The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim!

[Snowdog]

So how are people who've already bought it finding it? I've seen comments on the Besthesda forums such as 'amazing' and 'best game ever' but I've also seen many pages of technical issues. It obviously looks good but how does it play? Does it feel like a RPG or more like a FPS?

[Red 13]

I've played it for about 5 hours and i'm finding it absolutely brilliant. I havn't had any technical problems so far. It is definatly stunning. I would say its more RPG but the first person view and combat is definatly just as good as any FPS out there. The hole interface has been simplafied and is way better than Oblivions. The best thing is that you can put any weapon, clothing, spells or items in a favorite list so that you can use anything at any moment by just pushing up which makes the list appear, pausing the game, so you can choose whatever you need to use. The spells are great too and the dual wielding system is great fun. So far i have no complaints.

[thaddeus6th]

I've had one proper bug, a freeze. Just one so far, after six hours, and not had one since (I hope it's a one-off or rare occurrence).

Made a First Impressions post on my blog:
http://thaddeusthesixth.blogspot.com...pressions.html

The short version is that I'm enjoying it a lot, most things are improved upon (some substantially) and I love the look of the new Khajiit. However, some people have had serious issues with freezes or suchlike.

[Snowdog]

I'm surprised they've dumped the inventory doll. That's been a staple of RPGs since I can remember. Maybe it conflicted with the favourite list thingy mentioned by Red 13.

I understand that, like in Oblivion, the world levels as you do. That's a pretty bad idea but it seems standard now for Bethesda. That got modded out in Oblivion and I daresay it will eventually in Skyrim if you have the PC version.

[LadyLara]

So are there more than 3 voice actors this time?

[devilsgrin]

without any exaggeration whatsoever... BEST... GAME... EVER... (at least best sandbox RPG EVER, and a contender for greatest game ever made without a doubt). Have encountered absolutely zero bugs related to quests/dialogue after almost 24 hours of play.

The only problem i'm having is occasionally when i go to enter combat especially if i'm casting magic, i get a total CTD (crash to desktop). The game just totally collapses. (i've learned to SAVE SAVE SAVE and then SAVE again).

Voice acting is significantly better than Oblivion. All seem to be very different. And i've yet to notice even variations on accent/tone from the save voice actor on more than 2 people in the same Hold. And in most cases, haven't noticed the same actor in the same location at all.

The game feels (movement and character wise) VERY much like Fallout 3. So if you enjoyed the way your character moved, and other characters/enemies moved in that, then you'll enjoy it here as well.

Am LOVING TO DEATH the rare kill moves (they may only be rare for me, since i favour magic over sword, and only really fallback onto a sword when i'm OOP). They're like the kill shots you get in V.A.T.S in Fallout 3/NV. But more dynamic since these are from close combat, not killshots from a gun.

[thaddeus6th]

Snowdog, the world does level with you, but only to an extent (it's more like Fallout 3 than Oblivion). I can't say for certain as my highest level character's only level 10, but so far it seems to work reasonably well (perhaps aided by the fact that the new levelling system is seventy-three times better than Oblivion's).

LadyLara, there are more voice actors One gripe is that loads of the Nords have decent Nordic accents, but a few of them (mostly kids) are blatantly American. It's like The Hunt for Red October.

Devilsgrin, I'm confused. Do you like the game or not?

Reminds me, actually, I need to get the patch installed. Oh, and I'd agree with you regarding the Fallout 3 vibe. Technically, FO3 was better than Oblivion, but I prefer fantasy to apocalyptic future worlds, so to see the two mixed in Skyrim is good.

[LadyLara]

Well all the Nords had American accents in Oblivion anyway, so I've got no idea what a "Nordic" accent is supposed to sound like anyway. It can't be as bad the the Khajiits/Argonians in Oblivion where all the females were American and all the males were Russian for some reason.

[Fake Vencar]

On one of the pre-release videos, it said that they'd used over 80 different voice actors. Bit of a difference from the 10 or so used in Oblivion!

[LadyLara]

I remember thinking it was much better in Fallout 3. After a while you started spotting the same voices, but they all seemed to be different at first and it never got as samey as Oblivion did.

[I, Brian]

Enjoying it here - much more real and gritty - however, when you look at Oblivion again, Skyrim looks very grey and blue. Oblivion looks more warm and inviting by comparison.

No probs with the game - having a lot of fun with it, and enjoying the levelling system as well - much better than in Oblivion.

Originally Posted by Snowdog

I understand that, like in Oblivion, the world levels as you do.

So far as I understand it, levelling works as follows:

1. Some places contain characters of a specific level, regardless of your level. For example, there are places near Whiterun filled with low-level creatures/NPC's regardless of how high your level is. Additionally, there are levels where there are NPC's or monsters of high level that will slaughter any low level players.

2. Once you have visited a place, if you return and creatures have respawned, they will only ever respawn at the same level as when you first discovered the place.

3. The higher up in the mountains you go, the more likely you'll meet higher level creatures that will mash you.


Already visited a few places where there was something way above my level and couldn't kill - visiting the Pale Lady even at level 8 proved fatal unless I snuck/ran past. Giants are tough, full stop, and met a form of Dreugh that would eat me for breakfast.

And then at level 13, visited a fort near Whiterun - filled with bandits in fur. Hur, hur, that was fun.

[Aun Doorback]

Loving every minute of it so far (Only 2 sessions) - Chased by Giants, hunting mammoth, brawling in a pub, clubing skeletons -Fine stuff all round

[Dozmonic]

Giants would be tough if kiting with fire magic wasn't so very easy. I downed my first giant at level 5 with a pure mage and feel it could be done at level 1 in all honesty, though you'd just be waiting longer for magicka regen :-)

Definitely a fun game. One I'm trying to resist my fatal flaw of "this is my flavour of the hour... no now I want this character... now this character... oh sneaky bow crit shots would be nice... ooh and what about...!!!"

[No One]

I know what you mean Dozmonic. That's why I almost always make my first character a straight-up warrior, which I think is the purest way to experience the game world (thief/assassin and mage characters to follow ). I've only scratched the surface so far (just took down my first dragon! Huzzah!) and loving it more and more. I'm currently engaged in struggling to earn enough money for a house to store my equipment.

Re: Brian: that sounds like a perfect compromise for those of us who didn’t take to Oblivion’s style of near-redundant levelling (bloody goblins!). I’m really glad to see Bethesda do this, as well as taking cues from the excellence that was Morrowind and Fallout 3.

Besides the stunning – if understandably less colourful – scenery, the atmospherics of the game are far beyond that of Oblivion. Dust particles in dungeons and mines, early morning mists, mountain fogs and the overall weather system are just incredible.

Awesome stuff.

[thaddeus6th]

That's very similar to my main character, No One. I was also eager to get a house quickly, as I tend to hoard things.

I've also made a pure(ish) stealth character and a pure mage. At the moment I'd say Shadowfang the Khajiit's had the smoothest progress, and Lucrecia the High Elf the most difficult (she tends to either immolate her foes in 5 seconds or get killed).