» Wed Jun 20, 2012 2:27 am Alchemy, I really like the discovery mechanic, but i also miss the ability to cary alchemist equipment with me and make them on the fly.
Music, Oblivion felt while good, didn't feel epic at all. In Skyrim i feel like the music makes me emotional, and even sinks my mood when certain tracks play at night.
Animations, are difficult for me to judge, because of the time gap between the two games. Animations in Skyrim are largely superior to those of Oblivion, but i don't know if it's superior technology or if they have more talent this time around.
Spell effects, I think spells are infinitely more fun to use this time around. In Oblivion it was pretty much a few standard spells with just a variation in their stats, while Skyrim offers vast visual diversity, mechanics, situational, and a larger variety of unique spells (not number of spells)
Fast travel, In Oblivion you had little need to explore. All the cities had been pre-selectable, while in Skyrim you had to explore the area before you could fast travel. You had a way around this, the carriage system- which is much like the Stilt strider in Morrowind.
Scaling, While Skyrim does suffer from scaling issues, it's still infinitely better than Oblivion's system. Bandits still wear the appropriate clothing instead of full daedric.
Worse:
Graphics, Oblivion had extensionally better visuals for its time than Skyrim did. Skyrim is acually a little behind the times when compared to games like TW2. Textures are very blurry up close, very consolidated as they are often pixelated.
Spell making, Spelling making was a major feature in Oblivion, and in Morrowind it was infinitely better. If people want to abuse it and run exploits-let them! Thats the selling point of TES games, do what YOU want. No one forces anyone to do anything in these games, and thats the way it always should be. Find neutral ground and offer optional selections.
UI, There is no denying it. the UI on the PC is an abomination. I can't belive i'm saying this, but i miss Oblivion's UI, at least i could select and categorize items with my mouse only. I didn't have to switch between my keyboard and mouse every other action in order to select an item. Oblivion was bad, but Skyrim is a nightmare. It's as if they slapped together some tooth past and a tablet of paper and said "done" and wiped their Hans of the PC UI. So bad was Skyrim's UI, that it was the first mod i looked for, thankful there is a wonderful mod that makes everything *so* much better.
Attributes, I freaking miss attributes. Their absence makes the game feel like an action RPG,
Scaling, Yes i say scaling in worse as well. Because i never feel like im improving much, even 40+ levels i still feel like i struggle slightly less than when i first started. I seem to run into three classes of enemy. Level one, where they are fairly easy to kill, level two who makeup the majority of the enemy, neither being simi-impossible or a cakewalk. Finally there is level three, they are not uncommon, but hardly normal. They come around every 3 or so waves and have immense health and the ability to three shot me, even if i go pure tank.
Guilds, I love the introduction to all the guilds. They make me feel like part of a family, and give me a sense of belonging. While the quests themselves are fine, the whole thing is just very short.
Character development, I felt attached to only a handful of characters and even then it wasn't "Omg i'll restart the quest to ensure he lives a thousand times" It's a problem that has plagued TES games for as long as i can remember. We just don't spend enough time with characters to develop a real bond with them. We need really in depth characters with plenty of variety and moe. Oblivion had this problem too, but it wasn't completely void of character development like Skyrim feels. I looked forward to hearing what Owyen had to say, and felt a sense that i needed to protect my blade members during the final battle.
