Good Afternoon,

I haven't noticed any thread like this before, but if indeed there is one that's done the job already, then I apologise.

Anyhow; Which of the titles remains your favourite, now that Skyrim has been out for a little while?

Please share why, as I'm interested in what makes a good game for most people.

If one of the options feels out of place, or is missing, then do tell.

Discuss!

Skyrim wins hands-down on many fronts: lore, quest design, world/dungeon design, immersion, and particularly npc's. Out of the box, it's a remarkable game. It's only in terms of longevity and roleplaying that I feel it gives ground to Oblivion ... and to me, that's a big thing. I have spent thousands of hours in Cyrodiil, with upwards to 20 different characters--imagination is the only limit, because a single PC could do literally anything ... even completely ignore any and all major quests. Skyrim does not allow that freedom.
Pick one guild that suits your character's abilities and moral outlook, and I guarantee you'll run up against a situation where you must do something that completely goes against the grain, whether it's sneaking around in heavy armor (with a war axe strapped to your back no less), stealing or murdering someone in cold blood ... there's no other way to complete the quest. And if you choose to do none of the main or guild quests at all, some areas are inaccessible (you can't get to anything that's inside, even if it's only from a minor sidequest) unless you join the faction it's tied to. That rankles.
I foresee probably three character types in my Skyrim future, and then I'll go back to playing my Oblivion characters. And that's a shame, because I really like and am enjoying Skyrim, and I want to like it a lot more. But at present it's just a nice place to visit--modded or not, I really doubt I'm going to live there.

I voted something else because, to me, what made TES games unique was the spellcrafting and the amount of spells you could create/learn.

Not having this in Skyrim was a big disappointment. I also hate the fact that I can't learn spells to absorb life from opponents, but I can enchant it on weapons? Can't help but think that they must have overlooked magic entirely in this game.

I will vote after I finish playing Skyrim.

Skyrim.

It's not even close.

Daggerfall, but purely our of a love of a truly huge world and nostalgia. Otherwise, Skyrim edges out Morrowind for me.

Skyrim, out of Morrowind, Oblivion and Skyrim.


Immersion is the most important to me, as it includes almost every other listed option.
Blending in the world, this famous Radiant AI everyone speaks of, they make the game a whole new experience. If done properly it does not need fancy graphics or truckloads of quests - playing Fallout 1 for the first time, especially climbing down to West-Tek Facility (Glow) made Fallout 1 feel like a whole new world instead of just an isometric RPG.

Skyrim. Morrowind has aged really poorly and there's not much left in it for me other than the nostalgia factor. The glaring flaws in its combat system, its lifeless NPCs, and its uninteresting delivery missions kills it for me. As for Oblivion, I've done quite literally everything the game has to offer; explored every dungeon and completed every single mission, as well as getting maximum stats on no less than three characters. While it was good, its vanilla state is no rival to Skyrim's.

As for Daggerfall, that game is just... bleh. Too difficult to make a character that is actually challenging to play due to massive flaws in its character creation. The randomly generated everything also makes it hard to not get bored of. I've never played Arena.

I picked Skyrim, and the reason why was "Character", but I selected that for overall character development, from appearance, to character customization in game via skills and development.

I feel Skyrim does that better than the others.

Oblivion.

World design, skills & stats

I've voted for "Oblivion" because after spending over 1000 hours with the game I still haven't discovered all there is to discover.

I still haven't completed all the questlines because they simply weren't relevant to the characters I was playing.

"Morrowind" is amazing but dated. "Skyrim" is amazing but I've barely scratched the surface.

Great games.

Azrael
The Nord with the Sword