I dont really post on video game forums much, if ever. But Bethesda has been one of my favorite developers for a long time.
Now I made this post mainly to point out the faults (you can skip to that below if you want too) I found in the game but I dont want to come off the wrong way. Let me say that I absolutely love this game and in terms of fun and general entertainment I'd say its easily one of the best of the generation.
I still remember making my first character over a year ago. Originally I wanted to be a savage looking Orc to mercilessly raid and pillage however my girlfriend who had bought me the game as a birthday present was there with me and insisted I make a long blonde haired Nord. She even helped me tweak his appearance, I think we spent almost half an hour just doing this alone. I would not realize until several levels in that she had tricked me into making my characters face look very similar to my own. Poor guy.
Eventually I would log almost 400 hours onto that character before unfortunently having to delete him and then selling my xbox. He was a true Nord's Nord. I dont think I put a single point into magic until after level 50 and kept the atronoch stone almost the entire game. As a half stealth half warrior with a massive resistance to magic he was as formidable a Dovakiin as anyone could hope. What really made him stand out to me was when I specced into conjured weapons, the only magic tree skills I used, thereby no longer needing physical weapons and fulfilling my view as Skyrims ''Chosen One''.
Overall my Skyrim experience was well worth the money and I would recommend it as a must play. But the reason I wanted to make this was to express my views to Bethesda as to where they went wrong so without further to do......
~~~~~~~ElfSlayer's List of Skyrim Mistakes~~~~~~~~
(This only pertains to the non modded, non DLC console version.
(Ive never played any of these games on a PC)
-No conclusion with the Aldmeri Dominion-
Like most people I didnt pick a side until late in the game. What ultimately caused me to decide was a stolen Aldmeri document stating that for their agenda Ulfric could not be allowed to become high king at all cost. The next day I marched to Windhelm to fight the good fight. Once it was all over I thought beyond a reasonable doubt that the first DLC would take us to Aldmeri land (cant remember the name right now) the kick some fruity elf heads in. But it never happens. I dont know if Dovakiin is supposed to be the official expansion or not but Im still baffled that theres no real conclusion with this organization who are clearly some sort of elf nazi's trying to eradicate or enslave all non elf life.
-Only one companion instead of two-
I know Bethesda has never really let you have two companions in any of their sandbox game, not including a dog, but it would have been really cool to have a questing party. Seems like it would have made it all more epic. It would have been even better if having two companions caused the enemys to become stronger in order to balance it all out and make me have to pick carefully who I bring along. For example three warrior characters would tear through a dozen light armor guys but have trouble with 2 or 3 ''medium'' power casters or 1 ''boss'' one.
-Only one fighting style-
This has always been in the series but its kind of a buzzkill to see that a Nord, an Orc, a Dark Elf, and a Argonian would all fight in the same exact stance. It would have been pretty interesting if there had been trainers around Skyrim that would teach you new fight stances. Besides looking different they could have bonuses/drawbacks. Faster attack speed for more damage received, More damage but slower movement. Things like that.
-Not enough clothing/armors-
I like to collect outfits and clothing items in games like this. Yes I know Skyrims not really about ''dressup'' but sometimes its fun to strut in finest +speechcraft clothing money can buy. Honestly for me no matter how many clothing/armors they make It will probably never be enough but still.... MOAR.
-No cooking skill-
-No food bonuses-
Now I know there are a few foods in the game that give some pretty worthwhile fatigue and magic regain but the majority of them are really just novelty. It would have been really cool if there had been a 'sub tree' that didnt eat up points from the main tree, that leveling up these skills wouldnt cause your character to level up, and could be used by anyone regardless of health / magic / level.
Skills like Cooking / Medicine / Survival (see red dots on compass farther away, faster run speed etc )
Thats about it. Theres probably a few more little things but these are the main points where I felt the developers made the wrong choices. Maybe it was an issue with coding, time, or cost but as an avid game player I really wish I could have stepped into development and made these changes to the game. I guess if your on a PC you could mod it and make the game what you want but as a console man I gotta take what I can get so I feel obligated to tell Beth what they can do to make a better game for me the consumer.
Like I said though, this is an outstanding game and I would recommend it to anyone regardless of taste in genre. Its got action, story, re playability, and even a hint of romance. Thanks for reading, now quit lollygaggin!