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Skyrim, "after the initial craze" ratings. What are yours?
DarkPony
Member Posts: 5,566
The first few days I was just amazed by this game and everything about it looked rosy colored. Now after plenty of ingame hours it's time to be a little more rational about it. Here's my ratings;
World / graphics: 10
Simply the most beautiful, immersive and astonishingly realistic sandbox gameworld I ever roamed around in.
Gameplay: 7+
Quests and npc's:
A little disappointed here; the side quests can be awesome but the two major questlines which I played through weren't that long or special. Hoping the ones I haven't played are a bit more compelling. NPC interaction and most conversations are no improvement over Oblivion and sometimes I had the impression Oblivion was better in handling choice in conversations. Also I liked the haggling minigame which is gone now.
The difficulty is much better than Oblivion: Skyrim is more unforgiving (apart from dragons).
Sandbox gameplay:
I love what they did with crafting, enchanting and radiant quests but I'd like more non-combat related gameplay alternatives. Also decorating homes is much harder because item manipulation is less accurate compared to Oblivion. Character development is much more interesting this time around.
Combat:
Some great stuff in dual wielding / different uses for different weapon types / double-spell effect, etc. Some not so great stuff like pretty bad AI and NPC pathing.
UI: 6
If it weren't so awkward and buggy to use with the mouse it would have a better score: I do like the perk-galaxy and the minimalist design though. Also they need to fix remapping keys.
Sound: 9+
Epic sound track, great effects.
Engine: 9+
Amazingly stable and runs like a charm. Huge improvement over Oblivion.
All in all: amazingly immersive gameworld but there definately is room for improvement for Bethesda and the modding community.
Comments
Graphics 9
While the world can be breathtaking.
I had to deduct a point due the shadow issues that pop up now and then, as well as the brief moments where textures blur out. Not to mention some of the slowdown I've had during large battles.
Gameplay 9
The good..
Many great additions over previous TES games, dual wielding, dual casting, or a mix of both. VO has a lot more diversity over Oblivion and FO3, more voices equals to more believable characters for me.
The new conversation system is leaps and bounds better than the static nature of Oblivion and FO3's conversation systems. Having a convo while a dragon swoops in overhead is a nice touch.
Dragons: their dynamic nature has me always on guard a definite plus in my book.
Difficulty, knowing that the unknown ahead could drop me in a few slashes is great for immersion.
The bad
Loads of small bugs that crop up from time to time. Which has always been a problem in TES games so had I not been expecting them I'd have taken more away from the final score.
UI- NA
Perosnally I view a UI as a means to reach an end and not much more, I've never found one to detract from my experience, or better my experience.
Sound 10
From the sweeping musical score to the screaming dragon overhead it all engrosses me into the experience. What is there not to love?
Performance 8
While it plays remarkably better than Oblivion, most of the time. There are some glaring issues in terms of textures and shadows. If an upcoming patch fixes these issues my score in this department will definitely go up a notch or two.
Expectation 10
The game is delivering exactly what I hoped it would and then some.
For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson
in a scale from 0 to 10.. Skyrimm easly gets a 9.
Some minor graphic glitches and meaningless bugs together with a could be better AI and the inability to fight on horse ( wich is so nicely animated btw ) are the reasons why Skyriim doesnt get a 10 from me.
Will be a classic in a few years for sure, a must to buy for any gamer. One of those gaming marks you never forget and use as benchmark for what is to come.
The game is everything an RPG should be.
I play it and I still hardly believe that this game was made by humans.
9.5 from me...this is the single best CRPG I have ever played. It just needs a few tweaks and additions here and there and it would get a 10 straight up! Thing is almost perffect.
I just finished running one of the best dungeon crawls I ever come across in a game. The end fight in that one dungeon against so many opponents. They were trying to flank me...the main guy starting losing to me and he backed off, his minions kept me busy and he healed himself and came back into the fight...and he faught really dirty. He even managed to disarm me in combat! I was like WTF! For a AI scripted mob it was like fighting against a player controlled character...just awesome. When the fight was my character barely had but a sliver of life left - just amazing she actually survived it at all.
I only deduct points for the bad UI... it's really sad adventuring through the beautiful world and then having to deal with the horrible UI when I want to equip a different spell that I can't fit in the ridicuously limited 8 hotkeys.
Hopefully the mod community will fix it soon.
"There is as yet insufficient data for a meaningful answer."
I'm enjoying the game but I do feel disappointed that the story doesn't grab me in the same way as, say, Fallout 3 did. Consequently, I don't care as much about moral choices in the game as I ought to do.
If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe. - Carl Sagan
Yea the UI is bad but I think its much better then it was in Oblivion
I would give it a 10, even though it isn't perfect I think they do enough right overall to warrant that score. Reminds me why I like RPG based games and also how good they can be when done properly. Persistent quest system as well as no traditional classes, I think they have set a benchmark. No its not perfect it has problems but somehow those problems don't seem to matter that much. If anything, chasing corpses down a mountain, they can actually add to the game. Best game of the year.
In tune with the spirit of your topic, let me start with the flaws I'm seeing:
* The UI is the most infamous. I do agree it's not as fluid and intuitive as it could be. Though I'd hasten to add that by no means does it detract from my gaming experience. I've gotten used to it quickly and frankly didn't give it much thought after that.
* Mob difficulty balance across the board - well, one could easly see this as a negative, like how bears are tougher than dragons for some characters... Initially those things are worse than The Chronicles of Spellborn bears! It can get somewhat immersion breaking sometimes, but surprisingly it hasn't bothered me that much. And you have to admit it does keep things surprising. :P
* Some crafting skills, especially when used in combination, are simply broken. If you don't want to ruin your experience, do not - and I mean DO NOT - powerlevel your blacksmithing, enchanting and alchemy all the way up if you're a physical damage based character. You end up being able to craft godly weapons and armor and it just breaks the game, taking all the thrill and fun out of it. There are people out there one-shotting dragons!
* The storylines in side quests feel lacklustre, especially the questlines related to guilds.
Now here's what I'd like to see implemented:
* Mounted combat, not to mention a bit faster mount speed.
* More variety in crafting (without breaking the game, obviously).
* Higher quality textures, especially when it comes to characters.
* Some sort of small-scale multiplayer would be fun to try. Maybe something like being able to invite a friend over to your "world".
And lastly, what I think about the overall experience:
I still think Skyrim is an amazing game. Definitely one of the best computer RPGs I have played. Despite the flaws I've mentioned, the good parts are so inspired that it trumps the bad.
To me, there are games which are very well-made, and maybe with less flaws, and they are quite enjoyable but playing them you get into this routine, where you know you're just playing the genre...
And then there are games which stand out from their genre and provide you this fully immersive, thrilling experience.
I think Skyrim is one of the latter. A grand world experience with its epic, intriguing, surprising and sometimes hilarious moments.
As of now, I'd rate it a 9 or 9.5.
Check back with me after a couple of months, where this score can change a bit. Can drop a bit or even go up to a full 10.
To put things in perspective: there are maybe 3 games in the history of, uh, games that I'd give a 10 to (and believe me, those games all had their flaws, some of them even maddening). The number of games I'd give a 9+ to would not be more than 20. To me, right now Skyrim looks to be up there - or close enough - with Baldur's Gate 2. In contrast, I'd give Oblivion something like a 6.
And now I leave you with what I think are the biggest strengths of Skyrim:
* Amazing living breathing world with top notch art design.
* An empowering sense of freedom and a breadth of options.
* Solid feel to combat (this may sound controversial to some, but I like it).
* Good main storyline that gives you this sense that you're in a world with deep, deep lore. The books you find everywhere (and I can't help but read page by page) also play into this.
* Quite different combat experiences depending on the path you choose. Archery feels much different from melee, and magic feels quite different from both.
* Beautiful music. Jeremy Soule has done it again. Also, the sound design is solid. Hearing a dragon roar is thrilling. I also like the voice acting.
The bad.
AI can be tricked in certain situations. Making use of their inhability to gain acess to certain locations. The AI does attempt to run away and block line of sight which is a great addition but it doesn't always work. I've also had comedy elements where I have used a table to block the advance of an enemy. He would run one way i would run the other. Real tom and jerry stuff.
I wish my followers, Lydia and the like would have a closer bond with your character. It would be nice if they felt more real so I could connect with them. So far personal connection is lacking.
The good.
The world is simply mind blowing. Often I will stop and enjoy a WTF moment at how beautiful some locations can be. It is almost absurd that it's a directx 9 game.
The character progression has had me restarting several times to sample other parts of the game. I love the perks system and how it can limit you into a build and helps you avoid a jack of all scenario.
The immersion factor is crazy, listening to NPCs having conversations to coming up on a cave system with no related quest as of yet but you can still see a story behind the cave. I found a cave with two main rooms. In the first room was a vampire. In the second room there was a Master Vampire. In that second room there was two beds and some cages large enough for a humanoid to be chained up. On a side table was two platters with human bones. In the middle of the room was a table and three chairs. Infront of two of the chairs on the table was blood splatter and in the middle sat a human heart on a plate. No related quest yet the story behind the cave was obvious.
The music score is epic. The sounds fantastic.
In summary there is always room for improvement in a game. But Skyrim is as close to perfect as I have seen a game be. It has been years since I have really truly enjoyed a game as much as I am with skyrim. Finally a game has come around which really uses todays gathered knowledge of games and the technology to back it up.
When marked on a scale of my perfect game it gets a 9/10
When marked on a scale of comparison to other games out now it gets a 10/10 easily.
8 out of 10
The UI is an awkward mess for PC users. Messed up textures, crashes, and thousands of tiny bugs dot the landscape as arms and legs creepily twitch and NPC's have a tendency to sink into the ground here and there as they die.
Also, still, you cannot murder 'everyone'.
I enjoy how they've finally added children to the game, but i'm dissapointed by not being able to slaughter them like everyone else.
Until Bethesda lets me literally muder 'everyone' in the entire gaming world, including questgivers, and gives me the choice of completley destroying the main questline and doing my own thing, the immersion will never be complete.
The Scrolls' games have always got a free ride from reviewers 'just because', the mantra being "HERP DERP THEY'LL PATCH IT, DON'T WORRY"
That criticism out of the way-
I love it. Its the most immersive one i've played so far.
The quests are entertaining, and the world feels like things are really happening around me.
I haven't stopped playing since the 11th.
Retail: 8/10
It lost 2 points for having GLARING console port issues to PC.
After I modded the graphics & controls: 15/10
Game simply looks absolutely amazing, and is SO MUCH MORE ENJOYABLE with only a couple tweaks to the ini & forcing FXAA with sharpening. Why the developers felt such beauty should be glossed over with boogers is beyond my comprehension.
The Theory of Conservative Conservation of Ignorant Stupidity:
Having a different opinion must mean you're a troll.
9.5.......I am only taking away a half point because I am one who has the seldom pain of "for no good reason, the game ctd's". Anxiously awaiting a patch, it is not so bad to be game breaking for me, but I am so paranoid of it that I constantly "save". I honestly haven't been so addicted to a game since EQ.
I have done only the beginning of the quest line of the game, believe I hit level 22, and haven't found my way to the grey beards as of yet. Everytime I try to get on my way, I find myself exploring and getting excited because "OOh ooh i found another dungeon to crawl!!"
Oh beware that dirty Wisp Mother, she had me held up for hours trying to figure her out, wicked beast she is, but I will find her again!!!
Love it.
Really like this write up.
Only thing I'd object to is rating Oblivion a 6. At the time it was pretty revolutionary and mods made me play it for years on and off. Even if it doesn't compare with what they managed to pull off this time around, it's still easily an 8 in my book.
My brand new bloggity blog.
All is said already - its 9/10 to me bcs the UI is not good.
I havent found a big bug yet (the biggest bug: one time was a bird stuck in a tree) no graphic glitches, no stucking elsewhere, no crash, really smooth and stable.
"Torquemada... do not implore him for compassion. Torquemada... do not beg him for forgiveness. Torquemada... do not ask him for mercy. Let's face it, you can't Torquemada anything!"
MWO Music Video - What does the Mech say: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FF6HYNqCDLI
Johnny Cash - The Man Comes Around: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0x2iwK0BKM
Higher texture packs. they are smart. They know the community will do this for them. If you are deep into Morrowind and Oblivion community, you can see how much the community can improve.
Skyrim had to be launched on 3 platforms day 1, and it was clear that somethings were made to cut corners. Skyrim on PC never uses more than 2 gigs of ram, due to console limitations, but you can easily change this on pc with the ini files to make it use 4 gigs.
I have a feeling that when they mod the hell out of this game it will be glorious. the max we see now, is nothing compared to when the community is done with this.
I was highly impressed by crafting. You could do so many things as it was. The only thing I would have liked was more variety in weapon skins and armor, but you always want that of course. You never get enough variety:)
Also I am not sure if mounted combat for this game is a very good idea. I think that would be a ton of work to make right, but I guess it's possible.
Graphics 10
The game uses DX9 to create a visually breathtaking gameworld with graphics that rival many games with much higher system requirements. On my gargantuan Alienware, it looks and runs beautifully. On my son's Dell OneTouch with an integrated ATI Mobility 4200 HD, it runs amazing at Low/Medium settings and still looks great.
Gameplay 9
Engrossing, immersive and more fun each day that I play it. The procedural content is in many ways seamless and the flow of the open-ended gameplay makes for a very enjoyable gameplay environment for me. NPC pathing, however, leaves a bit to be desired. Other than the pathing, I am impressed by both how the game plays and how the strings are pulled in the background to make it play that way.
UI- 6
I was put off by the console UI at first, but it actually works well for what it is. I do have an issue with being confined to the 4x4 limitation of a console AI in a PC game.
Sound 10
Masterful.
Performance 8
Low system reqs and smooth gameplay for such a beautifully-crafted, massive game give it the 8. The random frustrating crashes to desktop that my wife, son and I experience almost daily take away the two points.
Expectation 10
The game delivered so much more than I expected. Genuinely impressed by what was delivered.
There isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to play, if you want to use a screwdriver to put nails into wood, have at it, simply don't complain when the guy next to you with the hammer is doing it much better and easier. - Allein
"Graphics are often supplied by Engines that (some) MMORPG's are built in" - Spuffyre
My rating goes to 11.
Earlier it was 9 but now i have to give it 10/10.
World/Environmental design - 9.5/10
The outdoor environment looks amazing, the landscape is well crafted. But compared to city designs, I feel they can do better. I hope next time they can design more interesting architecture. They played the design aspect of the environment very safe, while it worked, I hope to see more unique environments from a professional art team. Less trees and snow mountains.
One thing is that, the environment design didn't change much from oblivion, I couldn't really see too much of hte nord influnce they ahve mentioned. Skyrim and Oblivion had 200 year gap in between, yet everything feels like nothing had advanced, regional changes wasn't well represented.
Storyline - 7/10
One thing I really disliked about Oblivion is my character's origin, and again, they used the same starting with the prisoner with a questionable history. Story was alright to me, nothing too special, just another bad guy needs to be killed, with connections to dragon.
There wasn't any character development, I hoped they at least put some character to the companions, while won't be to the level of Bioware's companions, but at least they should mean something to the player, not just a punching bag.
Gameplay Design - 9.5/10
The open world explorations were extremely well done, loved the adventure and stumble upon hidden places, or even just a random old lady house in the mist of a forest.
Dungeons felt slightly linear, but they are very fun to explore and discover hidden places.
The recipe is exceptionally great, but it seems to offer the same thing as Oblivion in the end. I don't see many new things added. If people complain about MW3 being too similar to MW2, why about Skyrim?
Gameplay Mechanics - 7.5/10
The combat wasn't perfect, it didn't help by the UI's awkwardness to equip weapons and spells to left and right hand. I wished they at least input a dodgeroll for the movement (or am I missing the controls?) As a warrior-like character, dodgeroll is a fundamental to any melee combat. Movement is fluid when you are just running around, but during combat, movement was quite a hassle. I wish they did more work on the combat animation than just swinging a weapon or firing a spell, they are just two hands moving. Proper animations should include whole body movements. The kill cam was pretty cool.
Companions are dumb, maybe you are suppose to travel alone afterall, they block your way most of the time, runs after the enemies through the longest way possible, they only walk on roads (good luck getting them follow you through a forest) This companion section deserves a 5 on its own. Not happy about it at all.
Radient Quest is also very........redundant, a few of the quest it gave it actually contradicts its side quest, or very unrelatable, I just beat a guy to get him to stay away from this girl.....sitting across the bar. He finishes up and continues to play his music afterwards and talks to her like nothing happened.
I haven't dealt much into crafting, but it seems to be like MMORPG with the whole collect and create/press a button?
UI - 5/10
It works, but thats about the only compliment I can give it. This is specifically a PC point of view.
Major problem is the menus, they use 80% of the screen to display an object while 20% for navigation, A lot of those spaces was simply wasted. Menus are also console oriented, like pop-up menus on the side. When you open a menu, the game is paused, there is no need for PC to have a menu only presented on the side of the screen, while the remainder 80% of the screen is blank. Minimalist is great, but not when you put 80% blanks in a paused interface.
These two articles should be enough to speak my mind about the overall UI.
http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/EricSchwarz/20111111/8866/Skyrim_or_How_Not_to_Make_a_PC_Game.php
http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2011/11/16/the-strange-frustrating-mess-that-is-skyrim-pc/
Polish level - 7.5/10
Too many glitches in this game, I'm not even sure if they have gametesters to debug the game.......I mean, a bug at the start of the game is just means lack of polish.
IGN put up an article for it http://au.games.ign.com/articles/121/1212511p1.html
My character personally have two arrows constantly stabbed through my head, its funny, but it just looks bad on a commerical product.
If a AAA MMORPG have this kind of glitches in the commerical client, people will already be hold pitchforks and torches to protest.
OVERALL - 8.5/10
Design is great, but execution felt a bit rushed in the end. The game was announced late last year, considering the short production time (2 years max) for a game probably has the longest playtime in all singleplayer games, it did felt rushed and left unpolished in the end, not much testing and debugging has been done.
One thing I think Elder Scrolls could learn from MMO (I know right?!!!) is the uses of dynamic events, instead of you always having to go to a questgiver to give you miscellanous quest, they simply happens, and maybe you happen to stumble upon it happening. So the world is moving on its own, instead of needing you to keep interacting with it in order for it to move forward.
I feel a lot of people gave it a high score because it was Elder Scrolls, as I mentioned above, Skyrim had a lot of bugs, some even very silly ones, people were very lenient on that subject because they think, "a patch or a mod will probably fix it". Sometimes I wonder how much do reviewers complete before they put a score on the table.
It is a very immersive world, but it is also very unrelatable. Your character is simply a shell for you to move around. It is a great game, but if you take away the elder scroll brand name, I doubt it will be getting 9.6 on metacritic.
How much WoW could a WoWhater hate, if a WoWhater could hate WoW?
As much WoW as a WoWhater would, if a WoWhater could hate WoW.
World Graphics: 9.5
I still see some bad graphical textures and some characters also have bad faces still beautifull game but not a 10 also becouse its DX9 hehe.
Gameplay: 8.5
Wish i could give more but lack of mobs/npcs in gameworld and dragons to easy on master lvl its max i can give
UI; 8.5
In my first few hours iu hated it but then i remapped some spells and get more handy with whole skill system/inventory its not that bad.
Sounds: 9.0
I still got trouble with sounds its seems not work well but overall its great ambiant music and sounds.
Game engine: 9.5
Its great game engine and indeed alot imporved on Oblivion in many ways.
Overall i give it so far a 9.6 rating hope with patch alot of problems solved like the little bugs and it will become a 10 for PC with knowledge we get for years to come also alot of awesome MODS this game deserves no less.
Hope to build full AMD system RYZEN/VEGA/AM4!!!
MB:Asus V De Luxe z77
CPU:Intell Icore7 3770k
GPU: AMD Fury X(waiting for BIG VEGA 10 or 11 HBM2?(bit unclear now))
MEMORY:Corsair PLAT.DDR3 1866MHZ 16GB
PSU:Corsair AX1200i
OS:Windows 10 64bit
Tod howard told in interview they shortly after Oblivion started working on Skyrim for straight 5 years.
Hope to build full AMD system RYZEN/VEGA/AM4!!!
MB:Asus V De Luxe z77
CPU:Intell Icore7 3770k
GPU: AMD Fury X(waiting for BIG VEGA 10 or 11 HBM2?(bit unclear now))
MEMORY:Corsair PLAT.DDR3 1866MHZ 16GB
PSU:Corsair AX1200i
OS:Windows 10 64bit
I'd still give it a 9.5, despite the game having major technical issues for me. Constant CTDs, textures not loading, and a few other game breaking problems. The AI is much more believable than in other games, but it also runs into numerous problems such as getting stuck and other odd behaviors (like some casters such as liches not attacking when you stay in melee range of them). I wish I got the 360 version to be honest, but the game itself is topnotch and when it's not crashing it runs like a dream. Hoping for a patch soon as I'm not the only one having these issues (I'm about 60 hours in and level 50, and now the crashes are so constant the game is downright unplayable for me).
It's Game of the Year for me.
Some dungeons are indeed awesome and they all look so nice and different this where Skyrim is alot improved on Oblivion.
Oblivion Dungeons: 7/10
Skyrim Dungeons: 9.5/10
Hope to build full AMD system RYZEN/VEGA/AM4!!!
MB:Asus V De Luxe z77
CPU:Intell Icore7 3770k
GPU: AMD Fury X(waiting for BIG VEGA 10 or 11 HBM2?(bit unclear now))
MEMORY:Corsair PLAT.DDR3 1866MHZ 16GB
PSU:Corsair AX1200i
OS:Windows 10 64bit