[Silencio]

Now that skyrim has been out a while and the first dlc has been released i think its time a real comparison was made between the two. id like to know what your view is of the two games and which one holds more advantages over the other.


character creation - obviously the graphics are much improved in skyrim so you can really detail your guy (or girl) to exactly how you want them to look instead of them being a very odd looking like in oblivion, overall the characters just look a lot more realistic and human like in skyrim than oblivion so im giving this one to skyrim.

role play ability - i think its alot easier to create a whole well rounded character in skyrim, not having to pick specific skills and attributes that you must stick too if you wish to level up like you have to in oblivion. but i dont think this helps the whole role playing thing, you can easily change characters half way through the game. if you are strict with your build then you will be able to stick on track with your character but its very easy to wonder and end up with a middle of the road character which you never meant to create. im giving this one too OBLIVION.

combat system - skyrims more advance engine makes combat much more advanced and pretty than oblivion which seemed very slow and repetitive even from the games beginning. has to go to SKYRIM

magic system- kind of like with the combat, skyrims magic system works better on a whole and looks a lot prettier but personally i found that it got boring pretty fast. i think due to the lack of different kinds of spells a pure mage can get very boring very fast in skyrim where as in oblivion there is always new spells to buy or create which keeps it pretty fresh, OBLIVION

the mage - this is a pretty tough one. i think it really comes down to personal taste but for me the skyrim map lacks difference and a lot of the places look exactly the same and the snow can really get a bit boring after a while. oblivion offers slightly more difference i think, forest, snow, mountains, grass lands, lakes and rivers all give different feels to every different place you are in which is nice and sets a good atmosphere. OBLIVION

exploration - again this seems to come under personal taste in what you see exploration as but i think there was slightly more varied places to go and see in oblivion, due to the map and how it was set out but skyrims locations on a whole were a lot bigger and somewhat more entertaining than oblivions im calling this one a DRAW

cities and towns - for me this one is easyyyy, i was expecting a lot more from skyrims cities and towns, they are all pretty much exactly the same and non really offer much variation. oblivions towns all seem to have a different theme and you can really tell the differences in rich and poor from town to town. i also like the idea of the main imperial city in the centre of the map acting as the capital city of the game which skyrim lacks.OBLIVION

enemies - skyrim seems to go for the more human based enemies. lots of bandits and henchmen and stuff where as oblivion went for the daedra and the fantasy enemies. personally i like oblivions just because its more varied, you fight humans and also monsters and such where as in skyrim is seems like you kind of just fight humans, dragons and draugr. OBLIVION

quest lines - hard one again, skyrim has a much better main questline but oblivions faction quests are much better. im 50/50 DRAW

long term playability - looking at only the origonal games without any DLC, im think oblivion but maybe skyrims future DLC can take it. its a tough one but im saying OBLIVION

items - oblivion had more variety of weapons and armour i believe, armour was split into more pieces so you could mix and match better and so was clothes. mixing clothes with armour could give a good look. also oblivion added short swords which i missed in skyrim and was pretty surprised they took out of the game. both games allow you to create magic weapons but i think oblivion again just done it better. i think the whole weapon creation thing worked better and i liked how you can create weapons with the stone from the oblviion gate. OBLIVION

Thats my choices in each aspect of the two games, so just write down the name of the game which you think wins each category or even add different ones if you wish. looks like i should start playing oblivion again lol.

[El Khatiri]

never played oblivion but it looks like garbage

[lilmissparty]

never played oblivion but it looks like garbage

[Penny Courture]

Stop! You do not know what horrors you are about to unleash!

[Star Dunkels Macmillan]

never played oblivion but it looks like garbage

Appearance-wise or gameplay-wise? (My opinion is neither, but whatever floats your boat)

[Kim Kay]

never played oblivion but it looks like garbage

In terms of graphics? Hey back then it was considered high end

[Brooke Turner]

never played oblivion but it looks like garbage

I've played Oblivion.

Trust me, it's garbage compared to Morrowind and Skyrim.

[alicia hillier]

I've played Oblivion.

Trust me, it's garbage compared to Morrowind and Skyrim.

What about Oblivion didn't you like?

[Roberto Gaeta]

In terms of graphics? Hey back then it was considered high end

This. Back in its day, Daggerfall was high end, too. Skyrim is not the height of graphics, TES VI will look better, and TES VII will look even better...
Point? Don't diss "older" games for having not-as-amazing graphics.

[ShOrty]

never played oblivion but it looks like garbage

[victoria johnstone]

Each game has their own pros and cons. I do not hold one higher than the other for I enjoy and respect both games greatly.

[candice keenan]

Only played a fraction of Oblivian compared to Skyrim.

All around Skyrim imo is better. But I lack the experience of Oblivian to make a proper comparison.

[josh evans]

What about Oblivion didn't you like?

Well, to be short and sweet, this is all IMO, but:

Worse combat system then Morrowind
It looks like a cartoon
Once you've seen one dungeon, you've seen them all
And it missing that foreign quality Morrowind had.

Just a few.

[Neko Jenny]

movement is much better in oblivion. Not to mention the arcane lore(WHAT HAPPENED TO SPELL FORGING??) So anyways.. i don't like the sprint by 'alt' feature in Skyrim. You actually have to aim down the road before unleashing that stuff and it takes half a second for your sword arm to get back in swinable state once you decide to stop sprinting. "Next stop: pine tree ten feet away. If a wolf jumps out behind it to rip you in shreds, then please press 'R' andcalmly wait until your hand's come back up on the screen before start swinging" BAH. I don't even like the charge maneuvre THAT YOU HAVE TO LOCK UP BY PRACTICING A WEAPON TREE, LIKE- FOREVER, because you should be able to do that from the start.. all the acrobatic/meleeish maneuvres should be avaliable to you from the start- YES, at the expence of those ridiculously abundant perk tree sets.

Honestly, I think the only thing Skyrim has on Oblivion is the graphics and crafting systems for smithing and achemy.

[Laura]

I love Oblivion, and there are certain things it did better than Skyrim, for instance the guild storylines, attributes (imo), and I like the classes and birthsigns. And magic is vastly superior in Oblivion. And in Oblivion you're actually different heights depending on your race, you actually see from their eyes in first person, in Skyrim if you're a tall race (like high elf), in first person you're staring out of their necks, what kind of lazy game design is that? May seem like a small thing, but it's immersion-breaking and very annoying. I do however prefer Skyrim's combat, world (but only with a saturation-increasing mod, I find the gray vanilla colors ugly), and I really like the random guild quests you can pick up, it does a good job of making it feel like you're actually part of the guilds and not just doing yet another misc quest line.

never played oblivion but it looks like garbage

Well, it's not.

[Danger Mouse]

Stop! You do not know what horrors you are about to unleash!

I read the Stop ! in the Imperial guard voice , LOL !

[Taylah Haines]

Well, to be short and sweet, this is all IMO, but:

Worse combat system then Morrowind
It looks like a cartoon
Once you've seen one dungeon, you've seen them all
And it missing that foreign quality Morrowind had.

Just a few.

Fair enough. I agree that the dungeons were bad, and you certainly didn't feel like being a foreigner in an alien land. The latter isn't really a problem for me though, as I don't think Bethesda intended to make Cyrodiil like that. Overall I liked the environment, even though it was somewhat bland compared to Morrowind.

I have to disagree on combat though. How is Morrowind's combat better than Oblivion's? It seemed like Morrowind tried to pull of an action-RPG game with traditional RPG combat elements. You could hit an enemy several times and your weapon would go straight through it unless your stats were high enough. The combat in Morrowind is very weak.

[Leilene Nessel]

Good detailed anolysis OP.

I tend to agree with all the points, with the possible exception of cities/towns. I like the way they are implemented in Skyrim. Maybe it's just the graphics but I do like the Skyrim towns.

Another point for Skyrim not mentioned is the "liveliness" of the world. More things seem to be going on around you in Skyrim. And the random quests and events, etc.

I prefer Oblivion, but Skyrim is very close in my opinion. Still I think it really all comes down to personal preference. Both are great games!

Fair enough. I agree that the dungeons were bad, ...

And I completely disagree with this. In Oblivion the dungeons were very varied and well done.

[mollypop]

I read the Stop ! in the Imperial guard voice , LOL !

On a second thought, I could have written... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18CGW9P5Y9M!

[Nicole Kraus]

Fair enough. I agree that the dungeons were bad, and you certainly didn't feel like being a foreigner in an alien land. The latter isn't really a problem for me though, as I don't think Bethesda intended to make Cyrodiil like that. Overall I liked the environment, even though it was somewhat bland compared to Morrowind.

I have to disagree on combat though. How is Morrowind's combat better than Oblivion's? It seemed like Morrowind tried to pull of an action-RPG game with traditional RPG combat elements. You could hit an enemy several times and your weapon would go straight through it unless your stats were high enough. The combat in Morrowind is very weak.

I don't really know how to explain it. Maybe I need to take off my nostalgia glasses or something, but I remember Morrowind's system being better.

Take it with a grain of salt.

[WTW]

And I completely disagree with this. In Oblivion the dungeons were very varied and well done.

They weren't horrible, but they weren't good either. They may have been varied, but it's impossible to ignore the feeling of having seen the same thing before once you've been in a couple of dungeons.

At least they were creepy. At least the ones with zombies in them. The atmosphere in the dungeons were good, but the design was not (in my opinion of course).

[Raymond J. Ramirez]

On a second thought, I could have written... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18CGW9P5Y9M!

That's even funnier !!
Have you seen the Imperial guard song ?

[sam smith]

At least they were creepy. At least the ones with zombies in them. The atmosphere in the dungeons were good, but the design was not (in my opinion of course).

I agree with this. When I was playing Oblivion, I was like "Wow, they really did good with the atmosphere." Sad I couldn't say the same with the rest of the dungeon stuff.

[Brandon Wilson]

And I completely disagree with this. In Oblivion the dungeons were very varied and well done.

Really? I remember there being maybe 3 types of dungeons all using the same set pieces over and over...

[x_JeNnY_x]

I don't really know how to explain it. Maybe I need to take off my nostalgia glasses or something, but I remember Morrowind's system being better.

Take it with a grain of salt.

I remember morrowinds combat system very well; it almost put me off the game. It was frustrating at first whacking something and just getting 'swish swish CLUNK swish swish swish'. At least in oblivion, when you hit something you actually hit it, meaning weapon reach meant something and actually dodging / blocking attacks were left up to you. Combat became more than just standing in front of an enemy pressing attack and praying the virtual dice were on your side.

tl;dr version: Oblivion offered more control, the 'wind left you at the mercy of virtual dice.