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Skyrim review thread. I think they're trying to say it's good.

I think the following is one of the better, more honest reviews of the game that I've read. It spends a lot of time talking about things that I think most reviewers decided to overlook for one reason or another, although he does reaffirm that it is a good, immersive game despite its flaws. Here's an excerpt:

Even if you can look past the pixelated shadows, weak dialogue, and ho-hum scripted sequences, you’ll soon learn that Skyrim takes one of Oblivion’s cardinal sins and runs with it. In Morrowind, you could kill everyone. If you wanted to exterminate every citizen, villager, and straggler in the game world, you could, even if that meant permanently breaking a main quest. It didn’t matter, that freedom was yours. In Oblivion, Bethesda saw fit to limit that freedom; pivotal characters would simply be knocked unconscious whenever you went on a rampage. But they’d eventually recover and all would be forgiven. Now, in Skyrim, some characters won’t even acknowledge that you’re standing there hacking away at them with an axe. The man who guides you through the opening scene can have six arrows sticking out of his head without so much as interrupting his exposition to ask that you kindly stop doing that. Combined with the underwhelming visuals, and I had this creeping feeling that I had been duped.
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http://venturebeat.com/2011/11/10/review-skyrim-is-far-greater-than-the-sum-of-its-parts/
 
Alpha-Bromega said:
any that are well written analysis and not just more or less wank fests?

the game is good, clearly, but i'm not into it and uninstalled after my first death.
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you uninstalled after your first death? Sounds like your problems with the game are more like problems you have with yourself instead of actual game problems.

Choke On The Magic said:
I'm still on the fence. I don't care about the textures. How's the gameplay compared to Oblivion? Same or improved?
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Depends what you mean, there's a lot of gameplay to these games. Combat? Yeah it's definitely better than Oblivion but probably not as good as other games.
 
Derrick01 said:
you uninstalled after your first death? Sounds like your problems with the game are more like problems you have with yourself instead of actual game problems.



Depends what you mean, there's a lot of gameplay to these games. Combat? Yeah it's definitely better than Oblivion but probably not as good as other games.
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What about the character creation, level system, NPC interaction?
 
Alpha-Bromega said:
any that are well written analysis and not just more or less wank fests?

the game is good, clearly, but i'm not into it and uninstalled after my first death.
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I haven't even played the game and I'm offended by this as a gamer.
 
May sound stupid, but is there a review for the Prima Strategy Guide?
 
Alpha-Bromega said:
any that are well written analysis and not just more or less wank fests?

the game is good, clearly, but i'm not into it and uninstalled after my first death.
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KuGsj.gif


That should be quoted on the box.
 
Alpha-Bromega said:
any that are well written analysis and not just more or less wank fests?

the game is good, clearly, but i'm not into it and uninstalled after my first death.
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Looks like a joke/troll post but I will bite. If critical success + game death = rage + uninstall, you should try Dark Souls. Seems like a good investment for you ;).
 
Alpha-Bromega said:
any that are well written analysis and not just more or less wank fests?

the game is good, clearly, but i'm not into it and uninstalled after my first death.
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These threads never fail to unearth stupidity.
 
Choke on the Magic said:
What about the character creation, level system, NPC interaction?
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From what I can tell the character creation is about as deep as it gets in these rpgs, tons of sliders and little details.

Level system is a mix of oblivion and fallout 3. You level up as a whole which auto raises your 3 skills like health and magic and endurance, but then you get to pick a perk in whatever seperate skill you want. Like if you want to put a perk into sneak you can, or 1H swords. There's a soft cap of 50 and a hard cap of 70, though I don't believe you get perks after 50.

NPC interaction is handled entirely in game now. By that I mean the game doesn't "pause" everything in the background while you talk to someone, it doesn't even zoom in on their faces anymore. Speech chances seem to be handled by chance now instead of that awful minigame in Oblivion.
 
Alpha-Bromega said:
any that are well written analysis and not just more or less wank fests?

the game is good, clearly, but i'm not into it and uninstalled after my first death.
Click to expand...

So you're actively looking for a review that will validate your opinion of ten minutes of gameplay? How does that even work?
 
still not sure yet, haven't seen a clean answer...:

Has Bethesda fixed the enemy level scaling? Is it Morrowind scaling (static enemy stats some enemies are extremely weak by default and some are powerful by default, does not change based on your level, i believe) or Oblivion scaling (dynamic enemy stats that scale from weak to powerful based on your level)??

that's as clear as i can get. lol
 
Derrick01 said:
Level system is a mix of oblivion and fallout 3. You level up as a whole which auto raises your 3 skills like health and magic and endurance, but then you get to pick a perk in whatever seperate skill you want. Like if you want to put a perk into sneak you can, or 1H swords. There's a soft cap of 50 and a hard cap of 70, though I don't believe you get perks after 50.
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Actually I'm pretty sure you have to choose health/magicka/stamina each level, and only what you choose increases (+10).
 
BootlegSnackz said:
still not sure yet, haven't seen a clean answer...:

Has Bethesda fixed the enemy level scaling? Is it Morrowind scaling (static enemy stats some enemies are extremely weak by default and some are powerful by default, does not change based on your level, i believe) or Oblivion scaling (dynamic enemy stats that scale from weak to powerful based on your level)??

that's as clear as i can get. lol
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I thought it was more in line with Fallout series.
 
Although not unusual for a Bethesda game, I have no idea how all the imperfections were overlooked in all of those 10/10 reviews of Skyrim. I mean, how can anyone with even a bit of integrity, while being aware of the definition of "perfect"/"flawless", give this game a perfect evaluation, when the game clearly isn't entirely without bugs/issues/imperfect graphics? Simply take a look in the PC thread for the game, as well as iladmy's post above.

I think too many are losing their rational judgement and falling for the usual blockbuster hype. At least in this thread.
 
Was just trying to watch the Gamespot review. Christ on a stick that guy has annoying intonations.

Imagine someone saying this nasally with a raised pitch for the words in italics:

Now, Timothy. You know if you don't eat your dinner, you're not going to get any pudding.

That's what I'm reminded of.

That is all. Carry on.
 
Lime said:
Although not unusual for a Bethesda game, I have no idea how all the imperfections were overlooked in all of those 10/10 reviews of Skyrim. I mean, how can anyone with even a bit of integrity, while being aware of the definition of "perfect"/"flawless", give this game a perfect evaluation, when the game clearly isn't entirely without bugs/issues/imperfect graphics? Simply take a look in the PC thread for the game, as well as iladmy's post above.

I think too many are losing their rational judgement and falling for the usual blockbuster hype. At least in this thread.
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Is that the definition of 10/10?

No game is flawless. I don't see why the bugs/issues/imperfections can't be overlooked if the game is otherwise amazing. As the guy says in the review I just watched, "Skyrim is a big picture game."
 
Alpha-Bromega said:
any that are well written analysis and not just more or less wank fests?

the game is good, clearly, but i'm not into it and uninstalled after my first death.
Click to expand...

How did you die? Overreacting much? Jesus.
 
Socreges said:
Is that the definition of 10/10?

No game is flawless.
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I've never really taken a 10/10 or 5/5 as flawless either. Basically impossible for a game to be so. I mean, I'm sure some reviews out there will claim that, but to me it's more a rating of one's enjoyment.
 
Fjordson said:
I've never really taken a 10/10 or 5/5 as flawless either. Basically impossible for a game to be so. I mean, I'm sure some reviews out there will claim that, but to me it's more a rating of one's enjoyment.
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Despite the usual bugs, Bethesda RPGs are landmark games and the closest thing the industry gets to true 10/10 games.
 
Fjordson said:
I've never really taken a 10/10 or 5/5 as flawless either. Basically impossible for a game to be so. I mean, I'm sure some reviews out there will claim that, but to me it's more a rating of one's enjoyment.
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People or reviewers that say that a top score can only be given to a "perfect" game with no flaws are really damn dumb, might as well remove that top score from their scale then since no game will ever be "perfect".
 
There's a -- uh -- massive disconnect between these reviews and the five hours I've put in. Granted, I haven't even begun touching any of the guild stuff.
 
Alpha-Bromega said:
any that are well written analysis and not just more or less wank fests?

the game is good, clearly, but i'm not into it and uninstalled after my first death.
Click to expand...
So you bought the game presumably at full price on day one and rage quit/uninstalled it after 10 minutes. No offense but I have a hard time believing it. And when I say not believing it I don't mean the rage quit/uninstall part.
 
Cool, let's see how people feel in four or five months when the hype is completely down.

Haven't played it but I expect that whenever I do play it its going to scream bethesda...i.e. not exactly the most picture perfect games in terms of gameplay.
 
I'm going to uninstall and sell the game after my first death, too.
That's the hardcore RPG tradition of permadeath, keep up the good traditions.
 
Those are incredible scores, but I'll still keep my expectations on realistic levels until I play the game. I can see myself cringing at freezing and such... though I hope they happen less than the previous games.

Liked reading RPS and Giantbomb reviews, very good insight.
 
Lime said:
Although not unusual for a Bethesda game, I have no idea how all the imperfections were overlooked in all of those 10/10 reviews of Skyrim. I mean, how can anyone with even a bit of integrity, while being aware of the definition of "perfect"/"flawless", give this game a perfect evaluation, when the game clearly isn't entirely without bugs/issues/imperfect graphics? Simply take a look in the PC thread for the game, as well as iladmy's post above.

I think too many are losing their rational judgement and falling for the usual blockbuster hype. At least in this thread.
Click to expand...
We are never going to have amazing AI at this rate.
 
The reviews are like :) but the people are like :( and the midnight launch is in just over an hour and I'm like =|

Will continue to read impressions until I head out though.
 
Lime said:
Although not unusual for a Bethesda game, I have no idea how all the imperfections were overlooked in all of those 10/10 reviews of Skyrim. I mean, how can anyone with even a bit of integrity, while being aware of the definition of "perfect"/"flawless", give this game a perfect evaluation, when the game clearly isn't entirely without bugs/issues/imperfect graphics? Simply take a look in the PC thread for the game, as well as iladmy's post above.

I think too many are losing their rational judgement and falling for the usual blockbuster hype. At least in this thread.
Click to expand...

Going to second this. No matter how much content is in this game, it has sub-par voice acting, slap-hands combat system, and awkward animation at times. These aren't even tiny bullet points. These are pretty glaring flaws, even in the face of some large scope they tried to pull off.

The hype train went too far yet again :/
 
JasoNsider said:
Going to second this. No matter how much content is in this game, it has sub-par voice acting, slap-hands combat system, and awkward animation at times. These aren't even tiny bullet points. These are pretty glaring flaws, even in the face of some large scope they tried to pull off.
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Even though I "almost" went back on myself saying I won't buy this until it's on sale, this is what was in the back of my mind as it's been true for the longest times now in these games. The gameplay is always, "off" along with the others you mentioned.
 
Dreaver said:
What kind of crappy site is that? The review is extremely short as well.
A lot of sites give too many 9s/10s and I am not saying 8.5 is a bad score but I'm pretty sure they're just trying to get more hits.
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The review is ridiculous.

Bethesda made one of the best games of the generation, hands down. I haven't been so stuck in a game ever before. I've been capturing dragon souls to unlock the voice of the dragonborn for a few days now, and for some reason, the game feels like it has so much more to offer.
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One of the best games of the generation = 8.5 OUT OF 10
 
lol.

I would love to see one of the big sites give it 8/10 just so we can have another Uncharted 3 like shitstorm. Judging by a few posts I've seen so far in this thread I would bet that's exactly what would happen.
 
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