I dont mind it, but it could be better as it seems too simplistic. Not enough options in battle.

From being a huge TES fan, I can say compared to Morrowind and Oblivion you shouldn't be complaining that much that this system is awful as it is a huge step in the right direction, though still far from perfect.

Did you really think things were going to improve when Morrowind/ Oblivion were the same way? The combat suits the gameplay, because combat is only the main focus if you want it to be, and there are a lot of ways you can fight in TES. If you want breathtaking combat, play a game where the focus is combat, rather than exploration and questing.

I agree, Skyrim is not a game that has detailed combat as its focus. Combat is an important theme, but it's not supposed to be the newest incarnation of Bushido Blade, however...Morrowind's combat and Oblivion's are really not comparable, since Oblivion introduced a very different 'hit' mechanic. Morrowind and Oblivion's combat were not similar at all

Yes, the hype about the combat system was pretty empty, in reality.

There doesn't appear to be any actual combat system...got a couple of changes, such as double wielding and couple of mechanical things, but we are still bashing things and bashing things and bashing things and occasionally get a cut scene.

To be honest, I far preferred the VATS cut scenes from F3 and FNV. You got them every time you used VATS, they made some sort of sense (and generally showed the actual combat/results rather than a blank wall in some cases in Skyrim), and once the VATS session commenced there was some flow to it.

The limitations of the hotkey and quick menu system limit the ability to quickly change weapons, spells etc without breaking the flow of a fight, and the dodgy over the shoulder view/perspective is ridiculous....why have the view suddenly pop back another 5 or 10 metres because I draw my sword or ready my spells? Not a great help in confined spaces, which leads me to think no one in that development team in Beth actually played the game.

No, Beth needs to learn to cut the cr*p and reduce the hype simply to what is new and effective...their industry reputation is enough to ship a gazillion copies, they don't need to turn water into wine marketting wise.

What hype? I don't recall reading or hearing about a groundbreaking or even in-depth combat system that was touted for Skyrim. They said you could equip weapons in both hands and use magic in one or either or both hand. What hype are you referring to here?

Oblivion's combat was better.

In Oblivion you could actively dodge during combat, as well as having to manage your stamina carefully and worry about the condition of your weapon, which could break at a bad time. This is absent from Skyrim.

Also, and this really annoys me, the unarmed combat lacks any ability to block. Why the hell does holding both buttons perform a crappy and inaccurate combo when it could be used to defend attacks?

..that, and the power attacks pretty much wresting all control from the player, particularly the [censored] unarmed combo. Nobody with any idea throws hooks like that while throwing their head off to the side to the point they can't even see their target.

The combat is a lot better than the Oblivion and Fallout games. It's using the same engine, so I didn't expect they were going to be able to add an arcade style combat system. Personally, I'm glad it's not like The Witcher because that doesn't feel like real combat to me, it's more like gymnastics. I think a better game to model combat after would have been Mount and Blade, if anyone played that. I don't know how you would transfer that style to a console controller, but it felt awesome and it also had mounted combat!

In my opinion, being able to dodge was OK but I barely ever used it. Seemed gimmicky. And weapons being broken...a very poorly implemented idea. A good idea, but the downgrade was way too fast. Similar to weapon weights, they gamed it too much

Pre-release there was some marketting hype about a new combat system. I don't record each and every bit of industry gossip or commentary, so I can't give you a link.

Hey, it's better than Morrowind I suppose.

I can appreciate that, but do you recall any features they talked up?

Combat is on par with exploring and rp'ing.
The combat mechanics are an essential part of the whole experience. The leveling is all there to improve the combat. 90% of all items are there for the combat. Almost every single quest requires you to kill something. If you dont play a sneaky character, your only option to do stuff is by fighting the environment.
Exploration leads to combat, as enemies are everywhere in the world. Questing in Skyrim depends more on combat then it did in previous TES games iirc.
Saying the mechanics were even worse in the previous games is a pathetic excuse. I would rather see other aspects of the game a little less improved, but have a more fleshed out combat system.

If you want exploring and questing, go play an adventure or a point and click game.

Gimmicky in the way it was implemented, as you needed high acrobatics skill to use it, but extremely useful when used at the right time. All Skyrim needed to do was implement a small sidestep/lunge/backward step motion if the player were to press jump in combat, depending on which direction they were moving. It wouldn't be particularly arcadey and would provide some realistic footwork to fighting without resorting to the dreaded [censored] roll.

Beats Dragon Age: Origin.

If I recall, the claim was that there was 'a new and improved combat system, which had dual wielding'...in hindsight, the only features they mentioned were the only features they introduced...features, rather than a 'system'. I took it with a grain of salt at the time.

I agree; they should've employed some actual fighters to tell them how to do the fighting animations, and it's clear to me that they did not. But, still, the animations are more...um...realistic than Oblivion's swing-your-sword-and-rip-your-arm-off slugfest, and there's still an element of tactics, foresight, and innovation. That's all you can really ask for from a game. It is not real life, after all.

I can't disagree with that

Combat's ok in Skyrim and improved from what it was in Oblivion and definitely improved from what Morrowind did. If the OP wants a game that has great combat and is an RPG, KOA Reckoning comes out February 7th-10th and that game will certainly have great combat.

Well, the basic stance isn't bad for unarmed combat, and the weight distribution on the hooks looks right in the animations, it just seems that all they took from whomever choreographed the techniques was the basic movement, and no advice on how the combat should actually take place. The result is [censored] swinging from the get go and an inability to block. If they wanted uncontrollable swinging to be the basis of their unarmed combat they could have saved any money on hiring a fighter to show them moves, and instead have just gone down the pub and watch two middle-aged overweight guys go at it over a packet of pork scratchings.

Also, it's a huge oversight that it's actually faster to spam attack with one fist than it is to alternate between the two.

Skyrim is heavily based on exploration much more so than on combat. Without combat, you have the ability to explore the huge world, not that many would want to if you didn't get to fight anything along the way, but that's besides the point. Without exploration, what would you do? Wander around Whiterun picking fights with guards? Exploration leads to combat, but out of the two exploration is what defines the TES series. So no, combat is not on par with exploration. That's exactly why more resources are put into building the world and all of the cities and dungeons and caves, and not spent improving the combat system. The combat in Skyrim could be better, but as it's not a fighting game, it does'nt need to be.

Yeah I thought Oblivion combat was better too. I am playing on an xbox so I think that would be a part of it. It seems like when you need speed the most that the game cant handle it because normal movement is very quick and responsive if you are not in a buggy area. I am not exactly sure what those lumbering running power attacks that always miss are for, but they are funny to watch In short the system feels sluggish and awkward but that might not apply to the pc version.

You do realize that exploration is one of the biggest draws to the elder scrolls series right? What the hell have you been playing?Your comment makes no sense when talking about an exploration based rpg.

+1

No it doesn't.