The Elder Scrolls V-Skyrim

I went and bought the game: first impressions: Its better graphically than oblivion but not by much. It feels as if it still has the same engine underneath.

One thing that I noticed pretty quickly and which is a bit of a letdown: the dungeons I have been to so far are completely linear. Tunnels where you take out the enemies one room after another. This propably wouldnt bother most of the players, but oblivion had multiple routes in the dungeons that you could take, and you had to spend some effort finding the 'inner sanctum'. Now you essentially cant get lost. Some people like it, some may not.

 

Skyrim is excellent and has resored my faith in game developers, they are not all mercenaries like Capcom, Infinity Ward, Epic games etc. producing second rate sequels to cash in on the success
of previous titles, this game is everything I expected and more; like Oblivion but better, this game'll probably last me till FS comes out next year

 

So far the dungeons do seem to be a bit linear, have to see what happens. So far, just because they all at least look different, I am enjoying them. The dwarves one if you are low level is a bitch.

 

I'm loving this game. That is all.

 

Game is sexy!

 

No kidding.

 

This is the worst game ever... I'm spending all my time doing stuff in Skyrim and not enough time honing my fuzzy guard!

Seriously though, it's a fun and engaging RPG, a bit simplified for my tastes though, can't seem to fail at anything or be a manical bastard to the npcs.

Regarding similar graphical quality when comparing Oblivion to Skyrim: are you guys playing on the 360 or PC? i seem to think the graphical quality is better on PC compared to Oblivion, especially since i'm using DirectX 10 with a gig of Video Ram. The 360 uses DX9 and that's likely why it doesn't look much better.

 

Well, if you have a P.C and a cheap graphics card/chip then it all balances out. But obviously, you can buy a graphics card for the P.C. that costs more than the 360 with far better specs than whats in the 360 or the PS3 for that matter.
So at the end of the day High-end graphics on the P.C will usually show the Skyrim(or any other game) at its very best.

 

I have to agree.

When I find enough time from playing Skyrim.. I may write a longer post..

ps. THe graphics are definitely better than oblivion.. I just get the feeling its mostly the same engine though, same kind of animations and quirks.

 

Five days a row now on a drug called Skyrim and I'm loving it so far!

The ambient music, more believable environments and remarkably freeform skill system are top notch. I planned to start oblivion again with fcom but skyrim feels too good!

 

Ok, I'm over 100 hours into the game and I feel I can share my impressions:

The game looks fantastic. Beautiful vistas, good character models, and item detail is just phenomenal. Some of the large ground textures look bad up close, but when you take in the whole scene it looks very nice. The lighting on this new engine is leaps and bounds above Oblivion. I think that's where the largest difference is, even if most people don't realize it.

I was really worried that Bethesda was "dumbing down" this game too much for the series. I was wrong. Taking out character traits (int, str, agl, luck, etc) was brilliant. It gives you less to worry about (or obsess about) and makes the game more about what you're good at instead of physical traits. Don't worry about how hard you swing that ebony warhammer, because physical strength takes a back seat to weapon skill.

Another great thing is that everything feels needed now. You will use health potions during combat and, if you know whats good for you, you'll use stamina potions too. Running out of stamina can take away a lot of abilities now, so you'll want some way of protecting it just in case you need to run away. By the way, the new run button is awesome. Some skills which weren't very good in previous games (like alchemy and speechcraft) now have a very important and powerful role in your characters survivability. Alchemy can be used to make multi-effect potions and poisons which can get you through any situation. I make poisons which cause 11 seconds of paralysis and 10pts of DOT during that time. Really great for encounters with multiple mages. There are a lot less useless items now too. The new crafting system is really awesome (and worth maxing out). It just feels like a lot of "junk" has been removed from the game.

The skill system is really a massive improvement too. The skill progression feels better, and the perks are tangible rewards for leveling up. Some of the top-tier perks are just amazing. While you can be a jack-of-all-trades, specializing in just a few skills has huge advantages. The character I made is an Argonian thief/assassin. I use mostly bows and dual-wielded daggers. One of my perks gives my one-handed weapons an 80% damage bonus. Combine that with a certain legendary dagger I obtained then improved (using lvl 100 smithing skill) to make a dagger that does 45 points with one strike. Another perk in the sneak tree gives me a 15x damage multiplier for backstabs with daggers. And a piece of armor I wear doubles backstab damage. 45dmg x 30 = 1,350 points of damage from a single hit!

I have one-shotted a dragon with that. And I have a witness.

Some may cry foul about this and call my character broken, but you have to realize that its really one of the best things about The Elder Scrolls: you can make a broken character if you really focus on it. But you don't have to. Or you could just change the difficulty to suit your needs.

I have to give game of the year to Skyrim. It has managed to exceed all my expectations and edge out my #2 pick for GOTY (Witcher 2).

But if you hate RPGs, you'll probably hate this game. So expect that.

 

Man, I love me some cabbage.

 

I can't bring myself to agree that allowing for brokeness is a good design philosophy. If a developer prides itself for allowing this, it's even worse.

 

Broken in my opinion implies something that game designers did not intend. I for one feel like I have worked hard to get my character to the point where I one- or twoshot most opponents. Regardless of this, there are still tough boss opponents that willeasily be the death of me if Im not careful.

I had lot of trouble for 25 levels until now finally my character has enough buffs that his 2-handed weapon is actually killing mobs with couple swings, and most humans with just one. In comparison I sometimes try to use a 1-handed weapon and its like swinging a ladle, compared to the 2-hander that I have put my perks on. I also have an amulet that increases 2-handed damage by 30%. It stacks up pretty well.

I started first with a Dunmer thief/assassin, but I felt that sneaking was pretty weak in the early game and I had to fight lot of tough boss opponents that were way too lethal in close combat. So I rerolled into big tough blond Nord melee fighter. Magic turned out to be a necessity still. The game felt much more enjoyable with a heavy armor melee character.

Draugr deathlords and those dragonpriest thingys are the toughest opponents imo. Dragons I can kill nowadays pretty easily, I dont necessarily bother to even save the game for them. The difference is that dragons spend time flying around and giving me time to heal myself with magic. They are also pretty toothless in close combat. I just stagger them with shouts when they land and go to town with the axe.

 

I'm not bothered about how someone else enjoys a game. I get the idea that your fun is somewhat hindered by knowing that others would take time to craft a strong character while you take time to do something else with yours.

 

I'm not bothered by the way someone else enjoys a game either. What lead you to believe that I did?

My comment was lamenting the fact that the design philosophy behind RPGs today tend towards something that I don't like. That's not the same thing as disparaging other people's tastes or the developers that make them, though. I don't like Bethesda's games, but I don't think that it's a bad company for making games that don't suit my preferences.

 

I wanted to mention...

This graphics in this game are so breathtaking and so beautifully designed, it spurred me to think up an idea which Bethesda could add or could remember to put in the next game just for fun... Anyway, I wish they had added a "camera" (either an item or a mode) that would allow you to take/save/share Skyrim "photos" (aka screenshots) with others.

There's so many moments in the game where I walk into some environment in the game that really showcases how awesome this game looks. I'll move to the perfect spot in the room/area to capture everything perfectly on the screen and then I'll tell my wife, "look at this!!!" But it would be cool if you could just "take a picture" of scenes you wanted and save them in a little virtual, leather-bound scrapbook that you could share with your friends online. (I do remember Bioshock had a camera feature that was pretty cool... But it was for doing recon on enemies, not for Skyrim art!!!)

In most games, that feature would probably be a little silly, but Skyrim is so gorgeous, and so meticulously and creatively detailed that I think my idea for a camera feature would actually be really popular.

Just an idea...

 

But you understand my point was that you don't have to make an overpowered character, right? Its something you can do if you choose to.

And the larger point was that it shouldn't really matter if your character is overpowered in a single-player experience. Its not a competition so nothing's really "broken". If you feel your character is overpowered, crank up the difficulty. Or stop using the weapon or abilities that you don't feel you deserve.

You'll get out of Skyrim what you put into it.

Also, I agree 100% with Gernburgs suggestion. Cross your fingers for a patch! I have a screenshot on my phone of a horse who's buried face first into the ground so only his ass is sticking up. That dragon worked him over good!

 

Yeah, that just doesn't satisfy me though. Gamers will invest time into finding the best, most efficient ways of doing things. Obviously, using a broken character is the most efficient means to play the game, since that character can do basically everything. Roleplaying is about choice, and the only time when choice matters is when you're not penalized for playing a game in the manner of your choosing. If I can have a broken character, then what's the point in playing as a different character? The choice has already been made for me.

I've made this point earlier. I could choose not to use certain tools at my disposal to raise the difficulty, but that feels horribly contrived. It's like saying that you should only use pistols in a FPS if you find the game too easy. If I need to set my own difficulty, then the developers were either too incompetent or too lazy to balance the game.

And to reiterate, I'm not criticizing people for playing a game in any way of their choosing. I'm even for taking advantage of glitches in a game. My philosophy is if it's there, then use it. I just hate the fact that certain styles of play render others redundant. Also, I know that I've been very negative in this thread, but it isn't to provoke people. I just love discussing computer games, especially RPGs. I'm interested to know what people think of games and why.