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[Someone47]

Skyrim is the winner in setting and feeling of place. The game world feels big, and alive. You seet it, you can go there. Sadly, the melee combat is bad, zero sense of danger hampers down the enjoyment. The game feels a bit dumbed down from Oblivion, leveling system is worse.

Dragon's Dogma has the best combat. Climbing on cyclopses is fun, stabbing their eyes while a hurricane rages around you is even funner. The game world is but not in the same grandiose way as Skyrim's. The game doesn't feel as alive for no human NPC roam the world. There is a real sense of danger, at least when you are sub 30 lvl, and you don't want to be outside the town walls when it gets dark. Low level wandering gets you killed easily but gives you an experience Skyrim and Amalur cannot give. Like finding a dragon and fighting him in the darkness, trying to illuminate the dark forest with your magick arrows and then killing it just as the sun starts to rise. New game + is a plus, altough the enemies don't get any buffs.

 

[Raptomex]

DD is the king of dragon-slaying sims, without a doubt.

It's a shame that dragons were such a huge focus of Skyrim, and they weren't all that fun to fight.

Agreed. The first few times were cool for me but after a while I got annoyed everytime I encountered one. I'm trying to go somewhere and now I have to fight this thing again. Ugh.

 

[charsace]

Combine them all and you would have a classic RPG.

 

[maltrain]

I played Skyrim. I played until I reached the maximum level (81, right?)... and never finished it. The game was getting boring and boring, because I was almost immortal...

What was bad on Skyrim (besides technical stuff, that was plenty of bugs and shit):

1. The story. You can take a decition but it barely affect the main plot in many cases.

2. The bosses. There are no ones!!! I mean, no ones really hard and with charisma. Like Dark Souls ones... or old Final Fantasy' ones.

Maybe someday I'll continue the game and finish it. I played for more than 100 hours and I have 3/4 of the main story...

(Excuse my poor english, I'm chilean).

 

[Deified Data]

Combine them all and you would have a classic RPG.

Honestly, I'd say they're all classics in their own right. Some might not be remembered as such (Amalur), but they'll always be classics to me. I agree that they have a lot to learn from one another.

 

[nasos_333]

I found Dogma and Amalur very generic, Skyrim was a bit better

Games like Dark Souls have spoilt me a lot, i just cant have much fun with other RPGs after playing it

 

[Not a Jellyfish]

Amalur...great? I would love some of whatever the OP is smoking.

If it wasn't for such stale gameplay I would have completely forgotten about this game.

 

[Boss Man]

Honestly, DD can keep doing its thing with maybe the inclusion of online co-op next time.

TES, on the other hand, has a lot to learn from any game with decent combat. If they keep going on with the same boring combat/boring scaling in a fascinating world strategy something is going to come around and match them in that one aspect and absolutely kill the franchise.

 

[Someone47]

Agreed. The first few times were cool for me but after a while I got annoyed everytime I encountered one. I'm trying to go somewhere and now I have to fight this thing again. Ugh.

I agree. They really are like Oblivion's oblivion gates. I don't even try to fight the dragons anymore. I'd prefer if finishing the MQ got rid of the dragons, or atleast made them infinitely rarer. It's also really annoying when you pump the dragon full of arrows and then it just flies away. "There's a fifty arrows I won't be seeing anymore. :/"

 

[Guevara]

Now that I'm done with Dark Souls (for now) I've been look at other games. I just can't find that depth of combat.

 

[ironcreed]

Regrettably, that's something I'd say about all three games.

Spoiler

Unless you want to count the Dragon as the final boss of Dragon's Dogma. Fight was the definition of epic

Indeed, that made up for the 'real' ending for me. Not to even mention the post-game in the Everfall and surrounding world. But still, the 'real' ending was so unexpected and out of the ordinary that I could not help but love it.

 

[Boss Man]

Now that I'm done with Dark Souls (for now) I've been look at other games. I just can't find that depth of combat.

Play Demon's Souls if you haven't. Both games are worth buying consoles for, even if they were separated.

 

[Raptomex]

I agree. They really are like Oblivion's oblivion gates. I don't even try to fight the dragons anymore. I'd prefer if finishing the MQ got rid of the dragons, or atleast made them infinitely rarer. It's also really annoying when you pump the dragon full of arrows and then it just flies away. "There's a fifty arrows I won't be seeing anymore. :/"

The only benefit the Oblivion gates had is they didn't follow you or fly around your area. You could ignore them if you really wanted to.

 

[disappeared]

Skyrim got boring after 40 hours. The world and characters were the equivalent of cardboard.

Amalur was slightly less boring, but held my interest much longer than Skyrim. The world and characters were colorful and engaging enough.

I haven't played Dragon's Dogma yet, but I've been feeling really burnt out on open-world fantasy RPGs lately, so I'm waiting til it hits a lower sticker price.

 

[Someone47]

Now that I'm done with Dark Souls (for now) I've been look at other games. I just can't find that depth of combat.

I'd say Dragon's Dogma is the closest to the DS series. Combat is great, character classes are all varied and the game can kick your ass if you're not careful.

 

[Arcteryx]

Dogma(aside from the small world/lack of towns/bad NG+) is better than vanilla Skyrim. Amalur was fun, but it got incredibly repetitive after a couple of hours, so it's pretty forgettable IMO.

Skyrim definitely feels like a more alive world than either of the other two, and it has the best story of the three, but combat is trash.


In an ideal world we'd have a combo of Skyrim and Dogma

 

[Tylahedras]

Amalur is a fun game with lots of problems.

It's open world is just a series of connected tubes, which are very copy paste and have little sense of place.

It's armor doesn't look that great and you'll have like 50 versions of the exact same thing in your inventory. Enemies seriously vomit "legendary" items.

The combat feels... unresponsive. it's not terrible, but it's a far cry from ninja gaiden, god of war, dmc, etc. What really gets me is that dodge, it's so damn slow. And the game forces you to watch animations rather then letting you cancel out of them, which I think is a big part of the problem.

Anyway I like the idea of the game and my initial impression was quite good, but as time went on it becomes very repetitive. This is not helped by the quickness with which you become a god and any sense of the need for tactics or quick reactions falls by the wayside.

 

[Raptomex]

I really want to try Dark Souls and all this talk is making me more and more excited. Since I got a new PC and upgraded it I've been getting everything for PC so I'm waiting for the PC release.

 

[Boss Man]

Honestly, this just makes me really excited about the kind of RPG that will exist one day. No game has gotten it all right yet. Demon's Souls combat, DD depth, Skyrim world.

Spoiler

FUUUUUUUCK

 

[Zia]

Dragon's Dogma is really confusing to me given how well-liked it is here. It has some good ideas, but Skyrim it is not.

 

[Canis lupus]

Dark Souls.

 

[See You Next Wednesday]

The RPGs I played

Graphics: Witcher 2 > Skyrim > Dragons Dogma >>>> Amalur.
Combat: Dragon's Dogma >>>>>>>> Amalur > Skyrim > Witcher 2.
Dungeons: Dragon's Dogma >>>>>>>> Skyrim=Amalur=Witcher2.
Exploration: Dragon's Dogma >>>>>>> Skyrim >>> Amalur >>>>>>>>>>>Witcher 2.
Story: Witcher 2 > Dragon's Dogma > Skyrim=Amalur.

Dragon's Dogma is the best open World RPG I played this gen. Fun well made combat, reasons & rewards for exploring.


Dark Souls trounces all of them in every category though.

 

[Raptomex]

My main issue with Skyrim aside from the combat is the dungeons. I just can't get into the dark grittiness of them. And don't even get me started on the dwarven dungeons. I enjoy the surface world more than the dungeons.

Also, just a personal preference, I'm not a huge fan of the mountain winter tundra theme. Everything is so vertical. After a while I get annoyed having to travel around some large formation just to get to the top or just to get around it. Still a great game that I've invested tons of hours into.

 

[The_Hitcher89]

I fucking loved Skyrim for 40 hours, enjoyed it for a further 30 hours, then spent 30 hours trudging through sidequests because of my quest-completionist mindset which I overcame when it dawned on me that I was going through the motions and had no interest in the lore, the combat, the world or my character. Never finished it, never will. Traded it in earlier today in fact.

Dragon's Dogma is still going strong. I've sunk 45 hours into it, my character is stll getting better, my pawns are becoming more awesome and my main is becoming something of a guardian angel, rather than the pain in the arse the Skyrim companions often were.

Undoubtedly, Skyrim has DD beat hands down in many, many aspects. I'm having more fun playing Dragon's Dogma though, despite its many faults. Looking at it objectively, I'd say Skyrim is superior, though I prefer DD. Really hope it does enough to warrant a sequel, even if its a spiritual sequel with new lore.

 

[Someone47]

My main issue with Skyrim aside from the combat is the dungeons. I just can't get into the dark grittiness of them. And don't even get me started on the dwarven dungeons. I enjoy the surface world more than the dungeons.

Also, just a personal preference, I'm not a huge fan of the mountain winter tundra theme. Everything is so vertical. After a while I get annoyed having to travel around some large formation just to get to the top or just to get around it. Still a great game that I've invested tons of hours into.

It got annoying to me too until I figured out horse in Skyrim are really mountain goats. You can even get to Paathurnax before getting any shouts just by riding a horse up the mountain.

Cyrodiil was a much better setting than Skyrim. It is more varied, you got marshes, snowy mountain, green hills and beautiful seaside town of Anvil. Skyrim got either grey or greyish green.

 

[mujun]

I was hyped for Amalur but in the end I found it to be pretty middling. None of the lore or the world really appealed to me, it definitely had a cheap-Warcraft-copy vibe to it that I didn't really dig. I also thought the quests (both main and side) were the most transparently MMO style quests of any of the three games, read, boring.

Loved Skyrim the most of the three. Did a lot of stuff I don't normally do, crafting, etc. Played every quest line, some multiple times and just enjoyed wandering the world. The combat was fine, not anything to hold up as a template but I enjoyed it the whole way through and it got the job done. Loved the quests and the little easter eggs that were all over the world, it was those things that gave the samey dungeons and encounters each their own little flair.

Also really dug Dragon's Dogma. The combat was great as was the "hostile environment" that the game is set in. They did the whole day and night cycle really well and the pawn system is awesome. The story and quests though are badly written imo and I eventually got to a point 20 hours or so into the game where not having a clue what I needed to do next was enough for me to realize that the game had outstayed its welcome. I had had enough and was happy to move onto the next thing in my library. Would love to see a sequel as I think any improvements to the game would really make it shine.

 

[Raptomex]

It got annoying to me too until I figured out horse in Skyrim are really mountain goats. You can even get to Paathurnax before getting any shouts just by riding a horse up the mountain.

Cyrodiil was a much better setting than Skyrim. It is more varied, you got marshes, snowy mountain, green hills and beautiful seaside town of Anvil. Skyrim got either grey or greyish green.

I love the English lore type setting of Oblivion. Though Skyrim feels more alive. But you know what? A Daggerfall HD remake or rerelease would top Oblivion and Skyrim. I love the atmosphere of Daggerfall. If I didn't constantly fall through the ground when moving forward I would play it more. Can't wait for a stable release of DaggerXL.

 

[Alchemy]

Elder Scroll games always have shitty combat, but in the end it hardly ever matters. Exploration and setting are unmatched, and it holds true for Skyrim.

 

[Alcoholikaust]

DD wins for me first because my quest is not accomplished alone. Ever. Your pawns play an integral role and it's basically like your playing the original FF in a 3d world. You need a Mage at least one melee warrior to succeed. That may not be a first in any game but in an open end world (on consoles) it is.

I don't care about the story (all 3 are lame) but the combat-the locations-the character customization-an of course the main title song-all are superior in DD for me.



-ps how did the witcher 2 get brought up in here? Vastly superior to all 3 of these games, but it's not an open world action rpg....

 

[-tetsuo-]

Dragon's Dogma.

Amalur is pretty good. Skyrim is borderline terrible.

 

[EternalGamer]

I really want to try Dark Souls and all this talk is making me more and more excited. Since I got a new PC and upgraded it I've been getting everything for PC so I'm waiting for the PC release.

It really is a terrific game. But you do have to learn to deal with the freedom of realizing when you shoudl back down and chose your battles carefully. What makes it best is specifically that it is a very well constructed world that feels lovingly crafted. There are a ton of shortcuts and interweaving paths the later you get in the game. It feels a lot like Super Metriod or Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, actually, in that regard as areas weave back upon themselves with new hidden paths and shortcuts.

It's also not so much difficult as it is very intentionally paced and deliberate. In games like Skyrim or Amalur you may just spend minutes holding "forward" or mashing attack buttons. You never do this in Dark Souls because every action has a lot more meaning and weight to it. There are no big empty spaces with nothing going on in them and there are no mindless fights that you can button mash your way through. It is way more respectful of your time in the world.

 

[disappeared]

Quite honestly I've been wanting to play Oblivion again, more than Skyrim. Then again I'd rather play Morrowind again, than Oblivion.

 

[Raptomex]

It really is a terrific game. But you do have to learn to deal with the freedom of realizing when you shoudl back down and chose your battles carefully. What makes it best is specifically that it is a very well constructed world that feels lovingly crafted. There are a ton of shortcuts and interweaving paths the later you get in the game. It feels a lot like Super Metriod or Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, actually, in that regard as areas weave back upon themselves with new hidden paths and shortcuts.

It's also not so much difficult as it is very intentionally paced and deliberate. In games like Skyrim or Amalur you may just spend minutes holding "forward" or mashing attack buttons. You never do this in Dark Souls because every action has a lot more meaning and weight to it. There are no big empty spaces with nothing going on in them and there are no mindless fights that you can button mash your way through. It is way more respectful of your time in the world.

Are there random enemy encounters or are they like DD or Amalur, set in specific spots.

 

[See You Next Wednesday]

Cyrodiil was a much better setting than Skyrim. It is more varied, you got marshes, snowy mountain, green hills and beautiful seaside town of Anvil. Skyrim got either grey or greyish green.

Sucks too, because people eviscerated for Cyrodiil being too bland & samey especially compared to Morrowind.

 

[AgentP]

After finishing DD and loving it and playing 20 hours of Skyrim and hating it, I'm looking forward to getting Amalur at some point. Combat has to be good for a RPG, Skyrim is just a big boring pretty world with nothing but repetitive caves and bad combat.

 

[disappeared]

Sucks too, because people eviscerated for Cyrodiil being too bland & samey especially compared to Morrowind.

The series is trending further into mediocrity. Bethesda needs to add weight to their characters and narratives. There wasn't a single quest in Skyrim, even for the Dark Brotherhood or Thieves Guild, where I gave a shit about what I was doing. It was, "oh, neat, okay well onto the next quest..." The same can be said of the characters. They all looked and sounded alike, and none of them really commanded me to take interest in them.

 

[NervousXtian]

After finishing DD and loving it and playing 20 hours of Skyrim and hating it, I'm looking forward to getting Amalur at some point. Combat has to be good for a RPG, Skyrim is just a big boring pretty world with nothing but repetitive caves and bad combat.

Amalur is like basic combo combat, and it first it's fun.. but damn if I didn't lose all interest in everything about 30hrs in. I was just questing all over the place and it was all the same.

I liked the basic idea of KoA.. but in the end it wasn't anything more than just "good". Sad we won't get KoA2 as they had a solid base to make the game they really wanted to make.

 

[Someone47]

The series is trending further into mediocrity. Bethesda needs to add weight to their characters and narratives. There wasn't a single quest in Skyrim, even for the Dark Brotherhood or Thieves Guild, where I gave a shit about what I was doing. It was, "oh, neat, okay well onto the next quest..." The same can be said of the characters. They all looked and sounded alike, and none of them really commanded me to take interest in them.

Most of the quests is Skyrim were fetch quests or just simple dungeon crawling. Oblivion had many memorable quests, like killing all your DB brothers and sisters, House party assassination quest, Thieves Guild's grand heist or that creepy town in the middle of the woods. The only slightly memorable quest in Skyrim was the last DB mission.

I gotta confess that I hate the Streets Of Whiterun song. I've seen everybody think of it as their favourite but it's the worst. It doesn't fit the game at all. It reminds me of AC2.

 

[-tetsuo-]

Skyrim is a huge game world packed full of all the same, boring shit. MGS4/DMC2 level of disappointment.

 

[Bentendo]

The atmosphere of Skyrim puts it ahead for me. The other two games are good but feel like games. Skyrim is just different.

 

[Incendiary]

Skyrim was a fantastic world. I enjoyed my experience and didn't have any problems with bugs (played on 360). I felt the scaling enemies and no super-special loot kind of diminished my interest in searching for items towards the latter half of the game. The world is so expansive that I probably only completed 50% of the quests in the game, although I eventually got tired of the "go to a dungeon, fight through it, kill a boss monster and return with the loot" fetch quests, but there were enough unique quests scattered about to keep things interesting.

Kingdoms of Amalur was, apart from the combat, essentially Skyrim-lite. Lots of things were the same, from the lockpicking to the gathering of alchemy items, to using smithing to improve your weapons more than you'd ever use a weapon you found on the ground. Everything Skyrim did, except easier with brighter colors and in third-person. The combat was where it differentiated itself, and while combat was fun by the end you were basically massacring everyone with your high-level skills. The quests became boring, just like in Skyrim most quests resorted to go to another dungeon/city, fetch something or kill someone, then return and prove you fetched/killed something. Repeat ad nauseum.

Playing both back-to-back made me sick of fantasy world RPGs for the time being because it was a similar 80-hour experience with both, and I just got tired of the games. That's why I haven't picked up Witcher 2 or Dragon's Dogma yet, just because I know I won't enjoy them in my current state of mind.

 

[ipitydatfu]

Are there random enemy encounters or are they like DD or Amalur, set in specific spots.

only if you're "alive" in the game, people can invade your game to fuck shit up.


there are like some NPCs that do that too, but those are scripted.

 

[EternalGamer]

Are there random enemy encounters or are they like DD or Amalur, set in specific spots.

No randoms except if multiplayer people come in.

All enemies are in set places and a lot of them are deviously placed. Some even have scripted events they will chase after.

But the combat is really engaging and that is what makes a big different.

 

[Gr1mLock]

Overall i go with Skyrim with Dogma as a close second. Skyrim is just too well put together. Dogma feels lonely and deserted despite its awesoem combat. Amalur lost my interest in a few hours so i guess im biased.

 

[Derrick01]

All 3 are pretty flawed games in different ways and I wouldn't say any of them are great games (skyrim is really bad).

Dragon's Dogma was a massive disappointment to me. There wasn't really much to the game outside of its combat and I felt it got repetitive fast. The AI wasn't as helpful as I thought it was in the demo. The difficulty was very chaotic and random, you could meet bandits and destroy them only to have another set of bandits 30 feet away that would 2 shot you. The performance is terrible on ps3, the graphics suck, the characters and world is as generic as it gets in a wrpg as is the story.

Kingdoms of Amalur is the definition of a generic, mediocre game. It did nothing very well and was far too big for its own good. Too many areas with nothing that interesting to do. The game is broken about half way through and far too easy.

As for Skyrim I've made all of my complaints on it very clear and I've done it too often to summon the willpower to do it again.

 

[Fix The Scientist]

Amalur - baby game.
DD - ugly mess that struggles to hold 20 fps.
Skyrim - great game.

 

[EternalGamer]

All 3 are pretty flawed games in different ways and I wouldn't say any of them are great games (skyrim is really bad).

Dragon's Dogma was a massive disappointment to me. There wasn't really much to the game outside of its combat and I felt it got repetitive fast. The AI wasn't as helpful as I thought it was in the demo. The difficulty was very chaotic and random, you could meet bandits and destroy them only to have another set of bandits 30 feet away that would 2 shot you. The performance is terrible on ps3, the graphics suck, the characters and world is as generic as it gets in a wrpg as is the story.

Kingdoms of Amalur is the definition of a generic, mediocre game. It did nothing very well and was far too big for its own good. Too many areas with nothing that interesting to do. The game is broken about half way through and far too easy.

As for Skyrim I've made all of my complaints on it very clear and I've done it too often to summon the willpower to do it again.

I concur pretty much on all 3. Though I do give Skyrim points for ambition, art style, and some cool systems.

Totally agree with Amalur, though. That was quite possibly the biggest waste of $50 I spent in years. It was the very definition of bland.

 

[papersleeves]

I've never played Dragon's Dogma, but I can say the following for Skyrim and KoA.

I bought Skyrim on the 360 like a week after it came out and I think I've logged like 3 hours at best since then. I couldn't get sucked in. Part of the reason is that I never got the chance to invest any significant amount of time on it. The other is the repulsion of playing an Elder Scrolls game. I have some seriously bad memories of Morrowind and Oblivion. Game breaking bugs destroying advanced games or simply the stiffness of everything their engine pulled out. Especially Morrowind on this regard. Everything felt awkward. The combats, the movements, the animations...always ready to fuck up the event next corner. That said, it's the first Elder Scrolls game I've started and I liked the complexity of it.

Dagger Fall looks interesting but unfortunately I never got around playing it.

Now Oblivion...This fucking game...It's the Elder Scrolls game I've logged the most time into, at 40 hours or so. The only reason I've played this game is because of how awesome the E3 2005 presentation looked like, with its great graphics, huge landscape, Radiant AI, Patrick Stewart's voice improving the demo into something more epic and the art designs from the dungeon. Everything was handcrafted apparently.

Too bad they fucked up this bad. Graphics ended up nowhere as good as they were in the E3 2005 presentation, with some scary ugly character models. Radiant AI was shit. Dialog system is one of the worst I've ever experimented; Feels like a chore you don't want to but have to anyway. Everything was a bit nerfed. Possibilities were fewer. Dungeons frequently looked the same. Trust weapons like halberd or spear were removed. Oblivion rifts were annoying more than anything; I always ended up ignoring them. But the worst offense of all is the fucking scaled level up system vs the enemies. Like, WHY WOULD THEY DO THAT?

After 40 hours, I had to stop trying to convince myself. I knew it all along. I was playing Final Fantasy VIII again. I hate this game for many reasons, but the main one was definitely because of the enemy scaling. I hate how you have to cheat the system in order to be decent. Oblivion was no exception. I mean I didn't hate Oblivion. Sure I was incredibly disappointed by it but I still had some fun. Wasn't anywhere as jerky as Morrowind, game felt much for fluid all around, the gameplay was mainstreamed a bit but I was okay with this. Worked great on my 360. But after 40 hours of leveling, I just got too pissed off with all the fucking enemies effortlessly keeping up with all my hard work. This completely broke the sense of progression to me.


All of that said, I know that at some point, I will give Skyrim a good try. I've heard everything got fixed up, and for the few that I've played, I can say the combats were better and the characters didn't look like dog shit. The environments look nice too. But on the other end I've heard there's even less possibilities than before.

Kingdom of Amalur captivated me for a good 10 hours or so then I got pretty fucking bored of it. Got to the second zone, the one to the right of where you start, then I felt like I was doing the same stuff over and over again. Only, in this game you don't really feel like your gear of your skills matter all that much. Mashing the attack button is road to victory, and from there your experience and level will determine how many times you press that button. I did not felt compelled to progress past that point.

 

[ElyrionX]

Haven't played Dragon's Dogma but if I'm looking to pick it up, which version would GAF recommmend and why?

 

[AlphaDragoon]

I played like 500+ hours on Oblivion and 200+ on Skyrim, but I look at both of them in shame after playing Dragon's Dogma. There isn't as much stuff to do, but the game play that is there destroys TES games, in my opinion. The combat is so goddamn good that I feel even Dark Souls (which I also put in over 200 hours on) doesn't match up.

I'm really glad DD is becoming a franchise, because Capcom has the basis for something truly amazing with it.