Cast magic in Skyrim? It's simply brilliant. Flames for example feels so good, so right. Todd did an amazing job.

Not satisfying

Ask Runes

Todd? I doubt Todd had anything to do with creating the actual flames.

It's a step in the right direction. But the "sacrifices" they made... It is my hope that they get the best of both worlds for the next TES.

What?

You can only have one rune up at a time. Not "one for each type" but "one rune". It sort of defeats the purpose of getting runes: they cost obscenely high amount of magicka, deals almost mediocre damage, and you can only have one at a time. A good amount of pathways cannot be covered with just one rune.

It's supposed to be a defensive magic that should not be cast during the actual fight, but a kind of preparation beforehand.

But just about the only time you can rely on them is when you see a narrow tunnel.

I love the spellcasting system so much better, and while sacrifices were made, I believe we got a net gain.

Now, the system is nowhere near it's potential, and I think there's a lot more that can be done with it, and hope they continue in the future with it.

But I think they are on the right path, and I think Skyrim's magic system is an overall positive compared to what we had in the past.

I will admit, its the most fun I've had casting spells in any TES. Fireballs, you get to throw fireballs. Still, a lot more innovation can be done to make it better.

I love using mass paralysis in whiterun market.

I can not drain the life force out of an opponent using Mysticism or Restoration, unless My character becomes a Vampire.

As Raestloz pointed out, Runes could have had a lot of usage, but the potential was lost.

I do play a lot of Pure Mages and Melee Mage Hybrids, but when I compare playing a Mage in Skyrim to playing a Mage in Morrowind or Oblivion, Skyrim is the worst of the three. I do like many of the aspects of being a Mage, like seeing an opponent wrapped in static as they take Shock damage is impressive. Seeing the same opponent reduced to an Ashpile is even better, unless it is a Dragon and the Ashpile gets lost in the terain.

You can make some pretty dandy human sculptures with that spell.

Casting magic is better than in previous games (though playing a spellsword was by far better in Oblivion) but the spells are very monotonous and most of it is only fit to constant spamming. Most spells are gimmicks I would use only if I willingly decide to gimp my gameplay to pave some room to another school for the sake of variety. Master level spells are fun but it takes ages to get them.

Mass paralysis is one of the few spells I truly enjoy.

Casting Fire during the early levels is pretty satisfying

But once you level up, all Dagon's Sphere breaks loose and it no longer feels awesome.

When I first had Fire, I was like, "HOLY mother or God!"

But then the novelty wore off. Well, everything's novelty wears off over time, it's just that Skyrim's wear off much much much quicker

This.

Larger spells with their little charge animation is enough to entertain my feeble mind.