I never played The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion. With its huge, expansive world and sandbox mechanics, it should have been right up my alley. I think, though, I was turned off by the incredibly generic British Isles-inspired setting. It was a pretty rendition, prettier than anything that had come before, but in light of games like World of Warcraft, it just seemed so… blah.
Now, Skyrim‘s snowy, mountainous setting and horn-helmeted, long-bearded Norsemen, that’s something I can get behind. It’s amazing what a small change in scenery can do to inspire a bit of enthusiasm. Hopefully developer Bethesda can learn from some of the mistakes that plagued Oblivion (which, admittedly, were also a turn off for me).
The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim releases on November 11th, 2011.
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I attempted to play Oblivion, but my laptop is not an ideal gaming platform and all I could see was bits of color lagging by. Unfortunate, since I count its predecessor, Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, as one of my favorite RPGs. Many, many, many hours were devoted to that game, be it exploring, questing, finding lost artifacts with no more hint than a random book, or taking it upon myself to slaughter the population of every city (good for when you are in a bad mood).
I need to get one of those newfangled consoles or something so I can play these games. Even if I do remember there being some commentary about Oblivion that turned me off of it slightly…
Oblivion’s definitely a step up from Morrowind, though Morrowind wasn’t a bad game either. And from what I’ve seen and played of Oblivion, for me, the biggest turnoff is the main plot, especially when there are so many side-quests and places to explore. I’d rather have the sort of timeless feel of Morrowind rather than the almost railroaded feel of Oblivion. But still, Oblivion was a really good game in spite of a few glitches and oversights.
And hot damn, I can’t wait for November!
I never really thought about it until you just mentioned it, but I too think the setting is what ruined Oblivion for me. I played Morrowind nearly non-stop for 3 years, but could never get into Oblivion the same way. Looking back on the two games, I think setting is one of the main reasons. Morrowind was much more fantastical and the towns weren’t all the same, some towns were even set in the stems of giant plants! Whereas, in Oblivion every town had pretty much the same feel to it, just a different layout.