Why I Didn’t Like Skyrim

New installment of the popular RPG series, The Elder Scrolls, shaped like a direct sequel to The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. Set in the realm of Skyrim, the game will explore not only a new level, more rough and aggressive,but also a new way of understanding the series.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Cheats

I am a big fan of RPG’s, and I mostly attempt to complete most quests and collect everything possible if given the chance (thank gods for guides, and yes, I meant to write “gods”). At least, I try to complete the main campaign inside and out. Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim had some of the best dungeons I’ve played in a long time. The music set you right in the mood of merging fear and power. The dungeons were complete and utter fun, unlike other aspects of the game.

I know Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning was oftentimes compared to the Fable series, but I have to compare Skyrim with Fable. For me, Fable was the ultimate sword and sorcery RPG experience. It is because everything unrelated to combat was made extremely easy for players who want to experience it all (also combat was made pretty easy). Skyrim played on realism, and for me, it sucked.

Travel was one of the most annoying aspects of the game. You had to by a horse for quick travel, and if it dies you buy another one. There is a carriage for fast travel between major cities. Because you start in an early level you are forced to stick to the main road, or you might find something you can’t handle like a giant troll or a dragon (somehow the dragon you kill early on is much easier to kill). Why there is no fast travel between places I’ve been before, even Pokémon has it. One of the things I liked about Deus Ex is that the world is divided into smaller, instanced if you want, sandboxes which to travel from one point to another is fairly fast on foot. I’m pretty sure I’ve never got board with their small sandboxes.

On the other hand, some people really like the giant sandbox feature. I would like it too but conditionally. This is one of the reasons I like paper RPG games (yeah, there are still existing) like Exalted. You are already overpowered compared to most beings from the start, as the other players on your team. While being overpowered, there are a lot of things that can struggle to bring you down. Some call it as starting D&D at level 10. I wouldn’t mind to start Skyrim with a lot of skills at character creation.

 

The other thing that I didn’t manage to do wall is to get around once I’m in the city. With all the markers at the top of the screen, couldn’t they put store markers as well? They made me use my cheat engine for not finding potions to buy. Last time I used it was Mass Effect 2′s planetary resources collection. It defiantly put fun in having a spaceship.

Mentioning Mass Effect, a game that had great menus and dialogue menus, Skyrim falls neck deep in sh*t in those aspects. They were annoying and fairly inhumane. I saw some player-made content fixes some problems, but I quit the a lot before I even thought of installing it.

The last thing that really bugged me, something Fable did amazingly well, was crime and crime-enforcement. In the beginning of the game I tried to steal stuff, but because people always looked at me, I killed them, I killed them all. I thought eliminating the witnesses won’t mean in the next town I have to deal with law enforcement. Even if in Fable I had to deal with them, I could bribe them or match their skills from the start. Also the “I know you” with them even after I became their champion or something was unbelievably annoying.

After all these the horrendous gameplay, came a small demo. Its game already came out with 2 DLCs I didn’t have a chance to play, Kingdom of Amalur: Reckoning. One of the best combat gameplay in an RPG ever, the best of its high fantasy setting, way better than Skyrim’s click frenzy. It has a bright artistic world which is a pleasure to look at, enchanting music and a world that shouts at you “explore me, I’m tender”.

Still Amalur will never match Skyrim’s success, at least not in this installment, even if the guys who created Spawn and Drizzt are behind it.

Reckoning is hopefully the first game in the series to come. Skyrim has a legacy behind it of 4 RPG games which came out of studio that created the Fallout series among other RPGs. Bethesda has experience in making them, 38 studios don’t. This is only a question of time. Schilling already brought some very experienced, highly praised individuals from different forms of media. He has the funds, and he has the fire to continue. My bet is we’re going to see a lot of RPGs with a tweaked combat combo system.

Leaving experience and legacy aside, the mood building in Skyrim is wonderful. That game can really get you to fear in those dungeons. The Amalur demo made me to think deviously on how I will take the next opposition. I guess, even with the great artistic style of Amulur, it looks like the nerfed version of Skyrim. Skyrim is edgier and darker, befitting times of great turmoil. Amalur looked to bright and boxy. Maybe that made me feel like exploring off track will be much more fun than Skyrim, and it was.

Bottom line, I won’t recommend people to try Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim unless Bethesda will release a version with the dungeons and the necessary dialogue for people to play. I will recommend Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, but even with McFarlane and Salvatore on board, it seems t just can’t gather enough hype. The lesson is you should know how to market your game. Don’t worry; the lessons will be implemented in Amalur’s sequel.