Thoughts on The Elder Scrolls series?

[AMysteriousSalesman]

Considering how Nu-Fallout is tied with The Elder Scrolls series mechanically and what this site thinks of Bethesda, Im interested in reading your thoughts on The Elder Scrolls series.

Never played the first two Elder Scrolls games, Battlespire, Redguard, Online, and Blades

Morrowind: Great game, despite its shortcomings. What really sells the game is the setting, it gives the game a unique atmosphere that isn't really seen in other fantasy media. It kind of sucks that the series never really took on the weird metaphysical and absurdist concepts that would have really set it apart from the rest of its contemporaries.

Oblivion: Mixed opinions on this one. On one hand, the combat is pretty shitty, the visuals (particularly the bloom effects and the models) definitely haven't aged well, and it took the opposite direction that Morrowind had steered towards for something like LOTR which was pretty boring but... its absolutely unintentionally hilarious. Stuff like the so called "Radiant A.I." put NPCs in WTF random scenarios (there's a series by Bacon_ on Youtube that's just dedicated to stuff like this ) and the quests are pretty fun (the Dark Brotherhood and Thieves guild quest lines are an example of this, there's one where you rescue a guy whose stuck in his own painting and you buy your own castle but then you find out its haunted by a lich). In the end, I wouldn't call it a particularly good game but it is pretty enjoyable

Skyrim: Remember to purchase at least two copies on Steam (https://store.steampowered.com/app/72850/The_Elder_Scrolls_V_Skyrim/ and https://store.steampowered.com/app/489830/The_Elder_Scrolls_V_Skyrim_Special_Edition/) and buy the VR edition (https://store.steampowered.com/app/611670/The_Elder_Scrolls_V_Skyrim_VR/) which is the best virtual reality game ever in past, present, and future! Did I forget to tell you that you can play Skyrim on your Alexa? (https://www.amazon.com/Bethesda-Game-Studios-Special-Edition/dp/B07D6STSX8) Honestly the greatest game ever made and I'll find you and knock you out and send you in a cart away from your family if you say otherwise.

 

[SquidWard]

Oblivion started my interest in more games considered RPGs and eventually led me here after being disappointed in newer Bethesda titles. I didn't think they'd get worse over time. I was so naive. Skyrim is a good sandbox and that's as far as I'll take that.

I still have an appreciation of Oblivion (go ahead and boo me) but when I go back to play it, the flaws gnash their teeth pretty badly. The memories I have and meme-ability of that game is something I like though.

I'm just about to play Morrowind again so my opinion on that will be updated. I had only played a bit here and there of it and never felt like I truly experienced it. I tried Arena and Daggerfall a few times. In Daggerfall, on my first build, I ran out of stamina in the tutorial dungeon and died. So I just avoided the enemies in there initially. I didn't play much because my acceptance of older games was much lower than what it is now. I hear Arena isn't good at all and Daggerfall's really the first good entry.

I got Online in a bundle deal with some other stuff a friend convinced me to buy and now have over 10 hours in it due to updating it before playing it and then not having time to play it after the update finishes. I also just have very little interest.

EDIT: Wait a second, this is in General Fallout Discussion

 

[R.Graves]

I feel that 3,4,&5 are all okay games. Morrowind may be one of my favorite video game stories ever but none of these games rank among my favorite games of all time.

Good enough for a good time is an apt description.

 

[BigGuyCIA]

Relevant:

Oblivion had clever, fun questlines. It's nothing extraordinary but far more interesting than being sent to Draugr tombs over and over again.

I completely forgot about the haunted castle quest line but it's vaguely familiar. Some favorites that stood out and that I still remember:

1. The Anvil questline where you need to investigate a band of robbers which turn out to be women seducing rich men and robbing them blind.
2. The mage's guild quest where one of the guild representatives tries to literally kill you by sending you to fetch a ring from a well which makes you over-encumbered.
3. The arena questline where you can convince the vampiric orc grand champion to let you kill him and end his misery in the battle.
4. The Anvil fighter's guild quest where you investigate a rat infestation and find out she's keeping them as pets, and one of her neighbors is luring a mountain lion into her basement to kill them.

The DB questline is, regrettably, also good. It's really the only thing Emil can point to and go "I did that, see!" It's really the only thing he can do at this point, unfortunately.

Oblivion's writing formula was somewhat dependent on sending the player to investigate things. You were more like a detective rather than a, paraphrasing TotalBiscuit here, walking pair of trousers that vacuums up junk everywhere they went. Skyrim's writing is akin to telling a child what they should expect, where they should go, and what they need to do when they get there.

Skyrim is mostly popular because you can make a harem full of barbie dolls and install sex mods to initiate your fantasies.