though here, kill these guys, take the stuff, get out of here.
- None of the quests are fun- Most of the time you are just running and galloping across lands to fetch something that character A asked you to get, then do something and repeat.
-It just never becomes fun- Combat is weak and outright boring, enemy types are few variations of same thing, and there is no variety to it, like dodging or stunning, shouts have no other effect then your basic spell except you press a different button. It all just very static.

Now there are many things I could point out but it all boils down to work vs fun ratio, everything is unnecessarily stretched , simply in order to talk to the Greybeards and learn shouts and have few minutes of actual gameplay you have to run for ten times those minutes, not to mention the map is ridiculous, they show you everything except the roadways to destination(or any other area) which becomes really necessary when you have to climb a mountain and there is only one particular way in it's whole surface that you could use. Oh and you run slow as hell while travelling on horses is barely any faster, and that's not even fun, take saints row 4 for example, you have to get from point A to B in that too but you have superpowers, good music, and funny commentary from your other character.

I am not saying Skyrim lacks content, there is plenty of it but the whole thing is stretched way way too much that everything becomes a chore.

Thats my complain with it- everything is a chore so tiresome that the reward is barely worth it.

 

[tippy2k2]

Why do you want/need us to change your opinion? You're allowed to like and not like things. It is not against the CoC to not like something.

Anywho, I didn't like Skyrim all that because the AI + Stealth equaled a broken game. The guys you fought were just plain too stupid to be any kind of a challenge. My normal interaction became...

Four bandits in a cave; I shoot one with an arrow and he dies
"WHAT WAS THAT!?!? SEARCH THE TEN SQUARE FEET!"
"Huh...must have been my imagination"
Shoot Bandit #2
"WHAT WAS THAT!?!? SEARCH THE TEN SQUARE FEET!"
"Huh...must have been my imagination"
Shoot Bandit #3
"WHAT WAS THAT!?!? SEARCH THE TEN SQUARE FEET!"
"Huh...must have been my imagination"
Shoot Bandit #4

Well that was easy; four dead bandits and each one of them thought that the pile of dead people next to them was just their imagination

I played it for a while so it had a lot going for it but the game would never be considered one of my top games with how bad the AI is alone. A minimal story that gives you no real reason to care sure doesn't help either...

 

[mavkiel]

Of course its bad and overrated. Its quests.. were horrific. At least in oblivion there were a few quests that were really fun. In skyrim its just a rush to get it over with. And the spells.. dear god, I didn't think it was possible to make magic boring, but they managed it.

That being said, where it shines is mods. Some of the player created content for the game makes things interesting. Companions/quests/spells that actually make the game enjoyable.

 

[Lightspeaker]

- The writing is weak- From the beginning to end there is no sign of humor, everyone is either sad or angry.
...
- None of the quests are fun- Most of the time you are just running and galloping across lands to fetch something that character A asked you to get, then do something and repeat.

Writing and quest design was way worse than Oblivion. I don't think many people dispute that. A lot of the side quest lines, in particular, were much poorer. Dark Brotherhood is the one that really stands out for me as being a total disappointment compared to that in Oblivion.

- The animation is bad- Yes the character animation isn't up to the mark neither is the dragon flying or anything else.

Not only that it can get very buggy as well. I've seen some incredibly silly animation glitches, it gets even worse with animation mods that conflict sometimes.


However...

- The physics are bad and the map is unnecessarily stretched- I realize that the world is huge but there is no point in it if it's just empty, granted there are dungeons every here and there but they are all pretty much the same; go though here, kill these guys, take the stuff, get out of here.

...

Now there are many things I could point out but it all boils down to work vs fun ratio, everything is unnecessarily stretched , simply in order to talk to the Greybeards and learn shouts and have few minutes of actual gameplay you have to run for ten times those minutes, not to mention the map is ridiculous, they show you everything except the roadways to destination(or any other area) which becomes really necessary when you have to climb a mountain and there is only one particular way in it's whole surface that you could use. Oh and you run slow as hell while travelling on horses is barely any faster, and that's not even fun, take saints row 4 for example, you have to get from point A to B in that too but you have superpowers, good music, and funny commentary from your other character.

I am not saying Skyrim lacks content, there is plenty of it but the whole thing is stretched way way too much that everything becomes a chore.

Thats my complain with it- everything is a chore so tiresome that the reward is barely worth it.

This right here is why people like the game and apparently why you didn't. The world is huge and if you think its empty you're not looking hard enough. Its in the details rather than having a dungeon every ten feet or more loot to find. Details like a burned out hut in the wilderness with a scorched skeleton inside, a ritual circle set up and a scroll to summon a Flame Atronach dropped in the middle of it all. Little things added in the middle of nowhere.

You saying (paraphrased) "you run for ten times that to get a few minutes of gameplay". For those that like it that "ten times that" is also gameplay. It took me in the region of forty hours to even think about heading up the mountain the first time I played Skyrim. Because the best part of the game for many isn't the story. And it isn't in the fairly simple combat. And it isn't the side quest lines, not really. Its poking about to see what you can find.

The trick is to slap a few mods on it and just immerse yourself in it. If that doesn't work for you then you won't like it. And nothing anyone can say will convince you otherwise.

That being said...horses were terrible in Skyrim. For some reason I much preferred how they worked in Oblivion.

 

[flying_whimsy]

Of course its bad and overrated. Its quests.. were horrific. At least in oblivion there were a few quests that were really fun. In skyrim its just a rush to get it over with. And the spells.. dear god, I didn't think it was possible to make magic boring, but they managed it.

That being said, where it shines is mods. Some of the player created content for the game makes things interesting. Companions/quests/spells that actually make the game enjoyable.

That's pretty much bang on for the game, especially when compared to oblivion. I think it was held back too much by having to come out on the 360 and the magic system was a joke. The dungeons weren't even that unique: once you'd seen one of each type you'd seen them all. But I did love the atmostphere of it, which is what the mods did a really good job putting front and center. If it weren't for the infinite modding potential I'd have moved on to something else by now.

I still play skyrim, but it's worth pointing out that the writing is one of the things that drives me nuts and keeps me just screwing around rather than doing quests. It's like an exercise in wasted potential: the dwemer ruins, the civil war, and the fact that the dragonborn doesn't become emperor at the end are all the things that really killed it for me by the end of my first playthrough. Plus there was a general blandness to most of the mainline stuff: the quests and characters I enjoyed the most were all way off to the side.

Don't get me wrong, I think it's a damn good game, but it could easily have been great. And that's what makes it bad.

 

[Seishisha]

The map size, yes it is big but there is actualy a ton of stuff all over the place, im not just talking about dungeons either, statue's, graveyards, abondoned buildings all manner of things litter the landscape, it can be very easy to miss these things especialy if you stick the roads like glue.

For me atleast all the games best moments came from finding somthing in the wilds, a camp here a troll cave there, i did the storyline quest's and some of the side missions, the ones that interested me or aligned with my character build but it was never my main focus in the game.

Traveling can certainly feel abit dull the first time round but fortunatly back-tracking is a non issue with the fast travel being available once you visit an area and if you dont like the immersion breaking mechanic you can pay a pittance to be driven too any of the nine holds.

Some mods can help with the combat balance assuming your on PC but nothing can fix the overall mechanics or enemy variety. I did hear that the dragonborn DLC contains much better quest's and characters, though i have never tried it myself. I guess it is worth mentioning you can stun enemies with certain attacks but they do require the perk in order to execute which is a shame as being able to use these actions all the time would have added greater depth. Dodging attacks realy is all about weaving in and out with the movement keys, a valid tactic on harder difficulty settings.

The dragon shouts varied from pointless to overpowered, seriously i never used disctraction whisper but i knocked my share of giants down hills and insta killed them with a good old fusrodah.

Ultimatly the game is flawed but does offer some diversions, it's hardly a terrible experiance and you yourself said you completed alot of the game so i suspect you enjoyed some parts despite the niggles otherwise i doubt you'd have gotten that far.

 

[WouldYouKindly]

The combat is stale unbalanced nonsense. The world is populated by people who aren't dead but definitely don't seem actually alive. The physics engine does not apply to horses. The bad is out of the way.

It allows for a few great moments, like taking a strafing dragon out of the sky with an arrow and watching it crash to the earth is really satisfying. It also allows for some great moments when the engine just cocks up and you get hilarity like dragons flying backwards.

The exploration is really the only thing I feel it did very well. There are lots of rewards for just wandering around and that's great because you end up doing a hell of a lot of wandering. It's not bad, it's just blah most of the time, but that lets a few really awesome or really funny moments shine.

 

[hybridial]

The way I feel about the game is yeah, it's definitely very flawed and has far too much ambition that it didn't even come close to living up to (it's not like most developers set out to make a bad game, they had some AMAZING ideas for it that could never have realistically come to pass in the time and budget they had, a common problem with that dev team)

But I feel treating it as simply an experience where you get to be a hero and a badass dragon slayer and wander around one of the most convincing (on the surface) worlds in a videogame, it can be really fun for the first 60 hours or so.

After that, best mod or leave alone

 

[Tayh]

-snip-

Thats my complain with it- everything is a chore so tiresome that the reward is barely worth it.

On one hand, I'd like to agree with everything you just said.
On the other hand, mods pretty much fix 100% of your criticisms.
Just check out the Nexus modding community.
There's interesting npc's, animation overhauls/tweaks/additions, sneak overhauls to make sneaking less overpowered and more balanced, new voiced quests that brings you to new lands and interiors and tons of combat overhauls.

Just name it and I could probably find a mod for it.

 

[Fieldy409_v1legacy]

I think the combat is awesome, run run, stab bandits oh shit he's about to throw a spell at me, invincibility shout to close so I can hack at him! Health low, quick switch my axe for two heal spells oh I can use invicibility shout again CHARGE! Summon a skeleton to hit that guy over there and summon another bound axe!

If I get too powerful and roflstomp everything even on legendary it's time for a new character.

 

[necromanzer52]

Here's a massive world for you to explore. Go nuts.

That's why I like skyrim. Is it a perfect game? Hell no. All your complaints are valid. But for me they're all easily overlooked by the simple fact that I love exploration.

 

[Vivi22]

The game has it's issues, but thankfully it's substantially better than Oblivion in nearly every way (I'd argue the writing and gameplay in some of Oblivion's quest lines is better, but that's about it). And maybe it's just the Canadian in me coming out, but I like exploring the frozen wastes of Skyrim. It's like winter but without having to go outside and blow snow out of the driveway or get cold.

 

[Truth Cake]

... why do we need to change your opinion? Seems kind of a silly thing to say... what are we supposed to be like 'YOUR OPINION DOESN'T AGREE WITH MINE THEREFORE IT'S WRONG!'... then again, this IS the internet... well whatever, I don't care enough to so I'll just throw my own meaningless opinion out there.

The writing? Yeah it's far from good. The quests... I can't remember any off the top of my head except for a couple Dark Brotherhood quests and a couple of the main storyline, so obviously they weren't particularly good.

The AI? Well this *is* an Elder Scrolls game, which are well known for their AI and not in a good way. But if you play an Elder Scrolls game at this point and expect competent AI, then your expectations had best soon be curbed or you're only in for major disappointment.

The combat? Yeah, it's a bunch of floaty, generally unimpactful nonsense- oh, I cleaved a mage who's wearing nothing but a robe in half with my giant battleaxe that's as big as he is? Yeah, that's about a quarter of his health (if even) as my gigantic axe apparently only grazes his abdomen with no sense of impact or wound (come on Bethesda, Fallout 3 at least had an attempt at persistent limb wounds and that was in 2008, why'd you just give up?) so it may as well not have even happened save for his decreased health. But then I'm a slight veteran of the Elder Scrolls series (only played Oblivion otherwise) so I entered expecting that.

But I don't know, I still thought it was fun in a silly kind of way. Overrated? Yeah, a lot of people preach it to be much more than it is, but I don't think it was bad per say. Not the best thing ever by far, but I'd say I got my money's worth of fun with it at least.

 

[Maphysto]

No one is going to change your opinion because you've already made up your mind. If you don't like it, that's perfectly fine. You're allowed not to like things. But people have different tastes, dude. Just because you don't like a thing, that doesn't mean it's bad, and just because a lot of people like it doesn't make it overrated. And calling out the people who do like it with trolly "come at me bro" thread is kinda lame. Just sayin'.

 

[Chester Rabbit]

Uuuh no? If you want your opinion changed do your own research and maybe push yourself to play more of the game and see if you end up enjoying it.

 

[Fieldy409_v1legacy]

Also am I the only one who finds it ironic all these threads usually go 'I've only played Skyrim long enough to finish all the quests'

That's a pretty massive time investment for something you don't like, what are you a masochist? If I don't like a game I'm lucky to hit two hours.

 

[Bobic]

I've never understood these threads. If playing the game didn't get you to enjoy it, what hope do we have? I'm not sure there exists an argument that could make you see the game in a whole new light, unless there's some weird meta thing we can throw at you ("dude, of course Starship Troopers is dumb, militaristic nonsense, it's a satire of dumb, militaristic nonsense"). You played it and it didn't click with you, that happens. I didn't enjoy it either, I found it really boring, but, you know, different strokes for different folks. People like different things, and enjoyment is often entirely subjective, and while it can be a lot of fun, and really quite interesting, to discuss why we enjoy certain things, starting such a conversation in such a standoff-ish manner is just going to annoy everyone involved.

 

[Neurotic Void Melody]

*Looks at join date*

*Looks at post count*

...interesting...

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Hello and welcome to the middle of the film The Escapist. You're entitled to your opinion. Nobody has to change it.

 

[Drops a Sweet Katana]

Ladies and gentlemen, feast your eyes on this relic from the long forgotten age of 2011: an 'I think Skyrim is overrated' thread!

If you don't like it or find it fun, don't play it. The game is flawed to say the least without mods. No one's forcing you to play it. Plus I'd wager no one wants to change your opinion of it.