» Sat Sep 24, 2011 3:01 am So anyway, here's my experience. The main plan was to get a dual wieldy Dark Elf (race powers Resist Fire 50% I think, alongside ancestor guardian who I didn't think to use) over as far east as possible; Windhelm the nominal target. I wanted to visit a bookshop and see if I could pick up much of a sense of where Nord culture's going in game. I toyed with character creation briefly to up my 'body size' which was more of a sliding scale than I expected. With my new hefty build I set out.
Most of my demo was spent running at high speed avoiding bandits wherever possible. Unfortunately 20 minutes just is not enough time; I could just have made it to Whiterun which I passed by, but any further is just too far away. I couldn't even reach the next signposted settlement after Whiterun. It looks like Beth has programmed 'roadblocks' into the demo too; a handler joked whilst I was in the queue about how another player had just been mauled by 'that bear' in one of the nearest dungeons. Another guy got taken down in a Bloodmoon style ice cave dungeon (complete with mammoth skulls on the floor) by an Ice Wolf (normal wolf but bigger and clearly meaner); my own journey was ended by a bandit chief and his lightning-staff wielding female mage companion as I tried to cross a 'toll bridge fortress' (completely open, no loading screens) over a chasm with a river.
But it really didn't feel like my adventure had been in vain, even if I hadn't reached my destination and had had only one real combat. Exploration in Skyrim is simply delightful - the mountains and twisted valleys of the best of Morrowind's exteriors were mixed with the epic views and beautiful graphics of Oblivion to create probably the single best designed gameworld I've seen in some time. (Just wait til you see Whiterun looming in the distance as you run down the twisty road from Riverwood - the thing is impressively tall, actually!) The landscape definitely dictates your path, but this just means that youre left with the feeling that some exterior dev has carefully thought about what he wants to be showing you. Think of a return to the controlled chaos of Morrowind's West Gash, and goodbye to the pretty but aimless 'plains' of Oblivion. The way rocky crags and mountains obscure your view make you always keen to see 'what's just round this one more corner!'
Combat was less exciting from what I experienced as a dual weilder. I am tempted to say that even though sure you look badass, it is probably the least exciting combat style to play. Magic has really recieved a boost in customisability and strategy, but the inability to block made my attempts at combat just button mashing (to be fair I was trying to just burn through battles and keep on sprinting out east) But the inability to combine attacks with the blades outside the power attack meant that for the most part I just stuck to my RT blade anyway, and perhaps would have preferred an empty left hand with which to block.
In terms of takeaway facts from what I saw:
Watching others play there was a lot of snow, combat, Riverwood and caves to be seen. The most interesting things in fact were the loading screens which contain beautiful 3d models of characters weapons and enemies, which can be rotated and zoomed in and out. The character shots were awesome, I saw the Dunmer thief who Beth released the screenshot of, and a supremely awesome Altmer mage, looking far less rugged than the presets and in a brilliant blue robe/cowl combo, wielding a Daedric sword of some kind.
Another loading screen highlight was the dragons, apparently green-skinned dragons (which look more serpentine, with an almost amphibious headcrest) are tougher than the white- and bronze-skinned versions.
Also spotted in loading screens, the thing about Talos worship being banned, as well as some shouting guy looking remarkably like a more withered Ezio from ACRevelations, presumably a Greybeard. You can pick up powers that equate to the old Birthsigns e.g. Serpent, Apprentice, at their respective Stones. Anyone else going, loading screens would be worth paying more attention to!
A nice feature of caves is that you just walk in and out, (w/ loading screen) rather than open a door or activate anything. On dungeons my mate went into a mine with Oblivion style log rolling traps, and a Morrowind style backstory provided through scattered notes.
On reading matter, one of my biggest disappointments is that after 200 years everyone's still reading the same books! 2920, Biography of Barenziah, Black Arrow; all clearly still in heavy circulation! The only new book I saw was 'Book of the Dragonborn', whose 3d object looks much like the box of Skyrim itself. It began talking about how 'we are of course ruled by an Empire of the Dragonborn', so presumably even the new books are 200 years out of date.
Disappointing that from what I saw, aside from Talos, the world has not moved on at all! (The loading screen on the Dunmer spoke about Red Mountain as just 'a place in Morrowind' rather than anything specific, so presumably the status quo has been restored to a degree out East.) Reading the books looks lovely though!In someone else's game, noticed that wilderness initiated misc quests are back in, as per Morrowind. Some Nord perched on a log was injured/ill and wanted a potion to recover. The player seemed to have a bunch of response options. Along with the carefully designed exteriors, it really feels like the wilderness is going to feel like an extension of the world again, unlike Oblivion's sandbox RPG playground.
Finally, for me another slight 'really, are they taking this 200 years thing seriously' moment, but which I know might excite many here: on the road to Windhelm I met a hooded Khajiit. "M'aiq has no time for you." He is, apparently, back! I kinda hope it's just an egg for the demo given how prominently he's placed on the road and how ludicrous the idea of his continued presence in the world is, but there ya go. I'm surprised I haven't seen this mentioned before too; so, sorry if I'm late! Unfortunately I was nearing the end of my time and more concerned about storming on with my journey than sticking around to see if he had any catty comments about fan requests to make, so that's for others to try out!
Anyway, there you go, my Eurogamer experience! I could probably answer a few specific questions bit I've said the main stuff.
