Thoughts on Skyrim
Jan. 15th, 2012 02:08 am![[personal profile]](http://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
arwingyoshiI probably should have written this a month ago, when I actually finished Skyrim, but stuff came up.
Talking about every little thing in the game would take forever, so I'm just gonna cover the four side questlines: The Dark Brotherhood, Thieve's Guild, College of Winterhold, and Companions. Might also give my thoughts on one or two points of the main questline.
I honestly didn't like this generation of the Dark Brotherhood as much as the one we saw in Oblivion. I loved the Dark Brotherhood we saw in Oblivion, with my favorites being Lucien and Vicente. The characters in Skyrim didn't catch my interest as much, except for Cicero, Veezra and Gabriella. Babette just felt like a poor substitute for Vicente.
I do admit though, I think the Dark Brotherhood storyline was better written than the one in Oblivion. The contracts in Oblivion are cool, but the Purification is where it falls apart and I've never been able to make myself go through with it. On top of that, the following events involve some plot-forced stupidity on the player's part. The Dark Brotherhood plot in Skyrim, however, I thought was better done. The plot is more grand-scale and the pitfalls you go through don't force you to be a dumbass. Sure, just like in Oblivion, many of the characters die, but this time it isn't you doing it (with the exception of Astrid, but she had it coming) and the only deaths that actually got to me were Veezra and Gabriella.
Also, I loved getting Lucien back in the picture. I know a lot of people complain that he talks too much, but, honestly, I like it when he talks and I never wanted him to stop. I am in love with his voice. I did find ways to dismiss him or wait until he "died" if I wanted to do plot points (main or subplots) though, since he does tend to talk over others. Plus, he actually walks silently, his talking doesn't give away your position, and most of the time he doesn't attack unless an enemy actually spots you, so I don't see why people complain about that.
I also feel the need to talk about the Thieve's Guild this time around. I didn't really care for it, since it seemed like they'd just turned into extortionists and there was none of the honor to be found from the Guild we saw in Oblivion. I felt bad about having to shake down people who had come to like me, only for them to turn around and hate me now. Plus, I felt that Mabel Black-Briar was an asshole.
The plot was pretty cool though, and Mercer made for a good bad guy. It's hard to top stealing an Elder Scroll, but the cloak-and-dagger story was still enjoyable to play through.
Not much to say about the College of Winterhold questline. I liked it, I thought it had a cool plot, and don't think it's really comparable to the Mages Guild questline from Oblivion, as they're completely different stories. The Archmage's death was a little too sudden, though, and lacked dignity. I know they had to get rid of him somehow, but it could've been handled better.
The Companions were a pretty fun and badass bunch, but I didn't really care for being a werewolf. I pretty much zoomed through that questline so I could cure myself already. I dunno, I just never saw much reason to go werewolf again after the one time you have to in the questline. Not much to say other than that.
As for the main quest, the one thing I have to comment on are the Thalmor and Blades. I really wish we'd been able to take down the Thalmor, or find some way to put them out of business once and for all. Hopefully we'll be able to in any upcoming DLC, or in any future Elder Scrolls games.
As for the Blades, I was saddened when I found out that they'd been hunted down and were down to just a few members, because I liked them in Oblivion. Delphine had some pretty badass moments, which I liked.
But I did lose some respect for them near the end of the main questline. After all you do for them, even helping them start to rebuild, they turn against you - the one they swore oaths to protect and serve - all because of paranoia. They just seemed ungrateful after all you did for them and won't even let you argue your case or suggest they just trust your judgement (again, you, the Dragonborn, the one they've sworn oaths to). I know they might have reason to be paranoid, but I just couldn't kill Paarthanax.
So yeah, those are my thoughts on Skyrim. Despite its flaws, it's still a very good game and is the masterpiece we all waited in anticipation for. There are things from Oblivion I liked more, but Skyrim fixes a lot of Oblivion's flaws and it's one of my new favorite games of all time.
Talking about every little thing in the game would take forever, so I'm just gonna cover the four side questlines: The Dark Brotherhood, Thieve's Guild, College of Winterhold, and Companions. Might also give my thoughts on one or two points of the main questline.
I honestly didn't like this generation of the Dark Brotherhood as much as the one we saw in Oblivion. I loved the Dark Brotherhood we saw in Oblivion, with my favorites being Lucien and Vicente. The characters in Skyrim didn't catch my interest as much, except for Cicero, Veezra and Gabriella. Babette just felt like a poor substitute for Vicente.
I do admit though, I think the Dark Brotherhood storyline was better written than the one in Oblivion. The contracts in Oblivion are cool, but the Purification is where it falls apart and I've never been able to make myself go through with it. On top of that, the following events involve some plot-forced stupidity on the player's part. The Dark Brotherhood plot in Skyrim, however, I thought was better done. The plot is more grand-scale and the pitfalls you go through don't force you to be a dumbass. Sure, just like in Oblivion, many of the characters die, but this time it isn't you doing it (with the exception of Astrid, but she had it coming) and the only deaths that actually got to me were Veezra and Gabriella.
Also, I loved getting Lucien back in the picture. I know a lot of people complain that he talks too much, but, honestly, I like it when he talks and I never wanted him to stop. I am in love with his voice. I did find ways to dismiss him or wait until he "died" if I wanted to do plot points (main or subplots) though, since he does tend to talk over others. Plus, he actually walks silently, his talking doesn't give away your position, and most of the time he doesn't attack unless an enemy actually spots you, so I don't see why people complain about that.
I also feel the need to talk about the Thieve's Guild this time around. I didn't really care for it, since it seemed like they'd just turned into extortionists and there was none of the honor to be found from the Guild we saw in Oblivion. I felt bad about having to shake down people who had come to like me, only for them to turn around and hate me now. Plus, I felt that Mabel Black-Briar was an asshole.
The plot was pretty cool though, and Mercer made for a good bad guy. It's hard to top stealing an Elder Scroll, but the cloak-and-dagger story was still enjoyable to play through.
Not much to say about the College of Winterhold questline. I liked it, I thought it had a cool plot, and don't think it's really comparable to the Mages Guild questline from Oblivion, as they're completely different stories. The Archmage's death was a little too sudden, though, and lacked dignity. I know they had to get rid of him somehow, but it could've been handled better.
The Companions were a pretty fun and badass bunch, but I didn't really care for being a werewolf. I pretty much zoomed through that questline so I could cure myself already. I dunno, I just never saw much reason to go werewolf again after the one time you have to in the questline. Not much to say other than that.
As for the main quest, the one thing I have to comment on are the Thalmor and Blades. I really wish we'd been able to take down the Thalmor, or find some way to put them out of business once and for all. Hopefully we'll be able to in any upcoming DLC, or in any future Elder Scrolls games.
As for the Blades, I was saddened when I found out that they'd been hunted down and were down to just a few members, because I liked them in Oblivion. Delphine had some pretty badass moments, which I liked.
But I did lose some respect for them near the end of the main questline. After all you do for them, even helping them start to rebuild, they turn against you - the one they swore oaths to protect and serve - all because of paranoia. They just seemed ungrateful after all you did for them and won't even let you argue your case or suggest they just trust your judgement (again, you, the Dragonborn, the one they've sworn oaths to). I know they might have reason to be paranoid, but I just couldn't kill Paarthanax.
So yeah, those are my thoughts on Skyrim. Despite its flaws, it's still a very good game and is the masterpiece we all waited in anticipation for. There are things from Oblivion I liked more, but Skyrim fixes a lot of Oblivion's flaws and it's one of my new favorite games of all time.
