sea's (Mostly Technical) Skyrim Initial Impressions

[Gord]

So, I've played about 20 hours so far...
...but when you hit a brick wall in a quest line and won't find the dungeon you're supposed to go to for 20 hours without looking at the map, it kind of ruins it.

So I take it you haven't solved many quests yet?

Sorry.

Anyway...

So who can tell me about the factions? From what I can tell, there are the four guilds, and then either Imperials or Stormcloaks. Is that it?

Yeah, please tell us about the factions.
Also, anyone of you guys that have played it nonstop since release care to tell us about how you think it will do once you've played a bit longer?
Does it begin to look bland like Oblivion did?

 

[Darth Roxor]

Why is the map so shitty and non-functional?

Why is the interface so consoletarded and cumbersome?

Why is the mana regenerating so fast that you can use your FLAMEZ spell as a torch?

Why are bandits Irish? (KNOW OIN'T THIS A SURPROISE)

Why is levelling up so dumb? (ADVANCE YOUR STATS: health/magicka/stamina)

Why...

http://i41.tinypic.com/2j47tbr.jpg

Oh lawdy D:

 

[hoopy]

Double standards again for bethesda games, flaws that are apparent in every other similar games become major and unforgivable: You can cut the throat to someone higher level ? my god its the same in every other rpgs...sneak doesnt instakill ? Its the same everywhere.

Skyrim is a first person action RPG and your character actually slashes the target's throat instead of doing a normal attack like in, say, New Vegas. But when the enemy is too tough, your character only does a regular attack for no apparent reason. Makes no sense.

The monsters and bandits stronghold are too close from town.. same in 99% of the games since the 80's, only games doing it right daggerfall, darklands.Id like too to see supply lines , merchant caravans, a realistic economy, X3 the space sim do it , but no rpg developper is doing it .

Just because everyone else is doing it doesn't mean it isn't a bad idea.

 

[Multiple Sarcasm]

or was that your point?

Ayup.

 

[Multidirectional]

It doesn't even come close to FO:NV which is the latest masterpiece. But it's ok. It's close to Riven or DKS

You giv hed hurt

 

[Mortmal]

Look what ive found on rpgwatch when looking for UI tweak, a nsfw link!
http://www.rpgwatch.com/forums/showthre ... 374&page=3
The evidence the place has become a cesspool...
Truly shocked to find such things in this gentlemen site.

 

[Admiral jimbob]

Anyone else getting horrendous lag at certain points for no real reason? About 50% of the time, walking through Whiterun (rum? Who gives a shit, awful boring city) turns my game into a slideshow. The first MQ dragon fight was the same; smooth as Trash's head 80% of the time, then suddenly unplayable. Playing on all high/ultra settings, which I refuse to accept I can't do because it's a goddamn Oblivion mod. Cheers Bethesda.

Also, said first dragon fight was unbeatable on master, not just due to the insane HP bloat on the thing, but because two fucking uber bandits ran in, ignoring the dragon, which ignored them. Sometimes, my allies hit them. This resulted in the dragon killing me. Sometimes, my allies ignored them. This resulted in them killing me in two hits.

 

[Syril]

PC ? get in on xbox

 

[Roguey]

You misinterpret this poll, its a competition between titles of 2009 , its 40% of codexers prefering DAO over all other titles, KOTC included. At release if you asked here if they enjoyed dao you had over 50% positive.

http://www.rpgcodex.net/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=38391
Adding them all up:
liked it: 40%
mediocre: 21%
Hated it: 7%
Didn't play: 19%
(kingcomrade): 9%
And yeah, that only comes out to 96% total, I'm guessing lack of decimals is the cause of that. Still a minority.

The forest w/ werewolves was marginally worse. And when you're worse than the Derp Roads, you're worse. The werewolf area was absolute bullshit, all of it. Nothing to redeem any of that shit.

I barely even remember the werewolf area, I'd hardly call it worse. Crazy echo chamber in here.

My character was a straight up fighter, also as I said, I skipped all side-content post Deep Roads to expedite the end of the game. I doubt I'll ever feel distant enough from DAO to want to replay it, to find out about that stuff though. :/

Why are you pretending that you didn't already complete it three times? I remember when you admitted that and your excuse was something like "blah blah needed to get my money's worth blah"

I am playing Dragon Age right now on hard and within the past approx 40 hours of playtime ( the dlc village you got the golem from, Return to Ostagar dlc, Brecilian Forest, now Orzammar but not at the Deep Roads yet), I've had to reload three times because of a lost combat. I always use the same party. Just sayin'. Reloads were more frequent earlier on though.

Wonderful, I'm happy for you. My experience was different and I'd say it's pretty telling when a tactical scrub like myself breezes through Knights of the Old Republic but has difficulty with DA:O in spots. Full disclosure though: I only used one mage for the majority of the game, and only used two for the particularly tough spots and I did notice it did get much easier (and would likely get even easier with three). Similar deal with KOTOR, the more Jedi you have in your party the quicker combat goes by.

 

[Darth Roxor]

What in the fuck.

Do I recall correctly that someone here said that Bleak Falls Barrow is a 'good dungeon'? A fuckhueg corridor with traps that don't kill and two 'puzzles' that would pose problems to braindead people is a GOOD DUNGEON?

And don't even get me started on that guy in cobwebs 'o hey, bro, you just killed the giant spider that trapped me here, but I'll just TURN AROUND AND START RUNNING DOWN SOME RANDOM CORRIDOR, LOLOLOLO, I TRICK U!'

Also, dat voice acting. "O hai, we are all very scandinavian here, that's why we sound like exiled Irishmen who settled in Scotland'.

Also, the kill cam animations look totally retarded.

Also, enemies are majestic gentlemen who wait with attacking you until you fully heal up with your healing spell.

Being able to wear only one ring is fuck up, man.

I also like how redundant are enemy archers in this game. There were handful of situations where I'd be running around, lootin', and I'd keep hearing those 'CLANG CLANG CLANG'. 'What is this?' I ask myself, 'Ah, tis but a feeble archer raining arrows down upon me, woe is me!' I think afterwards. Then I finish looting, look around to see if I didn't miss something and finally proceed to kill the hapless enemy.






BETHESDA IS IMPROVING

 

[Drakron]

A fuckhueg corridor with traps that don't kill and two 'puzzles' that would pose problems to braindead people is a GOOD DUNGEON?

To start you are a liar, there is a trap that kill you ... the revolting spike door because I step on the pressure plate expecting it to stop just in front of me and it keep going, killing me ... its a physics trap so I dont think anyone can survive it even at medium levels.

And yes, the puzzles are simple ... nobody said they were not and I even specific said they are simple.

 

[crufty]

What in the fuck.

Do I recall correctly that someone here said that Bleak Falls Barrow is a 'good dungeon'? A fuckhueg corridor with traps that don't kill and two 'puzzles' that would pose problems to braindead people is a GOOD DUNGEON?

And don't even get me started on that guy in cobwebs 'o hey, bro, you just killed the giant spider that trapped me here, but I'll just TURN AROUND AND START RUNNING DOWN SOME RANDOM CORRIDOR, LOLOLOLO, I TRICK U!'

Also, dat voice acting. "O hai, we are all very scandinavian here, that's why we sound like exiled Irishmen who settled in Scotland'.

Also, the kill cam animations look totally retarded.

Also, enemies are majestic gentlemen who wait with attacking you until you fully heal up with your healing spell.

Being able to wear only one ring is fuck up, man.

I also like how redundant are enemy archers in this game. There were handful of situations where I'd be running around, lootin', and I'd keep hearing those 'CLANG CLANG CLANG'. 'What is this?' I ask myself, 'Ah, tis but a feeble archer raining arrows down upon me, woe is me!' I think afterwards. Then I finish looting, look around to see if I didn't miss something and finally proceed to kill the hapless enemy.






BETHESDA IS IMPROVING

I like the dart traps. Cool animation.

I used the traps to kill monsters.

I liked how the first dragon insta gibbed me. Yup, while the fire was no big deal, standing there defiantly shooting dwarven arrows into the maw of the beast was not a smart move. duck and weave lass, duck and weave!

I crafted my own set of leather armor and made it fine. I know it's not realistic but it was the first time I had fun crafting something, ever. Usually I never bother, but since cash was on short supply....


Lost my horse in a bandit attack. But it showed up after a wagon ride. I have mixed feelings about this. On one hand, if you dont do this, the game is more real but you have the masses complain their game is too hard. Meanwhile I was thinking phew at least I'm not out a thousand gp. Am I my own worst enemy?

I sort of wish there was some kind of mini quest to get your horseback via clairvoyance spell. Either it's alive or dead.

Because I really had no idea where it went. Which, I thought was cool because it was really getting tore up. Mounted combat would be nice...

 

[IronicNeurotic]

Look what ive found on rpgwatch when looking for UI tweak, a nsfw link!
http://www.rpgwatch.com/forums/showthre ... 374&page=3
The evidence the place has become a cesspool...
Truly shocked to find such things in this gentlemen site.

RpgWatch is decline incarnate.

Just looking at the comments

That's pretty much what I was saying. Bethesda made a better world, Obsidian made a better RPG. Both have their strengths and weaknesses.

Skyrim is pretty amazing so far, much better than I expected it to be. Not sure it can top New Vegas in the writing and RPG mechanics areas, but it's a closer fight than I expected it to be.

 

[Darth Roxor]

To start you are a liar, there is a trap that kill you ... the revolting spike door because I step on the pressure plate expecting it to stop just in front of me and it keep going, killing me ... its a physics trap so I dont think anyone can survive it even at medium levels.

ORLY? You mean the same trap that hit me in the face and took down like 40% HP?

 

[Hoaxmetal]

there is a trap that kill you

Level 21 now and I've only been killed once by a trap (3 huge arrows to the head), most of them are harmless enough so that I just run around carelessly.

 

[Drakron]

ORLY? You mean the same trap that hit me in the face and took down like 40% HP?

Yes, I was ... what? Lv4-5 when I did it.

There are dumber traps, like a burial mound were since I was overloaded the traps were not even hitting me since I was either walking or stopped.

 

[Darth Roxor]

Yes, I was ... what? Lv4-5 when I did it.

I was the same

 

[Andyman Messiah]

Andyman's further Skyrim adventures:
In my review of Dragon Age 2 I said that it was unplayable. But I did finish it. I don't think I have it in me to do the same with Skyrim. It is amazing that Bethesda managed to take absolutely every single thing that was bad about Oblivion and Fallout 3 and then somehow make it so much more worse, while at the same time they've added more things that totally blows. To everyone that consider Skyrim to be an improvement or incline in any goddamn way: fuck you. Fuck you. You are so wrong. I hope you die alone and in unchanged diapers. I hate you.

tl;dr A review of this worst game ever is still possible but I'm going to need a bigger liquor cabinet and possibly a stuntmanhorse.

edit afterthought: the water graphics are better.

 

[visions]

I am playing Dragon Age right now on hard and within the past approx 40 hours of playtime ( the dlc village you got the golem from, Return to Ostagar dlc, Brecilian Forest, now Orzammar but not at the Deep Roads yet), I've had to reload three times because of a lost combat. I always use the same party. Just sayin'. Reloads were more frequent earlier on though.

Wonderful, I'm happy for you. My experience was different and I'd say it's pretty telling when a tactical scrub like myself breezes through Knights of the Old Republic but has difficulty with DA:O in spots. Full disclosure though: I only used one mage for the majority of the game, and only used two for the particularly tough spots and I did notice it did get much easier (and would likely get even easier with three). Similar deal with KOTOR, the more Jedi you have in your party the quicker combat goes by.

Morrigan's my only mage , I killed Wynne. I didn't pick a heal spell for her until after at least the Fade in the Mage Tower (which I did between Redcliffe and going after the urn) and have to admit that some of the encounters were quite painful before that though. My pc is a dual wielding, bomb hurling rogue (assassin/duellist) and besides Morrigan I use Alistair and the dog. Works quite well for me.

Don't remember much about my experience with Kotor anymore but overall it was probably somewhat easier I guess. Just, it's kind of strange when I hardly ever have to reload because of a lost combat, while playing on "hard".

 

[ksjav]

Andyman's further Skyrim adventures:
It is amazing that Bethesda managed to take absolutely every single thing that was bad about Oblivion and Fallout 3 and then somehow make it so much more worse, while at the same time they've added more things that totally blows. To everyone that consider Skyrim to be an improvement or incline in any goddamn way: fuck you. Fuck you. You are so wrong. I hope you die alone and in unchanged diapers. I hate you.

Constructive and coherent criticism, pointing out glaring flaws in the game, will read again! Thread dramatically inclined!

 

[Andyman Messiah]

Andyman's further Skyrim adventures:
It is amazing that Bethesda managed to take absolutely every single thing that was bad about Oblivion and Fallout 3 and then somehow make it so much more worse, while at the same time they've added more things that totally blows. To everyone that consider Skyrim to be an improvement or incline in any goddamn way: fuck you. Fuck you. You are so wrong. I hope you die alone and in unchanged diapers. I hate you.

Constructive and coherent criticism, pointing out glaring flaws in the game, will read again! Thread dramatically inclined!

 

[Gord]

Andyman's further Skyrim adventures:
It is amazing that Bethesda managed to take absolutely every single thing that was bad about Oblivion and Fallout 3 and then somehow make it so much more worse, while at the same time they've added more things that totally blows. To everyone that consider Skyrim to be an improvement or incline in any goddamn way: fuck you. Fuck you. You are so wrong. I hope you die alone and in unchanged diapers. I hate you.

Constructive and coherent criticism, pointing out glaring flaws in the game, will read again! Thread dramatically inclined!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLR4iZJLgc4

 

[UserNamer]

I downloaded the game to try it... the initial impressions were bad, ugly graphics and shitty interfaces... the shitty linear sequence at the beginning was uninteresting... after a few seconds of playing, main npc guy starts repeating the same fucking sentence every second. "Look around for a potion". "look around for a potion." "Look ar-" and so on.

then I took the trek with the npc imperial dude and the game seemed promising... followed him to his village, went to the local inn and started attacking the inn guests. I set the difficulty to master, so that means that even the frail looking woman at the inn was capable of withstanding dozens of maximum power sword trusts without reacting in any way... seriously a punching bag is more reacting... so I had to fled, and it was kinda funny leading all the enraged inn patrons around, so I decided to lead them to the house of the father of the imperial npc that gave me hospitality and they helped me out in a EPIC battle.

After these moments of fun I reloaded and decided to explore the surrounding countryside... and it fucking sucked. I have to admit that even with the primitive graphics, the road from the starting area to the first village looked nice. But when I started exploring the wilderness, I realized how shitty it is...

first of all, it's all crammed behind two mountain walls... the textures are shit... I explored around to find some dungeons to loot, and I just found some kind of tower with a few bandits in it. Cue EPIC music starting, something that I really hate in these games, why does FUCKING MAJESTIC EPIC music has to start out even when you are fighting mudcrabs or random assholes bandit? Is there anyway to turn it off? This is just a sidenote by the way. By the way the bandits were not as durable as the patrons in the inn, dying only after 10 or less hits

So I'm thinking that the game can become more interesting as I level up and get stronger gear, but what's the point of having such a big game world if it's just non descript ugly textured shit outside of the main road? Do I have to travel for HOURS to find something decent and entertaining to do? I'm not really in the mood for wasting so much time of my life.

 

[hoopy]

I wasted tons of time trying to cure my vampirism, and when I finally reached the final stage the fucking NPC bugs and won't do anything. And now there's a dragon flying around which means I can't quick travel or wait. What the fuck are those things even for? They just fly around and do nothing at all while epic music plays for no reason. How wonderfully pointless.

I don't understand why I even have vampirism. I think I would remember getting bitten.

Edi: what the fuck! The dragon killed me. All this time they've done nothing but fly around doing absolutely nothing, so I thought they're harmless. Jesus Christ, this game...

 

[Tel Velothi]

Anyone got any problems with crashing/freezing?

Guess I have to wait for second patch. It's definitely game's problem, because other awzum next-g3n graphiks games are running just fine on my PC (and Skyrim itself running smoothly on high settings 1680x1050).
On x2 1,8 GHz, 1 GB RAM, 9600 GT.