Mass Effect 2 is more about action while Mass Effect 1 has a better character sheet, story, and more roleplaying elements while still keeping the action pretty solid. So yeah, I'd have to say that I enjoyed ME1 better than ME2.

I'm not disappointed at all. I'm thoroughly enjoying Skyrim after playing nearly 600 hours over 3 characters (levels 50, 58 and 62) and I haven't completed the main quest with any of them yet. I intend to eventually, but I'm in no rush. For me, Elder Scrolls games aren't about quests they're about something else. If you're the type that gets bored of the game after 80 hours, I honestly think you're playing the game wrong.

Perhaps you have no imagination, or perhaps I'm a simpleton that enjoys being immersed virtual world far too much. Regardless, I know I'll be playing this game for years yet.

That's always the problem with Elder Scrolls games.

A.) They CANNOT for the life of them, make a great story. It's always '...meh'

B.) The way combat works, and their enemy system and such, 'bosses' are just enemies with a lot of health that do a lot of damage. There was nothing unique to fighting Alduin from any other Dragon. If he had every shout in the game and could use them nearly at will, that would have been a challenge.

Seriously, I write for fun, and I would pay Bethesda to let me write their next ES game's story. I could definitely make a story better than any in the ES games so far.

I think Bethesda makes the World, and the Mods make the game. Just my opinion. I dont think it should be like that.. far from it!! But thats how it seems to be these days.


Uhm, Morrowinds story was actually alright I thought..

Yes. It's one of the very few things about Morrowind which actually has aged okay.

It says a lot about a game when someone puts eighty hours into a game and thinks that's not enough.

I did not go into Skyrim expecting a revolutionary game. Because of that, I was mostly very happy about it. There are a few things that make me shake my head (companions not leveling properly still several patches in, complete lack of scaling with many magic skills, etc.) but overall I love the game.

I do not play TES games in one bunched up group of sessions and I do not bore easily so I'm sure that helps too. I know it's a problem for some, but it does not bother me and so I can enjoy doing a bunch of dungeons even if they are not all that special.

it's a single player game that entertained you for 80+ hours, maybe more. that's not a bad thing, considering that red dead redemption will last around 50 hours.

The main quest, mainly the ending, did not live up to my expectations. I love the build-up and the plot twists, but when I'd killed Alduin and finished the MQ, it didn't really leave me with any great feelings of accomplishment. And I do to some degree agree with the rest of the OP, as I really wanted more depth.

But I still love the game. I'm currently on my second playthrough, and at lvl 27 on Master difficulty, I've yet to meet the Greybeards with this character. According to Steam, I've clocked 608 hours in the game, but I guess I can subtract almost half of that, as I often leave the game running when I take breaks from gaming (not overnight though). That still leaves 300+ hours ingame and I'm still not sick of it, so I guess that either means I'm crazy or Bethesda did something right. And that is without any mods that changes gameplay, only cosmetic ones.

I guess it comes down to how you play the game. If I'd only focused on the main quest and done nothing else, I would probably feel a bit cheated. But in TES games I normally do all the other stuff first, as I see the build-up of my character, both skills/levels and as a part of the history of whatever region I'm in, as just as an important part as doing the main quest itself. At least that's how I prefer to play RPG's.

Did people really expect a mind blowing story? I just wanted a stunning open world to explore with a good nordic theme and that's just what I got.

It was alright. Oblivion made me come back to it way more, but Skyrim gave me something to do for about a month.

It's all I really have to play until Soul Calibur V comes out. I might come back when some updates or DLC take a shine.

For a TES game, 80 hours is a trial run.
Or it used to be.
For a TES game, 80 hours for 60 dollars is not a success.

Totally agree, OP. I'm disappointed as well with Skyrim depth, replayability and lack of real action/consequence system. One of the biggest disappointment of the 2011 for me.

I only got some 20 hours out of Morrowind (and they weren′t very enjoyable either, felt more like a chore waiting for the game to deliver something fun before I gave up), so by that standard of measure, Skyrim was four times as much of a success.

"The atmosphere was very Witcher, but it got old. Fast."

That was one of the best rpg's i have ever played and you totally lost all credibility when you said that? I mean that game (and I have all the books for that matter) gave you an abundance of choices what you are exactly complaining about
in this post.
Also did you actually read any of the books in the game about the lore? As much as I minimally agree about the combat system in this game, there are few games last year with this calibre of combat.

Im commander Sheppard and I sold my voice for every store in the shopping mall. Mass effect was fun combat wise, but in terms of plot and environment it was bleeding disgrace from right out of my monitor. The only cool character
in that whole series was the Mercenary for the blue suns I forget the guys name, and even he didn't have a nice dialog conversation, it was always the occasional message he would say like one of the guards that talks to you while your passing them in skyrim.

I think a lot of the disagreements on the forum boil down to:

People who want to be told a good story don't like Skyrim's story because, frankly, there's not much to it; people who want to tell their own story are happy that there is one studio left that still lets you do that.

Personally, I would hate it if the ES ever forced me to follow an 'epic narrative' the way BioWare does. I play ES games so I can do what I want with my character, not follow some mediocre, genre fantasy plot-line dreamed up by someone with less imagination than myself.

I don't have any problem with narrative-driven stories like BioWare's (I play them, too), but I want to have the choice to 'play a movie' one day and 'play a RPG' another day. In my own, idiosyncratic view, a RPG is a game that let's me control my character however I like. To me, being forced to follow a narrative = an action or adventure game with RPG elements.

I'd take Skyrim over any of those titles you mentioned. Dragon Age, Mass Effect 3, all that comes across as sensationalised Hollywood garbage. Elder Scrolls isn't in your face and I like that because it allows the player to you know - use his imagination as much as he wants and to be able to RP? You entirely missed the point LOL.

Apparently you want the game to be the same as Morrowind. Well go back and play it then, I'd take Skyrim ten times out of ten as it's new and refreshing and has evolved the series whilst apparently you bask in nostalgia.

I'd take Skyrim over any of those titles you mentioned. Dragon Age, Mass Effect 3, all that comes across as sensationalised Hollywood garbage. Elder Scrolls isn't in your face and I like that because it allows the player to you know - use his imagination as much as he wants and to be able to RP? You entirely missed the point LOL.

Apparently you want the game to be the same as Morrowind. Well go back and play it then, I'd take Skyrim ten times out of ten as it's new and refreshing and has evolved the series whilst apparently you bask in nostalgia.

I'd take Skyrim over any of those titles you mentioned. Dragon Age, Mass Effect 3, all that comes across as sensationalised Hollywood garbage. Elder Scrolls isn't in your face and I like that because it allows the player to you know - use his imagination as much as he wants and to be able to RP? You entirely missed the point LOL.

Apparently you want the game to be the same as Morrowind. Well go back and play it then, I'd take Skyrim ten times out of ten as it's new and refreshing and has evolved the series whilst apparently you bask in nostalgia.

Agreed; I think that is exactly it.

In my case I do not at all prefer 'stream of consciousness' play, and I expect a well structured* main campaign [gameplay aside] for any RPG to be interesting.
Fact is, I do not need a game for... what amounts to a digital daydream; I can do better without its framework and limitations.
What I can't do (and do seek out in games), is tell myself an illustrated tale that comes as a complete surprise.
*(And in this... [for me] personally crafting a PC is unimportant so long as the PC I get seems well done; but it's always a welcome bonus if the story of the game gets tailored to a specific PC that I create.)

*(Here, "well structured" does not necessarily mean linear; and preferably not so.)

The reason they dominate their niche is because no body else seems to occupy it - the games Bethesda produce really aren't that great if you compare them to something specific. There are better stories in games, for example. There are better written plots. There are better stealth games. The strength of the Bethesda game is that SO much is available in one game - and that is also its weakness.

Agreed.
*I only wish they had not carved their niche out of the Fallout IP.
I love their game, just not their gameplay ~for that series specific.

Yess.... and no.

It depends on what you mean by "tell your own story". Like any medium, there are limits on how we can tell the story. The first mission of the thieves guild, for example, seems better suited to being a dark brotherhood first quest (sneak in, eliminate the mercenaries that get in your way, murder the owner of Goldenglow, escape through the sewer) than the thieves guild. It's remarkable what a difference stabbing all the mercenaries makes in that quest. .

Meanwhile the first mission of the Mages Guild (Under Saarthal, I mean) could be completed really easily by any kind of character, there is nothing to differentiate it for a mage at all. Considering the theoretical lesson in the college and the overall deadliness of magic, it would have been quite possible for Bethesda to have engineered that quest so that you were forced into a magical duel with a lich, as an example. (Or rather, the son of Gaulder bombards Tolfdir with magic while he brings down the orb-shield, and it is left to you to shield Tolfdir with some kind of ward before you both finish Gaulderson off in whatever way you deem appropriate).

The thing is, if you left me to tell my own story, I could do so in a much more fluid way than I am able to do through a game, which puts limits on what can happen, puts limits on what it delivers, and all in all ends up with a "Jack of All Trades, Master of None, which isn't at all better than a Master of One" game..

I love Skyrim

I used to have your same attitude until mods like OOO, Fallout Wanderers Edition, MMM, RTS, etc. came along and spoiled me rotton.

If anything console gamers should very well be disappointed.............