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God, how I missed Oblivion

SausageInYourFace

Angelic Reinforcement
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Divinity: Original Sin 2 BattleTech Bubbles In Memoria A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag. My team has the sexiest and deadliest waifus you can recruit. Pathfinder: Wrath
Oblivion was the first RPG or even the first video game I played after a gaming hiatus of many years. The vast 3D world and the simulationists aspects of it was something completely new to me and it kinda blew my mind. I recognize the games flaws but I have fond memories of it nonetheless.
 

Krivol

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Oblivion was the first RPG or even the first video game I played after a gaming hiatus of many years. The vast 3D world and the simulationists aspects of it was something completely new to me and it kinda blew my mind. I recognize the games flaws but I have fond memories of it nonetheless.

Thats the biggest sin of Bethesda games - they are raping what we used to love. If Oblivion was called "Some random fantasy world simulation" it would be so much easier to love - it would not be a rape of Morrowind and it's lore.

Same with Fallout 3 - imagine this game is called "Some random silly postapo wasteland simulator with lulzy quests". Would be 7 or even 8/10 for me.
 

Haplo

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Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire
If you think Oblivion is the worst game Bethesda have made, you haven't played Fallout 4...
Fallout 4 is miles above Oblivion. At least it has fun shooter gameplay and city environment.
And non-retarded levelling/scaling system.
Also looking at faces in Fallout 4 doesn't make my eyes bleed.
Oh and Fallout 4 actually has fun loot. And not copy-pasted locations.
 

Haplo

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Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire
Oblivion was a living proof how low can a franchise fall.

Newb detected. Fallout and Fallout 2 -> Fallout 3. There is no decline greater than that.

That could be said, yes. Considering that Fallout 1/2 are in my 3 top games ever, it would even be a fitting thing for me to say.

However, even though Fallout 3 butchered the character development system and it's story is just banal, there were some things I liked there. Mainly the exploration, scenery porn and atmosphere. I enjoyed playing Fallout 3, even though I died a little every time I looked at the character stats/level up/bobbleheads and the dialogues were pretty cringe-worthy.

In Oblivion on the other hand, I've found no redeeming qualities when I compared the game with Morrowind. Well, the combat was a tiny bit better (but still sucked very badly).
 

Chris Avelltwo

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Mainly the exploration, scenery porn and atmosphere.

You mean the barren wasteland where everything looks exactly the same, void of any vegetation, where everyone still lives in squalor and somehow subsisting entirely off pre-war junk food even though 200+ years have passed? Yeah, that's some great world design there. Because, you know, that's totally how people would still choose to live 200 years after a nuclear apocalypse. Not like out on the west coast where you see people grow crops and raise Brahmin, and create new nations (NCR, Legion, etc.) and rebuild. Nope, people out on the east coast are perfectly happy to live solely off ancient junk food and let their kids play in piles of jagged rusty junk and other garbage which has been laying around for two centuries. Also, there are tons of magical apex predators like Deathclaws and Yao Guai roaming everywhere without any herbivores or vegetation for them to feed on. Sounds totally legit.

Seriously, Oblivion is a much more beautiful world full of color and vegetation. It was very beautiful for the standards of 2006 graphics. FO3 on the other hand is a black and brown smoldering turd devoid of life. If you prefer that aesthetic over Oblivion's then you're insane. Both games are shit, but at least Oblivion looks nice on its surface; FO3 is shit both inside and out.
 

Haplo

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Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire
Well, I simply conveniently choose to ignore the timeline. If we assume that the game happens soon after the apocalypse, then it makes a lot more sense. For a setting/narrative to be coherent is a nice plus, but is not essential to my game enjoyment.
 

Chris Avelltwo

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Well, I simply conveniently choose to ignore the timeline.

You aren't alone; so does Bethesda. One wonders why they didn't just create their own post-apocalyptic franchise from scratch instead of buying someone else's existing franchise and then butchering it. Everyone would have been much happier -- or at least none the wiser -- if this had been the case. Interplay was forced to sell it under duress of bankruptcy, and Bethesda took advantage of that. But bankruptcy for Interplay would have been a merciful death compared to the stagnant limbo they've been in ever since. Same goes for the Fallout franchise itself. "Bethesda saved Fallout" is an argument I often hear, but Bethesda's idea of "saving" is arguably a fate worse than death. Maybe it would have been for the best if there had never been a Bethesda FO3, because even if the franchise ended at FO2, at least it would have died with dignity. There would also be the good chance the franchise would have passed on to more worthy hands (like Obsidian, for example) who might then have brought it back thanks to crowdfunding. But that can never happen now.
 

RuySan

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If you think Oblivion is the worst game Bethesda have made, you haven't played Fallout 4...
Fallout 4 is miles above Oblivion. At least it has fun shooter gameplay and city environment.
And non-retarded levelling/scaling system.
Also looking at faces in Fallout 4 doesn't make my eyes bleed.
Oh and Fallout 4 actually has fun loot. And not copy-pasted locations.

So much this. I don't get all the hate F4 gets even from mainstream journalists when they were cumming all over Oblivion ten years ago. At least the combat was fun in F4. And that android detective was actually a nice character for a change.
 

polo

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If you liked oblivion you gonna love skyrim, i think the same indie company made it. That game is a hidden jewel.
 

Zerth

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Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag.
I too miss Oblivion. I had some truly memorable experiences in that game. One time I ran into some bandits and since it was near a town, the guards ran over to help me. Then the guard shot the other guard in the back with an arrow, at which point the guards started fighting each other. Then I accidentally hit one of the guards while trying to hit a bandit, and that guard turned on me. I was too weak to fight him, so I ran from him into town. We were like a caravan, the first guard chasing me, the other guard chasing him, the bandits chasing the guards. All that was missing was circus music. Good times.
 

Ash

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The only good thing about Oblivion is the music and the setting for the first five-ten hours before repetition sets in and the recognition of all the bland, generic, shit design once you've had experience with it. Same for Skyrim.

Between Daggerfall and Morrowind there was a lot of potential in the Elder Scrolls, but unfortunately it was never met. If they sought to raise the bar and perfect their craft they could have been legendary designers, gods among the codex, but unfortunately they sold out big time. I find that shameful, but I don't really see them as any better or worse than all the other many sellouts of the industry.
 

hal900x

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A good place to own a gun.
So is this entire site just newfags now? Would anyone now posting recognize how funny the old garrysmod comics with various Codex personalities was? Who did those anyway, I have forgotten.
 

Wayward Son

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So is this entire site just newfags now? Would anyone now posting recognize how funny the old garrysmod comics with various Codex personalities was? Who did those anyway, I have forgotten.
I found the one I read pretty cool and funny. It was Jimbob who made them.
 

HeatEXTEND

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(and we shouldn't even mention Morrowind in the same sentence as Skyrim)

1334329164853.jpg
 
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Oblivion's main appeal that made it look like a better game it really was, was certainly Jeremy Soule's music. Same goes for Skyrim. Great music can really enhance the atmosphere, until you actually discover that it's all disguise, and that the game-world is blunt, empty, and lifeless in reality. Another major appeal of Oblivion (and Skyrim, for that matter) was, that you had seemingly freedom to to whatever you want in the game-world, except, that there was virtually no different ways to play your character out. If we take different weapon and spell skills out of the pool (press a key to shoot arrow, fireball, swing a sword, or dagger), there's no much different ways to roleplay your character in the game world - it all ends pretty much the same. However, if you look it not as a role-playing game, but an action game, then it's a decent one, I suppose (compared to the other action games available). Still repetitive with quite shallow game-world, though.

Skyrim and Oblivion are games that you'd really want to like, since you wish them to offer an experience they don't, when you start a new game, create your character, and hop into the game-world. It doesn't take long to realize, though, that these games are really repetitive, with dull, empty, and nonreactive game-worlds, with only so much (next to none) ways to role-play your character out.

The biggest choices you can make are probably, for instance, whether you join Stormcloaks or Imperial Legion (in Skyrim) - that's a choice which has an effect. A simple choice, but a choice nevertheless - now that's a rare case. Whereas, the most choices you make, for instance, are to pick from 4 different dialogue options, which all lead to the same ending, despite of what you just chose - that's the typical case. That just doesn't cut it. It's unsatisfying experience.

Replay value suffers, because even if the game world in size is quite big, all characters play out too much the same, really. It's not going to make a big difference whether you swing a sword or an axe, or whether you pick a path of a spellcaster, even; and definitely not whether you play an orc or a nord. Race is only minor statistical factor, hardly taken into the account on any other matter. Few times per play-through someone might be bright and remind you that: "Oh, look, an Orc! Far from home, eh?", or something similar. Once again, that just doesn't cut it. It's just pretty much the same gaming experience over and over, with varying loot.
 
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However, if you look it not as a role-playing game, but an action game, then it's a decent one, I suppose (compared to the other action games available). Still repetitive with quite shallow game-world, though.

Sorry, but this is absolutely wrong. If Bethesda games were decent action games, then their other shortcomings could be somewhat forgiven. But they are not. An example of a good action game set in a large open world is the GTA series. There, the combat is fun, driving is fun, the world has a lot of neat stuff you can play around with, and heck, even the stories are and dialogue are usually better. In Oblivion/Skyrim, the combat is abysmal by action standards, there is not much else to do, and the worlds are bland and boring.
 
Unwanted

Hando

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It did have a certain charm. I, ashamedly, bought into the hype in a pretty big way so I had a personal interest in it living up to expectations however. I think this may have caused some cognitive bias and skewed my perception, making me feel that it was a "good" game when in fact it was decidedly mediocre. I suspect plain old nostalgia is a contributing factor also. I'm certain if I went back to it now I wouldn't make it out of the opening dungeon.

That said, as far as Beth games go, Oblibion is definitely one of the better ones. Of course, this is not high praise.
 

Drax

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Oblivion was the first RPG or even the first video game I played after a gaming hiatus of many years. The vast 3D world and the simulationists aspects of it was something completely new to me and it kinda blew my mind. I recognize the games flaws but I have fond memories of it nonetheless.
Yeah, this was pretty much my experience.
 

Juggie

Augur
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Sep 22, 2010
Messages
105
Sorry, but this is absolutely wrong. If Bethesda games were decent action games, then their other shortcomings could be somewhat forgiven. But they are not. An example of a good action game set in a large open world is the GTA series. There, the combat is fun, driving is fun, the world has a lot of neat stuff you can play around with, and heck, even the stories are and dialogue are usually better. In Oblivion/Skyrim, the combat is abysmal by action standards, there is not much else to do, and the worlds are bland and boring.
GTA Combat fun? Nigger please. Even Morrowind with its AutoHotkey-macro-requiring-clickfest combat is better than the consoloid bullshit of GTA shooting.
The world of GTA games is full of retarded minigames and tedious activities which make TES dungeons look awesome.

Also you haters just don't know how to play Oblivion.
 

Pablosdog

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Aug 6, 2008
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This game was always shit. It was shit back then and it's worse now, and like Mr.Pink said the only good thing about it was the Dark Brotherhood quest.

It's a perfect example of the decline of computer rpgs. It exemplifies it. I still think its the worst Elder Scrolls game.
 

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