| Platform | OVERALL |
|---|---|
| PlayStation 3 | 9.30 |
| Overall | 9.30 |
|
I am not going to waste time in this review explaining why a TES game is absolutely incredible. Few games can engross you in a world and provide over 100 hours of content and no matter how many bad things that go with it the sheer incredible scope doesn't let me put down the controller. Simply said I love playing these games. Now that said Skyrim has some improvements I like but retains many elements that I wish Bethesda would improve but refuse to. Lets first talk about all the bugs which in a game like this are expected; to be honest this is probably one of the more stable Bethesda games I have played. The worst thing are the game freezes which will happen plenty of times, luckily the game auto saves all the time so it isn't that much of a pain. Then there are random weird stuff that happens, one making a major quest get locked up, which was fixed by loading an earlier save. It is annoying but ultimately the game was playable from start to finish (after a patch). Among the improvements from Oblivion is how each cave/dungeon felt hand crafted and many had some sort of unique quality to it whether its puzzles or a boss battle. Each location is usually tied to some side quest making these caves worth exploring. On the flip side the dungeon crawling still feels like its just an exercise in beating up simple monsters while you go through a mostly linear area. The added puzzles all revolve around turning stones with animal shapes in the correct order. It is definitely a step in the right direction but this game seriously needs a level designer to make these dungeons interesting in ways outside the story. The leveling up system is a massive improvement by removing all the useless crap stats like athletics or jumping skills. The only stats you upgrade are the three major ones, then you earn skill points where you can spend them to gain abilities in many skill trees like one handed weapons. Now every time you level up you get something that is a noticeable improvement, not an indiscernible increase in a stat. Combat is refined with far better melee controls, quicker magic and new skills like the yells. I have noticed that most of the time victory in combat comes down to how much better your stats are than your enemy. Yes you can get by some tougher enemies with smart buffs and this feels like the only moments where your gaming skills come into play. There will be a point in the game where your character is so well stacked that nothing is a legitimate threat. The dragons which are supposed to serve as the major threat to your hero end up being large punching bags. You'd think they would make dragon boss battles interesting, nope. The structure of TES games does not allow for specialized gameplay moments because the game must be open to all classes, so it is a game which cannot tailor to one class or another. I believe the reason the guild quests are so great are because they can focus on one skill tree. Even then you can do those quests without being a member of that class rendering that point moot. For instance I completed the thieves guild by beating the shit out of everything like a caveman. I tried stealth but every time I failed I simply murdered everyone that tried to stop me, there is no penalty for that. I understand that freedom in gameplay is great but there is such thing as too much freedom. There is a point where specific level design around certain gameplay elements is wanted to help create the best experiences, this game gets close to those moments but never fully explores what they could do. Imagine the puzzles or dungeons they can make where you must use alteration or mysticism spells to get through. Instead everything in the game can basically be completed using the most basic of solutions. THIS IS MY CORE ISSUE WITH TES GAMES, honestly if these games had more focused level design and scenarios they would all be 10s in my book. This is the third TES game I play, 6th game like this counting the Fallout games and it is getting repetitive, it is frustrating knowing how the core structure wont change. The strength of these games are the incredible stories that litter the world. You dont simply go on random quests (though you can), almost every quest has some tale that goes with it. It isn't the prospect of finding another cave that keeps me going in these games, it is what new scenario will my character encounter next. Skyrim excels at this but I can't help compare it to Fallout New Vegas which has interesting stories which actually feel they impact the world. Way too often do my actions feel like they only effect my hero. Yes NPCs say certain things to let you know they have heard of you but it is not like New Vegas where entire storylines change and your choices impact the world. Ultimately Skyrim has plenty of small improvements which makes it far more interesting and playable than Oblivion. I am simply getting Bethesda fatigue, the core elements always stay the same and it gets damn repetitive. Yet I still LOVE these games, it has so many elements that I consider essential to what would be my perfect game. I want more out of it, not in the add 100 more hours of play kind of way obviously. Clearly though that does not stop me from enjoying 120 hours worth of Skyrim where I have yet to explore two entire cities and two entire guilds. |
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Posted by Dvader Tue, 28 Aug 2012 04:25:44
Recently Spotted:
*crickets*
That's an excellent point. It's probably why so many players speak so effusively about them rather than the main quest, which must seem by comparison quite generic.