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[GinSama]

I remember buying a 360 for this game......

Fun days having had console with a huge RPG.
Love the dark brotherhood quests.

Sorry wanted to say fun days having a hd console with a huge RPG.

 

[Zog]

so you liked minor skills because it allowed you to smash enemies more easily?

That's what you got out of what I wrote?

 

[Kamina]

Oblivion is awesome, but sadly it didnt age well.
Now Skyblivion seems to come along nicely and should release rather soon (2021?)

 

[Kev Kev]

it was amazing when it came out. unbelievable, mind blowing graphics for xbox 360 at the time (not as good as PC at the time of course, but i only had an xbox so).

however, it hasnt aged well at fucking all. i literally cant play it bc it looks and feels so terrible. just my opinion, i know a lot of people still love it. but i just couldnt do it. tried multiple times and only ever made 10-15 hours before forgetting about it and not even feel like bothering.

 

[namekuseijin]

That's what you got out of what I wrote?

you know it's true

 

[Halo is Back]

I was fucking blow away by the game when I first played it. All of these years later, it is clear now it had many flaws but it still got a lot right when it came to being immersed in a vast open world RPG. TES games are some of the few games where you can truly be who you want and do what you want. The game still has a undeniable charm that I adore.

 

[bender]

I'd rank it alongside MGS2 and Halo 2 in terms of disappointment. It was mechanically stripped down and felt designed for a console/controller. The world felt a little one-note compared to variety found in it's predecessor.

 

[Stuchinoko]

Best soundtrack in the franchise, and it arguably has the strongest, most creative side quests between Morrowind, itself and Skyrim. Keep in mind I'm not saying the main quest is better than Morrowind's, far from it. I definitely consider it superior to the latest entry, because Oblivion is an amazing game once you mod out the atrocious level scaling and ugly potato faces. Skyrim's writing took a severe nosedive when it comes to side content, plus the Thieves Guild and Dawnguard DLC are shining examples of how atrocious Skyrim's story design can be.

 

[StormCell]

Hahaha yeah the leveling system was pretty bad if you didn't know how to use it properly. I play summoner/mage and one time I choose wrong and decided to clear random dungeons on my way to Kvatch and by the time I actually got there I was fighting Daedroth and other high level enemies in Oblivion and got destroyed. Needless to say I had to start over.

I found I had to choose my skills in a way you would think to make sure I didn't level up too fast.

One of the first things I do when playing Elder Scrolls on PC is turn off the world-leveling-up stuff. I find it insanely off-putting when the game world levels up with you to maintain balance. Instead, I prefer for everything to be wherever it's going to be, and if a dragon happens to live right outside the sewer pipe at the beginning of the game then so be it. I will just have to find a means of survival.

 

[johntown]

One of the first things I do when playing Elder Scrolls on PC is turn off the world-leveling-up stuff. I find it insanely off-putting when the game world levels up with you to maintain balance. Instead, I prefer for everything to be wherever it's going to be, and if a dragon happens to live right outside the sewer pipe at the beginning of the game then so be it. I will just have to find a means of survival.

Yeah I understand and I install plenty of other mods but I have never used one to affect the leveling system. I found my way around it but I understand using a mod because if you don't know what to do it is very annoying.

 

[LazyParrot]

but why? because of old clunkier controls, more lag? lack of quick map, fast travel or intrusive and customizable HUD telling you where to go next or whatever?

The controls were clunky for sure, but they still are, really. Elder Scrolls games have always been kinda shit in that regard. A lot of those other features you list trade immersion for convenience. Morrowind had no quest markers. NPCs told you where to go, and you had to actually pay attention to landmarks, signs and NPC names in order to get there. That stuff gets burned into your mind real quick, and it really gives you that feeling that you're becoming part of the world by learning more and more about it.

I've spent well over 100 hours each on Morrowind, Oblivion and Skyrim. Among those three games, Morrowind is the only one where I can close my eyes and actually picture the way from, say, one town to another, along with many of the NPCs and enemies along the way. For the other two all I remember is parts of the towns themselves and maybe a handful of major story locations. Like, I know where High Hrothgar is in Skyrim, but I don't remember the name of the town you start your climb from at the foot of the mountain, who lives there, or anything I encountered on the way up.

old games have all sorts of technical limitations of the day that today we fondly remember as great, hard gameplay. I really disagree with nostalgia-based criticism.

I don't think technical issues are to blame here. It's not like computers back then couldn't have handled quest markers and fast travel.

or any actual good reason? In my view, people say Skyrim is dumbed because it launched on Playstation and became wildly popular, that's all.

What would count as a good reason in your book? You admit to never having played any of the games that came before Skyrim, and it doesn't look you're interested in changing that. Words can only do so much. If you're not willing in giving Morrowind a try for yourself, then there probably isn't anything anyone could tell you that would change your mind.

 

[Zog]

you know it's true

You asked a question and I tried to answer it.

 

[GodofWhimsy]

I remember repeatedly creating new characters so I could play through the arena quest over, and over. It really fulfilled my gladiator power fantasy.

The Shivering Isles was amazing, the music was great, and I fucking hated oblivion gates. That's how I remember TES IV.

 

[StormCell]

The controls were clunky for sure, but they still are, really. Elder Scrolls games have always been kinda shit in that regard. A lot of those other features you list trade immersion for convenience. Morrowind had no quest markers. NPCs told you where to go, and you had to actually pay attention to landmarks, signs and NPC names in order to get there. That stuff gets burned into your mind real quick, and it really gives you that feeling that you're becoming part of the world by learning more and more about it.

I wish they wouldn't sacrifice the one for the other, but it really does boil down to accessibility to a larger market. Not everyone has the capacity to listen, take notes, remember landmarks, spot landmarks, and basically follow directions. Still, I'd prefer that they bake in the convenience on top as something easily toggled off so the rest of us can spend our hours looking for oddly shaped rocks and leaning tree landmarks.

 

[Kamina]

Best soundtrack in the franchise, and it arguably has the strongest, most creative side quests between Morrowind, itself and Skyrim. Keep in mind I'm not saying the main quest is better than Morrowind's, far from it. I definitely consider it superior to the latest entry, because Oblivion is an amazing game once you mod out the atrocious level scaling and ugly potato faces. Skyrim's writing took a severe nosedive when it comes to side content, plus the Thieves Guild and Dawnguard DLC are shining examples of how atrocious Skyrim's story design can be.

Elder Scrolls always had magnificent soundtracks, and Oblivion is right at the top.

 

[synchronicity]

Elder Scrolls always had magnificent soundtracks, and Oblivion is right at the top.

It's not just one of my favorite gaming soundtracks, it's some of my favorite music period.

 

[namekuseijin]

The controls were clunky for sure, but they still are, really. Elder Scrolls games have always been kinda shit in that regard. A lot of those other features you list trade immersion for convenience. Morrowind had no quest markers. NPCs told you where to go, and you had to actually pay attention to landmarks, signs and NPC names in order to get there. That stuff gets burned into your mind real quick, and it really gives you that feeling that you're becoming part of the world by learning more and more about it.

I've spent well over 100 hours each on Morrowind, Oblivion and Skyrim. Among those three games, Morrowind is the only one where I can close my eyes and actually picture the way from, say, one town to another, along with many of the NPCs and enemies along the way. For the other two all I remember is parts of the towns themselves and maybe a handful of major story locations. Like, I know where High Hrothgar is in Skyrim, but I don't remember the name of the town you start your climb from at the foot of the mountain, who lives there, or anything I encountered on the way up.


I don't think technical issues are to blame here. It's not like computers back then couldn't have handled quest markers and fast travel.


What would count as a good reason in your book? You admit to never having played any of the games that came before Skyrim, and it doesn't look you're interested in changing that. Words can only do so much. If you're not willing in giving Morrowind a try for yourself, then there probably isn't anything anyone could tell you that would change your mind.

I never played any previous TES game, but I did play plenty of past RPGs, including Dragon Quest and Ultima. Skyrim honors these and go way beyond, specially in VR, where combat is as good as you can make it to be with a sword and shield in your hands or great accuracy with the bow. And where feeling physically there does wonders for exploration without needing marks - yes, those are convenience and can be turned off, did you know that? You're telling me Skyrim is dumbed down because of extra optional features not available back then - same arguments nbois like to throw about BotW lacking such features as well. I don't buy it.

Btw, I always thought BotW was like Skyrim Jr, but now reading descriptions about the environments in Oblivion and the opening leaving a cave to a big open world, I think that's where BotW drinks from...

 

[LazyParrot]

And where feeling physically there does wonders for exploration without needing marks - yes, those are convenience and can be turned off, did you know that? You're telling me Skyrim is dumbed down because of extra optional features not available back then - same arguments nbois like to throw about BotW lacking such features as well. I don't buy it.

The presence of these "optional" features isn't the problem here, it's the fact that the entire game was obviously designed under the assumption that players would be using them. Quest descriptions can be extremely vague about where you need to go, and sometimes just straight up won't tell you at all. The worst example I remember was one particular quest where I was asked to free an NPC who had been captured, but was given absolutely no information as to who was responsible or where he had been taken. I ended up trying to Google where he was, only to discover that his location was apparently chosen at random, leaving me no choice but to activate the quest marker.

 

[DW74]

It was my first ES game. Having played the King's Field series on PS1 in 95/96, I had a bit of experience with a wide open FPS RPG type setting. Yet I was blown away by Oblivion

Hasn't aged very well, though.

 

[IntentionalPun]

Absolutely loved it despite the (IMO) flawed leveling / scaling mechanics.

Really should replay it on PC with a bunch of mods; I play Skyrim like twice a year (for a few weeks, enough to get a character pretty far.)

 

[microtubule]

I prefer Morrowind to Obilvion but my oh my the Dark Brotherhood and Thieves Guild quest lines were yummy.

 

[Impotaku]

Oblivion was my first elderscrolls game and it blew me away it was like i was inside my very own living D&D adventure world, the setting i liked way more than skyrim. The enviroments are just so much nicer to explore. Wish they would remaster it and slap it in PSVR like skyrim so i could play inside. Played the living hell out of oblivion then there was the shivering isles expansion that had so much content it felt like a second game bolted on plus the enviroments in that place were almost alien like in their weirdness i loved it plus i loved that side quest where you had the spell to make everyone naked at that dinner party to cause chaos then you had to leg it before the guards got you i remember laughing my head off as i fled ahh great times.

 

[Naked Lunch]

For its time - an interesting look into what was possible with the new generation of games. In particular stepping out of the sewer grate into the green open world.
But, as with all Bethesda games, the gameplay is utter junk. Generic and quickly got boring.

It will not be replayed or remembered like the true classic rpgs of gaming. (Chrono Trigger, Baulders Gate, FF Tactics to name a couple).

 

[Tschumi]

I loved it a lot, I think a lot of complaints we have about it come with hindsight. I like how it was a bridge between III and V, keeping a few of the more, i dunno, 'gothic rpg' elements of III but introducing things that would become really slick in V. I very much enjoyed the high fantasy setting, it is really much closer to the feeling of Morrowind, which remains my favorite title. I love the idea of picking my way through woods with sword and shield trudging across back country to some distant town~ Really nice.