I am pretty sure that Skyrim has more creatures than Oblivion and the reason that there would be less is that the quality of the monsters is getting better, I mean look at dragons

If you leave out non-combatants, NPCs (humanoids), and unique creatures, and count variations of monsters as one monster (skeleton, skeleton warrior, skeleton champion, etc as 1 type, same with Draugr, Restless Draugr, etc), the breakdown is as follows:

Daggerfall: 36 hostile creature types (giant rat, giant bat, grizzly bear, sabertooth tiger, spider, giant scorpion, slaughterfish, centaur, dragonling, dreugh, gargoyle, giant, harpy, imp, lamia, nymph, spriggan, wereboar, werewolf, air atronach, fire atronach, flesh atronach, ice atronach, iron atronach, ghost, lich, mummy, skeleton warrior, vampire, wraith, zombie, daedra lord, daedra seducer, fire daedra, frost daedra, daedroth (lesser daedra)) (source: http://uesp.net/wiki/Daggerfall:Bestiary)

Morrowind: 39 hostile creature types (ascended sleeper, ash ghoul, ash slave, ash vampire, ash zombie, corprus stalker, lame corprus, alit, cliff racer, dreugh, guar, kagouti, mudcrab, netch, nix-hound, rat, shalk, slaughterfish, flame atronach, frost atronach, storm atronach, clannfear, daedroth, dremora, golden saint, hunger, ogrim, scamp, winged twilight, centurion sphere, centurion spider, steam centurion, kwama forager, kwama warrior, scrib, ancestor ghost, bonelord, bonewalker, Dwarven spectre, skeleton) (source: http://uesp.net/wiki/Morrowind:Creatures)

Oblivion: 28 hostile creature types (wolf, boar, mountain lion, rat, mudcrab, slaughterfish, imp, troll, will-o-wisp, spriggan, minotaur, land dreugh, ogre, goblin, skeleton, zombie, ghost, lich, scamp, clannfear, flame atronach, frost atronach, storm atronach, daedroth, spider daedra, xivali, dremora) (source: http://uesp.net/wiki/Oblivion:Creatures)

Skyrim: 32 hostile creature types (bears, horkers, mammoths, mudcrabs, sabre cat, skeevers, slaughterfish, wolves, dremora, flame atronach, frost atronach, storm atronach, Dwarven spheres, Dwarven spider, Dwarven centurions, chaurus, dragons, Falmer, frostbite spider, giant, hagravens, ice wraiths, magical anomaly, spriggans, trolls, werewolves, wisps, dragon priests, draugr, ghosts, skeletons, zombies) (source: http://uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Creatures)

These lists do not include creatures that are hostile only if attacked. (Some creatures will attack only if the PC gets too close, like horkers. They are included because you don't have to actually attack them for them to aggro you).

I started a thread a short while ago complaining about the lack of diversity, but I hereby eat my words!


Edit: @Arzalar - yeah it takes a long time to make the lists, but its easier to get the point across!

I don't get how anyone can say that wandering was better in Oblivion. Why, cause you got attacked more? That's less immersive... In the end people gonna complain even about different matters. Besides, MW having different hostile creatures didn't really matter when in the end none of them had animations but instead ran up to you and started hitting.

No reason to have underwater creatures in Skyrim anyway, the moment you touch water your character becomes a numb [censored] and can't use his/hers arms.

i did not find as many creatures as a fan would have liked to see, but i did feel that skyrim felt a lot more alive then oblivion, there are fish butterflies and and other things that add to the environment.

Personally I think its cause the more graphics intensive it gets, the more of a processing hog it becomes to put more stuff on screen at once and they want ppl to be able to run the game lol

Yeah underwater creatures would be a waste given you cant attack under water in the land of skyrim for unknown reasons

Gee, I wonder what my adventuring will bring today, draugr, bandits or necromancers.
Maybe itll be necromancers and draugr. Or maybe it will be bandits and necromancers.

I find myself not wanting to explore old crypts, because I know itll be filled with the same 3 types of draugr again.. ugh.. boring.

I agree. In all the time developing this game, didn't it ever occur to them to make more and varied enemies?
Just think how awesome this game would've been with a huge bestiary. Just knowing that you may encounter something new when you enter a cave/ruin would make the game so much better.

Even if there are 4 more models in Skyrim than in Morrowind: How often did you kill a cow? Or a slaughterfish?
The huge majority of enemies are Bandits, Draugr and Necromancers. Just over and over again. Well, and Falmer sometimes. And even within their groups, there is not much variety. All mages use the same few spells (well there are only a few spells in the whole game anyway). Why don't they ever use master spells? All enemies are just too similar.

In previous games, enemies were a bit more interesting because they used a variety of different spells. Damage strength in Morrowind really pissed me off because I couldn't carry my loot back home afterwards. Vampires' specific resistances actually made me use different weapons for them and ghosts. Skyrim is just "hit the button untill it's dead".

Maybe my memories of Morrowing/Oblivion are wrong but I seem to remember that dungeons were themed in those too? If you went to a dwemer ruin then you fought robots, and the rest were mainly either skeletons or bandits?

its not so much that there is less creatures, its that beth did a piss-poor job of spreading them out properly, and there are far fewer fantasy creatures so compared to other games skyrim's creatures end up being much more repetitive and boring despite their actually being more of them.

some creatures are rare to the point of non-existence. i encountered one atronach in the wilderness and never ever again have i seen one that wasnt a summon. ive seen 6 skeletons, all of which were scripted appearances. i killed 3 frost trolls before i ever found a normal troll. moreover, the wilderness features what feels like 80% wolves, 10% bears, 9% cats, and 1% other. most of what you fight in dungeons is draugr, bandits, more draugr, bandit-like humanoids and more [censored] draugr. anything that isnt bandits or draugr feels like they only exist in a few scripted locations. and then the ghosts of skyrim are just NPCs with an effect who dont give ectoplasm.

mammoths and giants are only hostile if you piss them off, so if your not a dike youll never really fight them. there is never any real incentive to fight them; the occasional treasure in their camp, i guess for their toes. mammoths are the only creatures that reliably give grand souls, so there is that. the biggest problem is the utter lack of daedra... what few are in the game exist mainly as summons. and on that note, you might as well get rid of frost atrnoachs, because in my experience they seem to get trapped in doorways roughly 100% of the time: both me and the enemy have NEVER had to face a frost atronach because they NEVER reach us... only during the sheogorath quest have i seen how theyre actually supposed to attack.

if you dont run all over the map in an epileptic pattern the creatures are going to feel really bland, which is a far greater crime considering there actually are more creatures in skyrim than in past games. its little to do with empirical numbers and much more to do with design. they way everything is organized and the kinds of creatures you face leads you to mentally classify everything as humanoid, animal, and other. whereas in say oblivion you had animals,bandits, conjurer/evil mage types, undead, daedra, atronachs(they feel separate from daedra), and other. it can all be explained in the wonderful phrase "you might not have noticed it... but your brain did".

part of it is the fact that skyrim has more distinct regions with different propensities for certain creatures, and that the reduced level scaling doesnt turn mudcrabs into daedroth anymore (however awful it was, and i am glad its gone, level scaling DID add to variety). but mostly, its just poor design. most of the variety will be found in random dungeons with no connection to anything or in specific scripted instances. all the "handcrafted" places you spend most of your time are filled with little beyond bandits and MOTHERFECKING DRAGUR :banghead: .