Skyrim ...

Yes, a lot of the world is sourced from real world cultures and myths, and that's not what I'm talking about.

I mean, compared to most fantasy material, Skyrim just seems like more of the same.

It's a good game, but I'm getting tired of the same old, same old. Bethesda had better pull an Elswheyr or something similar out of its hat for the next title in the series, or I'm done.

TES:V was meant to reboot the series. It's set some centuries after Oblivion. Would it have been too difficult, for instance, to do something more interesting with the Orcs or the Elves?

Try swtor for 10 minutes and you wont think Skyrim is cliche at all.

They made high elves physically more powerful than Orcs. That's something right?

Personally, I would LOVE to see them do an Akavir game next. Something where they could just let their imaginations fly and not be constrained by many expectations at all. It would be great to explore that sort of unusual world again.

Nah....orcs still have their berserker ability and Racial fatures.All races can be phisicaly the same on the game,but not in powers.

I thought the addition of Orc Strongholds that you could join and become a part of was a pretty interesting feature.
And if you feel everything is too normal just hang out in Blackreach for a while.

I don't want to be a monkey race , I prefer sticking to my Orc.

It`s not as cliche as Oblivion. Oblivion almost made me puke with its pretty green jolly fantasy feel. Even Lord of the Rings felt less cliche than Oblivion! Glad they toned all that down.

Not really, I think Skyrim is darker than most fantasy. Not as dark as, say, The Witcher but it is certainly grimmer than The Lord of the Rings, Dungeons & Dragons etc

do you mean elder scrolls lore in general, or just what skyrim has done with it? If you look into the lore (if you haven't properly), you might find it really interesting - I for one have always thought the elder scrolls universe is one of the best fictional worlds out there - I mean the sun is literally a gaping hole into another realm caused by the swift exit of a grumpy god for christ's sake. How much cooler do you want?

The problem I see with that, is with the timeline. I think it might be interesting if they were able to do it. Maybe something to do with time travel? I mean, that sort of thing is in a way covered this time around. ...guess it could work, but who knows?

If I'd try SW:TOR for 10 minutes, I'd mourn the day when a MMO does have better storytelling than a singleplayer RPG.

Why nothing interesting happened with them in Skyrim? well that's a matter of opinion. Purely, simply.

The thalmor and the Gray Quarter interactions were interesting enough to me with Skyrim and it's elves.
Orcs did have more potential in Skyrim. I personally would have to liked to have seen their forts instead in each city.
With ogres, orcs, goblins and those shaggy centipedes of theirs aiding the cities in an indirect, albeit helpful way.

Hmm this makes me think.. haven't Bethesda trademarked 'Hammerfell' already? now that province wouldn't be too same old, same old. Nor too alien for new players.
And it'd have plenty of altmer in the south, leftover from the war with the redguard after they refused the White-Gold concordant.
So at least there's your interesting interactions with the elves. The Wrothgarian Mountains are to the north so orcs would be more prominently featured.

Something to look forward to at the least.

I like the typical fantasy feel and environs. It's not a JRPG thank God. You could try one of those if you want cliche stuff... with wacky plot lines and weird anime characters geared towards 3 year olds. I love my Skyrim just as it is. The fall foliage environment with the streams running through it are the best.

Not really. So the orc can do double damage once a day. The High Elf deals 4% more damage than the Orc on every hit. Which is more useful? The orcs power, true. But the High Elves are still stronger overall.

Oblivion was so bland. Agreed. Skyrim is at least better than it.


Darkness or grimness doesn't have anything to do with how original or creative something is. That's just a stylistic choice- a filter, if you will.

Why aren't there flying ponies or ... something! MW had giant flea taxis! I didn't like MW as a game, but at least it had kinks, quirks and surprises!


No, it's not. At some point, a feature of a story, environment or event becomes a cliche. This happens when the thing loses the impact it once had. Orcs = savages and elves = uber-mensch is suuuch a cliche that it no longer brings any flavour to fantasy worlds.

Too bad the strongholds felt so small. I was expecting Orc towns, with at least 30 npcs. Instead all we got is one house with a total of 4 Orcs living in that house. I'd hardly call that a stronghold.

Says who?

This. I don't think TES needed rebooting, exactly.

Anyways, if you knew anything about Elder Scrolls lore, you'd know that it's not cliché. Yes, the whole surface "Viking" theme might be a bit tired, but if you see past that, TES is one of the more creative fantasy video game series out there.

What ever happened to 'SHOW, don't tell'? The lore might be interesting, but the game doesn't showcase that.

It's like buying a cutting edge PC rig and using it to play GTA1.

If you read the lore, you really do find a lot of interesting things. On the surface, TES seems cliche, but I feel it's actually one of the less cliche fantasy worlds out there.

Actually no. Dark Fantasy is more than a filter. It's a very different angle of approach. You don't present Conan's universe to children because "it's just fantasy with a filter".
While Skyrim isn't the most original, we all agree Morrowind's was a lot more, but it's a good quality dark fantasy, when Oblivion was generic fantasy.

Cliche? Well, certainly more cliche than Morrowind, but far less than
Oblivion. I like the viking-like Nord culture, their burrows, the draugr,
the legends and all of this. It gets me far more connected to the world
than Oblivion did. Also I like fantasy-worlds with parallels to our own world
(Song of Ice and Fire, Wheel of Time, Warhammer, Dragon-Age)

But what are cliches anyway? Just being "innovative" or different for the sake of
it ... this can be dangerous for the developers, when their vision doesn't appeal
to people, so I can understand them when they stick to more familar things.

My wish would be TES VI: Summerset Isle. A giant island with an ancient culture not visited
before, perfect. And many possibilities to create a world rich of culture, architecture and landscape without too many cliches at all. And with the entire Thalmor-issue it would be quite interesting, and the player might
have an impact on the future of Tamriel. And slaughter loads of arrogant High-Elves in the process..

No, it wasn't.

It's a continuation of past games.

I agree with this, the "style" of Oblivion was like...LOTR for five year olds or something, it was torture...Skyrim I think is decently fleshed out in this department, my only complaint style-wise is that as usual, upper level armor and some weapons look ridiculous.