After flexing my manhood with DS, I decided to get back to a mastodontic game I never cared to finish even after having spent more than 40 hours in my first playthrough. TES: Oblivion. I wasn't having fun with my imperial anymore so I decided to ditch that character and reroll with a breton lady. I tried to make her somewhat attractive, failing miserably. Oh well, at least I never have to look at her face again. Except for menus.
I'm 10 hours or so into the game, dabbled a bit with the main quest to get my feet wet again, freed Kvatch and took Boromir to that hideout in the asshole of the mountains. After that, I said "fuck the main quest", joined the mages guild and started working on those quests. I'm trying to keep quest burden to a minimum, to avoid excesses like it happened to me in my first playthrough. So far I've succeeded in keeping things streamlined, which means I get to savor each quest in a continuous fashion, instead of hopping here and there. My plan is to do the mages, then fighters guild, and leave thieves and dark brotherhood for last. After that I'll give the expansions a try.
I'm also having a blast making potions, something I never tried in my first run, and now I keep an eye on every single herb, fungus and flower that I stumble upon.
You should know by now that I never side-quest ever. Even in my most favorite series, Yakuza, I don't do any of the side quests.
I had a pretty cool moment last night.
*spoiler*
I was in Bravil, and went to the church to see if the priest there had nifty spells for sale. An old woman approaches me and asks for help. He says that his husband (a chronic gambler) got into trouble with an orc, and that she's worried because the dude went to see the orc a couple days ago and hasn't returned.
So I go to the joint where the orc is, and he tells me that yeah, he might know where the gambler is, but that he needs something done first. Pretty much standard stuff: you get me something I want, I tell you what you want to know. So he wants some shitty heirloom axe lost in a fort in the ass of the niben bay, and away I go.
When I get there, the first thing I find is the gambler, barefooted, standing in front of the fort door. As soon as he sees me, he tells me "oh crap, you fell for that axe story as well?". Turns out, the axe story is just a hook to get people inside the fort, and then the orc charges people for the chance to hunt down and kill whichever poor bastard happens to be trapped. I need to get inside the fort, kill all three hunters, and retrieve the keys from their bodies, so I can get out of the damn fort. I do that, because the gambler is a good for nothing piece of shit, and when I get back, I come out of the fort just in time to watch the orc slay the gambler I was about to rescue.
I proceed to kill the orc and one henchman, and then finally am able to get out of the fort. Then I have to get back to Bravil to tell the woman what happened to her husband. The reward was pretty shitty, but the way the quest was delivered made up for it.
I remember that quest. It was pretty fun.
I know, but it's still hard to believe!
Why not, if you don't mind me asking?
I want to have the most complete view of the history of gaming I can possibly attain which means I have to play a lot of games. Therefore, I get from the start to the end of a game as soon as possible, whether it takes 5 hours or 200 hours. Usually it is enough to know about the side quests, not to actually do them, to have an understanding of their role within a game.
It's the same way I read books, I just harvest them for information, I don't actually enjoy the process.
Now if you don't mind, I have to get back to the Borg collective from which I came.
Something happened at Anvil's chapel. All attendants were horribly slain inside the church, with no witnesses or explanations. The only one that seems to know something is an old fart outside the chapel that claims to be a prophet. He talks nonsense about some old-ass legend regarding an old evil being awakening from its long slumber. He says whoever deemed worthy of being the knight that will defeat Umaril for good, has to visit and pray in all wayshrines of the Nine. Only then, if the gods are pleased, they will send a signal.
As of tonight, I have started my pilgrimage.
Wouldn't the most complete view include side quests?
Understandable, though!
"Complete view of the history of gaming" not of each game.
It's tough not doing the side quests though, I'm slogging through these dungeons with a single potion, no where to rest because of the enemies. I have a lot of trouble scratching together 85 gil (or whatever the currency is) to get a single Weak Healing Potion. But I'm getting it done. I slayed an entire village to get enough money for a single potion
My pilgrimage is complete, and as I finished praying on the last shrine, a divine vision appeared before me, compelling me to search for the Holy Panoply. The quest has already taken me to underwater lairs, abandoned priories, and lost forts. It has taken its toll on me, for my arms feel heavier, and my breath is short, and my movements in combat falter, but I will succeed where the Knights of the Nine failed.
Umaril is no more. After slaying his mortal body, I followed him deep into the nothingness, and severed his very soul. The Nine rest now in peace, and I already long for yet another adventure.
(That's actually me, BTW. Managed to get a somewhat decent offscreen capture of myself after awakening in the priory).
^Another problem with Oblivion: the hassle that you have to go to to take screen shots.