Oblivion! So, not such a great game?

[TBSN]

I am looking for a new game and I was thinking that Oblivion would be awesome. I somehow skipped over it before because I don't play a whole lot of the games that come out (there are just too many...) Also, the fact that the game looks so HUGE is a bit daunting-- is it a hard game to get into?

Also, would it be worth getting the expansion pack right off the bat, or is it better for people who've finished the game and want more?

(For example, if someone were getting DiabloII or Starcraft, I'd say get the expansions even if you haven't beaten the game...)

Thanks for the input...

 

[pontifex]

if you can get it bargain bin, it might be. wouldn't pay full price for it again.

way too repetitive. looks pretty though, but thats how most games are lately. looks pretty but just doesn't have the gameplay.

 

[Bateluer]

Originally posted by: pontifex
if you can get it bargain bin, it might be. wouldn't pay full price for it again.

way too repetitive. looks pretty though, but thats how most games are lately. looks pretty but just doesn't have the gameplay.

That about sums it up. In my case, I bought the game shortly after its release, played it for a short while then shelved it until I rebuilt my computer. My P4 3.4E and 6800GT that I had at the time wasn't up to snuff to enjoy the game's pretty visuals, which is about all it really offers.

 

[EvilComputer92]

I started playing it over a year after it came out and I thought it was great. Very unique and there is really no other game like it.

I'm 200 hours into it and I still have not gotten the expansion for it. The mods keep me busy.

Be sure to download the various UI fixing mods, texture packs, and a leveled creatures/items mod.

The game was really half finished when it came out, which might explain the animosity towards it. The mod community has really done a excellent job adding a whole bunch of new content and fixing the previous issues with it.

 

[shortylickens]

Not nearly as good an RPG as Morrowind, but most of us think thats cuz they dumbed it down for the console crowd.

It is very pretty, and with all the expansions and some user mods it can actually be a lot of fun too.

Just get the Game of the Year Edition and the strategy guide in the same name.
You will not have to worry about it being so huge, the one improvement it had from Morrowind is an instant travel system built into the map.
You been there before? You can zip right back. You only have to trudge to a place one time, and with many things premarked as soon as you start the game, thats not an issue either.

The first time you nail a rat with a fireball you will be very impressed with yourself, after that the combat and dungeon crawling becomes a little repetative. The game is all about exploring an interesting world.
If you wanna get the most experience out of it, just do the main quest and nothing else. It has most of the really good scripted events.

After you beat the main game you can still run around and clean up all the side quests, which are actually the bulk of the content. Its just they arent quite as interesting.
(Except for the time you jump into a painting, and a dream, those are sweet.)



I will give you only one gameplay tip:

- = TALK TO EVERYONE!!!! = -

You would not believe how many little side adventures you can have in this game, and most of them can only be found by walking around, speaking with everyone you see, and making sure you finish all the conversation topics. If you hate all that talking, just click through it until a quest is added to your Journal.

 

[TBSN]

Well I'm surprised the game isn't that highly regarded, thanks for the opinions. I'm also surprised that it was a little unfinished when in came out, reminds me of STALKER (which has a lot of people who don't like it, as well as bunch of hard-core fans).

So far, sounds mediocre. I guess if I can get it for a cheap price I'll pick it up, otherwise I'll get something else... The Witcher looks pretty badass. Oh, and I can't wait for Project Offset

 

[WraithETC]

Its a great game actually. The only thing that was annoying was level scaling. While you level, loot and monsters level with you. It kind of negates the sense of becoming much more powerful.

The game probably sounds worse when you ask about it on anandtech while games like STALKER sound great. However I do agree that Morrowind was better. The Witcher was pretty good, but tends to crash regularly after a certain point in the game. The first chapter also has that classic rpg dilemma where your basically screwed if you didn't level *correctly*.

Fable is also a good game and very easy to get into compared to most RPGs. If you can find it, its probably very cheap.

 

[Markbnj]

It was fun, but then I am an RPG-head and will play almost anything in that genre. I still have my old copies of Arena and Daggerfall lying around, and of course Morrowind. I think Bethesda made some unfortunate design decisions in Oblivion, and I for one would like to see someone make an RPG and put less time into the graphics, and more into the AI and making the actions of the NPCs believable. It's fun becoming the Archmage, but when you walk out into the daylight for the first time and a Battlemage says "Ahh, you must be the Arcane University's newest addition!" it sort of detracts from the experience, just like being in a world where every thief has glass armor and daedric weapons.

Overall I give Oblivion a 9+ for appearance, an 8+ for game mechanics and user interface, an 8+ for combat mechanics, and scores somewhere around 5-6 for quests, AI, and story line.

 

[mundane]

Ditto most of what was posted above. Some of the side quests, especially thieves and assassins guild sequence were excellent. The world felt vast but mostly empty, Shivering Isles (second expansion pack) was what the original should have been.

 

[thraashman]

I agree that the AI has some really GREAT things about it .... and then probably twice as many really retarded things about it. Some of the quests can get repetetive. Many of the side quests can be quite entertaining I think. The quest that is designed after an H.P. Lovecraft story is kinda fun. And of course there's your own ways of just having fun, like starting a goblin war!

As far as difficulty goes. The game has kinda a curve due to things leveling with you. If you choose the normal course of the game as far as leveling, it will be somewhat hard early, very hard mid levels (15-25), and either extremely hard or extremely easy at 30+.

The reason why it's hardest at mid levels is because you have hard enemies and you'll likely have moderate equipment. At level 30+ if you do the right quests and set up your equipment correctly and level skills intelligently it can be really easy.

There's also the option of never sleeping and thus never gaining levels. That way your skills increase, but the enemies never get more difficult.

 

[MmmSkyscraper]

In before apoppin

 

[Darklife]

Well I played it 2 years ago , however it was on the 9600 Pro and at 640x480 so I might be a little biased . It still looked stunning , however I got to a point where I completed most of the side quests and the guild storylines and the main quest was utter trash , also I realized that there's no point to exploring as everywhere you'll get some randomly generated dungeon which surprisingly got tiring after a while .

 

[Martimus]

Originally posted by: TBSN
Well I'm surprised the game isn't that highly regarded, thanks for the opinions. I'm also surprised that it was a little unfinished when in came out, reminds me of STALKER (which has a lot of people who don't like it, as well as bunch of hard-core fans).

So far, sounds mediocre. I guess if I can get it for a cheap price I'll pick it up, otherwise I'll get something else... The Witcher looks pretty badass. Oh, and I can't wait for Project Offset

It is similar to Stalker, but it is MUCH more polished and a MUCH larger game. The sheer volume of quests astounded me (plus they are all well done, not just a rehash of another quest you already did.) I am getting a little bored with the repetitive enemies and dungeons (The quests may be all different, but their aren't that many different types of caves or characters for the sheer volume of stuff you can do.) It is a very fun game, that can get a little repetitive after a while; but it can easily take up over 100 hours of your time before you get bored, and you still won't have done half of what you can do!

 

[Darklife]

I have to agree with that , STALKER pales in comparison to the sheer amount of quests that Oblivion has . However I would have to say that STALKER was much more atmoshperic and I have fonder memories of it than Obivion .

 

[Lazlo Panaflex]

I wasn't much of an RPG'er myself in the past, but I'd have to say that after playing for about 40 hrs, there is a stunning amount of depth to the game. Yeah, some stuff may get a bit repetitive at times, but the attention to detail is simply amazing. You could probably spend hours just reading books if that's your thing. Say, for example, you've developed a high level fighter, but then want to become a powerful mage as well, you can do it. It sounds simple, but that's the genius behind the game. I'd go so far to say it's one of the greatest games ever.

 

[Darklife]

Originally posted by: oldhoss
I wasn't much of an RPG'er myself in the past, but I'd have to say that after playing for about 40 hrs, there is a stunning amount of depth to the game. Yeah, some stuff may get a bit repetitive at times, but the attention to detail is simply amazing. You could probably spend hours just reading books if that's your thing. Say, for example, you've developed a high level fighter, but then want to become a powerful mage as well, you can do it. It sounds simple, but that's the genius behind the game. I'd go so far to say it's one of the greatest games ever.

Well I actually found it a bit absurd that you could be the leader of the Fighter's Guild , The mage's guild , the thieve's guild and a high ranked member of the Dark Brotherhood at the same time . In Morrowind you were limited and at some point had to choose between them .

 

[thraashman]

Originally posted by: Darklife

Originally posted by: oldhoss
I wasn't much of an RPG'er myself in the past, but I'd have to say that after playing for about 40 hrs, there is a stunning amount of depth to the game. Yeah, some stuff may get a bit repetitive at times, but the attention to detail is simply amazing. You could probably spend hours just reading books if that's your thing. Say, for example, you've developed a high level fighter, but then want to become a powerful mage as well, you can do it. It sounds simple, but that's the genius behind the game. I'd go so far to say it's one of the greatest games ever.

Well I actually found it a bit absurd that you could be the leader of the Fighter's Guild , The mage's guild , the thieve's guild and a high ranked member of the Dark Brotherhood at the same time . In Morrowind you were limited and at some point had to choose between them .

Nope, not if you did it right. I became the head of Mages, Thieves, Fighters, Morag Tong, and the highest rank in the Temple in Morrowind..... I seem to recall there also being a knightly order I reached the highest rank in as well.

 

[Lazlo Panaflex]

Originally posted by: Darklife

Originally posted by: oldhoss
I wasn't much of an RPG'er myself in the past, but I'd have to say that after playing for about 40 hrs, there is a stunning amount of depth to the game. Yeah, some stuff may get a bit repetitive at times, but the attention to detail is simply amazing. You could probably spend hours just reading books if that's your thing. Say, for example, you've developed a high level fighter, but then want to become a powerful mage as well, you can do it. It sounds simple, but that's the genius behind the game. I'd go so far to say it's one of the greatest games ever.

Well I actually found it a bit absurd that you could be the leader of the Fighter's Guild , The mage's guild , the thieve's guild and a high ranked member of the Dark Brotherhood at the same time . In Morrowind you were limited and at some point had to choose between them .

:roll:

 

[Darklife]

Originally posted by: thraashman

Originally posted by: Darklife

Originally posted by: oldhoss
I wasn't much of an RPG'er myself in the past, but I'd have to say that after playing for about 40 hrs, there is a stunning amount of depth to the game. Yeah, some stuff may get a bit repetitive at times, but the attention to detail is simply amazing. You could probably spend hours just reading books if that's your thing. Say, for example, you've developed a high level fighter, but then want to become a powerful mage as well, you can do it. It sounds simple, but that's the genius behind the game. I'd go so far to say it's one of the greatest games ever.

Well I actually found it a bit absurd that you could be the leader of the Fighter's Guild , The mage's guild , the thieve's guild and a high ranked member of the Dark Brotherhood at the same time . In Morrowind you were limited and at some point had to choose between them .

Nope, not if you did it right. I became the head of Mages, Thieves, Fighters, Morag Tong, and the highest rank in the Temple in Morrowind..... I seem to recall there also being a knightly order I reached the highest rank in as well.

But wasn't the last mission for the thieves and fighters guild to orchestrate a slaughter of the opposing side ? At least that's what I did . And the knight order you're thinking of was probably the Imperial Legion .

 

[Xavier434]

Originally posted by: TBSN
Well I'm surprised the game isn't that highly regarded, thanks for the opinions. I'm also surprised that it was a little unfinished when in came out, reminds me of STALKER (which has a lot of people who don't like it, as well as bunch of hard-core fans).

So far, sounds mediocre. I guess if I can get it for a cheap price I'll pick it up, otherwise I'll get something else... The Witcher looks pretty badass. Oh, and I can't wait for Project Offset

I own it and I love it. It does not feel unfinished IMO and you do not need to xpack to enjoy it. Although, without proper mods, I should warn you that there is level scaling involved with your enemies. Other than that, it is well worth the money if you are looking for a single player fantasy RPG that looks pretty, gives you seemingly limitless freedom, and is a great time sink.

 

[Munky]

I liked Oblivion a lot, for the same reason I liked Stalker a lot: you can explore the world on your own, and there are different ways to complete many missions. There is a lot of detail in the game world, and it gives you enough flexibility to make it feel like you're really there. This is far more enjoyable than the common rail-shooters like Timeshift, MOH Airborne, and even Crysis, where you just have to go from one predefined point to another through the entire game.

 

[SlowSpyder]

Nice graphics, the game is rather meh though. There is no point or reward for leveling up... you could probably finish the game at level 1 if you wanted to.

 

[Xavier434]

Originally posted by: SlowSpyder
Nice graphics, the game is rather meh though. There is no point or reward for leveling up... you could probably finish the game at level 1 if you wanted to.

They have mods which fix that which is nice, but you are definitely right about vanilla Oblivion. That was their only flaw.

 

[Pocatello]

I like Oblivion a lot, still playing it.

 

[jonks]

When I reached godhood/boredom I had logged well over 100 hours. Except for Puzzle Quest I think that's the most time I've ever spent on a game, so I'd consider it a fantastic game. Flawless, nothing is. People always complain way too much about everything.

It was graphically beautiful and immensely engrossing. Combat wasn't that great and there were about 4 different character models, but other than that, superb.