Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

[Dandan]

It's more the possibility to do a whole number of things in an amazing game world without actually progressing I guess, It's largely a fantasy sandbox. But some of the quests and things are really great as well. I remember that one cool quest in Oblivion about an artist who went missing, and your search eventually led to you discovering that he had entered his painting, and you have to go in after him. The world you enter is like a forest, but all styled like an oil painting. And that was just a side quest!

you mean this video?

 

[Paulaner]

I'm not that familiar with the Elder Scrolls series, so could someone tell me what is so great about it? Is it the story, the big world, ...?

Exploration, exploration and more exploration. You can really get lost in the huge, awesome game world.

 

[Ren.182]

I'm not that familiar with the Elder Scrolls series, so could someone tell me what is so great about it? Is it the story, the big world, ...?

It's a gaping hole in my gaming culture.

You can steal everything!

 

[Tagaziel]

I'm not that familiar with the Elder Scrolls series, so could someone tell me what is so great about it? Is it the story, the big world, ...?

It's a gaping hole in my gaming culture.

I'll break it down for you. The Elder Scrolls is basically a landmark series in the RPG market with the same point-of-view and basic gameplay ever since TES1: Arena in 1994. It's a series of first person perspective RPG/adventure games. The series' high point was Daggerfall, which allowed for (quite literally) creating a second life and practically infinite possibilites with nearly half-a-milion square miles of terrain, fifteen thousand locations and a decent story to boot. It was also buggy (a staple of Bethesda games).

Morrowind, TES3, is the second best game in the series, boasting an interesting story with an unconventional role the player's character plays in it (basically, you're being set up to fit the prophecy, rather than being the guy the prophecy promised). Its most interesting feature was the culture, environment and history of the island of Vvardenfell, which disregarded many fantasy conventions in favour of estabilishing something truly original. It's awesome and you should play it. It includes everything, from slavery, through political intrigue, to going Indiana Jones on Dwemer and Daedric ruins. And it has some really awesome original content, lots of writing and books, and a host of great mods.

Oblivion, TES4, is (to me and other die-hard RPGamers) the low point of the series. It disregards previously estabilished lore, particularly about the setting of Cyrodil, in favour of creating a gameworld that's a Lord of the Rings derivative, rather than something original in the vein of Morrowind. While it's been praised a lot, a lot of it sounds like false praise, since reviewers tended to pull a Rybicki maneuver and every item they praised suddenly became a load of crap when Fallout 3 was released. It has less content than Morrowind, poor writing, potato sack FaceGen (ie. bad), a crappy story that disregards TES lore and in general is just not worth the time as a vanilla release. It's also handholding: quests are linear (with some exceptions) and you're not permitted to make mistakes. It even goes so far as deciding for you what to do.

I'm waiting on Skyrim, but I don't expect Bethesda to improve. Hopefully, I'll be pleasantly surprised.

EDIT: Rundown of a three hour gameplay stream: http://www.rpgcodex.net/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=66117

 

[morgs]

Good post, thanks for that link too. Good to see vampires are back (hopefully not vincent!) and WEREWOLVES!

 

[DEATH eVADER]

There has ben a handful of videos come out, but are no taken down. I suppose its for the best, we don't want to first 20 minutes spoil our gaming

 

[Dynasty]

Well I succumbed to the first 21 minute video when it came out, and had to admit I was left a tad underwhelmed. The animations (on the 360) looked far too similar to Fallout\s, it didnt look that pretty (hur hur, PC vs Console again), it has Vats-style finishing moves again...still getting it though for the sheer volume of content.

 

[Mirage]

Definitely more like Morrowind in terms of atmosphere and variety

^^From a rundown of that video posted above. Hoping it's true.

 

[Unfocused]

Didn't anyone think that Morrowind felt kind of... empty and unreal (and not in the good sense)? I tried a few times to get into it, every time progressing a little further, but I was never gripped.

Rybicki maneuver

For a second there I thought that's some term I'm supposed to know, it being used without explanation like that. Then I googled it and s******ed.

EDIT: snig-gered :angel:

 

[CR0M]

Am i the only one who watched the 1hr 22min video stream in the forum on the other side of that link? I thought I was watching Oblivion until the inventory menu appeared. Even saw a few of the same textures in there too. Sadly, Morrowind this ain't. Not by a long shot.

 

[Letters]

Never finished Morrowind and never finished Oblivion... still getting this one, though. New leveling system and animations that don't look like they were done by a two-year-old... nice...

 

[Mirage]

I think it's hard to gauge a game on video, even one that is 1hr and a half long. Were all the environments sampled? I doubt it, and from all the visuals I've seen, they've seemed distinct from Oblivion, of course, I haven't seen every video.

 

[BabyHeadCrab]

Never finished Morrowind and never finished Oblivion... still getting this one, though. New leveling system and animations that don't look like they were done by a two-year-old... nice...

I find this very offensive. Any two year old has better animation talent than the entirety of the Bethesda staff.

 

[Raziaar]

Just like with BF3, I learn about Skyrim info and get into it only a week or two before actual release date. Granted, I've watched nearly everything there is out there about the game, but I haven't had to anticipate the game for a year or more... which I think is a good thing.

My brother bought it on my steam account, and I will most definitely be playing it.

Going to be hard to juggle minecraft, battlefield 3 and skyrim. Ugh... wish I was unemployed again. lol

 

[Tagaziel]

Didn't anyone think that Morrowind felt kind of... empty and unreal (and not in the good sense)? I tried a few times to get into it, every time progressing a little further, but I was never gripped.

It's not everyone's cup of tea, that's for sure. I loved it.

Then again, I'm a furfag and it allowed me to play a khajiit.

For a second there I thought that's some term I'm supposed to know, it being used without explanation like that. Then I googled it and s******ed.

EDIT: snig-gered :angel:

It's surprisingly true.

 

[CR0M]

Were all the environments sampled? from all the visuals I've seen, they've seemed distinct from Oblivion

The area being played was big, open and plain, very empty and very featureless - much like a lot of fallout in fact. Rock, brown grass, a few pine trees. Then the player went up into the mountains. Again, not much different from oblivion. But the snow is a nice gradual fade in the higher you get i noticed, and instead of the superimposed static snow animation as in ob, it is now full 3d. with wind. Oh yeah, and there are some flowing streams through the landscape which i liked.
I hate the way horse-riding is now entirely third person, way to remove immersion bethesda. And some of the textures look horribly blurry and low res, but nothing qarl can't fix. But I will play it to death no doubt... when my new msi n570gtx twin frozr III pe/oc arrives

ZOMG i forgot to mention the HANDS why bethesda WHY?? oh god the HANDS
remember the gigantic hands like shovels in Dragon Age? looks like they have stolen those character models... i didn't know whether to lol or cry

 

[Sliver]

Started doing a real playthrough of Morrowind due to this, not sure if I'm gonna pick up Skyrim on launch now. Just immersing myself in the shit city that is Vivec, and continuing on with Fighters Guild/Morag Tong (?) quests. So much fun.

 

[unozero]

I like how Mikael ended being right about the Engine issue...pretty shady move by Bethesda to claim: :"YEAH LIKE OUR SHIT IS LIKE TOTALLY NEW!"
Also I'm sad how they have taken out any survival aspect out of the game (no armorer etc.)

 

[Bad^Hat]

 

[morgs]

Sad to hear that Sean Bean is not returning

 

[Mirage]

The area being played was big, open and plain, very empty and very featureless - much like a lot of fallout in fact. Rock, brown grass, a few pine trees. Then the player went up into the mountains. Again, not much different from oblivion. But the snow is a nice gradual fade in the higher you get i noticed, and instead of the superimposed static snow animation as in ob, it is now full 3d. with wind. Oh yeah, and there are some flowing streams through the landscape which i liked.
I hate the way horse-riding is now entirely third person, way to remove immersion bethesda. And some of the textures look horribly blurry and low res, but nothing qarl can't fix. But I will play it to death no doubt... when my new msi n570gtx twin frozr III pe/oc arrives

ZOMG i forgot to mention the HANDS why bethesda WHY?? oh god the HANDS
remember the gigantic hands like shovels in Dragon Age? looks like they have stolen those character models... i didn't know whether to lol or cry

Yeah, I don't know, every video I've seen of Oblivion suggests it is less generic and more detailed than in oblivion. However, I don't doubt the claim of some empty, featureless play areas. I'm also going off of the fact that Bethesda declared more varied environments, such as a birch forest, and a "volcanic tundra" and I don't think the latter has been seen yet, could be wrong though. But, most likely, the environments won't be amazingly detailed, and if they are a step up from oblivion (which isn't hard to do) I'll be content.

I wish the 11th would get here already so I could form my own impressions. In a game such as Skyrim, an 1hr and 30 mins is a very, very small portion of the game.

Finally, I can't wait to explore some of the dungeons if only to validate the "all dungeons are different" crap Bethesda has been spewing. That dungeon design team better have been put to good use.

 

[Tagaziel]

Started doing a real playthrough of Morrowind due to this, not sure if I'm gonna pick up Skyrim on launch now. Just immersing myself in the shit city that is Vivec, and continuing on with Fighters Guild/Morag Tong (?) quests. So much fun.

Vivec is not shit.

 

[Wanted Bob]

Finally, I can't wait to explore some of the dungeons if only to validate the "all dungeons are different" crap Bethesda has been spewing. That dungeon design team better have been put to good use.

Having watched someone explore a few dungeons I think they will be way more interesting than in oblivion. Also Vivec was really cool, but I hated trying to find your way around those buildings as all they really were were a bunch of corridors that rendered the map useless

 

[morgs]

I always got lost in Vivec :S

 

[CR0M]

Vivec was awesomo, it was the first town I came across after wandering off from seyda neen. For some reason I always turn right when setting off on a journey, left just feels... wrong :s

 

[Sliver]

Vivec is a cool town and all, and there is plenty cool things to see, but navigating it is not fun. At least there are plenty of stairs to spam jump on to increase acrobatics. Planning on a second run through just so I can do thief guild missions.

Should I bother with Oblivion? I've played a bit of that full conversion mod Nehrim and thought it was good, but is the main game any fun? Might just go right to Skyrim.

 

[Mr. Djees]

As long as you never go to Kvatch you'll probably have fun.

 

[CR0M]

Nehrim was a great conversion, more mature and a lot more involved than oblivion, and much much more interesting. Oblivion's main story sucks golfballs through a garden hose. Unless you are 11.

As long as you never go to Kvatch you'll probably have fun.

and this.

 

[Mirage]

Vivec was cool due to the sheer size. I felt Ald Ruhn (or whatever it's called) had the best aesthetic. Supposedly, all of Skyrim's five major cities have a different visual design to them; not to mention there will be quite a few smaller settlements sprinkled across the province. Hopefully, they won't be "riverwood copy and paste". Meh, I'm trying to keep my expectations low just in case.

At least there'll be much more voice actors for Skyrim than in OB. That's the claim, anyway.

EDIT: Oh, and no Oblivion gates, that in itself is a bonus for the main quest.

 

[Wanted Bob]

Vivec was awesomo, it was the first town I came across after wandering off from seyda neen. For some reason I always turn right when setting off on a journey, left just feels... wrong :s

Isn't Vivec on the left trail out of Seyda Neen? Right would take you north

 

[Unfocused]

I like how Mikael ended being right about the Engine issue...pretty shady move by Bethesda to claim: :"YEAH LIKE OUR SHIT IS LIKE TOTALLY NEW!"
Also I'm sad how they have taken out any survival aspect out of the game (no armorer etc.)

It's not like he was alone in pointing this out.

But especially having seen the latest trailer, I've got to say I'm impressed how Bethesda had the nerve to call it a new engine - how can anyone look at this and say "this does not look like Gamebryo"?

 

[CR0M]

Isn't Vivec on the left trail out of Seyda Neen? Right would take you north

Nope. Directly East, past the guar. It is burned into my gaming memory of legendary gaming legends. of legends.

As for the engine, this one looks like the original gamebryo engine before they removed shadows

 

[DEATH eVADER]

I find this very offensive. Any two year old has better animation talent than the entirety of the Bethesda staff.

Did I miss something, are we talking about an entirely different race of superbabies or something?

 

[BabyHeadCrab]

Deus Ex levels of bad animation

Good games, but Christ - just awful, awful animations.

 

[Bad^Hat]

So I guess he's pretty much doing promotion for them now.

 

[unozero]

It's not like he was alone in pointing this out.

But especially having seen the latest trailer, I've got to say I'm impressed how Bethesda had the nerve to call it a new engine - how can anyone look at this and say "this does not look like Gamebryo"?

true but I didn't see it at first like many others.infact I told Tagaziel/Mikael to shut it lol.
He was 100% right and I was wrong lol

 

[MultiVaC]

Yeah, Vivec was really cool, but god was it hard to navigate. Still, it's remarkable how much more visually striking many of the scenes in Morrowind are than anything from Oblivion, despite how much worse the graphics were. It doesn't even seem like Morrowind and Cyrodiil are even part of the same world; Morrowind was so alien that I don't think it even shares any species of animals with the real world (besides the obligatory rats), but in Cyrodiil pretty much all you see are wolves, bears, boars, etc. In Morrowind they make leather from the skin of giant, floating jellyfish. How awesome is that? I wish they would do another game as crazy as that. Maybe Blackmarsh? I always imagined that place being pretty strange.

 

[Raziaar]

Yeah, Vivec was really cool, but god was it hard to navigate. Still, it's remarkable how much more visually striking many of the scenes in Morrowind are than anything from Oblivion, despite how much worse the graphics were. It doesn't even seem like Morrowind and Cyrodiil are even part of the same world; Morrowind was so alien that I don't think it even shares any species of animals with the real world (besides the obligatory rats), but in Cyrodiil pretty much all you see are wolves, bears, boars, etc. In Morrowind they make leather from the skin of giant, floating jellyfish. How awesome is that? I wish they would do another game as crazy as that. Maybe Blackmarsh? I always imagined that place being pretty strange.

Yeah man, every time I think back to morrowind, everything about it was alien when compared to oblivion, and just in general.

 

[Wanted Bob]

Yeah I was pretty blown away by how strange and different the world was in Morrowind. I am happy that they are at least bringing back Dwemer machinery in Skyrim. Perhaps for their next game they can explore the country of another elf race, or the kahjits

 

[Krynn72]

Damn, all this Morrowind talk is making me want to forget Skyrim and download Morrowind. The locales were certainly better in Morrowind. What was the name of that city that was like, up in the trees? You walked out on platforms that were like, big mushrooms and shit. **** that was a cool place.