Alright, I finally got myself seriously going in this game after beating Blackguards and here are some of my notes:
+ Because of the size of the initial dungeon, I couldn't explore everything. The dungeon was difficult, as I was barely equipped and so didn't want to risk too many fights. I ran away from some monsters I couldn't harm or would defeat only after significant health loss. I got lucky and killed a thief who had some great equipment, such as heavier armor and an elven katana. Almost every weapon I had found was some sort of blade, which worked out as my character took long blade as a primary skill. Ah, fantasy RPGs. As long as you build your character around the idea of a longsword and shield combatant, you'll be just fine. Alas, the poor fans of axes and maces.
+ This game world looks absolutely huge. It took me awhile to walk from the first dungeon to the first town. Yes, I know I could have fast traveled, but I wanted to explore. I met no wandering encounters, which I'm fine with. It seemed odd to me that the wildlife in Oblivion was out to get me, so this gentle walk was a welcome difference. I felt elated when I arrived in town, knowing now I can establish a safe house to fall back upon. I am thinking about selling off the extra equipment I found, equipping myself with more armor and some ranged weapons, and going right back into the initial dungeon that just respawned and building up stealth and archery.
- Monsters respawn when you leave a dungeon. I left the starter dungeon, and then said 'Oops, I should go back and rest before taking chances outside'. On returning, the three monsters I had just killed had respawned in those brief seconds and proceeded to murder me.
- I know it's a fantasy game and I shouldn't overthink things, but what the hell was a grizzly bear doing in a side room of that initial dungeon? Then again, that first dungeon had a bit of everything: demonic imps, rats, bats, thieves, skeleton warriors, and the grizzly bear I had to put down. Still... a grizzly in a man-made dungeon.
- I probably shouldn't go from a game like Blackguards to Daggerfall. In Blackguards, your tactical decisions heavily matter and combat resolution is based upon character skill. That's flipped in a game like Daggerfall. In Daggerfall, I'm busy holding down the Z button while flicking my mouse back and forth to make swinging motions just so I can slice at the enemy at a faster rate than he is slicing at me. Player skill and reaction speed is way more important in such a game, making the transition from one game to the other incredibly jarring.
- I keep having to lower the cycle count on each start-up of the game, even with the auto-loader I am using to make the game playable. Yes, I know I can adjust the way the executable starts the game in DOSBox to auto assign the rate, but I still wanted to mention this in case someone else plays this and feels the game runs to slow.
I'm playing a thief-mage with primary skills in long blade, stealth, and illusion. Yes, I know 2 and 3 are redundant but it's what I wanted. Besides, I plan to rely on stealth, but be good enough with illusion magic to make myself disappear and be able to flee when I can't beat an enemy. Major skills are in Archery, Lockpicking and Dodging. Minor skills are mostly focused with magic, with Alteration, Destruction, Restoration, Mysticism, Thaumaturgy, and finally Backstabbing for I improve Sneaking. It's not the most optimal character, but neither is he a disaster and I want to play someone that can perform plenty of sneak attacks.
I don't care what I'm supposed to be doing next. I just plan to start traveling around, clearing dungeons, building up my character, and collecting items.