Critique of the game and why I don't like it (anymore).

[rrr777rrrg]

I dont think its fair to criticize the dungeons and puzzles for lacking depth because skyrim is a big game and it has a lot of interiors to be created and the auto aim with arrows is needed because the game is design for people with gamepads but I agree with the rest.

 

Theres no excuse for the bad melee combat, lack of weapon verity and terrible implementation of horses.

Morrowind had pole weapons, crossbows, Long&short bows, throwing weapons, hammers, knives, short blades, long swords, and great swords(Could be more but I havent played morrowind since the original xbox). I never played dagger fall before but I heard it had flails.

 

I dont mind that the weapon skills are limited to two/one handed with perks but I think its really really stupid to leave out spears, crossbows and throwing knives.

 

Before skyrim came out you would usually hear excuses like "Spears only worked in morrowind because the combat was very basic, its not possible to put them in skyrim with out breaking the balance" and "Crossbows are useless because they fire too slow". Well Skyrims combat is exactly the same as Oblivion but with finisher animations and oblivion had spear mods that worked perfectly so I dont see how spears could cause an issue.

 

>Spears could of had their own unique perks like charges and damage charging enemies while blocking. They could of had faster attacks, bonus damage against mounted enemies and giant monsters, and really interesting finishers.

>After playing Dark souls, a game with more realistic combat, I can easily see how crossbows could work in skyrim. Carry a heavy crossbow that had good range, low arch, and do a lot of damage but has a slower rate of fire then the bow. Or use a one handed cross bow with a sword for close range shots or duel wield them.

>MOUNTED COMBAT would have been great and it could of introduced some interesting enemy types like horse back bandits or some sort of creature riding on the back of a giant spider. Horses could come in different breeds and not just different colors. Some horses could move faster,some could have more health, some could carry more weight, and it would make something like horse armor useful if it was ever added. Horse ridding perks would have been great.

>Acrobatics/Athletics did not have to go. The developers could of easily merged these and used a reasonable jump height limit and add interesting perks.For stealth builds there could of been wall and ceiling clinging with upgrades to hang on longer, longer time to hold breath under water, faster sprint, faster back peddle speeds, Dodges, and maybe an ability to stun enemies or have a chance to knock them over by attacking while in mid air.

>Armor weapon degradation could of added a new layer to gameplay and visuals. If damaged too badly, swords and shields could shatter and leave the user with a hilt and half a blade or half a shield. Metal shards could fall to the ground and picked up as repair/crafting pieces.

>DECENT COMBAT.This is my biggest gripe with skyrim. The developers should of adapted something a little bit more advanced because from what I seen this "new" animation system just adds diagonal walking animations and characters bend their knees on hills. It really bothers me when I smack a bandit across the face and get no reaction from them. It didnt need to be anything too fancy like red dead redemption and battlefield 3 but it had to be something that didnt feel like it was pulled from 2002. They were on the right track with fall out 3 so I dot know what happened.

 

Basically the developers could of held onto the useful gameplay elements and streamline the ones that didnt work to well on their own and then add the new things like cooking and crafting.

Now that I mentioned it cooking could of been its own skill as well and meals could of gave special effects like stat boost.

 

I cant say I dislike this game but I cant see how skyrim got game of the year over the competition seeing how shallow and basic everything is.

Edited February 7, 2012 by rrr777rrrg

[azaltan]

İt seems after investing their resources in hype engine & over 200 ''perfect'' scores from sellout media, no money left for proper QA. Edited March 17, 2012 by azaltan

[eltucu]

I'd be happy with some Mount & Blade combat stuffed in Skyrim.

 

M&B doesnt has the best pathfinding AI in the world but hell yeah that works better that what Skyrim has (i swear that followers get on my nerves sometimes), and allows for relatively complex combat (mounted combat, one handed, two handed, spears, bows, crossbows, and 4 different directions for each attack and 4 different directions to parry, besides using a shield, each weapon has slashing, blunt or piercing damage), with almost limitless amounts of NPCs (pretty much, the top is your hardware). And Taleworlds is a very, very low budget company.

 

Beth has a "good enough" syndrome. If something doesnt makes them lose sales in massive amounts, they leave it as it is.

 

Death animations, there are very few of those (and one is completely retarded), and are displayed randomly. You could fall of a cliff and do that stupid turn and die (btw, im not talking bout finishing moves, but the animations that some NPCs do when they die).

Edited February 7, 2012 by eltucu

[shadow56]

The game is too repetitive. Same foes, and quest senerios over and over again. Also you cannot mix match armors except for the gloves, boots and helmet. Should of been like the Elder Scrolls where you had Gauntlets, Greaves, Cuirass, Helmet, and Boots. The faction quests are way too short and the side quests are repetitive. I agree with the lack of weapons comments. Also the support sucks. Look what most of the patches to Skyrim have been doing to a vast majority of players. Breaking their game. This game could of been much better. Hopefully when the CK is released and modders can do their magic and a stable patch is released the game will start to improve.

I am surprised Skyrim got game of the year.

[Fatalmasterpiece]

With the exception of the grahics complaint I have to agree with most points the OP makes. The storyline, NPCs, and levelled everything have been a HUGE dissapointment to me.

[mindflux]

Agreed. It's sad that the game world had a huge potential in it, but somehow the expectations were never really redeemed. I had really hoped that somehow Skyrim would be a next gen game, a new benchmark in role playing games, but instead it's mostly rehashing of old ideas with the same weak points and lifeless atmosphere that have plagued Bethesda games since the very beginning with Arena.

[Autosleep]

Yes, Skyrim is a video game. Gaming as you know, it's a form of entertainment, like music, cinema, television, etc.

 

But that doesn't excuse a lack of immersion and complete negligence in the game's art department. You rush through quests without ever once stopping to reflect about the fate of a NPC or a action your have chosen and it's cascade of consequences.

 

One decade ago I played Shenmue and I was able to sap a greater and more rich experience than Skyrim/Oblivion/Morrowind together will ever able to. Concluding that bethesda can only create "pretty" sandboxes. But sand will never offer you a good novelty experience or plant ideas in the players minds, just make pretty castles and low profile spots for cats to satisfy their biological needs.

 

This is what differentiate 2001: Space Odyssey from Star Wars Trilogy. That is why bethesda games will always be generic, selling 60€ a pop plus a couple of Horse Armor 5€ a pop, relying on modders to polish the game.

 

 

PS:

, with a simple short song I was able to cast a complete story of a young son of a jarl, committing murder in a lust for power. Is it hard for a Bethesda dev trying to be a little more creative instead of the usual bull**** cliché fantasy quests?

[GMatthews]

I think many of the complaints may be valid, but I'm wondering if there is any game that any of you have ever played that didn't disappoint you. Is there such a game that comes through on every problem mentioned here. I kind of doubt it.

 

Except I can't stand behind the complaints on graphics -I think the graphics in the game are amazing, especially considering they had restrictions to make it work for many different setups. I can't tell you how many times I've looked at some things in the game and just had to stop to take it in.

Edited February 7, 2012 by GMatthews

[gretzky99]

CRITIQUE OF THE GAME AND WHY I LOVE IT FOR ETERNITY...

 

Now that the CK is out, mods I add will enlargen the world for me so that I will never get bored. At least not bored until 5 years from now...

[Brandy1123]

I am no graphics programmer/designer but I do understand most of what is being said here. I love the game and most things in it. Thats not to say I don't think it could have been better. I know a lot of problems exist. Seams, pixelation, shadows, lighting, textures and a lot of redundancy in art work. I think the game took many good steps forward but at least as many in reverse. The game was never intended for PC's. Bethesda did PC gamers wrong by the level of depth we paid for and for the use or STEAMy pile. Its sad when part of the marketing strategy is to make the modders fix all your mistakes, and programmer inability.

 

With that all said and all it covers into consideration, I still love the game. Not for what we were handed from the box and from STEAMy pile, but for the incredible minds and ingenious/talented modders that keep games like this alive for years. There's a lot to work with in Skyrim. I think they left a lot of it open for DC. Running mods like the graphical advancements you made is very impressive. Other mods like wars and dragons are equally great. I do blame Bethesda for what they gave us, but I also credit Bethesda for what they created.

 

Like always, and with any really good game in the past 10 years, modders will be and are the fabric of a games longevity.