So I love fantasy, knights, dragons, undead all that good stuff! but... I play dark souls, never did much in it other then die. Then a while ago I played hardcoe with my friend. we got to see allot of awesome creature designs. I come back to skyrim and I see the creatures... uninspiring. I mean... don't get me wrong, i have over 90 hours in skyrim, that's allot for me but take a look at the difference between creatures in skyrim and Dark souls.
Dragon
http://i.imgur.com/HdM6U.jpg dark souls
http://www.skyrim5.com/images/skyrim-dragon-1.jpg Skyrim
Skeletons/undead
http://pixelsordeath.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/demonssouls_dualkatanaskeleton.jpg Dark/demon's souls
http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20111007100840/elderscrolls/images/0/03/Skyrim-zombie.jpg Skyrim
Giants
http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Technology/Pix/pictures/2011/5/13/1305287245461/Dark-Souls-006.jpg Dark souls
http://www.gameaspect.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Skyrim_giant.jpg Skyrim

Now i get that they are different games with different feels, but Dark souls could have gone for the normal over used dragon... but they thought of something different. The undead in Dark souls are scary looking... skyrim... average. Giants in Dark souls are... giant... Skyrim they are... just...

I don't know... After playing Dark souls and going back to skyrim... the creatures that were once awesome are now... meh. I can play any other game and they will look almost the same.

is anyone else finding the creatures in Skyrim... just normal or meh? Again I'm not a troll just voicing my opinion.

Those pictures you chose for Dark Souls are underwhelming to say the most.

I have never played Dark/Demon, but if those pictures are any indication, Skyrim wipes the floor with them. IMHO

I LOOOOVE the Soul games and they are absoulety beautiful with character design. However, the TES lore is appealing because it's typical fantasy, yet with a tinge of originalness. I think both games designs compliment what each of them are trying to go for.

I've been told you're never the only one

I like the art style of Dark Souls, but it wouldn't fit in Skyrim; I don't want to see possessed demonic undead, I prefer a simple walking set of bones. Dark Souls' designs are very imaginative and original, but they stand out too much - each of them screams "epic". On the other hand, toned down enemies blend better in the land of Skyrim. While they're not the most creative ever, they're consistent and realistic.
Look at the dragon screens you provided: the first shows an otherworldly terrifying monster, the other a giant flying lizard. Only one of them looks like an animal you could encounter in real life, should dragons suddenly come swooping down from the sky.

They had dragons and not "something more creative" because Elder Scrolls has dragons- it's part of the lore. I think they look awesome.

Skyrim giants are also very cool- they're humanoid but not human, as if they have a culture that you just don't understand but could if you knew how to interpret things. I really wish we could talk to them. They're not just boss monsters- in fact I avoid killing them whenever possible.

I for one like the realistic wildlife creatures, though I know around these parts people complain they want more fantastical stuff. The only creature wish I have is that we could have had krakens or something creepy to make underwater exploration more rewarding.

I respect your opinion I do... but i'm flabbergasted to say the least. I guess now that I also think of it, the combat is, and i've heard many people say this even on these forums, the combat svcks. I'm not basing this just on dark/demon's souls, i'm basing this on like every dungeon crawler ever. The combat is the same as Arena's... You just hack and slash with out thinking.

to stick to the dark/demon's souls idea, in that you must block and you must roll. even that, just rolling adds so much depth to the game, and skyrim could be so much better with a better combat system then the normal nord thinking "hit it with the pointy end" mantality.

Agreed. I played a little dark souls, but it seemed much more cartooney than Skyrim. Those pictures seem to prove the point. I much prefer Skyrim's dragons, etc. over the cartooney caricatures from other games like dark souls.

They(Skyrim creature designs) are normal, which can be meh or good depending on your preferences.

On the other hand, Morrowind would make DS normal with its creature designs. Come back Bethesda.

Um....have you played DS? Morrowind looks like kiddie land if it was trying to go for genius creativity.

I have Dark Souls on PC, and yes the game is [censored] awesome. But they're completely different. Both good, but completely different.

And to be fair some of the Dragons/Drakes in Dark Souls just look ugly, not scary ugly, just ugly, ugly. But on the other hand some of them look REALLY badass.

Like Kalameet.

http://www.ownt.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/kalameet.jpg


http://i2.ytimg.com/vi/5UXX-TL1bxc/mqdefault.jpg

A Dragon with telekinesis? Hell yes.

Should have linked this dragon for Dark Souls
http://i.imgur.com/kRUB4.jpg

Also, the style is purposely different. Skyrim is meant to have a more Nordic/folk look to things, whereas Dark Souls goes for having things that look more gothic, and nightmarish.

The skeletons are basically the same ones from Oblivion, just a dark coloring on the skin.

I agree with you on the combat. I grew up playing turn based RPG's (Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy, Phantasy Star etc.). I miss those days, and while I can appreciate the approach that Skyrim took, more strategy would have been welcome.

However, I thought this thread was about monster and character designs?

i think that Skyrim Beats Dark Souls but im gonna buy dark souls prepare to die tomorrow so but yeah i still think that Skyrim beats Dark Souls all the way down

BTW: what did you expect? lol coming to an TES forums and talking about dark souls , i think most of the will say Skyrim , Dont get me wrong though i like darksouls

More cartoony than Skyrim? Lol what?

How?

This. I love dark souls and skyrim. The creatures of skyrim are supposed to be more realistic-looking, which is pretty cool(though I am part of the crowd that wants more fantastical enemies). While the creatures of dark souls are supposed to be more...what's the word horror-inspired?

They don't look realistic. Playing Darksouls reminded me of a darker version of Kingdom Hearts.

In Skyrim the dragons look like they could really exist, with their batlike wings/claws. I don't know what that six legged thing in dark souls is supposed to be but it doesn't look like it could really exist anywhere. Same for the other pictures in the OP.

Yeah. Dark Souls goes for a more gritty, and horror style.

Though there are some wacky stuff, like the mushroom people(Who are ridiculously powerful in melee).

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ma5pbhBcGM1rgns6ao1_500.jpg

Then there's the Capra Demon design.

http://media.giantbomb.com/uploads/8/87024/1983041-capra_demon.jpg

I think bethesda really needs to release a dlc that populates skyrim with a huge amount of creatures. I would say the lack of variety of creatures in skyrim is one of the games biggest let downs for me. As of now every time I get to a dungeon, I already know it will be only one of three creatures or one of the normal races in it.

Agreed

Statement: This unit also feels the same way. I do feel the same about Oblivion's creatures, but it at least has more varieties of them than what Skyrim has. Skyrim is pretty much populated by real world animals like Wolves, Bears, Saber Cats(Saber-toothed tiger's.) and Mammoth's.

You do know its fantasy right?

Also that six legged thing is a everlasting dragon who was so obsessed with his hunger, that eventually its organs, and such changed to become a giant mouth. By the time you meet it in game, its gone completely mad, because there was basically nothing else to eat where it was.

And speaking of things that couldn't exist anywhere..

The Dreughs say hi.

http://images.uesp.net/thumb/e/e6/MW-creature-Dreugh.jpg/180px-MW-creature-Dreugh.jpg

Agreed.

They are based on a completely different design philosophy. DS creatures are intentionally exotic, while SK creatures are intentionally pseudo-realistic. This doesn't make DS creatures any better that Skyrim's. Actually comparing the two doesn't make much sense to me.

Ditto what's been said about art styles, Skyrim's suits Skyrim, DS's DS. On combat, you're talking about two completely different genres. Dark Souls is not, repeat not, an RPG, it's an action title with a medieval-type setting, not an RPG. Being an actioner, combat is one of the fundamentals. Not so in an RPG, not at all. And, in fact, you really play the games for two different reasons altogether.

I played DS but didn't finish. Why? Well, because MOST of its "difficulty" was in getting to the next save spot before life intervened. For me, there's absolutely nothing more annoying than a gam that doesn't let you save when and where you want or need to. This is not based on saving before every large battle (which I rarely do anyway), but being able to save immediately when life intervenes. Playing for only half an hour at a time sometimes, and being more methodical than a "CHARGE!" player, Dark Souls was impossible to play for me. Just a "for instance", the very first boss. Took me maybe 15-30 to get to him, I think, and then I had to leave. Came back the next day, yeah, same first 15-30 minutes, company arrives. Came back the next day (a Sunday), and beat the boss on the second try. Not for difficulty or lack of skill, but because I couldn't stop and save when I need to do so. After a few more levels, I gave up, it's WAY too annoying and not near as difficult as it professes to be. In fact, MOST of its "difficulty", for me, was in having to, yet again, run the same level I'd beaten umpteen times before. I USUALLY don't play games that don't allow save on demand. I made an exception and was sorry I did.

Details in the models, BTW, Dark Souls is a linear world, with closed levels, very few actual objects in those levels, and can therefore budget more for more detailed models. Simple as that.