So, what do you think of Skyrim?

To add my bias, here is my opinions:
Fantastic aesthetics, underwhelming graphics.
Fantastic world, underwhelming simulation.
Fantastic character building, underwhelming character interaction.
Fantastic quests, underwhelming choices.
Fantastic sandbox, underwhelming RPG.
Fantastic game, underwhelming Elder Scrolls.

This game is essentially half of what it could be. But that half is pretty fantastic.

PS. "Half of what it could be" was my review of every TES game though, which holds especially true for Skyrim. (With Morrowind, barely exceeding that half still half(or even less than half) but balanced better.)

Fantastic aesthetics, underwhelming graphics.
Fantastic world, underwhelming simulation.
Underwhelming character building, underwhelming character interaction.
Underwhelming quests, underwhelming choices.
Fantastic sandbox, underwhelming RPG.
Okay game, okay Elder Scrolls.

I think I agree with most of your points, with a few exceptions.

I wouldn't say that the character building is fantastic. Maybe ok. The system is a bit simple and could have used a bit more development, I think. I'm fine with perks, but some of the trees are quite lackluster.

The world... it's a bit too scaled down for me. Despite the claims, the mountains kinda make the world feel even smaller than Oblivion did. I'm not sure I can explain it well enough, but it's like the view distances are shorter and so I feel like I'm covering ground quicker. That and the cities are just terribly small.

For the quests, some of them are fantastic. I like some of them a lot, but there are also lot of very generic feeling quests and the quest chains are just too short.

Overall I would call it a good game, but not fantastic.

Fantastic aesthetics, okay graphics.
Okay world, okay simulation.
Underwhelming character building, underwhelming character interaction.
Fantastic quests, TERRIBAD choices - actually correct phrase would be NON-existant.
Okay sandbox, underwhelming RPG.

I found everything about the game to be fantastic except for choices and character interaction. Pre-game hype had me believe those would be much, much more in-depth than they actually are.

I agree with all of this.

Most underwhelming thing is the combat for me(part of that I suppose is character building, since things are so imbalanced). And the UI/controls.

Interaction and dialogue options are pretty limited as well, but I suppose it's always been in TES, and would be hard to really make in depth dialogue with so many NPCs.

Aesthetics and world are fantastic as usual.

Couldn't agree more.

I felt a kind of lack of direction once I came out of the sewers at the beginning of the game. In the past, I've been used to selecting skills and then playing the game according to what I've chosen. In Skyrim however, I just felt almost overwhelmed by the fact that I could pretty much do anything and suffer virtually no negative effects to my gameplay.

Aesthetics are amazing, like the world fits together
Graphics I don’t care for as long they don’t hurt the aesthetics and I don’t think they do
The world fells real, like I could go to skyrim
Simulation is never what TES is about
Character Building is yeah … ok
Character interaction, needs to be split into 2, one, PC to NPC svcks, there are very few good character and the ones there are have little to say or a lot of repeated lines. NPC to NPC, seem much better and listening to some of the convos are quite cool
Quests are good
Choices is there, you can choice not to do something, eg. You don’t have to do anything but if you CHOICE to go down a path (as in life) it is sometimes hard if not impossible to back out
Sandbox is good
RPG is good
And game Great

Fantastic: all except choices (I assumed this meant within quests?)
Underwhelming: none so I chose other
Okay: choices

Fantastic game overall.

Well, I don't think combat and UI need a poll. I will add them if I make a second thread. (I am thinking which pairs to use.)

Dialogs were limited in Morrowind but it was still there. Almost all FG quests gave me the option to negotiate. Three approaches: kill, sneak, talk. That's minimum for an RPG. And I want simulation for consequences, not dialog.


I like the system exactly because it puts limitations. I can do anything but not everything. It is always your direction. Keeping that direction needs serious focus. I agree with Mitheledh on the trees and perks though.

TES:S overall needed more interactivity, reactivity, and variety.

Specific problems I had: voice/dialogue reuse, little to no world changes as a result of your actions, meh stories, pixel-y textures, small number of equipment/spells.

Another specific problem: the world is too small; they needed to include some other regions (like the Orsimar homeland) for a tiny bit more variety in landscapes, cultures and aesthetics.

Finally: I think dragonshouts are mostly a stupid idea.

Im not actually that impressed. TES has always been the 1 game in the industry that stands apart. The one game that did things diffrent, and had is own ideas and originality. Theres just something about Skyrim that doesnt have that vibe. Its feels like some of the other big game developers could have come up with the same content and features that Skyrims has.

While Skyrim is a great game, theres actually nothing new to find in the game that makes it mind-blowing.

The quests and choices in them were pretty underwhelming, an exception being Walking Nightmare.

Also, dragon shouts are dumb. I know its in the lore, but dragons have always been my least favorite part of the lore.

Would have much preferred a main quest based around the civil war.

Yeah, it feels like Bethesda went for the safe option with this one. The world's in an economic downturn, so it's completely understandable that they chose the land that most fits with LOTR et cetera ad nauseum. It's the most comfortable for mainstream audiences. There's already a shorthand for what they should expect. Best not to scare them away with, say, giant, travelling, floating fleas ...

Bethesda had to choose Skyrim this time around, and I'm actually pretty impressed with the cohesiveness of the world. I like that it achieves (aesthetically) exactly what it set out to.

I do wish there were more 'new'. But I suspect that'll come with the next TES. By then we should be out of the depression.

Fantastic aesthetics, fantastic graphics.
Fantastic world, underwhelming simulation.
Underwhelming character building, okay character interaction.
okay quests, underwhelming choices.
Fantastic sandbox, underwhelming RPG.
Underwhelming UI (pc)
Okay game, okay Elder Scrolls.

Don't mind the perks, just wish they were called something else and I realy miss not being able to play around with my stats.

Some bad aspects, mostly good though.

I am somewhere inbetween...feeling wise, but reading my post would probably make it sound as though I am completely disappointed in it. The world is great, as usual...but honestly...this is something Bethesda has always done well...so no points from me for doing what is already expected there.

The things that are lacking in my opinion, are dialogue, writing, quests with branching outcomes, and difficulty/balance. There is a lot to do in the game, and it's nice to look at, but much of it lacks real substance or meaning...and "boss" encounters are lacking and underwhelming...Alduin especially disappointed me.

Not only were we never able to actually engage in protagonist to antagonist dialogue, but they had the perfect backdrops for both of the fights against him, yet the execution and actual thrill of the battles were nonexistent and they were greatly lacking in difficulty.

So far...

Top Five:

Fantastic world
Fantastic aesthetics
Fantastic sandbox
Fantastic game
Fantastic Elder Scrolls

Underwhelming choices
Underwhelming character interaction
Underwhelming quests
Underwhelming character building
Underwhelming simulation

I thought quests and character building aspects were quite good and I was expecting more "underwhelming simulation" votes. I want to gather more samples.

This "RPG" thing still boggles me...

Fantastic aesthetics, okay world and grapghics. All else underwhelming.

Would've voted okay for music and sounds too, had they been an option.

It came handy while pairing. Also if you(anyone) want to get it off your chest... It doesn't mean anything really within its broader term but I can tell it is directly about the top overwhelming aspect: choices.

What's up with choices then?

There are games claimed to be much better RPGs with simpler system out there.

As for ingame choices... they hardly seem any different from the rest of the series...

I value RPGs based on the freedom they provide while maintaining it meaningful experience. Rather than just multi-linear epic stories with branching dialog and C&C, I personally want to see more innovation, especially in meeting simulation aspects and story. But I understand what you mean, I find RPGs very overwhelming in general, except TES. I actually find Skyrim amazing but when I feel it is "half of what it could be", it becomes a little bit underwhelming, especially when Morrowind was a 2002 and Skyrim, a 2011 game.

Morrowind gave me just enough options and I hoped it would get better. It seemed that would be the natural direction to utilize more sandbox to handle quests. Not that we didn't get it! Stealth, physics, RAI and now RS. But at the same time, somehow, all that didn't create what I imagined.

The overall direction went more for a staged experience rather than an experience through simulation. I want something much more raw but at least roleplayable. Using the sandbox mechanics to manipulate the game world to achieve goals and quests evolving around only goals: Emergent gameplay, write your own story... I don't want branching dialog trees and multi-linear stories. I don't want the options to come from the story branches, I want the always available sandbox options to apply anytime to any quest.

In Skyrim, the journal always goes one step ahead which leaves no room for my own interpretation. I feel lucky when my plan overlaps with the journal and there is like no choices other than "kill x" most of the time and I am being told what to do in each step. Scripted events and essential NPCs are everywhere, killing immersion more than they are helping for who knows what. Nothing is real, everything is scaled and staged. It is not a simulation to play with, a world to live within but a staged scene to watch for once or twice.

Morrowind on the other hand had nothing more than directions for an objective(which I rarely checked) and only updated its journal after I achieved the goal(again, I rarely checked) while leaving the entire adventure for my leisure and quests provided options more than kill and sneak to satisfy my roleplaying needs and I could switch styles anytime. The decision maker was me and there were my stories more than Bethesda's. It was little, it was simple. But it was enough for me to call it the best game ever made. :tes: If it is really too little then it shouldn't be too hard to surpass that and I actually get easily satisfied.

I am giving my honest opinion here. I am back to waiting for the next TES to see these kind of innovations and a focus shift to achieve that fantastic other half. Now, I have to play some Skyrim v1.3.

More or less, this :/