Jump to content

Skyrim 4th Anniversary Review: Part I


Remilia Scarlet

Recommended Posts

Wow 2 thousand hours. I did every mission i found and also discovered and cleared every location and barely got 200 hours. Unless you mean multiple playthroughs of course. Great review BTW  :)

Yes, that's what I meant. I played Skyrim on PS3 and PC across multiple saves and characters. Several of my playthroughs were actually due to corrupt saves. Skyrim is my favorite RPG of all time.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't think it takes 2000 hours to notice that the NPCs are just wooden cutouts that repeat the same thing over and over and over and over and over. Also while the character customization is extensive, you are playing a first person game (unless you happen to switch to 3rd person) so you will never see what you look like. Also you cover yourself in armour and a helmet so even if you do care what you look like you will never see it.

 

That is my problem with games like this. While I enjoy playing them there just isn't that much to them. You say you have literally a country worth of land to explore (the word literally is misused but whatever) but that land doesn't mean anything when most of it is useless caves or tombs that are copy and pasted from the last one or you get to a place once and then just fast travel everywhere because it takes too long to run across the fields.

 

The story is completely pointless as well. Nothing I do affects the outcome of things. I was a werewolf, mage master, head of the thief guild, aide to the supreme ruler of the land and had in my possession all the Daedric artifacts when I finally returned to the main story (I didn't want to chance on missing trophies so I skipped the main story until I beat everything) The part I left off at was obtaining the third part of the first Shout. So here I am decked out in every imaginable thing possible and the guy at the top of the mountain doesn't say "where the fuck were you for the last month and a half. I have been standing here waiting for you" or "Holy shit it is you, Dragonborne, the man who's quests and feats are legendary" No he says "time to learn the last Shout (or whatever he says).

 

So that brings me to "immersion" which is something people love to say about games like this. How can you be immersed in a game that doesn't connect at all, who's NPCs don't matter and say the same thing over and over and over (alright already), where you can keep 32 dragon skulls in your house and no one cares, where I can be fighting a dragon and a guy runs up and is like "I have a letter for you" and not "THERE IS A FUCKING DRAGON RIGHT THERE"

 

Like I said I had a blast with the game, it just isn't the be all-end all of games that people make it out to be. There are just too many small (and some large) problems with it that makes me go "yeah, it is a 7/10"

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't think it takes 2000 hours to notice that the NPCs are just wooden cutouts that repeat the same thing over and over and over and over and over. Also while the character customization is extensive, you are playing a first person game (unless you happen to switch to 3rd person) so you will never see what you look like. Also you cover yourself in armour and a helmet so even if you do care what you look like you will never see it.

 

That is my problem with games like this. While I enjoy playing them there just isn't that much to them. You say you have literally a country worth of land to explore (the word literally is misused but whatever) but that land doesn't mean anything when most of it is useless caves or tombs that are copy and pasted from the last one or you get to a place once and then just fast travel everywhere because it takes too long to run across the fields.

 

The story is completely pointless as well. Nothing I do affects the outcome of things. I was a werewolf, mage master, head of the thief guild, aide to the supreme ruler of the land and had in my possession all the Daedric artifacts when I finally returned to the main story (I didn't want to chance on missing trophies so I skipped the main story until I beat everything) The part I left off at was obtaining the third part of the first Shout. So here I am decked out in every imaginable thing possible and the guy at the top of the mountain doesn't say "where the fuck were you for the last month and a half. I have been standing here waiting for you" or "Holy shit it is you, Dragonborne, the man who's quests and feats are legendary" No he says "time to learn the last Shout (or whatever he says).

 

So that brings me to "immersion" which is something people love to say about games like this. How can you be immersed in a game that doesn't connect at all, who's NPCs don't matter and say the same thing over and over and over (alright already), where you can keep 32 dragon skulls in your house and no one cares, where I can be fighting a dragon and a guy runs up and is like "I have a letter for you" and not "THERE IS A FUCKING DRAGON RIGHT THERE"

 

Like I said I had a blast with the game, it just isn't the be all-end all of games that people make it out to be. There are just too many small (and some large) problems with it that makes me go "yeah, it is a 7/10"

 

Thank you! It's about time someone called this game out for it really is. You hit the nail on the head there.

 

I get tired of all the people who treat Skyrim like it's the God of video games or something.  :P Like all games, it has it's flaws, but people like to gloss over that fact. It's by no means a bad game, it's pretty damn good actually, but it's not the perfection people make it out to be. There are plenty of games out there that do many things better. From the mediocre combat, to the underwhelming plot, dumbed down RPG elements and the sheer repetitiveness of it all, people give this game way too much credit. Why would I force my way through copy & pasted dungeon #100, full of generic cannon fodder, just so some lifeless NPC can say the same repeated lines of dialogue to me as all the other ones have? Any game can have thousands of hours of gameplay if you repeat the same stuff over and over again.

 

I'm not hating on anyone's opinion here. If you truly spent hundreds or thousands of hours in this game, then good for you. I just think there are much more interesting and engaging games out there. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't think it takes 2000 hours to notice that the NPCs are just wooden cutouts that repeat the same thing over and over and over and over and over. Also while the character customization is extensive, you are playing a first person game (unless you happen to switch to 3rd person) so you will never see what you look like. Also you cover yourself in armour and a helmet so even if you do care what you look like you will never see it.

 

That is my problem with games like this. While I enjoy playing them there just isn't that much to them. You say you have literally a country worth of land to explore (the word literally is misused but whatever) but that land doesn't mean anything when most of it is useless caves or tombs that are copy and pasted from the last one or you get to a place once and then just fast travel everywhere because it takes too long to run across the fields.

 

The story is completely pointless as well. Nothing I do affects the outcome of things. I was a werewolf, mage master, head of the thief guild, aide to the supreme ruler of the land and had in my possession all the Daedric artifacts when I finally returned to the main story (I didn't want to chance on missing trophies so I skipped the main story until I beat everything) The part I left off at was obtaining the third part of the first Shout. So here I am decked out in every imaginable thing possible and the guy at the top of the mountain doesn't say "where the fuck were you for the last month and a half. I have been standing here waiting for you" or "Holy shit it is you, Dragonborne, the man who's quests and feats are legendary" No he says "time to learn the last Shout (or whatever he says).

 

So that brings me to "immersion" which is something people love to say about games like this. How can you be immersed in a game that doesn't connect at all, who's NPCs don't matter and say the same thing over and over and over (alright already), where you can keep 32 dragon skulls in your house and no one cares, where I can be fighting a dragon and a guy runs up and is like "I have a letter for you" and not "THERE IS A FUCKING DRAGON RIGHT THERE"

 

Like I said I had a blast with the game, it just isn't the be all-end all of games that people make it out to be. There are just too many small (and some large) problems with it that makes me go "yeah, it is a 7/10"

 

I am touching on all of this in my review. I understand your criticisms and take them all into account, but for me, none of that matters. Skyrim for me is the pinnacle of role-playing games. I don't let faults like what you listed hold me back from enjoying Skyrim to its fullest. Aside from that, there are hundreds of mods that add to the immersion factor and allow you to tailor Skyrim to be the way YOU want it to be. And please, before you bite back with "but that was Bethesda's job!", remember that they specifically created this game to be modded to hell and back. 

 

On the world: it's not empty, nor is it useless. I frequently come across many useful items in my adventures. I love mixing potions and trying new combinations for alchemy, and Skyrim is littered with potential potion/alchemy ingredients from butterfly wings, dragonfly thoraxes, fungi, different grasses, even parts of certain enemies. How can you call the dungeons useless when every dungeon is filled with items to help you on your quests? Or countryside empty when you encounter bandits, trolls, wolves, foxes, hagravens, mammoths and giants, etc.? Several times I have encountered Imperial soldiers escorting prisoners of war to jail, or Dawnguard in battle with vampires, or common people fending off dragons. 

 

The argument that Skyrim is just a big empty countryside is flawed and untrue by the very nature of its randomness.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...