Poll of the Day > It's Skyrim a good game?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I'm playing it for the first time on Switch and I am enjoying it but the game is so janky in so many ways. Beyond just procedural bugs there is stuff like how npc chatter never changes, combat is sloppy, combat difficulty boomerangs between super easy and impossible because there is no level system to tell you if you should be about to kill something and the world is so detached from the story to make it open that what you do never feels like much, in spite of that the exploration is nice and the world can feel very alive at times. Also I ran into a talking dog

It's a good game, but a really bad Elder Scrolls game.
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Skyrim is a good game, but it's just shit on consoles.

Bethesda does story and set design well, but they're just crap at programming.

Andromicus posted...

Also I ran into a talking dog

that fucking dog makes you walk so far
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Yeah its a great game imo
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DirtBasedSoap posted...

Andromicus posted...

Also I ran into a talking dog

that fucking dog makes you walk so far

It's not really that far from his starting point to the cave.

The part that sucked was getting from that cave to the other cave, especially when you aren't fast traveling. Literally had to go from that cave to Whiterun, hire a carriage to get to Solitude, and then walk the rest of the way and then do the same in reverse.

If you've never played an open world Bethesda game before it's absolutely worth the experience, but it's much better on PC where you can at least download the fan patch that fixes all the problems Bethesda straight stopped caring about and just went on to release pay DLC instead ( don't know why Bethesda doesn't just take the fan patch made by endless hours of fans fishing through all of the game's problems and just make an official patch out of it).

And past that fan patch you can download other mods to change things about the game you don't like, like the combat being basic and boring, and there being a lot of it.

Or you can just download waifus.




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It's an okay game, sure.
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It's a mediocre game that seems incredible to people who've never actually played a good RPG. It mostly coasts by on having vast areas to explore, as long as you don't look long or hard enough to realize that most of the things you can do in all of those places are shallow as fuck and not really all that worthwhile. Almost every single thing it does, another game does far, far better.

There's nothing wrong with playing it mostly as a time-waster or because you like the idea of exploring the map in-game, but don't believe the constant hype about it being a fantastic game going in, or you'll probably be disappointed. It's a C+ experience at best until you experience massive orgasms from seeing digital vistas and talking to a world full of cardboard cutout characters who all have one of maybe a dozen voices.


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ParanoidObsessive posted...

It's a mediocre game that seems incredible to people who've never actually played a good RPG. It mostly coasts by on having vast areas to explore, as long as you don't look long or hard enough to realize that most of the things you can do in all of those places are shallow as fuck and not really all that worthwhile. Almost every single thing it does, another game does far, far better.

There's nothing wrong with playing it mostly as a time-waster or because you like the idea of exploring the map in-game, but don't believe the constant hype about it being a fantastic game going in, or you'll probably be disappointed. It's a C+ experience at best until you experience massive orgasms from seeing digital vistas and talking to a world full of cardboard cutout characters who all have one of maybe a dozen voices.

This too.

Bethesda loves missing opportunities, or skipping them.

The Companions quest line was ridiculous.
The Thieves Guild quest line was a joke.
The Dark Brotherhood quest line was okay, but mostly meh.
The College of Winterhold quest line was meh.

Your choices have little meaning as the game has the moral structure of a wet noodle.

Dawnguard was interesting, but the game sort if steered you towards being pro-Dawnguard and against vampires.
Hearthfire was a joke. Yeah, let's give you the illusion of player freedom and choice to build your house how you want, but limit that with interior design, else you break our papermache game engine.
Dragonborn was okay, but there was no point to the whole ability of flying on dragons. Woo, let's circle around mountains like a merry-go-round. Fun!

ParanoidObsessive posted...

It's a mediocre game that seems incredible to people who've never actually played a good RPG

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Skyrim was a great game when it came out. There are many games better these days. Play Witcher 3 instead.

Witcher 3 is fundamentally a very different game than Skyrim.

Both are great but they really arent as similar as people claim.
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play it on an actual console or pc, not on a slightly overpowered tablet
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yes it is
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It's kind of hard for me to say. I played it 6 years ago for about 200 hours and had a good time. Now?
I never want to touch it again. I've seen everything there is to see. I do remember enjoying being a powerful mage. I just like playing as mage characters. Always have. When I got my armor enchanted enough to negate all the magicka cost on destruction skills, I became unstoppable. Even on legendary difficulty. I don't see many single player games where I can play exclusively as a mage, and Skyrim allowed for that, albeit the early game sucked until I leveled up more. I love Dragon's Dogma for that too, playing as a mage in that is amazing.
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I've only ever played Oblivion and Skyrim in the series and think Oblivion is better with or without all the DLC. It's still a enjoyable game though.
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ParanoidObsessive posted...

It's a mediocre game that seems incredible to people who've never actually played a good RPG

What are some good rpgs in your opinion?

My favorite game of the previous generation, along with Red Dead Redemption.
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Yes, not the best in the series but it's fun to play and that's what matters
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No, it's a great game.

ParanoidObsessive posted...

It's a mediocre game that seems incredible to people who've never actually played a good RPG. It mostly coasts by on having vast areas to explore, as long as you don't look long or hard enough to realize that most of the things you can do in all of those places are shallow as fuck and not really all that worthwhile. Almost every single thing it does, another game does far, far better.

There's nothing wrong with playing it mostly as a time-waster or because you like the idea of exploring the map in-game, but don't believe the constant hype about it being a fantastic game going in, or you'll probably be disappointed. It's a C+ experience at best until you experience massive orgasms from seeing digital vistas and talking to a world full of cardboard cutout characters who all have one of maybe a dozen voices.

The exploration and scale make it fantastic. The main campaigns are lackluster and a little glitchprone, but the fact that you can effectively jump ahead through much of the game without touching the story helps to give it a much cooler feel. I had found 5 or 10 shouts before getting into the first mission and killing my first dragon.

Frankly, the shallow aspects give the game MORE meaning, not less. Not every cave in the real world is going to have some major plot tied into it, a minor quest, or monster. It was nice finding caves which basically were just caves. The joy of Skyrim -- like other Elder Scrolls games -- is the world.
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Why would anyone do this?

Play this on PC.

Don't know, because I never got past why I have to go through the menu every time I want to change a spell. I don't know how the fuck you play a magic user in that game. You can learn hundred spells, but can only ready 2 at a time. and Oh yeah they share slots with weapons. So now you're constantly swapping spells and weapons--constantly popping up menus while in combat.
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BlackScythe0 posted...

Why would anyone do this?

Play this on PC.

tbh, I've never been a fan of gaming on the pc when it can be avoided. Partly because I like to use my PC while gaming on consoles. Also because it just seems like more of a hassle. With a console, I know that the thing will work when I put it into the system and, if not, it's only because you need an update it handles. With PC, I never know if my specs can handle things properly and I'm always thinking about issues trouble-shooting problems. Granted, a lot of it is probably because I had issues with PC gaming early on and it's colored my expectations.
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Very nice open world, shit gameplay, story and quests.
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It was close. As far as I see, it would have been amazing but was released WAAAAAAAAAAAAY too early. Something like they left "putting things into the world" for last, and then had to do it in a rush to get it out the door for 11/11/11.

The worst part of it by far are the items. The "decision" to have 1 enchant per item is the stupidest thing ever. Forget how powerful they are or whatever, item *variety* increases exponentially with # of enchants, but the game doesn't so much as have 2 enchants per item. You end up with as boring a list of weapons as you could possibly have, as if someone had to fill them out in 1 day.

Of all the little things wrong with the game, that was one of the worst that would also have been relatively easy to fix, had they put more time into it.
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D035NTMATT3R posted...

shit gameplay, story and quests.

#Triggered

Sahuagin posted...

The worst part of it by far are the items. The "decision" to have 1 enchant per item is the stupidest thing ever. Forget how powerful they are or whatever, item *variety* increases exponentially with # of enchants, but the game doesn't so much as have 2 enchants per item. You end up with as boring a list of weapons as you could possibly have, as if someone had to fill them out in 1 day.

Wait, but didn't we get multiple effects on that one enchantment? Coulda swore some of my stuff did multiple things (which makes the already-OP enchanting a little tactical), although a lot of my enchantments were mostly just ranged-boosting effects.
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It's alright, but a step down from Oblivion, which was a step down from Morrowind. TES 6 is probably going to be essentially an open-world action game with a small amount of RPG elements. I like the quote "As wide as an ocean, as deep as a puddle" to describe it, but the world is fun to explore.
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synth_real posted...

It's alright, but a step down from Oblivion, which was a step down from Morrowind.

In what way other than size?
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Zeus posted...

Wait, but didn't we get multiple effects on that one enchantment? Coulda swore some of my stuff did multiple things (which makes the already-OP enchanting a little tactical), although a lot of my enchantments were mostly just ranged-boosting effects.

there are a few exceptions, and maxing out enchanting gives you the ability to make items with double enchants (though in over 1000 hours of playing I've never gotten that perk), but 95+% of the items in the world have exactly 1 enchant (effect). mace of fire, mace of ice, mace of soul trap, etc.etc.
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I got completely engrossed for a while, but then once you realize that the quests are mostly chores, and you've fought the thousandth dragon in the same location, you burn out fast. I could never play it again probably. I feel that way about all Bethesda games. You pour a ton of time in, it seems so open, but really it's a lot of surface water and not much depth
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BADoglick posted...

it seems so open, but really it's a lot of surface water and not much depth

Ironic description given that Skyrim was fairly lacking in water environments =p
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its great if you actually like to roleplay in games. instead of just create a character and only go with exactly what the game gives you story wise.
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Skyrim>oblivion>Morrowind

Morrowind was straight garb and I'll probably never play it again. Oblivion was great and I loves the setting of it and it was super fun to play. I like the gameplay of skyrim the most which is why I rate it higher than the rest. If oblivion was remade with the skyrim engine I would probably like it a lot more.

green dragon posted...

Skyrim>oblivion>Morrowind

Morrowind was straight garb and I'll probably never play it again. Oblivion was great and I loves the setting of it and it was super fun to play. I like the gameplay of skyrim the most which is why I rate it higher than the rest. If oblivion was remade with the skyrim engine I would probably like it a lot more.

morrowind was one of those games that where great for its time but aged horribly. I still miss being able to layer armor over clothing and a robe over armor. if it wasn't for the fact you'd miss attacks that clearly went through the opponent just because your stats isn't high enough, i'd still be able to play the game.
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BADoglick posted...

once you realize that the quests are mostly chores

I think I may be alone in this, but I don't actually *like* quests with strong narratives, at least if that's all they are. unless they're designed in a complex enough way to be different every time you do them (which TES quests almost never are) then they're not worth repeating. if they don't allow your character's strengths and weakness to affect how they play out, that's not role-playing, that's just reading a story. (a good example is the painting murder(i think?) quest in Oblivion. unless you do something extreme it basically plays out the same way no matter what your character is like.)

while painfully basic, the random quests are at least open to some small amount of emergence (especially if you limit your use of fast travel). kill creature A in dungeon B is not very interesting on its surface, but it at least lends itself to a bit of a dynamic experience that plays out somewhat differently depending on your character.

mooreandrew58 posted...

morrowind was one of those games that where great for its time but aged horribly.

actually, it was clunky even for its time (though ok it has gotten more obviously clunky over time). I had to learn the hard way to enjoy it despite its problems.

one of the single biggest strengths morrowind has IMO is the concept of a *social status* of the player. this is something that should have been expanded on in future games, but instead it's an almost non-existent part of the games now.
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Sahuagin posted...

one of the single biggest strengths morrowind has IMO is the concept of a *social status* of the player. this is something that should have been expanded on in future games, but instead it's an almost non-existent part of the games now.

I don't think I played far enough to really see that. How did it work?
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Zeus posted...

I don't think I played far enough to really see that. How did it work?

you have separate reputations with the various factions, as well as a more global "fame" value. these (as well as other things like your race) are taken into account when determining how much each other NPC likes you. some factions are partially or completely mutually exclusive.

also, especially important is that to progress in any particular faction requires mastering some skills out of a particular set for that faction. this then becomes another kind of "leveling up", and sometimes you will have to wait on progressing in a particular faction by going and working for some others. there are also enough factions that you have tons of options. there are also a couple of 'hidden' factions.

in Skyrim, factions have more or less just become small quest lines rather than an integral part of your character. also, your character's strengths and weaknesses don't have anything to do with the factions anymore either, which is because there's so few of them now that they can't allow your character to be blocked from any of them, or there'd be no game left.
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Sahuagin posted...

BADoglick posted...

once you realize that the quests are mostly chores

I think I may be alone in this, but I don't actually *like* quests with strong narratives, at least if that's all they are. unless they're designed in a complex enough way to be different every time you do them (which TES quests almost never are) then they're not worth repeating. if they don't allow your character's strengths and weakness to affect how they play out, that's not role-playing, that's just reading a story. (a good example is the painting murder(i think?) quest in Oblivion. unless you do something extreme it basically plays out the same way no matter what your character is like.)

while painfully basic, the random quests are at least open to some small amount of emergence (especially if you limit your use of fast travel). kill creature A in dungeon B is not very interesting on its surface, but it at least lends itself to a bit of a dynamic experience that plays out somewhat differently depending on your character.

mooreandrew58 posted...

morrowind was one of those games that where great for its time but aged horribly.

actually, it was clunky even for its time (though ok it has gotten more obviously clunky over time). I had to learn the hard way to enjoy it despite its problems.

one of the single biggest strengths morrowind has IMO is the concept of a *social status* of the player. this is something that should have been expanded on in future games, but instead it's an almost non-existent part of the games now.

it was the first game i've played where you could do as much as you could in the that game. such as kill literally anyone you came across provided you where strong enough.

but yeah bethesda seems bad about for every new cool thing they add in a new entry they take something cool away that was in the previous game.
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I am utter shit at Skyrim, but I still find it to be a lot of fun as a game because it lets you dick around to your heart's content. I have fun just going around the map and seeing what's out there (... and dying horribly because the Forsaken really don't like people who aren't Forsaken).
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I_Abibde posted...

I am utter shit at Skyrim, but I still find it to be a lot of fun as a game because it lets you dick around to your heart's content. I have fun just going around the map and seeing what's out there (... and dying horribly because the Forsaken really don't like people who aren't Forsaken).

you tried turning the difficulty down? if you are in it just for the fun of it, no shame in that. also its tedious as fuck but level up smithing, armor caps after a certain point despite the numbers still getting higher, but you can practically make any armor worth using if your smithing is high leveled. I had orcish armor well past the base stats for the otherwise best armor in the game.
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The Switch version has a lot of bugs. Even for a Bethesda game.

As for if its a good game? Yeah its fun. Does some things better than earlier games, some things worse. Melee combat at high levels is much better than in Oblivion, that's for sure. Like every bandit would be full Daedric or Glass armor, and those Spider Daedra oh my god.

Its cities suck though.
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mooreandrew58 posted...

you tried turning the difficulty down?

It's actually kind of fun to get into a situation that's a lot more than I can safely handle, but that's just my opinion. "I'm the Dragonborn. I'm the Chosen One. ... Who just got shoot full of arrows by some random-spawn bandits. Oops."
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ParanoidObsessive posted...

It's a mediocre game that seems incredible to people who've never actually played a good RPG. It mostly coasts by on having vast areas to explore, as long as you don't look long or hard enough to realize that most of the things you can do in all of those places are shallow as fuck and not really all that worthwhile. Almost every single thing it does, another game does far, far better.

There's nothing wrong with playing it mostly as a time-waster or because you like the idea of exploring the map in-game, but don't believe the constant hype about it being a fantastic game going in, or you'll probably be disappointed. It's a C+ experience at best until you experience massive orgasms from seeing digital vistas and talking to a world full of cardboard cutout characters who all have one of maybe a dozen voices.

I agree with all of this.
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I_Abibde posted...

mooreandrew58 posted...

you tried turning the difficulty down?

It's actually kind of fun to get into a situation that's a lot more than I can safely handle, but that's just my opinion. "I'm the Dragonborn. I'm the Chosen One. ... Who just got shoot full of arrows by some random-spawn bandits. Oops."

This, tbh. Getting in over my head and then trying to escape was part of the fun. Even when I could stealth-kill many things with a single arrow, I could still run into ambushes or be forced to lure out targets into range (by shooting an arrow to make noise)
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Zeus posted...

I_Abibde posted...

mooreandrew58 posted...

you tried turning the difficulty down?

It's actually kind of fun to get into a situation that's a lot more than I can safely handle, but that's just my opinion. "I'm the Dragonborn. I'm the Chosen One. ... Who just got shoot full of arrows by some random-spawn bandits. Oops."

This, tbh. Getting in over my head and then trying to escape was part of the fun. Even when I could stealth-kill many things with a single arrow, I could still run into ambushes or be forced to lure out targets into range (by shooting an arrow to make noise)

ah didn't sound like he was playing for any sort of challenge. I stand corrected. yeah being low leveled as a wood elf and running into a bear is the first and only time i've ever considered their racial ability worth a damn lol.
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