Just want to make this thread to express how epic this game is. Off the bat that yes, graphics are underwhelming for those of us who were expecting witcher 2 graphics. But this issue has less to do with what I'm here to express in this thread; graphics will be resolved in time by mods so I don't expect to find issues with graphics for long.

That aside. Holy sh*t, I'm about 26 hours in and I've begun to feel the epicness that will enthrall me for the rest of my play-through. I've barely touched on the main quest, been mainly doing side quest in towns I've encountered; recently started college of winterhold line to naturally progress my mage. So here I am expecting the same fetch quests akin to the mage guild's line from oblivion, but amazingly I was instead through into discovering an intrigue (no spoilers) that threw me into another intrigue for a powerful artifact. And let me say, the journey for discovering the lore as well as the epic boss encounters that followed suit were some of the my best experiences in RPG.

I am excited to say that before this point, I had a high opinion of what side quests were going to be like, given that I've partaken on quite a few good ones already (mystery in the lighthouse near winterhold was a pleasant one indeed), but since my recently experiences involving the winterhold quest line, I'm beginning to see this pattern of a stream of good side questing blotted with epic ones. And I'm really looking forward to just playing more Skyrim.

Honestly, this game is >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> oblivion. Discovering your dragonborn powers is a great way to facilitate the want of exploring; and against the backdrop of great sidequesting that fills in the lore, character and politics of the multitude of worlds Skyrim in engulfed in, I feel like these artifacts I'm hunting for or the mysteries I'm unraveling have meaning. These were things that were missing in oblivion and crucial ingrediants to a well made and remarkable RPG. I feel like all these elements are here in Skyrim and don't expect to see them disappear for the next hundreds of hours.

/exclamation of Skyrim

\on oblivion.

I want to take a few lines to express how utterly ridiculous this game Oblivion (shivering isle excluded). Looking back, I realized that the slightly empty sensation of playing Oblivion was the result of core theme of the game carrying over to the various fabrics of gameplay. Honestly, did you guys feel like you were a lackey the entire time of Oblivion? I would have must prefered to be Martin, for he was the hero, not me. Sure I closed oblivion gates, but who actually developed through the occasion of an empire on the brink of otherworldly invasion, raising from obscurity against the shadow of a father slain to eventually defeating the biggest evil unleashed upon the realm. Who met a poetically justified, kingly death of self sacrifice? Who actually set the preceding lore that were to shape the world of skyrim that we're playing in now. I'd much rather be that guy. Thankful, this doesn't seem to be the case with Skyrim as all signs in the setting point to otherwise. (I'd be sorely disappointed if this turns out to be wrong though)

I really hope RPG developers in general can realize that the quality of the game world can only stretch as far as some of the most fundamental LITERARY mechanics that paint the lens of us players. Yes I am a college student; I'd imagine that most of RPG players are intelligent and appreciate the type of things I'd look for in this experience too. But ya honestly, the most fundamental aspects of literature, setting, development, tension, clix, etc, the things we learned to tell a good book and a bad book apart; they make a world of difference in the final product that is an RPG Game. Im so glad that Bethesda has decided to involve me in the story that is Skyrim.