Hey guys! I was looking through the internet and found two, quite different, reviews for Dawnguard. One is a mostly positive review, and one is a negative / mixed review. I linked both so you wouldn't just get one (obviously biased) opinion. So read both, and tell us how much you loved / hated / agreed / disagreed! Just remember that regardless of what these reviews say, it doesn't have to effect whether or not you lile the game. They're just "educated" opinions.
Kotaku review: http://kotaku.com/5922058/skyrim-dawnguard-the-kotaku-review
Ign review: http://m.ign.com/articles/2012/06/28/skyrim-dawnguard-review

Now, bicker away!

Personally, I disagree with what both reviews had to say about Soul Cairn. I LOVED it, at least artistically. As for the rest of it...well I think most of you guys know about my mixed feeling on Dawnguard by now haha.

Edit: After reading the Eurogamer review ( http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-06-27-the-elder-scrolls-5-skyrim-dawnguard-review ) I began to notice a pattern. Most of the reviewers are commenting on how the story lackluster. The worst part is they're acting like this is the norm for Bethesda. It's such a shame that these opinions have formed. Like I said in a post below, I guess the days of Morrowind's cerebral and deep story are over.
Edit: Hello again guys. I just wanted to post the metacritic reviews as well, which averages critic reviews and user reviews to give a single score: http://www.metacritic.com/game/xbox-360/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim---dawnguard

Another edit: If you guys haven't already, read my review as well! It's in my signature.

I just started into the DG MQ and so far I have liked it.

I'm really surprised Kotaku said that you shouldn't even play it...

I can see where they are coming from, but even at that I think it's better than most full games that have come out so far this year.

I agree, but I think Kotaku was judging Dawnguard as an Elder Scrolls game, not as a video game. There's a difference. If you look at it from the perspective of someone who compares Dawnguard to "regular" video games, you'll likely get a more positive opinion than someone whose comparing it to Daggerfall or Morrowind. Some people (I admit this includes me) think it falls short compared to other TES chapters in terms of story, branching quests (both sides almost identical and you can't ), and character development.

What's that, Kotaku? You say the gameplay in Dawnguard resembles that of Skyrim? How shocking...

Surely we ought to condemn this DLC on that basis.

I thought they could have done better. The amount of stuff they had to cut out to meet their release date is, excessive.

Did the one think he was buying a completely different game?

I think the Kotaku guy / gal was expecting more new things like with Shivering Isles, or for the questlines to be different depending on who you join. I find it odd that IGN thought the questlines were so different....

I agree it's not the best DLC try have released, but it's still pretty good. I just can't fathom saying that you shouldn't even play it EVEN IF you liked Skyrim.

Heck, as a console player, the upgraded dragons would almost be worth the DLC in itself as I now semi fear dragon encounters again on my lvl 81. Not quite as hard as I would have liked, but still I have a slight chill when I hear the dragon flying around.

Granted you could argue that this should be in vanilla Skyrim as it was much needed.

Yeah. That big "NO" was a bit extreme, but I think thats just the system Kotaku has. The reviewer himself says at the end that many people should try it out.

Fair play that unlike most expansions there isn't a specific large area added but I like the compromise Bethesda seem to have made by adding fairly chunky sized areas to the game but using the existed world as well, how would a DLC about Vampires terrorising the people of Skyrim work if not based in Skyrim itself?

But comments saying that the Soul Cairn is just Blackreach with more purple are just ridiculous, the Soul Cairn has stayed with the lore that has been there since Battlespire (if not earlier) and I loved how they brought the Ideal Masters to the relative forefront, I didn't expect them too and the surprise that is the Vale and all the lore that added as well was more than enough for me to love Dawnguard.

I expected it to be KotN with a bit more depth and that's what I got with a ton of pleasant surprises.

why everyone says they have left stuff out? has this been confirmed?

besides, stuff left out can always be added via patches. money is in, let the updates roll!

you can love the dlc and agree with this guy. His review is not too hard with DG, i know most of you rage when someone dare to criticize skyrim or the dlc but tons of things are disapointing when you were expecting much of it. Its just too empty in my opinion. Dlc is adding more skyrim its true with all the good and the bad things no improvment on anything thats why some people may be angry.

I don't have the problem with criticizing, I just think saying that people that liked Skyrim shouldn't play DG. That is where I think he went a little overboard.

They should've made an expansion pack. This DLC is a one time play through, I will never play it again.

Todd, for example, said we'd get our own forts and could upgrade them. Also, patches normally fix bugs. It was VERY rare for Bethesds to actually add new content in a free patch. I believe mounted combat was added, right? But stuff like that is exceedingly rare.

I also like how that Kotaku guy mentioned that random vampires kill npcs. I'm getting sick of going to Whiterun and having vampires attacking my friends on the other side of town. I explored that area of the city several (ingame) days later only to find ash piles and dead npcs. Wtf? At least with a dragon you ALWAYS know it's happening and they tend to focus on you, but this is getting rediculous......

Also, to me the story was mediocre. The backstory was good, but the actual plot points and characters were cliche and typical. I guess the days of Morrowind and it's deep, cerebral story are over. Maybe my expectations were too high I dont know.

My other issue was the total lack of consequence, decisions, and feeling that your choices AFFECT the world. No matter what happens, my vampire is forced to instead of being given the option of being an evil vampire, joining Heck, I'd rather that outcome be non-canon than not give me the option at all. Instead I get this crappy It's so half-baked. Oh and vampires can join the Dawnguard???? You'd think a bunch of seasoned vampire hunters would recognize a vampire when they see one. And dawnguard gets to become a I mean come on! What ever happened to consequences? Choices the player makes having positive and negative outcomes? Advantages AND drawbacks. There's no drama when my hand is being yanked (it's not even hand holding at this point) and I'm being pidgeonholed into one outcome where none of my choices seem to matter much.

/angry biased negative rant.

I have to agree with the reviews. So far there is nothing exciting about the DLC. It's more of the same, the only area that IS new reminds me of the Oblivion gates...... repetitive and uninspiring.

Unless something changes it wasn't worth even CLOSE to what we had to pay to get it.

I thought it was super fun to play as a vampire lord, and the soul cairn was great! The dungeon that led to the bow is pretty cool too and contained some new elements (something the entire dlc should have tried to do) but that's about all I liked about it. It's pretty meh in the way I ranted about in my last post. Good by normal game standards but it doesnt live up to what I expect from a quality bethesda experience.

Edit: *Sigh* I probably sound like a hater but I'm trying not to be. Honest. I just grew up with TES and get way to worked up over it

Thanks for sharing Psychotrip

Anytime. So what did you guys think of the reviews? And my own little mini "review" haha.

Ummm... Spoiler or post this in the spoiler board please psycho...

Oh crap you're right. Honestly I'd forgotten I put this on the general board. Let me fix it.

The spoilers in my "review" is Fixed. Sorry about that. I've been on the spoiler board for too long.

I don't think the IGN reviewer ever did the side quest. He prob just did the mainquest or rushed it. He still had a fairly accurate score 8 out of 10 seems good. For Beth standard prob a little lower, but still I enjoyed the DLC.

I agree. It's about an 8 compared to other games and....mediocre compared to other BETHESDA games. To me at least.

Also, I just noticed that the IGN guy said there was no new music. But I'm listening to this song the that sounds new.
Edit: Also, take a look at the metacritic review http://www.metacritic.com/game/xbox-360/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim---dawnguard