I finally found a word to describe TES gameplay: static. To make it easier to understand, I will be using another open-world game that is dynamic: Red Dead Redemption. Save me your lecture, I'm well aware that the two games have nothing in common and they are two completely different games. I am NOT saying RDR is superior, nor am I trying to bash TES, I play it quite often and I love the games. I'm just trying to talk about static VS dynamic.

In a dynamic game, such as RDR, nearly ever action and every event is animated and it makes the game world really dynamic, really detailed and really immersive; you have the command, the action, and the result. In a static game, such as TES games, every action is abstract and nothing is really as detailed or immersive as it should be; you simply give the command and get a result, their is no action in between.

Here are some examples:

1. Drinking and Using Consumables: In RDR you can go to a bar, order a drink, see your character drink it, and then leave the bar. You have a command, an action, and a result and it really comes alive. In Skyrim you simply buy a drink and go into your inventory and press a button to consume it; there is no action here, your character doesn't pick anything up or drink anything, and it makes it feel really static. Let's not forget that in a RDR the character also has animations for putting chew in, drinking tonic and medicine, feeding his horse, among other things. It just makes it really dynamic.

2. Dynamic Combat: In a lot of games, once you attack someone it is evident. In RDR I can shoot someone and I can see that person clearly reacting to the shot; he's wounded and I know it. In Skyrim this never happens; you simply see your weapon slide over the enemy's body with only a small splash of blood appear, and it's as if you never even touched him.

3. Dynamic Movement: Some games are even going further, making moving around in the game world actually affect the player's movement animations. In RDR for example, the character will change the way he walks when running up or down a slope and clearly reacts to the direction the player moves him in. In Skyrim, this doesn't happen.

4. Dynamic Game World: In Skyrim a carriage is practically stuck there, it ain't moving - and it will never move unless you replay the intro. And a horse feels fairly awkward when you start to move around. In a dynamic game like RDR, every carriage moves and some of them can even be spotted riding down the roads and paths throughout the game world. The player can even drive them, they are fully interactable. A horse in RDR flows and the controls of it are so fluid, unlike TES.

5. Dynamic AI: The AI in Skyrim never really acknowledges one another, they just focus on any hostiles. I'm not sure how to describe it, but someone talked about how the AI in TESO would be a lot better.


If you are going to post on this thread, please tell me if you agree that TES is static, or explain to me why it isn't. Also what are some things you can think of to make the games better? Do not try to argue why Skyrim is better than another game, or anything like that.

I agree with ecerything except movewment.