ijffdresomethings: the elder scrolls analyis

Mod the control scheme?

 

Shadowmere just killed a dragon by herself.

Uhhh.

 

Even that doesn't really work. It's the awkward way you attack, with no real indication what the difference is between the dozen attacks you can perform. There is no button to actually start climbing, so you can't assign one either, just hump the wall in hopes you magically start climbing after a while. Most annoyingly, there is only a fully zoomed-in view mode when climbing, so you can't see anything. Plus, I'm still not quite sure how I used a spell. F12 brings up the book, I select a spell, then a target... and then next time I want to cast a spell they say I already have a spell prepared.

@Fenix
If she is the same as in Oblivion, she is immortal and can be forgiven for killing a dragon(since there is no way for the dragon to kill her).

 

She's not quite immortal, but she has obscene amounts of health. It's actually really annoying when my horses attack things.

 

Also, instant fun time: join companions, attack someone in whiterun, attract some guard, run in companions' hall.

Also, I should really get to ranting again.

Skyrim might just be the first game in the elder scrolls series to feel like a proper sequel. The engine feels like an upgraded oblivion engine. It has the same playing style, both in and out of combat, only a bit more refined. In short, it is an improved version of oblivion, rather than a completely unrelated game. This is very good. But have all improvements been for the better? and were there areas where the game could still have been improved? that's what we're going to look at. Last year, I made a list, comparing features of morrowind and oblivion. Now, we're going to see how skyrim holds up.

tutorial/character creation process: Action-paced and quite a bit shorter than oblivion, the intro is definite improvement over oblivion. The set design of skyrim is a massive improvement over oblivion's, something which becomes clear even in the beginning. One that thing has not however been improved is that the opening is non-skippable, which makes it annoying since you have to do it over and over again for each new character you make.

Combat: Again, an improved version of the oblivion combat system. Magic has become a lot more varied, adding several non-combat spells as well as streamed attacks. One thing I don't like however is that all the attack spells follow the same pattern: streamed attacks are the lowest level, bolt second lowest, then an explosive bolt and then a person-centered massive attack. Having a weak attack with a big aoe, or a powerful streamed attack would bring a bit more variety. The shouts are a nice inclusion and are well-integrated in both combat and the story. Dual-wielding is ever so much fun and I have no idea how I ever did without it.

Levelling: Better than oblivion, but still not really to my liking. I am simply not a fan of leveled content, mostly because it detracts from the next section in this review. However, if there was one game that came close to doing it in a good way, it's this. With the level of the content depending on your level when you first entered. This means I can now walk the country-side without being raped by massive monsters because I haven't optimized my character properly. HURRAY.

Phat lootz: As I said, I don't like leveled content. It seriously detracts from the feel of any high-level content, because you can find it anywhere. The same goes for loot. However, this game seems to have put somewhat of a limit on this sort of thing, so you will no longer encounter any bandits with god-like armours.
Artifacts are a bit on the weak side, which I just find appaling. However, they have been integrated a lot better than they were in oblivion, which is a very good thing.
It's a definite improvement over oblivion, that is for certain, but the levelled content is a deal-breaker for me.

 

Before I post the next rant, I ran accross something fun in the 'last minute changes' of battlespire



the entire page is fun like that.

 

Wait, a vendor in skyrim can only sell from a single container? That's ridiculously limiting for mods. It's not even neccesary. Stores and their owners are already seperate factions, so it would be much easier to say that anything belonging to the store faction is for sale.

 

The world: I got my wish. The world of skyrim is utterly fantastic. It combines the liveliness of Oblivion with the interesting setting of Morrowind. Each and every city feels unique, even on the first visit. I especially love markarth for its nice dwarven architecture and beautiful cliffs and waterfalls. The factions are also very awesome, though very few in number. The companions and the college of winterhold are both welcome additions to the great factions of the past, while the return of the dark brotherhood and the thieves guild is always welcome. I do wish that there had been more factions, or that the bard's guild had been more developed than it currently is. While the dark brotherhood and thieves guild finally made me feel like a real faction leader for the first time in the series, it still sorely lacks that feeling for winterhold and the companions. Why not give us the ability to recruit a few new NPC's (there are dozens of characters that already have 'kicked out of the guild, but are still redeemable' as their backstory)

 

Story: Skyrim really has two main stories (I should start calling it bloodmoon II). The first is the return of Alduin. It has a very good build-up. However, towards the end it feels really, really rushed. It feels like there are at least three missing missions: discovering the name of Ohdaviig, discovering Alduin is in sovngarde, figuring out how to enter sovngarde. The final battle, while having the most awesome music ever, is rather meh as well, with little difference with the previous battle with alduin. The weird "shout three times" thing was incredibly pace-breaking. In addition, the ending is rather underwhelming and no one in the world ever seems to acknowledge the fact that you just single-handedly saved the world. Seriously, they could record dialogue for every character that warns you to be careful with fire spells, but no dialogue saying "OMG, YOU DA DRAGONBORN!"? Also, the blades asking you to kill paarthurnax makes no sense. Still, the early parts of the main quest is very good and ties into other parts of the game in a very good way. I'd call it a massive improvement over Oblivion, while not wasting the backstory depth of morrowind.
The second main quest, the civil war between the stormcloaks and the imperials, is, sadly, a lot worse. I've only played as an imperial so far, but the quests are simplistic and boring, the retaking of the cities is a joke and the ending hilariously unfinished. Why couldn't the battle for, say, markarth, or winterhold actually take place inside the city itself, rather than a boring fort? That would be much more interesting. The ending is a complete joke. We don't get a crowning ceremony for the new high king (despite there being a quest to retrieve the crown), there are no rewards other than a generic levelled sword, the designers forgot to record new dialogue for after the end, meaning that people are complaining about an ousted government and the last suggestion of the main quest, killing the remaining camps, is impossible because the commanders are still counted as essential, unkillable characters.

 

Oh dear, did I never finish my review of skyrim? Erm.... Oops.

Anyway, one thing that really bugs me about elder scrolls lore: The elder scrolls. What are they? Where do they come from? I'm assuming they're somehow tied to akatosh. However, we also know that the elder scrolls don't stay in one place. So how does anyone own any elder scrolls? I initially assumed that the moth priests just built their monastery where the elder scrolls naturally occured, but we see in skyrim that the dwarves also have a few and some people are even carrying them around. How do you carry them around if they don't have set numbers or locations?