Elder Scrolls TES Skyrim: A quick 20 hour restrospective

[Silverfish]

Yes, with the benefit of eleven years of Skyrim reviews and analysis videos to pull from.

 

[Harthwain]

Yes, with the benefit of eleven years of Skyrim reviews and analysis videos to pull from.

Except he plays games he reviews. In case of The Elder Scrolls even more than once, to make sure he knows what he's talking about. He does bring up some reviews and analysis videos in his retrospectives (at least in Skyrim), but mostly to contrast with his points, which end up being very different (sometimes completely opposite). So I am not sure what you're trying to say here.

 

[LarryTyphoid]

Patrician makes points about Skyrim that I've never heard before, like how mages were ruined by misguided attempts at "balancing" - most Skyrim reviews ignore magic entirely. There are also several points where he goes out of his way to rebut popular false criticisms of the game.

 

[Silverfish]

So I am not sure what you're trying to say here.

I'm saying his video uses its impressive runtime to obscure the fact that it brings nothing new to the table. Possibly as a result of spending nearly 100 hours researching other people's content.

 

[whydoibother]

So I am not sure what you're trying to say here.

I'm saying his video uses its impressive runtime to obscure the fact that it brings nothing new to the table. Possibly as a result of spending nearly 100 hours researching other people's content.

Several times in the video the narrator states something along the lines of "i watched all the other Skyrim esseys, and im surprised nobody talked about this" and goes on to talk about that. In fact, the format is specifically geared around reviewing not just the game, but the other video essays on the game.
Obviously everything has already been said somewhere, by someone, in a thread here or on 4chan or whatever. But not all of this video's remarks can be found in video critiques, and not at the same place at any rate.

 

[Harthwain]

I'm saying his video uses its impressive runtime to obscure the fact that it brings nothing new to the table. Possibly as a result of spending nearly 100 hours researching other people's content.

I disagree with the runtime being an attempt to obscure something. If anything I do think it is meant to be comprehensive, since he writes everything from start to end. I would concede that making super long video is a way for him to promote himself (hence the name of the channel - PatricianTV). He also has PlebTV channel (for super short stuff, I think).

 

[grimace]

Will people love Skyrim more than Morrowind?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=an_vUUs3iXg

Tamriel Rebuilt, the mod for TES III: Morrowind that adds the mainland of the province to the game, releases version 22.11!

Soon we can play the entire Elder Scrolls map in Morrowind.

 

[Silverfish]

Several times in the video the narrator states something along the lines of "i watched all the other Skyrim esseys, and im surprised nobody talked about this" and goes on to talk about that.

The only time I saw that was during the discussion of magic being underwhelming. Which is funny as well, since if you go beyond the world of review / analysis videos, the Skyrim character builds channels have been hip to that for several years.

 

[MWaser]

brevity is quality
you don't need 20 hours to talk about skyrim, and the shorter you talk about something while making a valid point, the better.
I could make a 20 hour video about Skyrim just reading posts from this forum by the fanboys and the reasonable people and call it a "review" that's "presenting different opinions"
What a waste of time.

 

[Butter]

Everyone who says "You don't need x amount of time for this" never bothers to point out parts of the video that could be condensed, and never argues what the "correct" length of such a video would be.

 

[Silverfish]

Everyone who says "You don't need x amount of time for this" never bothers to point out parts of the video that could be condensed, and never argues what the "correct" length of such a video would be.

The full recaps of the major questlines could be cut down, just do a CliffsNotes summary and then dig into any specific issues. The "magic is so underpowered" segment could go altogether, as it's built on a bad premise, wanting different characters to have the same experience. The intro runs too long and, funny enough, even takes time to shill for the validity of needlessly long videos. The references to other reviews and analysis videos could be cut, why am I watching your video to see someone else's POV? These are just off the top of my head, mind you, I haven't looked at the review since it was first uploaded.

So far as the "correct" length for a video like this? Emptyhero reviewed Skyrim a few years ago and managed to break down the main questline, the guilds and dlc, all while making room for his normal jokes and references as well as a running gag that spans the entire video and still clocked in at a little over forty minutes.

 

[whydoibother]

Part 1 of the Fallout 76 review released


I haven't actually played F76 at all, my only knowledge and experience of the game is bug compilations and general dislike for it. Yet it has many players and prints money, so I guess it does something right.

 

[Butter]

Part 1 of the Fallout 76 review released


I haven't actually played F76 at all, my only knowledge and experience of the game is bug compilations and general dislike for it. Yet it has many players and prints money, so I guess it does something right.

Here's the complete 8 hours uncensored. I like how they shoot to ribbons the idea that 76 was in any way "fixed" by all the expansions.

 

[Cat Headed Eagle]

Patrician makes points about Skyrim that I've never heard before, like how mages were ruined by misguided attempts at "balancing" - most Skyrim reviews ignore magic entirely. There are also several points where he goes out of his way to rebut popular false criticisms of the game.

Skyrim reviews ignore magic because Skyrim was directly marketed as a "barbarian" type game from the start. IIRC, Bethesda collected data and a vast majority of Skyrim's players went for "nord warrior" as their first choice of character. Haven't watched Patrician's video, but I'm willing to bet people defend lackluster magic in Skyrim because "nords aren't good at it", yet they ignore the extremely relevant presence of God's chosen people High Elves on the game. They did magic dirty in Skyrim, and to be completely honest, it seems magic is the aspect that's been hurting the most with every new TES iteration. Ironically, playing mages in TESO is super comfy.

 

[whydoibother]

Ironically, playing mages in TESO is super comfy.

Isn't magic there just guns? Point at enemy, pull the trigger, it does damage. A pistol spell, a shotgun spell, a grenade spell, a rail gun spell, whatever.
What I want from magic is being able to fill a bucket with rocks and metal bars, and swing it around telepathically to beat enemies. Or turn one enemy type to another via polymorph. Or turn myself. Or teleport. Or levietate. Or walk on water. Or grow extra limbs. Not just a fire themed gun.

 

[PorkyThePaladin]

As far as I know, only one man ever liked Fallout 76, and his name was Rusty.

 

[ind33d]

As far as I know, only one man ever liked Fallout 76, and his name was Rusty.

76 is very good but only if you like Destiny combat. I thought it was fine

 

[Harthwain]

Skyrim reviews ignore magic because Skyrim was directly marketed as a "barbarian" type game from the start. IIRC, Bethesda collected data and a vast majority of Skyrim's players went for "nord warrior" as their first choice of character.

The problem is that magic became largely supplementary element rather than being class in its own right. Patrician does touch on how much more limited you are as a mage (due to mana requirements, although that's no the only problem, mind you) if that's the sole focus of your playstyle, compared to being a warrior or a rogue. So naturally you end up being a hybrid.

Haven't watched Patrician's video, but I'm willing to bet people defend lackluster magic in Skyrim because "nords aren't good at it"

Not sure what you're talking about. The point is that most people ignore magic in Skyrim (aside from some "cool" effects, such as Emperor Paltatine-lightning), not that some people defend magic in Skyrim. I myself didn't find anyone defending Skyrim. Ever. Most people will agree that magic is not worth the investment.

Isn't magic there just guns? Point at enemy, pull the trigger, it does damage. A pistol spell, a shotgun spell, a grenade spell, a rail gun spell, whatever.
What I want from magic is being able to fill a bucket with rocks and metal bars, and swing it around telepathically to beat enemies. Or turn one enemy type to another via polymorph. Or turn myself. Or teleport. Or levietate. Or walk on water. Or grow extra limbs. Not just a fire themed gun.

Yes. And that's another part of problem with magic: after Morrowind the series started dropping more interactive magical effects that weren't strictly combat-oriented. As a result using magic in Skyrim is not all that interesting, compared to being a sneaky archer. It's a much more limited variation of damage-dealing class. Much more limited, because stamina regenerates much faster and magical damage scales worse than the other two playstyles.

 

[Funposter]

Is that the Active Camo pick-up sound from Halo at 1:17:18 when he places the tent?

 

[HumanTotemPole]

It's a much more limited variation of damage-dealing class. Much more limited, because stamina regenerates much faster and magical damage scales worse than the other two playstyles.

This is especially ironic given that high level enemy mages are the most dangerous enemies in the vanilla game because of how npc magicka regen works

 

[ind33d]

76 has problems, but they're mostly about how the MMO elements ruin your suspension of disbelief. Why is it possible to be hit by a nuke (not a mini-nuke, a literal nuke) and respawn? I tried to cheese a Super Mutant camp while underleveled and got BTFO like eleven times. Narratively, what happened? Are they letting me go? Are they knocking me out and releasing me after stealing my pants? Stupid shit like this never comes up in the other Fallout games because you just revert to a previous save and the implication is it never took place.

 

[Ravielsk]

So far as the "correct" length for a video like this? Emptyhero reviewed Skyrim a few years ago and managed to break down the main questline, the guilds and dlc, all while making room for his normal jokes and references as well as a running gag that spans the entire video and still clocked in at a little over forty minutes.

True but you need to keep in mind the difference between an analysis and a review. A review by its very nature is mainly about evaluating something to determine its "value". Analysis is more about getting a deeper understanding of something without necessarily determining its value. Obviously this is not a perfect division, you can judge the value of something within a analysis, but its something to be kept in mind when discussing length.

 

[Ryzer]

Fallout 76 is better than Skyrim though, not that it is a high bar.

 

[Darvus]

I thought his Oblivion analysis was actually pretty enjoyable back when I listened to it, but this Skyrim one feels significantly worse. Way more attempts at annoying youtuber humor (usually just dropping in some sound or video clip from some other piece of media). A lot more summarizing of events, something that could have stood to be cut down from the previous vids. Also the way he chose to include the creation club content is just schizophrenic. Less than 10% of the people who have played the game have ever touched that shit, should have thrown it in its own section somewhere, not peppered into every single part of the video.

 

[Tweed]

20 hours.