Official Site: http://www.elderscrolls.com/skyrim/
Source: Youtube Channel BethesdaSoftworksUK
Developer: Bethesda Game Studios
Publisher: Bethesda Softworks
Platforms: Playstation 3, Xbox 360, PC
Release Date: November 11, 2011
Genre: Action-RPG
Pros:
-The simplification of equipment and leveling up makes much more sense and gives the game a better flow
-Changes from its predecessors has been done so to contribute to the gameplay as well as immersion
-The game is so relaxing but also has its surprises and challenges pop out to keep the player interested
-Open world gameplay is still a prominent factor and provides an infinite amount of gameplay (unlimit. quests)
-Character customization is still versatile enough to please all sorts of playstyles
Cons:
-Textures and models don't look that great upon taking a closer look
-Bugs and glitches exist and causes problems during gameplay
-Fans of the last two Elder Scrolls game might be disappointed at how much customization has been stripped
-It's one of those games that make you go "is it already that late? Maybe one more area..."
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is like a traditional painting: pointing out all the little aspects and their problems will only make you see the flaws and inconsistency; however, if you step back and take it all in, you realize what a masterpiece it is. That's the best analogy I can give this amazing open world Action-RPG that I had no interest in buying from the beginning until it released and felt the urge to get a more relaxing sort of game among all my other action-intensive orientated games. Do not be fooled when hearing the word "Action" in front of "RPG" as the game's genre as it is very much an RPG than anything else (much like Fallout 3 when a lot of people described it as a First-Person Shooter). So if you're one who's worried that the RPG aspect might be dumbed down to favor the Action game players, rest assured that the experience is still very much there with the Action. Whenever I play the game, I'm not worried about finishing the game or looking for a definitive purpose. When I play, I let myself take part in the world laid out for me and journey around and take on the challenges I find along the way. Skyrim is one of those games that will keep you up late nights and back the next night and coming back even after finishing the game just to try out a different play-style or to mess around in the world by doing things you wouldn't have before. If you're looking for a relaxing game to play, then Skyrim would be your best bet.
Graphics
If you've already played the game and wondered why plants look flat, items' models look blocky, and textures sort of pixelated, it's probably for the sake of optimization. The analogy I used to describe the game can be applied to the graphics of the game too. If you look at every individual object, they probably look pretty ugly. But if you pull back and look at everything around you, it's a pretty convincing open world environment. The models for NPCs is...different (I don't want to say an improvement since I kinda like the quirky looks on people's faces in Oblivion) from the last Elder Scrolls. NPC interactions and AI is somewhat more reasonable, but they still perform some odd animations sometimes. One huge improvement in graphics would be the animations and effects for spells. They're a lot more dynamic as spells can be streamed now (meaning that instead of each spell being cast between intervals, it is continuously flowed out like a flamethrower). I think what design did with the graphics is that objects and models that mattered has more details while smaller things that didn't matter as much has a lower polygon count with lower-resolution textures. This ensures that the game can still run smoothly despite having all those movable objects around with effects, shadows, textures, polygons and animations running all at the same time. Still, frame skipping and the very rare case of freezing for a while does still happen. It's quite a spectacle looking at mountains from far range, flashy spells that explode in a flurry of fury, and humongous dragons circling over you. Even though it was evident to the developers that many players liked to play in 3rd-person, combat is still best played in first-person. The animations for the player's character is somewhat better in walking and running but still very awkward in jumping. The models and textures for the character itself isn't that pretty either with the hair all clumpy and faces that barely gives enough versatility in customizing the look. But I guess it's not entirely important as the game was meant to be played in first-person and so the player wouldn't be looking at their character as often. There's a lot to be said in both the good and bad, but it narrows down to that the graphics in the game were created in its most efficient state for aesthetics and performance and works really well. Graphics: 9/10
Audio
It was a very smart move to bring back Jeremy Soule (who composed the music for Morrowind and Oblivion) to do the music and re-work the main theme for the Elder Scrolls series with the crew to create an inspiring and appropriate rendition of Soule's original composition from Morrowind. Much like the other Elder Scroll games, the musical scores are of the greatest quality though not necessarily memorable other than the main theme itself. This doesn't seem to bother a lot of music critics as the most highly regarded musical scores are usually ones I don't remember what they sound like. The same is with Skyrim. I remember that they were good while I was playing, but I have no idea what they sound like if you ask me to hum it out. The sound effects has quite a bit of improvement, but it still feels and sounds like I'm hitting a rock when using a melee weapon against an enemy like in the last two games. The voice acting is also an improvement as veterans in acting contribute to some of the voices in the game. There are some inconsistency with recordings and the tone that NPCs speak in. This is most likely due to having many recording sessions as settings on the audio panel or a large break between lines are recorded in are changed. I still notice accents fading in and out of dialogue for certain NPCs, but at least it was still the same voice actor (I still find it hilarious in Oblivion when one of the NPCs I spoke to had three different accents and voices within one conversation). One of the highlights for me was having Christopher Plummer (among many other celebrities) be the voice of Arngeir. Audio: 8/10
Gameplay
Skyrim is what I had hoped for (and possibly more) when I decided to buy the game since I didn't in the beginning. The thing was that I'm still playing Oblivion at the moment and was willing to wait until I finished before I decided to purchase Skyrim. But the game looked so tempting and so different that I couldn't help it and got it anyways. At first, I was shocked at how much of the customization was cut out from the last two games; however, all the selections for customization made so much more sense. Even with all the customization in the past games, the main categories was being Aggressive (Warrior-like), being stealthy (Thief-like), or being spell driven (Caster-like). With that in mind, the player starts off from those three points and improves their abilities along the way through means of training and usage of skills. The game starts out similar to Oblivion and perhaps even Morrowind in that you're a nameless prisoner and eventually finds out that there's something special about yourself later which drives the story forward. Navigating seems a bit easier than Oblivion and much more easier than Morrowind, so getting around wasn't too big of a problem. For me, controls took some time to getting used to (about 2-3 hours) as I fumbled around trying bring out my weapon and attacking the first enemy since I was playing the PS3 version when I'm so used to play The Elder Scrolls series on a computer. The controls are different for the PC for Skyrim from Oblivion from what I heard, but I'm not sure for certain. In any case, the controls are mapped pretty well as I had a pretty easy time bringing out my weapon and interacting with things. It is bothersome when I get into a fight and accidentally press down on L3 which goes into sneak mode making me move slower or having to leave the right analog stick when jumping. The inventory system is still atrocious and makes going through it a pain. Thankfully, the developers implemented a favorites menu system which lets the player tag their favorite items, spells, and equipment so that they can bring it up in the midst of battle without having to fumble through their inventory and spells. Still, going through the favorites menu can still be a drag when the favorites are disorganized and made into a large list. Talking to NPCs isn't quite as enjoyable or humorous as Bioware games, but it's the relaxing part of the game that I like doing. To travel around a town or stroll past a wandering farmer and be able to interact with them is one of the RPG aspects that I like about Skyrim. Combat has some changes to them from past Elder Scrolls games. For melee combat, it seems like you can perform finishing moves. I've seen it, but I have yet to do it myself (playing as a Caster focusing on destruction and restoration magic). I'm not sure if there's any difference to ranged combat, but impact on enemies sound a bit different. Magic has surely changed as spells are used in a continuous stream rather than small short bursts. It was because of this that I decided to play a spell casting character (that and I always opt for a warrior or thief like build every time). Some enemies are very simplistic and will give chase until you're out of range or can't be reached. Others will use ranged attacks or spells before drawing out their melee weapons to attack you. I still don't like how melee weapons feel like your hitting cardboard or rocks instead of flesh and blood. I think part of this has to do with the sound effects used. To give an example, Medieval Action-RPG Mount & Blade has some of the cheesiest and fake resounding sound effects yet the sound you hear when cutting through an enemy with metal, flesh and blood with such prominence gives such a satisfying feeling. I don't get that satisfaction when using a melee weapon and perhaps that's why finishing moves were added. I think I'll like it a lot more when I finish playing with my caster and make a spell sword build character and stick my blade into an enemy with a finishing move. I like the exploration and finding pockets of bandits who are so sure of themselves get burned in a fury of ice and fire by my caster as well as speaking to NPCs and reading books to become even more familiar with the world of Tamriel. The game is said to have an infinite amount of quests, though I find some of the quests still confusing like its predecessors. I do like the fact that there will always be dragons to slay (or so I hear) though as "I've come to slay dragons!" The complaints I have and flaws I've pointed out is easily overshadowed by the amount of pure "fun" I've had with the game thus far and plan to have for "hopefully" years to come. One of the best parts of Skyrim is that it's so different from Oblivion that I wouldn't mind continue playing Oblivion even now. I can enjoy both! Gameplay: 9/10
Overall
I feel the need to just finish a game or pushing the story along for a lot of games. But with Skyrim, I feel at ease and am able to play at a much slower pace and enjoy the game. Skyrim delivers a good balance of relaxing gameplay with challenging action that sucks me right into the world and lets me enjoy the game without worrying about getting stuck from the game being too difficult or being lost and finding out where I need go next (though that can be frustrating if I really am trying to fulfill a quest). The game should be quite a treat for RPG players and a welcome start for anyone new to the series. This is one of the very fews games where I felt paying full price for was well worth it as the game will probably last me quite a while. Overall: 8.7/10
Showing posts with label The Elder Scrolls. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Elder Scrolls. Show all posts
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Friday, November 11, 2011
GameLight - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Official Site: http://www.elderscrolls.com/
Steam Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/72850/
Source: Youtube Channel IGNentertainment
11-11-11 marks the day of Skyrim's Release! (among other things) This highly anticipated First-Person, Open World, Action RPG has captured the gaming community's attention since its announcement and has now finally released internationally for Playstation 3, Xbox 360, and the PC. The Elder Scrolls series has been well known for its freedom of choice of allowing the player to be who they want to play, where they want to go, and when to fulfill a quest. The game tends to immerse the player into its world with NPCs making their own decisions and fulfilling their own goals to create a living, breathing environment for the player to traverse in. A large number of critics have already got their hands on Skyrim and have had the chance to review it. It's currently leading in average scores by one point (on the Xbox 360 version) ahead of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword.
I first found out about The Elder Scrolls series starting from Morrowind, but didn't really play any of them until this Summer when I bought Oblivion (and eventually Morrowind). By the fans, Morrowind was a much better "RPG" than Oblivion while Oblivion had a much better environment in terms of graphics and full voice-over dialogues. For me, Morrowind is super slow. I like the concept of the free-roaming world and and open world questing, but dialogues were ridiculously long (yet important despite being boring at times), towns were far apart with the player's character runs out of stamina way too quickly with it recovering very very slowly, and the quests and maps were so confusing. It's true that Oblivion has become more simpler and has eliminated some of the customization, but it made it much more approachable. It's easier to find your way around the world and quests are a lot less cluttered. The problems with Oblivion was that its inventory system felt like a step back with a long laundry list of items instead of a window where you can see all the items in one place, the map can't zoom in and out so there's a lot of dragging around to find where the heck everything is, and the quests list is still super cluttered despite a better tracker for it. There are still problems with NPCs having odd conversation or changing their accent in the middle of talking, animations not quite right, and a number of other glitches and problems. I can actually over look most of these flaws as I am no stranger to bugs in a videogame; however, the biggest problem I have with Oblivion is that it crashes very very frequently. I've only played the game for 13 hours and I would have a lot more accumulated if it weren't for the game crashing so much. I've adapted by saving after every action I take (talking to an NPC, killing an enemy, walking through a door), but it gets in the way of enjoying the game. In the past two nights of only a mere 2 hours, the game has crashed over 12 times (sometimes right away at the startup). If it was just a problem with my computer, at least I'd be able to fix it. But it seems as though this frequent crashing has plagued a large number of players for the PC. For Marrowind (TES 3), the only real problem I faced was the fact that music couldn't play correctly in the game (which bothers me a lot actually, but at least I can play). For these problems I've faced with TES 3 and 4, I am going to be getting TES 5: Skyrim on Playstation 3 and hope that I don't run into any game breaking glitches or bugs. I don't mind not playing with mods or anything as I don't even play with mods on Morrowind or Oblivion. I'm hoping that Skyrim has improved upon itself from Oblivion and allow me to enjoy the game to its fullest. RPG fans should not miss out on this exciting new installment in The Elder Scrolls series. Have a good weekend and prepare for the next two weeks of new game releases!
Steam Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/72850/
Source: Youtube Channel IGNentertainment
11-11-11 marks the day of Skyrim's Release! (among other things) This highly anticipated First-Person, Open World, Action RPG has captured the gaming community's attention since its announcement and has now finally released internationally for Playstation 3, Xbox 360, and the PC. The Elder Scrolls series has been well known for its freedom of choice of allowing the player to be who they want to play, where they want to go, and when to fulfill a quest. The game tends to immerse the player into its world with NPCs making their own decisions and fulfilling their own goals to create a living, breathing environment for the player to traverse in. A large number of critics have already got their hands on Skyrim and have had the chance to review it. It's currently leading in average scores by one point (on the Xbox 360 version) ahead of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword.
I first found out about The Elder Scrolls series starting from Morrowind, but didn't really play any of them until this Summer when I bought Oblivion (and eventually Morrowind). By the fans, Morrowind was a much better "RPG" than Oblivion while Oblivion had a much better environment in terms of graphics and full voice-over dialogues. For me, Morrowind is super slow. I like the concept of the free-roaming world and and open world questing, but dialogues were ridiculously long (yet important despite being boring at times), towns were far apart with the player's character runs out of stamina way too quickly with it recovering very very slowly, and the quests and maps were so confusing. It's true that Oblivion has become more simpler and has eliminated some of the customization, but it made it much more approachable. It's easier to find your way around the world and quests are a lot less cluttered. The problems with Oblivion was that its inventory system felt like a step back with a long laundry list of items instead of a window where you can see all the items in one place, the map can't zoom in and out so there's a lot of dragging around to find where the heck everything is, and the quests list is still super cluttered despite a better tracker for it. There are still problems with NPCs having odd conversation or changing their accent in the middle of talking, animations not quite right, and a number of other glitches and problems. I can actually over look most of these flaws as I am no stranger to bugs in a videogame; however, the biggest problem I have with Oblivion is that it crashes very very frequently. I've only played the game for 13 hours and I would have a lot more accumulated if it weren't for the game crashing so much. I've adapted by saving after every action I take (talking to an NPC, killing an enemy, walking through a door), but it gets in the way of enjoying the game. In the past two nights of only a mere 2 hours, the game has crashed over 12 times (sometimes right away at the startup). If it was just a problem with my computer, at least I'd be able to fix it. But it seems as though this frequent crashing has plagued a large number of players for the PC. For Marrowind (TES 3), the only real problem I faced was the fact that music couldn't play correctly in the game (which bothers me a lot actually, but at least I can play). For these problems I've faced with TES 3 and 4, I am going to be getting TES 5: Skyrim on Playstation 3 and hope that I don't run into any game breaking glitches or bugs. I don't mind not playing with mods or anything as I don't even play with mods on Morrowind or Oblivion. I'm hoping that Skyrim has improved upon itself from Oblivion and allow me to enjoy the game to its fullest. RPG fans should not miss out on this exciting new installment in The Elder Scrolls series. Have a good weekend and prepare for the next two weeks of new game releases!
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Retroview - The Elder Scroll III: Marrowind
So The Elder Scroll V: Skyrim is about to be released and I'm actually very excited about it. Why did I say "actually"? Because I was never to big of a fan of The Elder Scroll Series and didn't even know about it until Marrowind came out. As the years go by, I have matured a lot as a gamer and am more tolerant to games that require a lot of reading and patience. Because of that, I really got into immersive RPGs. With Skyrim about to come out and hearing how great Marrowind and Oblivion was, I finally bought Oblivion and tried it out. Aside from the game crashing a lot and being over-encumbered without knowing how to drop items, I started to like Oblivion more and more. With my new interest in The Elder Scroll series, I decided to seek out Marrowind to give that one a try as well.
Source: Youtube Channel AxelNL1994
I found a used copy of Marrowind at a local game store and the guy working there offered the game for $2 for me since we weren't sure if a CD key was needed for it from it's original $5. Seeing how that's a great deal to check the game out, I bought it (it's $20 on Steam, so I didn't bother buying it there). I installed it and tried it out and I was actually impressed with the graphics for it being released in 2002. And then I started playing the game.
After an entire hour, I had talked to the people I needed to, killed a worm, 2 rats, and walked to another town while having to switch between walk and run because running takes up stamina which recovers VERY slowly. I don't know how all the Marrowind fans played through the game, it's so very very slow! I do like the immersion aspects of the game (which is why I started liking the series) as well as the many customizations you can do with your character's attributes, but I'm not too keen on spending 100 hours of doing a lot of walking. Oblivion is a lot like that too, and I guess it's part of the "journey". Oblivion does feel a lot more easier and noob friendly compared to Marrowind with voice overs so that you don't have to read several thousand passages. I remember my biggest first complaint about Oblivion was how slow I moved. I remedied that with the sign and class I created to make me move faster. I unfortunately decided to go with a pure spellcaster on Marrowind and I'm slow as a mule because of it. Oblivion does feel like quite a leap from Marrowind and I probably don't mind putting in 100+ hours for it, but I'm not sure if I want to do that for Marrowind. It just doesn't seem worth it at the moment (remember, I have a 100+ game backlogged). But Marrowind itself is a huge leap from the first two in the series which was played on MS DOS. I'm eventually going to try those out too, but most likely won't be able to finish it. I may not even be able to finish Marrowind because of how long it might take (and how slow it feels). I have seen several videos where players have beaten the game in less than 10 minutes. I'm not sure if I'm able to do the same. Perhaps I shall try if I end up not being able to get through the game with my mage (the speed runners went with assassin-type classes that give them a total of 65+ speed or something like that). Well, just Marrowind and Oblivion itself is holding me down pretty well until Skyrim comes out, and I highly doubt I'll get it on the first day with my crazy backlog of games (I'm excited for it, but not desperate).
Also, it seems as though I'll be getting Skyrim on PS3 as I want to play it in its full glory of beautiful graphics. The problem is, I feel as if The Elder Scroll series should be played on a PC. It feels more natural to play on a PC, but I won't have a strong enough computer to play it on its highest settings. I wonder how many hours Skyrim will eventually take out of me? Anyways, those who want to try out Marrowind must have an open mind and have a LOT of patience (emphasis on "a LOT").
Source: Youtube Channel AxelNL1994
I found a used copy of Marrowind at a local game store and the guy working there offered the game for $2 for me since we weren't sure if a CD key was needed for it from it's original $5. Seeing how that's a great deal to check the game out, I bought it (it's $20 on Steam, so I didn't bother buying it there). I installed it and tried it out and I was actually impressed with the graphics for it being released in 2002. And then I started playing the game.
After an entire hour, I had talked to the people I needed to, killed a worm, 2 rats, and walked to another town while having to switch between walk and run because running takes up stamina which recovers VERY slowly. I don't know how all the Marrowind fans played through the game, it's so very very slow! I do like the immersion aspects of the game (which is why I started liking the series) as well as the many customizations you can do with your character's attributes, but I'm not too keen on spending 100 hours of doing a lot of walking. Oblivion is a lot like that too, and I guess it's part of the "journey". Oblivion does feel a lot more easier and noob friendly compared to Marrowind with voice overs so that you don't have to read several thousand passages. I remember my biggest first complaint about Oblivion was how slow I moved. I remedied that with the sign and class I created to make me move faster. I unfortunately decided to go with a pure spellcaster on Marrowind and I'm slow as a mule because of it. Oblivion does feel like quite a leap from Marrowind and I probably don't mind putting in 100+ hours for it, but I'm not sure if I want to do that for Marrowind. It just doesn't seem worth it at the moment (remember, I have a 100+ game backlogged). But Marrowind itself is a huge leap from the first two in the series which was played on MS DOS. I'm eventually going to try those out too, but most likely won't be able to finish it. I may not even be able to finish Marrowind because of how long it might take (and how slow it feels). I have seen several videos where players have beaten the game in less than 10 minutes. I'm not sure if I'm able to do the same. Perhaps I shall try if I end up not being able to get through the game with my mage (the speed runners went with assassin-type classes that give them a total of 65+ speed or something like that). Well, just Marrowind and Oblivion itself is holding me down pretty well until Skyrim comes out, and I highly doubt I'll get it on the first day with my crazy backlog of games (I'm excited for it, but not desperate).
Also, it seems as though I'll be getting Skyrim on PS3 as I want to play it in its full glory of beautiful graphics. The problem is, I feel as if The Elder Scroll series should be played on a PC. It feels more natural to play on a PC, but I won't have a strong enough computer to play it on its highest settings. I wonder how many hours Skyrim will eventually take out of me? Anyways, those who want to try out Marrowind must have an open mind and have a LOT of patience (emphasis on "a LOT").
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
GameLight - The Elder Scrolls V Skyrim
Despite turmoil within the gaming community due to Bethesda's claim of trademark infringement, I am still very excited about The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.
Source: Youtube Channel babypazuzu
I can't say that I'm an avid fan of the series since I've never touched any of them until just this summer I bought TESIV: Oblivion, but I really like these types of open world, non-linear Action RPGs and really like the series because of that. What I didn't know is that you can get the first and 2nd TES games for free now. They look so old and archaic, but it's hard to imagine a non-linear, free-roaming Action RPG back then. I probably wouldn't even be able to stand playing games like those back then since I was so impatient. Still, the original 2 games piques my interest and I think I might try them out in the near future just to see what they were like. Looking at them and then back on the video for Skyrim, we've have come a long way in PC gaming. There's the other hard part. When the game finally does come out, I have the decision to get it on Playstation 3 or PC. In all honesty, I think games such as these were meant to be played on PC. They just feel...right. The problem is that I'm still playing on a laptop (not a bad one though, but not great either) and I don't know when I'll finally decide to invest in creating a new tower. Oblivion runs fine on my laptop, but I have to lower the beautiful graphics down in order to play without lag. Then there's also the problem with the game frequently crashing. By buying it on a console, I'm hoping that I don't have to worry about crashing, and incompatibility as much. The thing is, it sounds awkward to play the game with a controller. This is a decision I'm eventually going to make. When I finally get the game, I have to decide what sort of path I'll be going down in terms of "class type". In oblivion, I'm going for a blade user/marksman with stealth skills and some magic. So I'm mostly going for an assassin sort of class (custom made). It might be fun to try out a beefy fighter class or a crazy strong magic class when I finally start playing Skyrim (probably not going to get it on the first day, but will eventually get it). Ah, so many good games coming out this last half year. I just hope Nintendo joins in and has 3rd Party companies develop some good games for the 3DS and Wii U.
Sources:
-Gamasutra: Bethesda Targets Mojang's Scrolls For Trademark Infringement
Source: Youtube Channel babypazuzu
I can't say that I'm an avid fan of the series since I've never touched any of them until just this summer I bought TESIV: Oblivion, but I really like these types of open world, non-linear Action RPGs and really like the series because of that. What I didn't know is that you can get the first and 2nd TES games for free now. They look so old and archaic, but it's hard to imagine a non-linear, free-roaming Action RPG back then. I probably wouldn't even be able to stand playing games like those back then since I was so impatient. Still, the original 2 games piques my interest and I think I might try them out in the near future just to see what they were like. Looking at them and then back on the video for Skyrim, we've have come a long way in PC gaming. There's the other hard part. When the game finally does come out, I have the decision to get it on Playstation 3 or PC. In all honesty, I think games such as these were meant to be played on PC. They just feel...right. The problem is that I'm still playing on a laptop (not a bad one though, but not great either) and I don't know when I'll finally decide to invest in creating a new tower. Oblivion runs fine on my laptop, but I have to lower the beautiful graphics down in order to play without lag. Then there's also the problem with the game frequently crashing. By buying it on a console, I'm hoping that I don't have to worry about crashing, and incompatibility as much. The thing is, it sounds awkward to play the game with a controller. This is a decision I'm eventually going to make. When I finally get the game, I have to decide what sort of path I'll be going down in terms of "class type". In oblivion, I'm going for a blade user/marksman with stealth skills and some magic. So I'm mostly going for an assassin sort of class (custom made). It might be fun to try out a beefy fighter class or a crazy strong magic class when I finally start playing Skyrim (probably not going to get it on the first day, but will eventually get it). Ah, so many good games coming out this last half year. I just hope Nintendo joins in and has 3rd Party companies develop some good games for the 3DS and Wii U.
Sources:
-Gamasutra: Bethesda Targets Mojang's Scrolls For Trademark Infringement
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