So, one of my favorite parts of past Elder Scrolls games has been the sense of wonder that constantly inhabits them, and a lot of times this has resulted from elements of higher fantasy within the series. For example, in Morrowind there were the awesome Temple quests (which, unfortunately, I'm pretty sure no one ever did...) and in Oblivion there was the incredible Thieves' guild questline, both of which made the player feel like he was the best of the best, romping around the world, collecting artifacts of unimaginable power. Not to mention, the exotic stories they told and the lore behind them, especially the lore in Morrowind, were always wonderful tools of immersion. I hope that Skyrim still has some of this present.

Furthermore, I'm afraid that Skyrim won't have that whimsical sense of humor that past Elder Scrolls games have had because it gets caught up in being too grimdark. Who else thought that it was hilarious that the stable in the Imperial city didn't have horses because it was implied the Orc running the place ate them all? Or good old Uncle Crassius from Morrowind and his classic play The Lusty Argonian Maid? While elements like these were silly at times, it made the game world breathe, because it gave the sense that these people in the game have a sense of humor, and that they weren't just cardboard cutouts that frowned and hit monsters with blunt objects.

TL;DR: Do you think that Skyrim will retain elements of high fantasy and humor, and do you want it to?

Of course it will. You don't think a single NPC or location will be whimsical?

Ofc it will, its TES the world will just be generally darker, which is great. Morrowind's world was a lot darker than OB's aswell and there was plenty of humor and smiles to have

This, and i'm sure they won't just abandon having some funny little easter eggs or whatever in their games. I think that being that it's so cold up there they only thing that gets the cold of the mind is sense of humor..... and drinking haha.

thanks for the tl;dr section! little humour, if i wanted to laugh i'd watch jimmy carr's stand up... fantasy but not aliens etc, remember it is based on earth! (i presume) (ought to be... not like its halo 3 or anything... (good game) )

Well, that's not really what I'm saying. I was just saying that I think that the increased darkness factor is not necessarily a good thing, because with that comes the implication that there will be less of what I, and I think many other gamers, loved about previous Elder Scrolls games.

Personally, I'm not a huge fan of this recent trend of games moving in an increasingly dark direction. Take, for example, Mass Effect when compared to Mass Effect 2, or Dragon Age: Origins to Dragon Age 2. In both cases I liked the former better than the sequel, and I don't want to find myself disliking Skyrim for the same reason.

I believe it will, this isn't one of my concerns. What we're experiencing right now, with the bulk of the footage and screenshots, is just the sweaty-bulging-grunting-pro-wrestler-Dovahkiin-marketing to attract more boys. I really doubt they'd abandon their underlying humor.

It can have both.

I assume the Bard's college will be producing plenty of "whimsical" characters and quests to keep you satisfied.

I love you. Marry me.

I`m playing Daggerfall right now and it`s darker than Oblivion, even more so than Morrowind. And you know what? It doesn`t ruin the game for me.

I don`t think it`ll be bad for the game. However I also don`t think Skyrim will be any darker than Morrowind.

Well, maybe it will have some of Oblivion's unintentional humor.

I don't think its one or the other. For all the whimsy in Morrowind, there were some darker topics in play: slavery, imperialism, religion, heresy, oppression...

Just because it goes for a slightly darker tone doesn't mean it can't capture the sense of wonder one expects from fantasy, nor does it mean it can't have a sense of humor. I've seen works that are dark yet still have their share of humor. Indeed, I'd argue that Fallout has more jokes than the Elder Scrolls in it, I'd also argue that it's darker than any Elder Scrolls game currently on the market, and quite possibly Skyrim as well. Darker just means that the overall tone of a work is, well, darker, it doesn't mean it can't still have humor and wonder in it.

Now, will the darker tone Bethesda is apparently going for be beneficial or detrimental to the game? I don't know yet, but I don't feel that shifting towards a darker tone will necessarily harm the factors that make the series appealing. The whole "darker and edgier" thing can be a good or bad thing, really, and it depends on how it is handled, and also whether the series is one where trying to go that route is actually not completely stupid. And the Elder Scrolls, I would say, fit's the latter criteria, Tamriel is not exactly a utopia, while I do not consider the series to be extremely dark as a whole, certainly not on the level of say, the Witcher, it's setting certainly has some aspects that could make for darker storylines than what past games delivered, if they were used in that way, in fact, Oblivion could have been pretty dark if Bethesda put more focus on those parts, Morrowind was already somewhat darker than Oblivion, though I don't really consider it to be darker by that much, mostly because it doesn't actually use the darker aspects of it are mostly in the background, rather than what you actually see. As much as the game tells you about the cruelty with which slaves are treated, one can't really appreciate it that much when apparently their only job is to stand in place all day, basically, while I enjoyed Morrowind, it relied too much on telling rather than showing for it's darker elements to really have a strong impact, and in Oblivion, they weren't given that much focus outside of the Dark Brotherhood questline, but because these elements are present, just not explored as much as it could be, the series does have some potential to work with a darker tone, will Skyrim benefit from it, though? Assuming it indeed delivers on the promised darkness, we'll see. Regardless, it seems that "darker" is a trend that is pretty common in games lately, and it's hardly a surprise that Bethesda would want to take advantage of it, whether the results are for the better or not.

Something very wrong with that statement. :teehee:

Need more media of the female PC.

Well, you just sold it for me.

Whacky Skyrim Perk FTW.

Usually the so-called "mature" games that the topic post describes are bland gray, dark green, and shades of brown when it comes to graphics. Skyrim has more variety than that so I'm not worried about the "maturity equates to everyone being stoic or grumpy and the world looking bland" curse that's hit so many games lately.

I can't wait for the "good graphics means everything is in shades of brown, gray, and some shades of dark green" fad to go away for the most part.

There is an audience for it though. I have actually seen topics in which people complain the sky is too blue in Oblivion and the world too green. :banghead:

I wouldn't worry too much about TES V being too grimdark. As long as we manage to stop Alduin from eating the world, it'll probably work out.

A slightly darker atmosphere will suit Skyrim well. It'll still have plenty of humour though, as seen in previous Elder Scrolls games.

I doubt Skyrim's going to be darker and edgier, really it's just everybody else who keeps saying Dark, Low Fantasy and how Harsh and unforgiving everything will be. When somebody says, darker tone and TES I always think Morrowind...

Also, I found Mass Effect 2 a lot funnier than Mass Effect 1 actually, or maybe it's that jokes work a lot better in darker atmosphere, this is pretty much the source of the humor of Fallout.

Question: Why are you so worried?

If an entirely different team were workign on Skyrim, like, say, if Bethesda sold the rights to the series, and let's say Rockstar or Activision were now in charge, yes, then I'd be asking these sorts of questions. :shrug: But Bethesda is still calling the shots. I trust them.

I personally would rather have the darker edgier atmosphere, i find that in most RPG's and MMO's ive played, the ones that have the darker atmosphere (including weather/general color scheme of the game being a bit greyer and darker) to be more enjoyable because they sort of have a more mysterious and adventerous feel to them. That could just be me though and it was one of the things i liked most about morrowind, so if theyre getting a bit darker for skyrim im all for it.

Why'd you use the Thieves' Guild as an example? Apart from the new lore it filled in on the Elder Scrolls themselves the entire questline ranged from crappy to mediocre.

It'll have all of those qualities and still will be grim and dark.

I'm Goth, so I loves grim and dark things, and being dark makes greasing opponents much easier for stealth/assassin-based characters (my favorite type).

If you are speaking of mood based grim/dark, think about the setting. The Dragons are back. That's a pretty grim portent for the populace of Skyrim not to mention the rest of Tamriel. It's supposed to be a dark-mood type of game. You will still definitely have the lighter more whimsical humor moments, but it is where people are fitting it into their lives where they can because the threat of the Dragons is so omnipresent.

Just relax, Skyrim will be the best Elder Scrolls yet.


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