So, now that the honeymoon period is over... (Skyrim thread)

[3quency]

5. Pick a personality for your character. This could also include a backstory, aspirations, etc. Stick to this as much as possible. I find I have more fun with characters if I'm not afraid to turn down some quests they wouldn't take because of their personality. For example, the character I was playing earlier is Master of the Thieves guild and slightly vain, so she doesn't take delivery quests or other menial tasks. She thinks its beneath her.

Pretty much this.
It actually took a horribly immersion-breaking OOC moment to make me realise I was actually putting more into the game than there actually is. I enjoy it because I'm thinking more as my character than anything else. The voice-acting isn't too horrible so most of the time I read between the lines in conversations to actually feel like my character.

 

[Jitters Caffeine]

*snip

It all comes down to how much that stuff bothers you. If those things are enough to ruin the game for you then there's nothing really for me to say. They didn't bother me. And yes, I acknowledge the characters are (mostly) forgettable, and most of your other points.

The difference might be partially attributed to looking for different core engagements (see the last three Extra Credits episodes on Western and JRPGs), but I largely think it just comes down to taste.

The only thing I will comment on is your statement that it is "unimmersive." Immersion, I think is a term that is bandied about too much. Immersion is really a personal experience. What makes a game immersive to one person might be the very thing that makes it unimmersive to another. Saying "I was immersed" is fine, but calling the game itself immersive, I think, is misleading. The reason is probably tied to the fact that most people have different things that pull them out of the experience. For you it was the skill system and wooden nature of the NPCs. For me it's a game's HUD. There's no one formula.

You're very correct. Those two things are my biggest irks about the game. Like I said originally though, I wouldn't say the game is "bad" but my experience with the game was one of tedium and boredom. All of these things are subjective, true. But that's kind of how discussions work. There are really not "factual" arguments that can be made for either side. Since what I hate about the game can be something that absolutely MADE the game for someone else. But I think whether or not a game is labeled as immersive is a very valid point for or against a game. Especially one like this. It's meant to drop you into a world and play a character any way you want. I couldn't do that because the game stonewalled me from doing so with it's skill system and boring NPCs.

 

[WaReloaded]

Need higher Blacksmithing? Better craft Iron Daggers for 2 hours. Need higher Barter? Better sell all those Iron Daggers I made ONE AT A TIME.

I don't know why, but that made me laugh so hard. Don't worry, it's a good thing.

OT: I haven't played the game in around 3 weeks? But, that's only because my CPU overheated and I've been working towards repairing my PC, etc. Anyway, I still find Skyrim to be incredibly fun, however, I think Oblivion had a bigger impact on me as I just didn't put it down for the the entire time I had a 360 whereas with Skyrim, it's only been two months and I've already put it down...

 

[Scrustle]

I've been taking the game at a rather leisurely pace because I wanted it to last, and I'm still having as much fun with it as always. Although I'm not playing it as much as I did on release it's still one of my main go to games at the moment. I still think it's as great as when I first got it, but I am really ready for an expansion now. I've explored most of Skyrim and am pretty familiar with everything in it, it's time to change things up a bit.

 

[Jitters Caffeine]

I got a sort of burnout in the first week or so, but I'd still say it's great. While features like to combat or story don't excel over any games, it's probably still the best Elder Scrolls game I've played. Great game, not fantastic, but I'd rather play it over many others.

I can respect that. But you'll always find me in wandering the Wasteland LONG before you'll see me step foot in Tamriel again.

To be honest, I really want to get back into New Vegas, but I got it fully on steam, and it's big bloody download, so I've just been putting it off.
WHOOPS.

Did you get the DLC? New Vegas has some of THE best DLC you'll find for a game. Period. Every single on of them adds hours of content and a slew of interesting, dynamic characters. Not to mention TONS of new perks, weapons, and armors to play around with.

I got what people have called the good ones. Avoided Dead Money and... another one I forgot the name of.
But still, I should try it out soon. Should be enjoyable.

Dead Money is VERY difficult. It focuses on Skill Checks and Stealth over straight up combat, which is why you SHOULD NEVER do it if you're under level 20 or so. It's easily the weakest of them. Old World Blues and Lonesome Road are MUST have. Great characters, great environments, and Old World Blues had a GREAT light hearted attitude. Hell, it even has Rusty Venture as one of the voices. I couldn't help but say "HEY THERE RUSTY" every time I talked to Doctor 0.

If I was asked to rate them, I'd have to say:

Lonesome Road
Old World Blues
Honest Hearts
then Dead Money

If you're feeling like you need a few new toys to play with, I'd HIGHLY suggest getting Gun Runners' Arsenal. Literally TONS of new weapons and weapon mods. Some for pre-existing weapons too.

 

[Tripticon]

I thought it was a good game, more or less. But, I started playing Dark Souls not long after and felt far more engaged into that game.

Now, I know they are two distinctly different games with similar themes, but honestly, I never felt with Skyrim that anything new was really around the corner. Once you go few a few dungeons, every single quest is almost exactly the same. There is no real strategy to the enemies, every dungeon ends up looking pretty much the same and the quests really don't give you any true reward. There is so much potential in Skyrim, and it LOOKS pretty. And it is honestly pretty fun from time to time, but it FEELS more like a toy box than a game.

 

[Hosker]

It was fun for a while, but gets repetitive. Eventually I just felt like I was doing quests just for the sake of doing quests, and I wasn't having much fun. Still, it got me to play it for about 70 hours, so it must be doing something right.

 

[R Man]

I like Skyrim. Though it is a touch too grey. Some of the cities could use a dash of colour. Other than that it is good. Now the voice acting isn't great, but it is good enough and an improvement over Oblivion.

Seriously, some of these criticism don't make sense. How is the leveling system unintuitive? I would have though that it was the most immersive and intuitive of them all. To me it is reasonable that you would get better at a skill by actually using it.

And the criticism of item farming and Armour? What the hell? Skyrim is better about this than most games. For Skyrim the top end armours are pretty much equal with the right perks. Not to mention you can just resort to magic for all those wizards out there. Compare that to WOW or Dragon Age where not optimising defensive equipment is basically death, or makes it much more difficult.

 

[BathorysGraveland]

I personally stopped playing it so I could play through the Two Worlds games. The reason being is I'm waiting until Skyrim is completely stable, with all the patches released and a nice selection of mods to choose from. I played a good 60 or so hours of the vanilla version and that was enough. It was pretty good, definitely a complete improvement over Oblivion and I enjoyed it for quite the duration of those 60 hours. I also really enjoyed the variety of the game world, many different areas made Skyrim fun to explore and it was a wise idea to hand place everything rather than randomise it. The civil war was a fucking joke though, I saw no starving people on the streets, I saw no burned down villages or battlefields of corpses, I saw no people complaining of injustices done upon them due to the effects of the war. It was pretty half-arsed that bit. I imagine the game will really shine when the bigger mods are released.

 

[Astoria]

I've only started playing it recently but I've been watching my boyfriend since he got it and I adore it. I like the leveling system more than the one in Fallout (though I don't think it would work in those games) and the world is so much prettier and lively. Haven't got into it as obsessively as I did FO3 but I'm sure I'll put just as many hours into it. Unfortunately I've run into a pretty bad bug though but I'll keep playing because it's so fun.

 

[Jitters Caffeine]

I like Skyrim. Though it is a touch too grey. Some of the cities could use a dash of colour. Other than that it is good. Now the voice acting isn't great, but it is good enough and an improvement over Oblivion.

Seriously, some of these criticism don't make sense. How is the leveling system unintuitive? I would have though that it was the most immersive and intuitive of them all. To me it is reasonable that you would get better at a skill by actually using it.

And the criticism of item farming and Armour? What the hell? Skyrim is better about this than most games. For Skyrim the top end armours are pretty much equal with the right perks. Not to mention you can just resort to magic for all those wizards out there. Compare that to WOW or Dragon Age where not optimising defensive equipment is basically death, or makes it much more difficult.

I didn't say the skill system wasn't unintuitive. It's fairly clear on how it works. I'm saying the way the skill system works always has me in the mind set that I'm playing a game. I can never get into the world because in the back of my mind I know I'm going to miss out on the best I can get if I don't grind my Smithing to make and upgrade the best armor and weapons, grind my Enchanting so I can super charge them with the best enchantments, and grind my Apothecary to make Smithing and Enchantment potions so I can buff them to make even BETTER weapons and armor. I'm always AWARE that I'm in a game. The world feels sterile and lifeless because I don't feel like I'm interacting with it at all. Like I'm always looking in through a window.

I thought it was a good game, more or less. But, I started playing Dark Souls not long after and felt far more engaged into that game.

Now, I know they are two distinctly different games with similar themes, but honestly, I never felt with Skyrim that anything new was really around the corner. Once you go few a few dungeons, every single quest is almost exactly the same. There is no real strategy to the enemies, every dungeon ends up looking pretty much the same and the quests really don't give you any true reward. There is so much potential in Skyrim, and it LOOKS pretty. And it is honestly pretty fun from time to time, but it FEELS more like a toy box than a game.

Another Issue I have with the game. All the enemies and encounters can be broken down into very basic parts. Low to Mid level Melee attackers that will rush you right out of the gate. Low to Mid level Archers and Mages that will fire at you from afar then backpeddle away when you close in. Then one or two High level Magic users that will royally fuck you if you're in a small room. No matter who or what you're fighting, whether it's a Bandit camp or the Highest echelon of the Thalmor. That's what it's ALWAYS going to be. Unless it's a dragon. Then you're just going to wait for the fucker feels like landing for 10 minutes.

 

[TheFunPolice]

I'd been playing the Mount and Blade games for a while before I tried Skyrim, And I tried quite hard to get into the feel of the game, but to be honest, Skyrim felt Linear when compared to the Mount and blade games.

Skyrim had fancy graphics....That's about all it manages to beat when compared to Mount and Blade

Mount and blade has the best combat I've ever seen in a game, ever, and it's so much goddamn fun, With Skyrim it just feels like, okay...hit....hit...dead..There isn't any soul in Skyrim's combat

But you know, That's just my opinion, I just prefer to fight hordes of enemy's with my own personalized army, rather than fight about six on my own

 

[Tanakh]

Boring Combat

Colors Blended Together in a Gray and Brown Mix

Looked to Real Worldy

Sound

RPG is missing the RP parts

Leveling System Makes Game Harder

Leveling Forces You Into a Certain Skill
Bad Writing

For me it's an amazing game, the best RPG that i have played in a while and that includes Witcher 2, ME 3, DeusEx and some others, but my second favourite single player RP would be SW:ToR... so YMMV. As for this:

- Mod it, I found the combat too easy and modded it perfectly suit my tastes.

- Mod it, it's not even hard, 3-4 graphic mods and you will end with a game that looks glorious.

- Mhee, can't do anything for you, i liked that though.

- A little weak, but with only 2 mods it tunrs INCREDIBLY GOOD, with 4-6 more it has the best sound i have heard in a while.

- See at the end

- Mod it, make each skill progress as you feel comfotable with and till the level you want. Also I disagree, stealth is OP as crap

- Ahhh... an archer that uses bows is your issue?

- As for RP, this is what I loved the most, the sparse writing and sandbox style allowed me to BE the character. I remember when starting ME 3 hearing "how bad is it? bad, how long we have? not long" and thinking ok... get redy to get dumber by the minute just hearing the sotry; i don't like cheesy writing, i don't like the game to tell me who my toon is or why he is that way unless the writers are almost perfect, thus i rather take my mute dovahkiin than a specter whose lines don't express my feelings with that character and too often says something different that what the menu says he will.

That said, I think the game is glorious with 100 mods on PC, on a console? I am sure i would find it average.

 

[ms_sunlight]

I put a lot of hours into Skyrim. We're talking 200+ hours. Now, I think it's a very good game in many respects, but it also has serious shortcomings.

It has a lot of content, but much of that content is linear; even most of the story quests end up being follow-the-marker fetch quests. It has a lot of caves and dungeons, but although they're all unique, a lot of them aren't very well designed or interesting, most are incredibly linear in that, for all they twist and turn, there's one way through them (often with a locked gate or drop from a high ledge on the way out to act as a valve) so there's little exploring. They also start to look very samey after a while.

The most damning issue for me, though, is that I never really felt part of that world. Certainly, I could join factions and do their quests, but it didn't seem to affect how the rest of the world treated me apart from some colour commentary from NPCs. The faction questlines were also considerably shorter than the previous two Elder Scrolls titles. The radiant quests just added to this - after the first few times, I found "go there and kill this giant" or "go there and steal this thing" felt like chores and increased my alienation from the game world.

After playing a lot of Skyrim over Christmas, I went back and played through the main quest line of Morrowind, and the difference - both in terms of quality of dungeon design and in terms of immersion in the world - was staggering. Morrowind looks and plays like a 10-year-old game, but if you mod the graphics to bring it more up-to-date visually, it's a better game in every way than Skyrim can ever hope to be, because your choices matter. People care about who you join and what you do, and treat you differently because of it. The NPCs also have more personality, even without voice acting. I was thrilled to encounter some of them again.

Skyrim's real high point is exploration - there's nothing stopping you just going out there and exploring, and there's a lot to see. The scaled level enemies are much better implemented than in Oblivion, too; no bandits in glass armour or wandering hordes of minotaurs here.

All in all, they did a great job at creating an open world; they just did a crappy job at making your PC feel part of it.

 

[Tanakh]

-snip-

After reading this, it helps a lot to me that I play most my RPGs with my toon as an outsider that doesn't fit or want to fit into the world (an antihero of sorts). If I wanted to feel like a hero, it would certanly be somewhat dissapointing to play skyrim.

 

[spartan231490]

I love it. I still think it's one of the greatest games I've ever played.

 

[Galletea]

I love it. I love it almost as much as Fallout 3 and more than New Vegas. It might just be that everything else that has come out recently has been incredibly dull or sickeningly short, but I'll be 'rimmin for a while yet.

 

[poodlenoodles]

i was in the middle of a big post of how New Vegas broke my heart, then my computer crashed, so i'm just gonna say this. if New Vegas was as technically competent as skyrim, it would be the much better game. although the mods for skyrim make the experience a lot better too.

 

[black_knight1337]

I've been meaning to do a review on Skyrim for a while now. Over all I thought it was an amazing game. Yes it could of been better but I found that it was a step up from Oblivion.

@Jitters Caffeine
I found that the skill system in Tes is a hell of a lot better than that of Fallout. In Tes you get better at your skills by actually using them. In Fallout its do fetch quest #192, find a random hut or shoot a raider to somehow level up your lockpicking. Seriously wtf, it makes barely any sense at all.

Also for whoever said about being locked into skills from levelling up (I think it was Jitters). How is this even possible? You can freely switch between playstyles, which is something that I really like about Skyrim. You aren't locked into any specific build. If you want to try conjuration you can, if you want to switch to a pickpocket you can do that as well. If anything previous Tes games and Fallout lock you in a hell of a lot more than Skyrim. In them you are forced to stick with whatever you chose right at the start.

 

[Shock and Awe]

NPC's perception of the players character always struck me as pretty idiotic. I can't count how many times imperial guards treated me like an urchin despite being an imperial legate....in full armor.