The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

[kindofdoon]

I read reviews, watched gameplay, read about it, and decided that I wanted it. So I just purchased it a minute ago. Has anyone played it? What do you think of it?

[Rosella]

My opinion is just about worthless, but I own the game, I'm up at 2 AM, and I have nothing better to do.

Now I should start off by saying I'm horrible at first person games and lose interest in sandboxes more quickly than, well, anyone else I know, anyway. It's worth noting that the game has a third person option, which I employed, but it won't let you invert the x axis (I prefer both camera axes inverted, and so this was pretty much a gamekiller for me). So, probably, stick to first-person.

One thing that bugged me was the fact that I couldn't aim for anything. I found it ridiculously hard to hit things. Then again, that's probably because of the third person thing, and trying to play it like a game designed for third person, which this is not.

That said though, I can't think of any other problems I really had with the game. I didn't play it long, but I did enjoy what I saw. The combat was kinda fun once I got the hang of it, and  I generally enjoyed how it worked (the whole stat-grinding bit). I played Morrowwind a bit more (for reasons unknown to me) and I thought it was a fun, slightly-different-than-the-normal-RPG kind of experience. Play it. Enjoy it. Just know that if you're not into sandboxes (as I'm not) you'll lose interest quickly.

[Lambonius]

Well, it looks pretty dated compared to more recent xbox360 titles--but it's a hell of a game, and stunningly beautiful to look at in it's own right.  I can't imagine any fan of fantasy or roleplaying games who wouldn't adore it.  You won't be disappointed.

That said, there are some flaws--you'll likely find yourself having to turn the difficulty down after you've leveled your character up a bit and suddenly all the enemies are handing your ass to you in combat.  The scaled enemy difficulty is not implemented well here--mainly because it ONLY takes into account what level you are, and doesn't take into account what specific skills you've increased, which is a huge issue given the fact that it's perfectly possible to level up multiple times without ever improving your combat skills.    Thankfully, the difficulty slider is there, otherwise certain types of characters really would be unplayable.

*As far as the sandbox thing goes--yeah, Oblivion is one of those games that you can get into as deeply or as shallowly as you like and still have a good time.  If you go into it with the right mindset--really try to role-play your character--not just taking advantage of the stat system and grinding and such, it can be an amazingly engrossing experience unlike any other.  It really all depends on how you approach it, and I suppose what your gaming preferences are.  Oh and as far as combat, you can be pointed right at enemies and sometimes still not hit them--it's because the combat takes your stats into account, so sometimes you do miss, depending on your skill level.  Also, I'm not sure why they even included a third person view option--the game's third person camera doesn't change views at ALL--it remains exactly behind your character no matter what, and the movements look VERY unnatural in that view.  It was clearly designed for the ground up to be a first person game, so the experience is definitely diminished when not playing in that view. 

[kindofdoon]

My opinion is just about worthless, but I own the game, I'm up at 2 AM, and I have nothing better to do.

Now I should start off by saying I'm horrible at first person games and lose interest in sandboxes more quickly than, well, anyone else I know, anyway. It's worth noting that the game has a third person option, which I employed, but it won't let you invert the x axis (I prefer both camera axes inverted, and so this was pretty much a gamekiller for me). So, probably, stick to first-person.

One thing that bugged me was the fact that I couldn't aim for anything. I found it ridiculously hard to hit things. Then again, that's probably because of the third person thing, and trying to play it like a game designed for third person, which this is not.

That said though, I can't think of any other problems I really had with the game. I didn't play it long, but I did enjoy what I saw. The combat was kinda fun once I got the hang of it, and  I generally enjoyed how it worked (the whole stat-grinding bit). I played Morrowwind a bit more (for reasons unknown to me) and I thought it was a fun, slightly-different-than-the-normal-RPG kind of experience. Play it. Enjoy it. Just know that if you're not into sandboxes (as I'm not) you'll lose interest quickly.

I'm actually a huge fan of sandboxes - Just Cause 2, GMod, Ultimate Spiderman (sort of counts, not really), etc. are among my favorite games. The sandbox aspect is one of the main things that interested me.

[Rosella]

In that case, have at it. I'm sure you'll love it. I really love watching people play it just because I enjoy the whole mechanic of it, but I can't deal with the interface (I barely got through Portal. Putting me in a first-person game where I can't just sit and figure things out before needing to use reflexes? Uh-uh...).  And I have no patience for sandboxes, but if someone else is calling the shots, I'd love to be along for the ride. It's a well done game, and I have my qualms, but if they don't apply to you, more power to you. You should record it and let me watch.

[kindofdoon]

I love watching LPs, but I am totally incapable of producing them. I like to absorb the game quietly. Plus, I'm very shy, and not so quick with words.

[wilco64256]

Do the main story quests first - this can't be stressed enough.  The game makes enemies stronger automatically based on your progress and if you do tons of sidequesting and other quests for various guilds and other factions first, when you finally get around to doing the story quests there will be so many enemies at ridiculously high levels that it becomes virtually impossible.

[ThunderChild]

I read reviews, watched gameplay, read about it, and decided that I wanted it. So I just purchased it a minute ago. Has anyone played it? What do you think of it?

I have it, played it extensively when it came out back in 2006 and even today I sometimes play it. Not that extensively anymore but stil substantial.

If you like the game, then I would definitely recommend the expansions "Shivering Isles" & "Knights of the Nine". The latter also contains the seporate DLC packs (except Battlehorn Castle) that Bethesda released over the course of 2006/2007.

[Lambonius]

GOTY edition is probably the best value--comes with the two main expansions and it's pretty cheap nowadays to boot.

[MusicallyInspired]

I love it. What a great game to experience. The writing of any Elder Scrolls game is impeccable and Oblivion is no exception. The main quest and side quests alike are all excellently written. Especially the Dark Brotherhood storyline. My brother prefers Morrowind for many legitimate reasons, but the experience just doesn't compare to Oblivion in my opinion. It's a great game. Still need to finish The Shivering Isles, incidentally.

The game does get a bit repetitive after awhile. Even though they're randomly generated, the Oblivion Gates and random caves all start to look the same and the game mechanics start to become very mechanical. The best part of the game lies in the quests and not the random bits of exploration. Don't get me wrong, the exploration can be fun, but it's the quests that really make the game shine and not seem so....lifeless and generated. That's one thing that Morrowind doesn't suffer from. All the caves, dungeons, whatever were all designed from scratch individually and specifically. A lot of Oblivion is just randomly generated, all the enemies level up with you, and after 3 days everything resets (all those caves you explored earlier). But it doesn't knock a great experience.

Fallout 3 was made by the same people and has exactly the same game mechanics except done a lot better. I still need to get that game...

Oh and as far as combat, you can be pointed right at enemies and sometimes still not hit them--it's because the combat takes your stats into account, so sometimes you do miss, depending on your skill level.

Actually, that's not true. It's true for Morrowind, but not Oblivion. It's impossible to miss in Oblivion if you aim correctly. The amount of damage it does, however, is another matter altogether. But it will never do 0 damage or miss. That's one huge reason why I preferred Oblivion over Morrowind. Especially archery. I love archer-sniping in that game.

[kindofdoon]

I'm glad to read such a positive review. I don't regret my decision in the slightest. But why can't UPS be faster?

...[The] game mechanics start to become very mechanical.

I lol'd. (But I do understand what you are saying.)

[crayauchtin]

I adore all the Elder Scrolls games but Oblivion has been my favorite by far!

[Lambonius]

Actually, that's not true. It's true for Morrowind, but not Oblivion. It's impossible to miss in Oblivion if you aim correctly. The amount of damage it does, however, is another matter altogether. But it will never do 0 damage or miss. That's one huge reason why I preferred Oblivion over Morrowind. Especially archery. I love archer-sniping in that game.

You may be right--I was assuming it was the same as Morrowind in that respect, except that the timing and sound effects and the "weight" of your strikes felt a lot more real, thanks to the better hardware.  As for archery, it's good fun earlier in the game, but sadly becomes painfully obsolete as you get to be higher leveled.  Unless your bow and arrows are ridiculously enchanted, the sneak melee attacks will ALWAYS trump them.  In fact, unlike Morrowind, in which playing as a thief type character was a great experience, I felt like Oblivion was heavily stacked in favor of warrior/mage hybrid type characters.  The types of thief skills you have access to just don't seem to be all that useful in practice, particularly when you start coming up against ridiculous enemy types in quests that REQUIRE you to fight (like some of the story quests.)

[MusicallyInspired]

Maybe, but I never lost my use for archery. I'd rather do a stealth archery attack than a stealth melee attack. It just seems more fun to me .

[wilco64256]

This is another area where I think Fallout 3 outdid Oblivion - ranged attacks can always be extremely useful.  If you want your character to really specialize in ranged work it's far more effective in the long run in Fallout 3 than Oblivion.  It's still plenty fun in Oblivion, but you're not going to be mopping the floor with enemies with just ranged weapons.

[LadyTerra]

I absolutely love Oblivion, especially Shivering Isles.  Watch out for unicorns, though.  I knew someone who accidentally ran into one at first level with his sword out, and the unicorn literally chased him across Cyrodiil and plowed through all of the wild animals, bandits, and guards that got in its way.  He even went into the Shivering Isles, completed all of the quests there, and that unicorn was still there fighting with the guard.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy it as much as a lot of us seem to have.

[kindofdoon]

I've been playing it for 2 days now, and I love it! Of course, every game has its glitches and annoyances, but the overall experience is really excellent. I'm not at all an RPG gamer (my last real RPG was probably Pokémon Gold for the GBC, lol, a great game), so it was a big step for me.

Probably my biggest issue with the game is the repeated dungeon quests. The outdoor landscapes and cityscapes and indoor scenes are so beautiful and expansive, yet missions keep taking me through dungeons, where I frequently get lost due to my poor sense of orientation.

Plus, the horse is really slow.

But overall, I'm really satisfied with the sheer amount of things you can do and the whole experience.

[Fierce Deity]

My opinion is a moot point, seeing as you already received the game and seems like you are enjoying it thoroughly. I tried Oblivion a few times and made a genuine attempt at diving in head first. I did some of the main quests, and then I decided to actually visit the main city and travel around. I didn't know where to start and got lost relatively quickly for a guy who likes sandbox games (I tend to be more fixated on the sandbox games like GTA and the superhero games that have come out recently). It might have been a fluke, so I tried to play it again, and just couldn't bring myself to progress the story (which I didn't totally understand at the time) or do any side quests (which I wouldn't be able to find if my life depended on it). So I don't mean to sound like the game was bad (clearly, there are people who enjoy it), I just couldn't take it seriously. 

Now, I played Fallout 3 and enjoyed that to no end. A very good experience. I don't think I'll be picking up New Vegas, just cause it seems like it's more of the same thing, and I wouldn't want to let a good thing become stale.

Another keynote that I think deserves to be made is, Ken Rolston (who helped design Oblivion) is working on a new project that should be considered "in league" with games like Oblivion, Dragon Age, etc. It's called Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. The game's story is being told by R.A. Salvatore, and the art is being done by Todd McFarlane. Just a head's up for anyone interested in these kinds of games.

http://www.reckoningthegame.com/ 

[kindofdoon]

I can definitely see why you got lost - everything about the game is huge in scope. And I know exactly what you mean by trying really hard to get into a game and failing. It's happened to me as well, most recently with MYST.

And with regards to "Reckoning":

[MusicallyInspired]

First of all Oblivion has a map...you can't get lost. Second of all it has a compass feature which tells you where your next goal is. Impossible not to know what to do.