It's not just hack n slash, it's actually extremely well thought out and absolutely demands for you to time your attacks perfectly and use your back-step, thrust attacks, etc etc depending on the situation. It takes a lot of thought rather than just blocking and hitting. It's a great game if you're the kind of person that has the patience to master it. After you get it down, there's nothing more satisfying than killing mob after mob without dying. It's a really hard game, so it's not for everyone. This kind of system could be integrated into skyrim without the huge difficulty though.

Just as a side note, I'd love Dark Souls combat exactly as it is, difficulty and all, in Skyrim. It would definitely not run well with a lot of people though, unfortunately.

Then again there is a balance. Dark Souls is ALL about combat (trust me, you either LOVE it or freaking HATE it), Skyrim is mostly all about story. Most people play Skyrim for the story not necessarily the fighting, so I understand why they wouldn't want this. They're very different games. It's just a personally preferance of mine that makes me say I'd want Skyrims system to be like that.

Well in this dsy and age you need too take whats working, or borrow the best from the top games and implement them into your own game. Just look at the gears franchise they borrowed from Resedent Evill 4, Halo match making, Call of Dutty and made it there own and now people are borrowing from them Horde mode.

Alot of people are comparing combat from Dark Souls to what they want in Skyrim. I have not played Dark Souls, but I have played Risen, and the combat in that game is pretty fun, even if it lacks a little in other areas. You have to learn to dodge attacks, not just stand there blocking all day, and some enemies are too short for you to block at all(such as animals). Also, if I remember correctly, your character and enemies stagger in combat from blows. I believe people are wanting more of this type of combat in TES games. It should be noted, I used Risen as a comparison as it is a semi-open world game(IMO) and as such think it is a good game to compare to TES games. With all of that said, I think TES games offer a quality of story and immersion that many other games don't offer. Risen had fun combat, an interesting world, and a decent story, but I don't think its story, characters, or amount of content can match that of any TES games I've played. So in the end, I think that any good game is going to excel in some areas, be good in a few, and perhaps lack in one or two aspects. I don't expect perfect games when it comes to RPG's because the game is so big. Also, you have to keep in mind that a lot of what is being discussed on this subject is personal opinion. Some people prefer the more tactical D&D gameplay style where you adventure with a group of characters and each specializes and no one character can do everything. Some people want a hack-n-slash where you play with a single overpowered character that can mow down 10 enemies at once. And still others want a difficult(IMO) and realistic approach to combat, where one wrong step means your head comes off, but also where your enemies are punished just as much when you dodge their attack and kill them in one or two blows. I believe that TES games are great at what they are known for, a huge world, great exploring, and (usually) fun story to discover as you play.

I'm not saying it should be identical to those games but there is a big difference in beths games compared to others when fighting enemies and u don't have a connection when ur fighting and I think that's what Beth need to have a look at. I still think skyrim will be amazing. just something for the future

Couldn't care less. Yawn.

Seems to me the better combat looks, the less of an RPG the game becomes. The less dice rolls and stats and skills matter, the better the combat looks. When I want very good looking combat, I play a FPS. When I want my skills and stats to matter and to build my character by increasing skills I play an RPG. Threads like this almost make me want to go back to the MW days when swords went right through bodies doing no damage and knowing that chance, skills and stats are what really matters.

Agreed, i personally love the combat in TES. but i wonder how 3rd person is gonna be during combat, oblivion really didnt suit 3rd person much, which is probably why alot of people hate on 3rd person in this game. it felt way to awkward, the crosshair added to the 3rd person would seem to help alot.

btw people complain about everything, mainly because they want attention. notice how most of them are very new to the forums.

who are "people"? Have they played the game? I know people and reviewers who have played it and they say its great...

Looks great to me, although I'm a mage for my first playthrough.

Early game the magic system almost requires you to go hybrid with a melee weapon, late game it's fine.

There was a mod for OB that did that ages before those games even were planned. It svcked big sweaty male underwear content (all my respect to the creator, not his/her fault). And not because of OB combat, but because TES combat is tactical. this is not a Beat 'em Up. I have Streets of Rage for that, 20 times better than any Batman game of the last 10 years (and Arkham series is really awesome).
It's not that they are lazy or they don't know combat. In fact, have you ever seen real combat with weapons? It's fast and absolutely lethal. so it's a DUMB game design choice to make a game where a goblin can put your hyper-demi-god down in one hit. TES combat is a compromise that puts up with the fact that you're not in real control of the body, while allowing you to feel the adrenaline, the tactics and the rhythm of a real fight.
If you want a fighting sim or a BeU, go and get them. This is an RPG/sim, and this IS the best choice for actually decent combat.

Combats fine, stop moaning.

I've never really had a problem with TES combat

Except in Morrowind, half of my attacks missed (at the beginning at least)
For the most part though I don't have a problem with the hack and slash feel of it.

Nope, sorry I disagree. I prefer player skill over play pretend numbers deciding an outcome. If TES was turn based or if TES was a JRPG style then sure, makes tons of sense but to make a primary First Person game and have invisable dice rolls dictate such things? Well for me thats just dumbing the game down for people who cant operate with the dexterity of a 10 year old with RT and LT attack and blocks. I love pure RPGs like the FF's, Chrono Trigger and WoW (Vanilla, BC) where stats and dice rolls are all important but in a first person game I just dont think it works well at all. This is of course just my opinion but it's obviously also Bethesdas as well.

I've never actually seen this game before, thanks for that. If they come out with a sequel in the future I just might buy it

Because holding a sword in front of you in a defensive position doesn't create an aura of protections that makes everything in a 100 degree angle get deflected.
However, I heard that if you are using simply one weapon, you can block, you just need a free hand to do so. Same with 2H weapons, except your free hand is automatically free since it is just used for the weapon.

On another note, blocking with two weapons would be rather ineffective, though parrying with them would be fine. The consoles don't have a free button to block while using two weapons, so this may be why. In real combat, two weapons being used is rather ineffective (back when swords weren't obsolete) and if you chose to use two weapons, it was because you didn't use a shield in the first place, instead relying on hit-and-run tactics with enemies. Go in for a strike and then back away once you hit.

The system makes sense aside from not being able to parry whatsoever, but the limit of consoles makes this understandable as well

To all referencing Dark Souls and the combat in it:
I just Youtubed it and to be honest, it looks ghastly. Simply horrid. If This http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbbfojImILg is considered better than skyrim, then I feel that some people are just complaining to complain. TESV: Skyrim blows this out of the water and then some

The combat looks great to me...

The combat is good enough. This isn't a cod rpg after all.

Not complaining about the combat, but I hope its sword and shield on back.

I thought so too, but didn't dare to say.

I think until we all actually "feel" the combat for ourselves, this argument, which clearly gets people angry, is pointless. For the first several interviews with Todd Howard, he talked about how he wanted to revamp combat to get a more "visceral feel." Let's play it ourselves, then argue what's wrong or right about it. I don't think screenshots or youtube videos can really convey what Todd Howard and the team are trying to accomplish in terms of feeling.

I'm good w/ Skyrim's combat. The CPU is maxed as it is.

Maybe in the next game we could see something a little more engaged with an intuitive system of directional attacks and blocks, reaction to strikes and stabs, and locational damage.

I've always dreamed about a first person game that allows players intuitive control over their limbs during a fight (Attacking an enemy's weak points and bypassing his guard while parrying the enemy's attacks with specific directional blocks.

I'd love to see something specific and "twitch-based" in VI, but I doubt that it'll make it in because TES comes from an RPG tradition which is far more statistcal (health/armor/dmg/crit) than real/visceral.