It's wonderful to know that some nigger gangster is here to tell us which roleplaying game is the best ever.
"Four years later"
Welcome to the new ancient history.
"so what kind of so called journalist would I be"
You're not one. Writing an article for some fanboy console site does not make you a fucking journalist.
"each character race dominates its own region"
Except for Cyrodiil, which in lore is (was) a melting pot. Imperials didn't even exist as a race until Morrowind.
"Every region of the Elder Scrolls world has its own secrets and mysteries"
What the hell does this mean?
"you will come across many different races in each of the towns"
You will in the most artificial sense. They all share the same body, many share the same texture, and most share the same voice actor. They all share the same dialog lines.
"Those who enjoy a fluent pace in storyline’s to hold their attention might throw Elder Scrolls: Oblivion to the side very quickly"
You mean good storytelling?
"You are completely in control of the pace of the plot in Oblivion, which is what I love because the game is essentially letting you craft your own destiny however you like it"
Within the confines of the completely linear quests, of course. Your "crafting" basically amounts to what order you tackle the paper thin missions.
"You must fight constant dark forces until you are able to once and for all eradicate the threats of Oblivion and its ruler Mehrunes Dagon"
See what you've done to the lore, Bethesda, by appealing to these failed abortions? Dagon is now the ruler of Oblivion. Not his plane, but Oblivion itself. The other daedra hardly even exist because you took the destruction guy and set him up as a goddamn Satan.
"It is an interesting quest that will see you exploring the whole of Cyrodiil and closing Oblivion gates"
How is it interesting? Describe, please. The whole of Cyrodiil is basically cut and pasted forests, and the Oblivion gates are carbon copies of each other.
"What Elder Scrolls: Oblivion does real well, is give the player complete freedom throughout the quest. You only have to complete as much of it as you wish to."
That's not freedom. That's ThereIsNoCowLevel.
"You will discover useful items that will allow you to create powerful enhancements that will make you become a force to be reckoned with"
Unfortunately, every monster in the game will magically become an even greater force to be reckoned with, thanks to level scaling. Progress is an illusion in this game. You're more successful if you stay at level 2 or 3.
"the main quest is nothing"
First true thing said in this "article".
"The fact that there are two huge expansion packs doesn’t make it any easier either"
I'm sure he meant one moderate expansion pack and a slightly longer than average DLC.
"What’s incredible is that these quests aren’t just pitiful side quests you see in your average RPG’s or Sandbox titles"
Uh, yes they are, and...
"In every quest you accept in Elder Scrolls: Oblivion you will face great challenges, and once finished you obtain a great sense of accomplishment"
... you have to explain your absurd conclusions, playa. Just saying them doesn't make it true. You sound like a press release.
"Many quests will result in something in the world changing, making you feel like you have actually made a difference in the world"
That never happens. The first main quest gets rid of the Daedra spawns from a burned out city, and the last puts a statue in the middle of the Imperial City. That's the extent of world changing events.
"Every character you come across in this game has a schedule, their own attachment to the world"
Welcome to Bethesda hype, circa 2005.
"The people within the various communities all know and greet each other daily, sometimes meeting at bars or inns for conversation"
I saw a mudcrab the other day. Over, and over, and over.
"When the world is so life like, every contribution you make results in some kind of after effect."
Please explain this, because you sound like Pete's lapdog.
"To put it simply, these quests aren’t just something you do to level up or earn more money. Every quest has a purpose, and an after effect."
You're right. You don't gain experience points for creating quests. And yes, the quests' do have a purpose - to get you money. The after effect is you getting that money. Sometimes it's a level scaled item.
"What’s completely amazing about this game is that you don’t even have to do the main quest at all."
How is that amazing? It's interesting, sure, but not completely amazing.
"Once you escape from jail the world is yours (to quote Scarface)"
You can always tell newfag ganstas these days by their giddiness at quoting scarface.
"If you want to get real creative you can come up with a little quest of your own, such as visiting all the towns and killing everybody in the game (which I actually tried to do once)"
Real creativity, to me, is running around town and killing everybody. It's nice to see the limits of this journalist's imagination, and that he considers genocide a fun little "quest". Also, this quest is impossible because of essential NPCs, natch.
"You are only limited by your own imagination"
And the incredibly restrictive game mechanics.
"How about getting into real estate and saving up money to purchase all the available houses in the game? Once you’ve done that you can even become a collector by going out and obtaining certain objects and then decorating your mansion with them."
So collecting digital crap is the main point of the game. Thanks for pointing that out!
"It is completely up to you, Bethesda has provided you the world, and it’s up to you how you how you wish to live in it"
Pete called again, he wants his PR back.
"If you choose to go the Grand Theft Auto route, you better be careful because your crimes will earn you jail time (if you get caught)"
Jail time that is completely inconsequential. Also, guards are psychic. Also, you can reach a point where they will all just basically want to kill you.
"You actually have to serve the jail sentence too, but you can of course opt to skip through the whole sentence, because what kind of game would make you actually sit there through a 100 day sentence?"
Pointless sentence is pointless.
"How about becoming the most powerful being in Cyrodiil before you even start the main quest? Yes it is actually possible"
WOW SO COOL
"There are novels to read, caves to explore, houses to break into, guilds to discover and unique items/weapons to obtain"
Less novels than Morrowind, less caves than Morrowind and they are all cut and paste, houses that are all the same and have no valuable items (level scaling), guilds that are all the same (and a smaller amount of them than Morrowind) and don't interact with each other, and level scaling means that unique items and weapons are horribly broken and can't be discovered by exploration until you've reached a certain level.
"I have never played a game this open before"
Just because you haven't played one doesn't mean they don't exist. Do a little research, mmkay? In fact, one that surpassed Oblivion in every way came out only a few years earlier than it - Morrowind. Even the ESF brats who prefer Oblivion can admit that that's only because it was their first introduction to the series. Hell, Fallout 3 was a better Oblivion than Oblivion.
That was too easy. Try again next time!
