Don't buy it for PS3 though

I agree. I have it on ps3 and it has so many bugs.

There's little things to find. If you like those little scenes that tell a story (skeleton found reaching for a health potion, etc) there are plenty. However, the environments don't hold much 'awe-inspiring' differences that captivate me because of variety. They can be extremely beautiful, especially mist rolling over mountains in the distance, but the environments themselves don't feel especially varied. They do have different creatures per-region.

Towns, on the other hand, have very different architecture. Markarth is very unique, Riften feels dark and cramped, while Whiterun is very open and more colorful. Windhelm is claustrophobic, and teeming with racism.
The palaces also differ in design both inside and out. I feel the Windhelm palace more similar to Morrowind's Tribunal palace, and Solitude's more similar to something from Daggerfall (mainly the area next to Elisif, where they're all gathered).

Dungeons can be exceptionally dull or exceptionally beautiful. There are caves which only have one room, as a hideout; on the other hand, there is a dungeon which takes up a good 1/3 of the overhead map and is oft regarded as the most beautiful, unique area in the game.

Not really. I find myself using the others much more often.

With smithing and enchanting, you can make an exceptionally -tough- unarmed character, but you'll never equal the damage output of another damage type. Except early on, in which case the unarmed damage can seem extremely high for a while, then withers into long, long battles. Using a shield/spell swap in one hand and unarmed in the other is a very viable, if slow, character build.

It's level-scaled. Get it for PC, please, please get it for PC. There's a lot of good stuff available already, and the CK isn't even out yet...

They all have their flaws, Skyrim is no different. Don't go in with expectations, just experience the game for what it is, and form your own opinions (if you decide to purchase).

I know, he wasn't being fair and accurate at all. Half-trolling lol.

Eh, level scaling is handled much better than before. It's closer to Morrowind's level scaling than Oblivion's.

Theres a perk and an enchantment you can pick up to fortify damage with gauntlets when unarmed.

i think a massive part of what makes this game so amazing is the fact the world is hand crafted, so the sense of wonder is amazing, its wat made gothic so great imo. i am dissapointed with the vioce acting though, mainly cuz its the same russian bloke on practicly every character, not quite that bad but u get my point, but yeah i wouldnt hesitate gettin this, ive seen alot of people who would not usualy be interested in this type game but luved it

Your reply doesn't follow, since the OP clearly asked about aspects Skyrim as to gauge a purchase. I personally agree with godhead.

To the OP, no there are no signs in the game like you could choose in Oblivion and before. You can choose stones found about the land. Magic is underpowered until you are near maxed out and by then, you'll have just about played it through. No spellmaking and there is some creature leveling in the game. Also, you can level all skills quickly and you are not held to the class you want to play. It plays more like an action/adventure game than it does an RPG. But, the world is amazing to see and venture about. Your specs should be fine

Magic is underpowered, especially destruction magic.

The world is amazing on the surface but upon closer examination it is shallow and empty.Everything bad about the game bland quests,lack of decent characters,no decisions,world doesn't acknowledge your deeds,repetitive dungeon crawls all drag the world down.I played the game for 300 odd hours hoping it would get better and at no point did it hopefully the modders can do something interesting with it.

Hmm...I really just have to think about what class to play, then.

I love playing thieves in games like this. But ranger type characters are good, too. Maybe a combat oriented thief, rather than a stealth oriented fighter....perhaps a DnD style cleric?

Too many options, and I suffer from chronic restart syndrome!

You must be a glutton for punishment.

I know what you're saying. I hate all those people that say "I've played the game 200+ hours but it svcks."

Nice way to twist the sentence to suit yourself i never said the game svcked!I was stating what was wrong with it i myself think the game is average.

Oh well your post made it seem like you thought the entire game svcked. Everything you said was negative. It's like you want the game to get better in your eyes so you just keep playing it, and playing it.

hehe stop fighting.. save it for Skyrim !
with which I am utterly obsessed guh, bye social life !
i think you should buyy ittt become one of us.... heh

Seriously wtf? I [censored] love this game and you have more time in it than me. Something is wrong with you. Stop whining and stop playing if you don't like it, or stop being a hipster and just admit that you do, in fact, enjoy it and consider it to be worth a measly $60.

@OP Yes, buy it. They could have charged me double. Hell they might actually get double, I might buy it for the PC too and have fun in the wonderful world of modding. It isn't perfect, but its a hell of a lot better than a most other games.

My biggest complaints are magic and guild quests.

Magic is slimmed down. In Morrowind you could levitate and blow a hole in a wall. I never played Morrowind (personal failure), but that's what I've heard. Then in Oblivion you could detect life, turn invisible, unlock locks, create spells, increase your movement speed, etc. In skyrim you can....do nothing cool. Magic isn't infinitely potent anymore. You can't unlock [censored]. You can't change your move speed or detect life. Magic has been streamlined to exclusively have applications in combat. Heal, shield, damage, summon, calm. I find that annoying, since Skyrim, and the Elder Scrolls in general, is/are about much more than just fighting. So that's a major shortcoming. And destruction magic is...lacking. Give me some more ways to own [censored]es. There are three master level destruction spells, and only about six expert. That's boring. Give me some variety. Especially since you have to divide those numbers by three since there are the different elements and you're strongest if you only specialize in one. Also while equipping magic in your hands is cool, it also makes battle mages less effective, since you can hold a sword and a spell, not a sword and shield and a spell. That makes combinations very inconvenient.

Guild quests were simply abysmal. Not really thats an exaggeration. But they weren't nearly as well thought out as Oblivion. They were abrupt and shallow. I was very, very disappointed. Dark Brotherhood in Oblivion was awesome. Dark Brotherhood in Skyrim was meh.

Also am I the only one who really, really misses Athletics, Acrobatics, and Speed? Jump higher and move faster makes games more fun. End of story. And its more [censored] to level up, and I love leveling [censored] up. [censored] sprint. Not really that was a good addition. But i would trade it for those three back.

And of course there's the no more stats issue.The new system works, and I like it. But I'm a true RPGer at heart, and I hate it when games are simplified like that. At the end of the day I love managing my stats, and knowing that I have high strength therefore I'm gonna do better in those brawls. So I miss that. Regardless, get the game, it's worth it. And mods can make any issues disappear.

I don't care about anything in this thread OP, besides your username and profile picture.

fighter of the nightman, oohwwooaaah

You can detect life in Skyrim. Magic has changed a lot, destruction isn't very powerful at later levels unless you combine it with conjuration.

it is exactly that i kept playing to see if it would get better i gave it the benefit of the doubt but i personally do not think it got any better.I stand by my comment it being average then again it is just my opinion.

I also absolutely loved Morrowind, despite the ridiculous combat. I was really disappointed in Oblivion, despite the decent combat. Skyrim has some disappointments, but it is mostly really amazing. If you loved Morrowind, and finished Oblivion "a few times", you will definitely be glad you bought this game; it's much better than Oblivion.

Everywhere you go, there is something unique. One little touch that will make you smile. Yes, it might be another camp of giants, but.. Oh s--t, is that a boulder with peoples legs sticking out?

The mod scene has been on fire since launch, and it's just getting warmed up because the mod kit hasn't even released yet. There will be a mod for just about anything that you might not like.

Yes, unarmored, spears, pauldrons... there are so many things missing -- some of them in the interest of polish and balance. The bottom line, though, is that the game is fantastic. I'd go as far as to say it's "an experience". I've probably played 10,000 games since 1980, and this is pretty much the best.

This was the first game I ever preordered. I knew it was going to be awesome, I knew it because I had read about the changes they had made, and it's basically like I designed this game. Almost all of the changes were ones that I had really wanted. The repetative voice acting was one thing that didn't get fixed. It's really terribly done. So that should take your hype back down to earth. (But there are already mods appearing that fix some of it. It's been difficult, without the mod kit)

I've got about 1000 hours in Skyrim, and I feel like I haven't really started yet. You're not too late -- there is a brilliant performance patch (which basically doubles the framerate from default), and the CK to be released sometime before the end of the month.

There is the Mage Armor perk, if you use alteration and are not wearing armor.

Your CPU is awesome, and your graphics card should be good enough.

Rage was my first Bethesda game, Skyrim is probably my last.

A game can be boring as [censored] sure, but it should at least run solid. Rage tanked for being able to even run, and Skyrim had its hand of problems on release, and IMHO isnt "Officially" supported on the PC. If you think it is, try going out and buying a computer, even at a pawn shop, with only 2gigs of memory. Technology has long surpassed Bethesda games. Might be a solid console game though, I'm not sure, I don't own a console.

what he said

And to add to exploration, my favorite cities are Solitude and Markarth for a reason, they're just really pretty

Skyrim will be a great game if you try going into it without any bias, or preconceived notions. The difference between Morrowind and Skyrim is staggering. Skyrim is definitely following the recent trend for RPGs and from that perspective I really enjoy the game. However I'd recommend that if you haven't gotten bored of Morrowind, or Oblivion yet that you switch off between Skyrim and Morrowind/Oblivion. It has made me appreciate the finer things in both games.

Like Oblivion, Skyrim doesn't hold a candle to Morrowind. I preferred Oblivion over Skyrim, but I can see why some people would prefer Skyrim.

However, you will never be challenged in this game. There's even a spell that gives you a path to your objective and the game autosaves like every 5 minutes with 4 different auto save files. You can never get rid of any item that has to do with any quest and you can't kill anyone that has anything to do with a quest (like Oblivion but much more rampant in this game.) The amount of spells have been butchered and attributes have been replaced with "perks" (very lazy way to dumb down the game)

Every city looks exactly the same, there are way less enemy types than morrowind and oblivion and less terrain types. The side quest you come across every 5 seconds really takes you out of the immersion. Buy at your own peril.