Vik said:
Again, Skyrim is actually shockingly better than Oblivion and F3, making it very enjoyable even if you didn't like those games. I was really disappointed with Oblivion because of its generic fantasy feel and a broken level system, but it's simply not the case with Skyrim. 50 hours in, I still want to play more and more.
The level system is still broken from all I've read and I'm sure it's better than Oblivion, that isn't a hard task. That said, Oblivion was, at it's core, a combat-centered dungeon crawl with a heavy focus on loot that handled neither particularly well. It sounds like Skyrim does a better job on the loot but the combat still sounds like it's bad. When the a core element of your game is bad, there's a major problem.
Vik said:
And maybe it is because you don't play many current gen games, but the current trend is linear, script heavy and short campaigns compensated by recycled multiplayer. A game like Skyrim with its freedom is an incredible breath of fresh air, which is why I'm willing to overlook some of its flaws. I know some of you here hate Bethesda for F3 and all, but Skyrim is actually very good and worth checking out instead of believing a bunch of bitter people with their absurd complaints.
I don't give a flaming fuck who made the game and I really don't care that it's a different type of game if it isn't executed well. Sure, most FPSes follow the same less than stellar formula for their campaigns and they are woefully short but they are still well done. CoD's biggest problem (it's a problem in general with games) is that it treats the player like an idiot numerous times. That said, the level design is solid, if generally uninspired (there were some high points in Black Ops), the AI is reasonable (uses some cover and strategy, though it's predictable), the controls are tight, and the combat experience is good. All in all the singleplayer is average quallity and while that is tiring in such a saturated market, it's still better than a poor singleplayer experience. The multiplayer is also quite well done, probably better than the singleplayer, which is a plus, even if it is slightly improved versions of the same game every time.
The main problem with the Modern Warfare games isn't their quality, which is average, it's the value. They really should all be stand-alone expansions and be released at $30 instead of $50. They're also stagnant, they really aren't making many improvements (the multiplayer maps in the original were the best) and they are pumping them out so fast that they are over-saturating the market even more. If you have a MW game then there is no reason to buy a new one. That said, it doesn't lessen the quality of the game.
Surf Solar said:
Apparently I am an idiot too, because in all the time playing Skyrim I haven't found a quest which wasn't cringeworthy, badly written or simply one of the thousand fetch/gokill quests. Would you care to link us to some of those amazing quests?
To be fair, that's a separate point. It's a very important point but a separate point nonetheless.
tekhedd said:
It's not important what "everyone" likes. These days, all that's important is this: if 80% of potential buyers like Skyrim better than NV, then Skyrim is better, and therefore Fallout 4 should be like Skyrim.
Actually diversified products is a big thing in marketing so that's not entirely true. The real question is sales, is the product significantly less marketable the way it is or should it be changed to be more like Skyrim? If it's changed to be more like TES, what effect will that have on TES sales?
Surf Solar said:
BTW it doesn't matter if all those dungeons are "handmade" if they all play and feel the same, are just one huge corridor with an exit sign at the end in 90% of the cases and consist of 3 themes throughout the entire game. Only a guy saying "you must be this tall to enter the dungeon" is missing at the entrances.
Handmade dungeons are half the battle, the other half is hand placed enemies. Level design is about more than the architecture, it's the whole package. In the case of dungeons I'd argue than predetermined (power-wise) loot (chests) is a big part too.
Lexx said:
This reminds me of this one door + claw puzzle. First I thought it's a pretty fancy idea. Then I visited a dungeon with the same puzzle again and I thought, oh well, I know how this works! And then I found it again in another two dungeons... by now it's not even a puzzle anymore, just a timewaste. This is how you can turn something nice into something annoying.
Lock picking minigame. I give Fallout 3 some credit for the hacking minigame though, it's actually a new puzzle every time. I don't think it's a good minigame but it's a solid one.
