"Soul" is a subjective and arbitrary term, you can attach soul to anything from a mountain to a work of litterature.
"Shallow" is a subjective and relative term, it depends on cultural, social and personal preference.
"Sad" is a relative and subjective term, boy bands makes me sad, but it makes other people ecstatic.

So what you are stating is your, highly subjective, opinion. Fine but that doesn't interest me, I prefer to listen to people who can explain mechanics, theories and actual facts that can be measured.

To be honest, I feel like Skyrim was a different direction for Bethesda. Depth and story were sacrificed for other various mechanics they tried adding. Skyrim does do some things well. I just hope that since they know what the did right, they'll keep it for ES6 and have more time to focus on the "good stuff" that makes RPGs more than hack'n'slashers. It shouldn't be this way, but it is. I enjoy Skyrim for what it is, faults and all. I could write a book listing all the things I would improve in other games to make them perfect, because none are IMO.

Sadly, some people play this game solely for the interactive aspect and hardly care about combat at all, and they're at a loss here. But I don't really think about it cuz there's randomness to be had all over Skyrim and I don't always have time to stop and chat. So I understand your frustration, just thought I should throw in my 2 cents

I'd contend that Skyrim is better than both Morrowind and Oblivion. A little simplified character-wise and a bit lacking in terms of magic, but mechanically superior to Oblivion and as much depth than Morrowind (just in a different way. Whereas Morrowind's depth came from books and quests, Skyrim's comes from the ambient: the land, the people living there, and the preserved remains of Skyrim's past).

Ummm yea good question... PERHAPS realising some things they were blindly defending without playing the game enough?

This game is good.

I like play it.

Skyrim is a great game. It has kept me occupied for around 200 hours or so, longer than other games I could do well to mention. But after playing enough the flaws are all you can see. A lot of skill trees are broken (high enough stealth and you are practically invisible, with appropriate + smithing potions and gear you break the game, alchemy / enchanting exploit, etc. etc. etc.), horses are completely useless and to be able to fight while mounted should be a must, lycanthropy and vampirism need more effort put into them, quests are not divergent, Vigilants of Stendarr and Silver Hand need playable questlines, there should be Aedric artifacts so not only the Evil characters get the best items, and Good RP'ers can get the best too, College of Winterhold and Companions need more effort put in them... I could go on and on, but I still can't stop playing.

The in-game dialog and writing has never been " High Art " in elderscrolls... Skyrims got the best of the series... it just sands out more in contrast to the superior graphics.

On a side note I think a level of personal intimacy with the npc's was lost when they took out the character zoom-in... it makes the NPC's feel less like real characters or people and more like " videogame characters "... if that makes any sense

This is getting old.

folks, this is jsut another case of "i have played 300 hours of this game non stop for the past 2 months and have burnt out" Lets just move along.

Skyrim may the least shallow of any Elder Scrolls game. Skyrim not only tracks what you do, but builds on it. Maybe it doesn't do it in a big way, but that it does it at all puts it ahead of its predecessors.

Souless is incorrect. To call a game souless would be to imply the developers did not put their heart into making it. You only have to look at the care and details the developers put into their dungeons to know otherwise.

The correct word is incomplete or unpolished. That can be seen from NPC reactions, or rather, lack of reaction to your actions. Even Oblivion has done this better.

In response to "shallow", as a person who spent over 50 hours testing the various builds and the synergy between perks, standing stone, enchantments, blessing, spells, potions and shouts, along with many many NPC wars, I can assure you, Skyrim has hidden depths you do not know. It is not less complex compared to Oblivion with it's spell making.

I did just the same - forced myself through DA2 on the strength of DAO and out of fear of missing anything that might be relevant in DA3 - after playing I'm not even gonna touch DA3 until it's been out a year and I can pick it up second hand as a bargain. And th's if it gets good reviews and feedback.

What's sad is this is now how I feel about TES too. Oblivion put me off, but Skyrim has downright killed my love for the series. I really wish folk would give a game like Skyrim 30-40 hours before they proclaim it's the greatest thing ever. So many folk were premeturely ejaculating on here on it's release - as some have said, it's now nothing more than a tool for game-designer wannabees.


That's the thing though, hardly ever in Skyrim did my pulse race or did I get excited. A game should be like a holiday fling - exciting, passionate, full of umph - Skyrim feels more like a 30 year old marriage, routine and tiresome.

I'd disagree - souless means the game has no soul, much like Aqua's "Barbie Girl" or Justin Beiber's latest song has no soul - the artist or people working with the artist can be putting their all into it, but if what they create doesn't move people then it has no soul.

Dont you get tired of saying the same thing over and over and over again? There are people here who i see posting "this game is indeed shallow" since i started following this forum. Why dont you just give up and try another game? Or, well... start morrowind again?

I just want my Warden back from what i understand he will not be in DA3 so i may not buy it.I have no idea why Bioware felt the need to make the Dragon Age series into Mass Effect i'm guessing lazyness.This whole slimming down of RPG's has got to stop.

I know you are, but what is Skyrim?

What? A childish post gets a childish reply.

I surprise myself everytime how people can find Skyrim shallow, soulless and/or sad to see.
Complaints about the dungeons and what have you.

Too few voice actors maybe, sure, but this game looks great, I find it in its entirety engaging and making you want to keep playing.
Beautiful dungeons - linear perhaps - but nonetheless I love every second of it.
I've played Morrowind for more than roughly 700 hours, spent okay time on oblivion (which is my least favorite between the three i've played) and even tho things have been removed from Skyrim, alot of cool aspects have been added.

Without being offensive and not specifically implying the OP is one, but some thread creators that post complaints strike me as spoiled gamers.
Expectancy levels that everything has to be at least tenfold better than otherwise it just plain svcks, and the most puzzling factor is that they in the same post state they put over 300 hours in said game before making the complaint.

If you're accusing something of lacking depth and heart, wouldn't it be better to back your accusation with a thoughtful, meaningful argument, rather than with a soulless, meaningless complaint?

Would you rather people make a snap judgement after say 20 hours of gameplay?after a good amount of time you see Skyrim for what it is.I think alot of people kept playing for so long hoping the game would get better much like myself.

Yes, the game is shallow. Its still lots of fun though with plenty to see and do. So, the game could be better, but I still really enjoy it.

I think people have different definitions of shallow though. I find it shallow in NPC characterisation and quest interactions. There's a few interesting npcs like Karliah, Ulfric, Paarth and Erandur but those are few and far between.

You see surely the whole point of DAO was the choice aspect? So why aren't they letting us start afresh if we want to (or the Warden didn't make it), or if the Warden survived continue with them? You're right, they are destroying RPGs and cannot seem to get their head round the fact that Mass Effect 2 only worked because most viewed the original as more of an action game than an RPG anyway - all they did when they stripped it down was streamline it for it's current audience. Whereas DA and TES's audience is totally different. They are pretty damn thick and it'll cost them millions (lord knows DA3 sales are gonna bomb).



Bang on.

I barely made it across 200 hours of playing skyrim and most of that playtime was spend on looking for something interesting to do. Guilds are lifeless and short, NPC are shallow and boring and there are not consequences or even recognition to your actions.

I can try to interact with this world all I want, but it does not interact with me. At all.

The default game seriously lost some depth.

Thankfully, I`m in the process of d\ling a collection of Mods that now add depth including stuff like more difficulty Lockpicking (no unlocking master locks with no skill), Tougher Dragons, etc, etc.... Hoping for a wear and tear mod soon.

Y`see, I would probably never buy games like these, but the ability to Mod is what saves them. Bethesda are smart because while they dumb-down the game to suit the masses, they at least leave the rest of us an option to make the game the way we feel it should be.

I don`t think I could play these games on a console unless my PC died and I couldn`t get another one.

Oh look, another one of these.

I still don't understand why you come to a forum for a game you don't like and get out your violin. You feel shorted?

You honestly think there is no possible way that it could be your attitude that is the problem; rather that the game is a horrible letdown and the world is ending because you weren't entertained enough. Newsflash: single player games these days don't have the multiple hundred hour potential reply value that they used to. You can count on one hand the number of quality releases in the last few years that satisfy this.

Last time I checked, none of you whinepost making folks are shareholders of BGS, am I right? Therefore they are not beholden to your whim. Acting entitled to unrealistic expectation only serves to embarass yourself.

Either you can make constructive criticism of your perceived flaws that Skyrim has, or you can stop posting. Any other negativity posted here will be met with the same exact prejudice. It's pretty simple. Most of the folks here want to make TES better with every iteration, and sometimes BGS will go out on a limb to try something new and we have to let them know if it's the right move.

Edit: I should probably note that I am a longtime lurker who recently created an account because of these very posts.

Damn, you surely are a big whiner. Instead of trying to invalidate the criticism that has been posted or even asking others to elaborate is out of your grasp. I don't hope that you think your reply convinced anyone around here.