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Was Anybody Else Disappointed by Skyrim?

Fenrir

Fenrir

Super-Earth
Joined
Apr 26, 2010
Location
Nevada
I'll admit that I haven't played any Elder Scrolls installment before; to be honest, there are very few RPGs that really capture my attention. For that reason, I didn't get it when it initially came out. However, I got my hands on it a little while ago, so, with nothing more pressing for me to do, and with any number of adoring reviews of the game on my mind, I played through a decent chunk of it.

Two things occured to me about ten minutes in: number one, this was a huge map. And number two, shit's frozen. Skyrim is actually a rather miserable-looking place, though I assume it takes place during fall or winter. After a couple hours, I gave up on it. Skyrim moved and played a lot like Fallout 3 for me (albeit with an entirely different cast of weapons. And magic), including the way dialogue worked; everything goes still except the person you're speaking to, and the only way to communicate back was to select a pre-made reply. And that's how the story progressed: there were no cutscenes, there was no sense of urgency; just a half-assed dialogue mechanic to push you through the game. Combined with infinite caves demanding exploration or the retrieval of some book or scroll or other trinket, and random dragons coming around to fuck with me while I'm trying to get shit done, you get a gsme that just doesn't feel worth the hassle.

To say The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim was underwhelming would be a bit of an understatement. Skyrim felt, to me, as dead and soulless as Fallout 3 and its succesor, Fallout: New Vegas. But I need to ask: did anybody else get the same impression?
 
To be honest? I adored Skyrim. I still have it downloaded on my computer and I play it when I can, when I'm not playing Fallout: New Vegas. I'm sorry that you didn't dig it.. But I think it's less the actual game and more of the game type, since, quite frankly? I adore the fuck out of the Fallout series.

Maybe the whole sandbox game thing isn't for you, man.
 
You need The Witcher in your life.

Skyrim is, indeed, dreary, dead, and boring, unless you REALLY like exploring. New Vegas, however, is far better than the other two you mentioned.
 
Nope; I enjoyed Skyrim. I love cold, snowy places in video games, so most of the environments worked for me. I have no problem admitting that many of the story-lines left much to be desired, however. It's far from perfect, but I sunk plenty of time into it. I'll agree with Trygon, and say that New Vegas is better than Skyrim or Fallout 3. Everything in the game is absurdly interesting, and every NPC worth talking to delivered decent lines (Obsidian is always good in this department), and really added to the feel of the game.

I just recently started playing the Witcher as well. I'm like an hour or two into the game, so I can't comment too much on it. It seems to be worth checking out, for anyone that hasn't.

edit: I'm curious to what the TC does play, and finds to be an engaging experience.
 
Honestly having an account on the Bethesda website allowed me to vent out all my frustrations toward Skyrim, but I'll attempt to mention what I disliked. While most people chose to create they're own class, I really miss the class system and the attribute system. In Skyrim it seems like the PC would use a skill and just stop, before he got even good at it. The older games allowed you to at least be somewhat good at skills rather than being average at everything. While the attribute system wasn't the best, they could of at least fixed it instead of just removing it. The writing was terrible even by Bethesda standards with the faction questlines being the worst.
 
It has it's moments, but I did feel some rather ugly modern trends creeping into Skyrim compared to its predecessor. The mechanics felt dumbed down in several respects, with several skills being taken away entirely along with the entire stat system that leaves almost every character feeling the same. Wanna play a speedy Argonian archer? Well that lizard's gonna feel just as sluggish and awkward as a big Nord axeman. Most of Skyrim is a miserable continent,even the woodlands feeling dreary, but some vistas are rather good looking like Winterfell and Sovngarde.

Oblivion was the first Elder Scrolls game I played, and while I do have nostalgia goggles for it (I can still admit that it is rater flawed and dated by today's standards) it did feel a lot deeper and more enjoyable to me. All the scenery felt beautiful and varied, a real treat to explore, and even the simple act of walking to another town felt like a grand adventure, as if something amazing could come along at any time with each questline feeling more rewarding than in Skyrim. There was just a real charm to the world and I could make new character after new character and genuinely develop a different playstyle.

I suppose to me Oblivion felt like 'The Hobbit' to Skyrim's 'A Song of Ice and Fire', a far more mythical and less bleak experience.

But that's just me.
 
The problem with Oblivion was Bethesda ignored their own lore and made Cyrodiil feel like a generic medieval Europe. If you really want mythical and even outlandish Morrowind is for you. Don't get me wrong Oblivion was a good game, but it followed Morrowind's path of cutting content which led to Skyrim.
 
Yeah I will admit that I kinda wish Oblivion had more of a Roman aesthetic to it, but I still did enjoy a lot of the scenery. As to Morrowind... I dunno what it is, I just can't ever seem to sit down and play it for very long. I've tried on like, seven different occasions but I always wind up getting bored or annoyed or distracted by something else.

Daggerfall, from what I hear, is supposed to be awesome.
 
Most of the hardcore veterans of the series prefer Daggerfall to Morrowind, but I have yet to play it because you need a DOS emulator. I started TES with Morrowind so I may be bias, but I'll admit its dice roll combat isn't for everyone. Granted its mostly because at the time they didn't have the technology to show your character actually missing.
 
Ahhh...Skyrim...

To be honest, I've got over 400 hours on it. I may be addicted. But, I also feel a few places that the hype...was, well, killed. The Dark Brotherhood questline was not as good as Oblivion's, in my opinion, and the fact that they took out the Fighter's Guild and stuck in a clan of werewolves that force you to become one is interesting, yes, but forcing you into something you may not want.

As far as the class system, there's a reason I play Skyrom on PC instead of consoles: mods.

I don't use those kind of mods, but they do exist, and are actually rather popular. There's also new places to go that remind me more of Oblivion, and there's lighting mods that take away that bleak feeling.

All in all, I enjoy Skyrim, but can see a few things I didn't like.
 
It's a mixed reaction to me.

I enjoyed the overall story, and the environments were awesome (Skyrim is a northeastern province of the continent to begin with). Graphics were rather disappointing, and many of the NPCs were poorly done (I don't mean in terms of how the VA was since I prefer reading subtitles anyways). On the other hand, my only real complaints, however, are that the dialogue & story could've used some serious overhaul to allow for more meaningful choices (did feel like the story was per an on-rail shooter as compared to Morrowind), the lack of depth to exploration, and that the battle AI & the damage formulas always felt flat (which also made it utterly pointless to change difficulty level since that only increased their HP/MP/Stamina pools).
 
Can we talk about what a MOTHERFUCKING SHITBAG Ulfric Stormcloak is? I've never successfully completed the Stormcloak questline, and the only time I tried(/accidentally went to the wrong questpoint first and decided 'fuckit') he made me RE-ROLL because I hated talking to him so god damn much.
 
Ulfric is a scumbag, and horribly shortsighted. The entire civil war is basically the Aldmeri Dominon's ploy to weaken the Empire further. Despite losing the Great War, the Empire managed to do some damage to the Aldmeri. The White-Gold Concordat was only signed, because the Empire knew that further fighting would mean the loss of everything, and the Aldmeri was weary from fighting such a prolonged campaign (they were also having trouble out in Hammerfell, because of black people). The whole thing was just a respite from the war, to allow both sides to build up their forces again. Ulfric just couldn't seem to understand that the Aldmeri would tear through an independent Skyrim quicker than they did the unprepared Cyrodiil. The entire conflict was only such a problem, because the Empire grew complacent, and could do nothing to stop the Thalmor plots in Elsewhere and Valenwood. They were literally caught with their pants down, because all of their spies (the Blades) were captured and executed where they would have been most useful.

Titus Mede II proved to be an able leader. He gave his capital city in a strategic gamble, and then retook it to effectively demolish the Aldmeri's main fighting force in Cyrodiil. If he had not incurred such devastating loses at the start of the war, he could have pushed the Aldmeri out of Cyrodiil and Hammerfell. The man is a capable leader that won against overwhelming odds with an Empire that was very much Rome at it's weakest. Ulfric literally has no good reason to attempt to gain Skyrim's independence. Whatever Skyrim as a whole lost, the Mede Empire lost far more. If he had instead sought to work with the Imperials, they could have made a far more intimidating opponent to the Thalmor. Instead, he wastes time and resources, and aids the Thalmor plot to further weaken the Mede Empire.
 
I always feel rather uncomfortable around the Stormcloak questline, like I'm supporting racial supremacy and ethnic cleansing by doing it. The treatment of any non-Nord in Windhelm is shirt collar tuggingly awkward, and it leaves you feeling like you're supporting the Thalmor- Nord version.

While the Empire were far from perfect, I could still sympathise with them far more, and General Tullius felt like a much better person compared to Ulfric 'whiny racist brat' Stormcloak. That said, I do appreciate the Civil War feeling decently morally grey with both sides having some faults and some benefits. Neither side was as baby-eatingly evil as Mankar Camoran.

Also if you're gonna be a Stormcloak, you should get the High King position. I mean c'mon, being Dragonborn has more status to it "I hired these guys to get this ancient crown for me, therefore I should be king."
 
The Stormcloak rebellion happened, literally, because Ulfric was sore over the whole thing that went down in Markarth. He was promised something by someone that had no power to actually make it happen. The son of the former Jarl of Markarth, whose father was killed in an Forsworn Uprising, wanted Daddy's land back. So, he basically hired Ulfric to do it, and promised him that they could worship Talos. Ulfric came in, and shouted his way to victory. He then basically held the city hostage, and demanded that the Empire allow Talos to be worshiped officially by the Empire. This put the Empire in a very bad position. Markarth was in chaos, so the Empire had no choice but to agree to Ulfric's terms. They would later decide not to uphold these conditions, and would go on to expel Ulfric from the city. Year later, Ulfric decided to start his rebellion.

Ulfric is just a bitter man, who was in the right place at the right time. There is no good justification for his decision to put the entirety of Skyrim at risk, by going to war with the Empire.
 
Oh god not a Empire vs Stormcloak discussion. Honestly I'm all about that Stormcloak lifestyle, and I think its unfair to label them as racists. Ever since the Night of Tears Nords and Mer (elves) had bad blood between them, along with the fact the Nords helped the proto Imperials to overthrow the Ayleids (Wild Elves or Heartland High Elves). Not to mention the Great War is still fresh in the minds of Man. Sure there are some Nords in the Stormcloaks are racists, but they are a minority. The fact is the Empire abandoned Hammerfall, with the Redguards throwing out the Dominion out on they're own. Not only did they abandon Hammerfall they didn't lift a finger to help the Dunmer, after the Red Mountain erupted. If the Empire is too weak to hold onto Morrowind let alone Hammerfall, the Nords deserve to be able to overthrow them.
 
Part of that 'minority' is the leader. I could give a shit less about the Stormcloaks themselves, they paint my sword as well as an imperial, but ULFRIC WON'T DIE unless I side with the imperials, and I'm not missing a chance to smear that awful little fuck whenever I play.
 
Hes not really a racist I mean for Talos sake, you can join the Stormcloaks as any race and if you want to talk about a racist Rolf Stone-Fist is your man.
 
Okay, not even going to weigh into the above racist discussion.

But as for the game? Yeah, I like playing through it. Once.

Skyrim has zero replayability for me, as little to nothing ever changes. It's a giant world, with largely sweet fuck all meaningful going on in it. I appreciate how Bethesda is trying to push the sandbox thing, but they really need to get some of their shit together on actually making thigns happen.

And hire more than 5 fucking voice actors! THat is one of my major piss offs. I go walking through town, and get five people with the same voice. ><
 
Did anyone else feel that most of the major questlines were either unrewarding or uninteresting?

Like... the main quest for example. Fighting the dragons really loses its epicness when you have to do it every five minutes, and considering that seemingly anyone can take down the dragons you don't feel like an epic chosen one hero, you feel more like a magic exterminator. And after defeating Alduin, the super-mega-badass- world eating dragon, the only reward you get is a shout that you're unlikely to use. Also can we please talk about Delphine and Esbern being the biggest shitbags in the whole game? 'The blades are sworn to serve and protect the dragonborn... now go do everything we say without question like a good little lapdog.' 'Oh you like Paarthurnax? Too bad, you have to kill him and get zero choice in the matter. Do it or we'll be huffy towards you forever.'

The Winterfell questline does feel decently rewarding, since the arch mage robes and the Morokei mask are essential for any magic-class. Too bad the plot is complete arse and hops all over the place like a kid high on cocaine, never stopping to explain anything or take a fucking breath. It's like 'oooh here's this super secret Eye of Magnus, and it's made of super magic. And now it's gonna be used to take over the world because this Thalmor guy is a jerk but don't worry because there's a staff of Magnus and-' ugh. I had to actually do a lore binge just to have the faintest grasp of what the fuck was going on.

Thieves Guild was entirely dull. It could have ended about halfway through if Karliah wasn't a dumbass and just shot Mercer, and the plot keeps trying to build him up as a big threat because he has a magic lockpick, when in all honesty he's the least threatening antagonist in the whole game. No Grey Fox, and nothing as awesomely exciting as breaking into the White Gold Tower and stealing a freaking Elder Scroll.

Companions would have been better if becoming a werewolf wasn't mandatory and if the Silver Hand weren't the most boring and bland villains ever. No backstory, no notable figures, they're just guys who like to hunt werewolves because... reasons.
 
The Sliver Hand are just bandits, but are named Silver Hand instead and have a sliver weapon. Even if you don't join the Companions they are still hostile.
 
Isn't their whole shtick supposed to be werewolf hunters, and that's why they keep pestering the Companions?
 
MellowYellow said:
Isn't their whole shtick supposed to be werewolf hunters, and that's why they keep pestering the Companions?
Click to expand...

Yeah, but they're like every other hostile NPC. They're going to just attack even if you never talked to the Companions, which adds to your complaint about the lack of questing depth.
 
I felt Skyrim was one of the best games I've played, since there's so much you can do with it in my mind. I always used to start up new games and create my own stories or just do it to complete all of the side quests. Though it has it's downs, I feel it's awesome, from plot, to graphics, to replay value, etc.

Though it isn't the most perfect game, it kept me VERY entertained, and I'm not even into RPGs, the classes were confusing for me at first, but once I got use to the game, it was one of the most impressive games I've played. Though my opinion probably won't change yours.
 
The Badger said:
To be honest? I adored Skyrim. I still have it downloaded on my computer and I play it when I can, when I'm not playing Fallout: New Vegas. I'm sorry that you didn't dig it.. But I think it's less the actual game and more of the game type, since, quite frankly? I adore the fuck out of the Fallout series.

Maybe the whole sandbox game thing isn't for you, man.
Click to expand...

It's not that I have a problem with sandbox games, really. Games like Grand Theft Auto V and Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag were a blast for me (though I don't think they were bigger than Skyrim); hell, I just wish the latter had more sidequests. And I don't have a problem with first- or third-person POVs, either. It's not the whole medieval, dragons-and-magic genre, either. Skyrim just didn't feel like it had any life to it. Kinda like a giant piece of tofu, if that makes sense.

And I'm actually pretty interested in Fallout. It's an intensely interesting story to me, rather like the rise and fall of Rapture in Bioshock. It just felt like Skyrim with guns and deserts when I tried New Vegas.
 
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