But I'm not quite sure if this game is for me.
It costs 49.99 euros on Steam. So I will not just spend that much money to figure out this game was [censored]. Right.

So maybe some of you can help me out without giving me any spoilers?!
By the way, I don't want to watch any YouTube gameplay videos you may link to me, as there might be spoilers in them.
Just in case I decide to buy this game.

I can tell you guys this much about me, I have played The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind many many years ago and I did really enjoy it.
Hm, I've seen the trailers for this game and this new one for Dawnguard!? Yeah. It does look stunning.

Could some of you perhaps describe how the combat is with magic? I really like magic in other games.
Also, how is the social interactions with other characters in the game (if you could explain without any spoilers!)?
Is the social interactions deep? Can you get married, have kids, move in a house?
Do you find strong characters in the game you grow to love\hate?

After reading your post, I'm confident Skyrim will blow your mind.
I highly doubt you'll regret this purchase.

Like superbat said, you will enjoy it, BUT......... seeing as the summer steam sale is drawing near, i would wait for it to get it for about half price (and i'm confident it will be featured in the sale with a nice low price).

Terrible, no and no. Don't expect anything in the matter of social interactions - after a while you realize that followers are just pack mules and marriage is only to get free 100 gold a day.
However, you can buy a house and get your spouse to live with you (or you can move in with them). You can't have children. Also, there are some characters that are excellently written and you might develop strong feelings about them. But as I said, don't expect too much. Bioware is great at social stuff, Bethesda is more about adventure and exploration.

Magic is lots of fun, you won't be disappointed. Dual-wielding works very well and the spells look awesome. There's less variety than in Morrowind, but you probably won't mind - we lost some utility spells, but the combat ones are still there and strong as ever.

Overall, the game is definitely worth the money, especially if you enjoy Elder Scrolls series - and it seems that you do. I'd wait for a sale, though; they're very frequent on Steam, there was already one for Skyrim and there'll probably be another one in the summer.

I have not bought the game yet but if I was to, I would become a Mage.
But it would be nice to get some tips but no spoilers, like is there any crafting in the game that could help me as a Mage?
I'm really curious how it is to be a Mage in this game.

Dual wielding magic sounds awesome! I don't think I have ever had a game that let me do that before ...
Do you learn new spells from books or how is it? I can't remember how it was in Morrowind.

If you are coming from Morrowind or Oblivion then magic will be a huge disappointment. I say get the GOTY edition or wait for a sale.

Even with its many flaws, Skyrim is still one of the games I've ever played. I 100% recommend you to get it.

Beautifully designed world, plenty to explore, combat is fun whether magic or melee, but writing is very poor and characters are very cardboard. Definitely worth getting as you will have lots of fun. As a mage - should you so choose - you can use enchanting and alchemy to buff your mage skills to godlike level. Or restrict yourself and give yourself a challenge. Once you know the game, you can make it how you want it to be.

Generally, you find or buy spellbooks. Everyone starts with at least two spells from the beginning.
You can have a different spell in each hand or dual cast the same spell for greater power.
A lot of people moan about destruction magic being underpowered (there's an endless debate about whether it is or not, and you'd have to discover for yourself what you think), but if you use a combination of schools, mages can be very powerful.

game is involving and a lot of fun, but the things you asked about are probably it's biggest weaknesses.

The magic system is unbalanced in terms of a viable offensive power. The support-type spells are nice but I don't feel like there is a lot of variety.

the character development and lumped into that 'the writing' is at best subpar. There are sooo many quests and factions and things to do within those factions but I never really felt drawn in due to limite dialogue choices and bad scripts. In fallout new vegas, or even fo3 there were many characters I became attached to or ones I hated and I felt compelled to help or destroy many more ... here in skyrim, eh they just don't interest me as much.

that said, it is still immense and can be fun dungeon diving ... but it's got some glaring weaknesses

He said he played Morrowind many years ago. I'm assuming he doesn't remember every single spell he used back then and he will judge Skyrim's magic for what it is, without comparing it to Morrowind. Normally I wouldn't assume that much, but he asked about magical combat, not about magic in general, and combat is quite good in this game.
However, if his main character in Morrowind was a mage and he enjoyed things like waterwalking, levitation, open lock or recall - then you're right, there might be a problem.

I guess Kizu summed it up well:


Still, I believe using magic is a perfectly viable way of playing Skyrim and I enjoyed my Khajiiti wizard playthrough. Mind that it comes from a person who never was very much into magic - I usually play rogues, so I'm not the best person to rate the quality of magic system in a game.

I agree with Rosveen. Couldn't have explained it any better.

well and I'd say there is a lot of magic to choose from, but I look at it like this...

you can shoot a fireball, and ice ball, or a lightning ball. The other schools are more of the same. I would have liked to see distinct spells like a lightning whip, fists made of ice, fire whirlwinds. It just doesn't feel like much variety even though on paper there are lots of spells

It lacks the depth you're looking for, in particular. But, it's still a damn good purchase, and because you're getting it on PC you'll have access to a plethora of mods that can help improve the experience. Seriously, don't hesitate, you're missing out on an incredible title.

yeah, if you're on pc that will make a huge difference in alot of aspects still doesn't improve the writing tho :/

Worth getting,many many hours of play! As mentioned the PC game has great mods to use that allow you to change the game to whatever you may want. But for whatever the reason you'll have to wait for the DLC because Xbox get exclusive rights to it.
Shame for the sellout , at least they don't do it with the patches.

I'm an Elder Scrolls newb, Skyrim is my first ES game, and I bought it out of boredom more than anything else. Six months later and I'm still playing it. Take that for what its worth.

Morrowind is what you liked?

Big fair warning: the storylines of Skyrim are very, VERY poor. Incredibly poor. Hell, one of the guilds you can join (won't spoil which) has a storyline that's so full of plot holes to the point where it makes no sense.

Infact, NPC interaction in general is a giant weakness in Skyrim. NPCs were horrendously designed, with people feeling the need to spout random dialog at anyone who walks even remotely close to them. Furthermore, they don't say basic things like "Hello" or "Good day," but rather "I like to have a little jam on my bread in the morning, really helps me start the day." After the 20th time of walking by that person and hearing about their jam bread in the morning, you wanna kill them or tell them to screw off. When you attempt to talk to them and tell them to screw off, you discover that attempting to talk to them doesn't open a conversation window, but rather they ONLY spout random lines of dialog. You try to kill them, only to find they're marked as essential. At that point you leave town and just go hiking through the woods, which is pretty much the backbone of the game.
Marriage is an absolute joke. First you marry someone, ANYONE. Like literally there's no getting to know the person, you just wear an amulet and they say "hey wanna get married" and you can agree or decline, with the devs saying "Nords are practical and life is short herpderp" as an excuse for such an atrocious courting situation. After marriage? They live in your house and I think they give you money or food (can you tell I didn't bother wedding myself? ) and that's all. Also you learn skills faster if you sleep with your mate.

Magic combat is pretty weak, albeit fun. Personally? Warrior combat is incredibly boring, so is stealth. Magic, while being noticeably weak compared to the other two, is at least fun. Yes, you take ages to kill things compared to the other two, but at least you're required to put some thought into the fight. Destruction is noticeably lacking, incapable of being a stand-alone attack skill unlike all the others.

The game really has no great characters worth mentioning. As I said, NPC interaction is a huge weakness of Skyrim.



I gotta say, judging by your interests? Skip it. Don't get it. If you want a game with a detailed and compelling story, in-depth NPC interactions and a great magic system, Skyrim isn't for you. The magic system could pass, depending on your playstyle and preferences with difficulty, but the story and characters are just abysmal.

along with this ... if the OP hasn't played new vegs, it has more along the lines of 'story'

you put a lot of effort into writing a post to make skyrim look bad. i wonder why you are here in the forums?

Definitely.
Of the titles Bethesda has published, Morrowind and New Vegas are the strongest as far as storyline go, Fallout 3 and Skyrim involve more nonstop action and exploration with limited story, and Oblivion lands somewhere in the middle as a compromise.
Go pick up New Vegas instead, seems more your style.



Effort? No. I'm used to writing a lot.
And every single point I made about Skyrim is true, no? Or are you telling me you love the "deep" characters of Skyrim and their tales of working for Belethor at the General Goods Store?

I'm actually going to say this I bought Skyrim believing it would be like what it was in the past, it is not. I can say Skyrim is a guilty pleasure, I enjoy it because I like open world RPGs. But the world lacks the depth that I enjoy. The NPCs you can no longer talk to them. And I agree with one of the people here, instead of passing by someone like you did in Oblivion and they would say "Hello Breton" or "Hello" or "Good evening". They even told you Goodbye. Sure it was awkward, but I'd like to have a conversation with NPCs. The exploration is fun, all though a bit lonely. You'll walk down the same paths with no one around. The story isn't very strong.

Actually I would suggest buying Witcher 2 over Skyrim. Skyrim is more of a Guilty pleasure now, then it was something that I thoroughly enjoyed playing Oblivion and Morrowind before the release of Skyrim.

The other issue is a lack of choice and paths in Skyrim. I like multiple ways of solving a quest not one linear way. I also don't like super quest markers, the dungeons are not like Oblivions in Oblivion I got lost, here instead I can easily find a path. Game isn't dark enough in caves. It just has issues. It feels incomplete for as long as they had to work on it.

bc he's honest, skyrim can be fun but Bethesda should e made aware of things that can be improved look how much better the writing was from fo3 to nv

There is alot of strong opinions here both positive\negative but I have decided to focus on the positive comments as you guys wouldn't be here if this game was so bad.
But thanks for all the quick replies with your comments and information, it did really help me come to a decision, cheers! So, tomorrow, I will be playing with magic in Skyrim!

Good night!