Oblivion gave us rolling landscapes and vast rivers and lakes, Skyrim gave us mountains and dragons.

Here me out, I realize that Skyrim is the northern province of Tamriel and that is a harsh and in some places barren landscape, but I can't help but feel somewhat dissapointed with how the gameworld has been presented and for this is a huge step backwards in the TES series of RPG's. Oblivion was pretty, the forests vast and vistas awe inspiring. Yet climb a mountain in Skyrim and it's all a bit meh, the snow look's ok while it's falling but don't look down whatever you do as the ground covered snow looks like something knocked up using MS Paint.

In previous Elder Scrolls we had wonderful Elven ruins to explore, with gourgous lighting and atmospheric ambience but in Skyrim we have dwemer ruins and the same sound effects in each. What I'm trying to say is that Skyrim at times feels a bit cut & paste, where as Oblivion was well thought out and well implemented. The interface is the biggest culprit imo, which look's like something you might find on a mobile phone rather than the beaten journal you would find in the pocket of a wanderer in the Tamriel of yesteryear .

Take it back a notch next time Bethesda, keep it true to the elder scrolls, I don't want any fancy interface or silly dragons, give me a lush province to explore with my trusted crumpled journal.

Good heavens, no. Oblivion was the step back from Morrowind, Skyrim is bringing the series forward again.

I find your OP a bit ironic when you said Skyrim felt copy/pasted since Oblivion's dungeon team was one guy and the dungeons were pretty much the same, and Skyrim's dungeon team was 8 and I always found something new in each one.

But I do know what you mean, tbh.

I think Oblivion was even more copy/pasted. I agree about the UI, it's horrendous.

It's made a few steps forward and a few more backwards, especially in the quest design, factions stories and the character stats.

Oblivion had fewer landscapes, less variation between each separate dungeon.
The only thing I can agree on is that the UI is horrible, even though it was also way to big in Oblivion.

HAHAHAHAH very funny.

Skyrim cut and paste? What the hell? I know it's your opinion and all but Oblivion's dungeons literally were cut and paste.

If Skyrim does one thing a cut above the other ES games it's the game world*

*all in my opinion, of course.

I have to agree to this on many aspects for example the mainstreaming ala dumbing down of the game, makes me worried of the next SP TES game :/ sure TESO scares me to hell due to the artstyle (freaken WOW anyone?!) and just the butchering of the Lore doesn't give me high hopes either even if Beth isn't maken it (I hope not) makes me wonder why they allow someone to butcher it so badly and get away with it so easily :/
Worried for the future of TES

IMHO the only thing Oblivion's world has over Skyrim's is variety and size. Cyrodiil is about 50% bigger than Skyrim and has a much more diverse landscape (forest, jungle, swamp, ash, snow, coastal, etc.)

But Skyrim's world is much more detailed and unique, and the overall picture it presents with the soaring mountains and craggy cliffs is completely stunning.

This.

Instead of Ayleid ruins, we have Dwemer ruins again as well as the insanely well crafted crypts full of Draugr. We have lush forested regions, rolling plains, deep canyons, frigid arctic climes, vast cave networks, and swampy marshes. Skyrim holds all major terrain types except for deserts and scrub brush plains.

The architectural styles are many and varied, and the sheer amount of Quests involving going most everywhere hasn't been matched in a game... ever (and I've played since Daggerfall).

Skyrim hasn't taken a step backwards, its opened the gates to the future very widely indeed.

skyrims landscapes look lush to someother gamers though like me who usualy plays the FO series and favours FNV which is just a big [censored] desert<=== posibly spelt wrong but its sooo bland u wanna kill your self compared to skyrim ,oblivian yes had some next landscapes but the dungeons were too similar. in the dwemer ruins the sound is that of the same because they all inter link so its the same type of steam powered cog run systems streching underneath the province of skyrim same tech same sound running from a valve dumping steam...snm

Skyrim has many flaws either stand alone or compared to Oblivion, but what you posted in op about dungeons is a little backwards, Oblivion had far fewer dungeon designs, and a lot of them didn't provide a story or clues about who lived there and how. I think the points of interest with unique design are more in Skyrim. I won't argue about the interface, it's a bad decision imo to make it look like Apple and forget that it's supposed to be fast and customizable. The same with the journal, it's a big disservice for this game.

This ^ !!!!! Oblivion had some pretty scenery, but Skyrim's is so much more realistic and beautiful in it's own way. The character models alone put Skyrim way above the rest IMO. And the dungeons are all unique and gogeous with the water running through them and all.

What is this, the 187th thread where someone feeling nostalgic for previous titles rants about how they think Skyrim svcks because anything new and different is scary and bad? Give it a rest, or at least search the boards and add to an already existing thread.

I think Skyrim has its great points and a few that need work,but it is a step forward in nearly every regard. Additionally, I adore the interface now. So much simpler than Oblivion's. Ease of use, especially for inventory management, is something I greatly value in an RPG.

Oblivion had a couple of issues but at the very [censored] least it still managed to look good, much unlike Skyrim boring world where im unable to finish the main-quest on my xbox due to the many bugs. Oblivions overall graphics were abselutly amazing, unlike skyrim.

Oblivion xbox graphics > Skyrim high settings on PC.

Oblivion on Ultra with mods is like gift from heaven.

nope

Skyrim is a step, or three... backwards. The UI is even worse than Oblivion, fewer skills, again, attributes are gone altogether, several skills are pretty much useless... etc. Beth has made it unnecessarily complicated to mod the game, bugs that are carry over's from previous games are STILL there. Along with a few new game-killers.... I could go on for quite some time here.... but, not worth the effort. If beth continues their current trend of 'game design', I won't be buying any more of their games.

This.

Oblivion's world was so dull and uninspired. Skyrim recaptures Morrowind's sense of awe and exploration for me - though there are definitely some things they can do to improve it like add more legendary items to quest for, the ability to toggle off nearby locations from the compass, etc.

You didn't read the first post well. He didn't say it svcks because of its novelty, he said the presentation (which implies altogether the new mechanics and the old mechanics, but applied to this province, to this style) is weaker than in the past games and he gave examples. We don't have to agree, but his points are valid. Nobody said "svcks" until you arrived.

This is so full of fail...

How does (by your opinion) the world being boring cause the bugs that may or may not cause the MQ to lock up?

The math just doesn't add up to me.

And I'm not sure if you've ever seen Skyrim when run on Ultra, but I have. Oblivion can't compete in any category graphically with Skyrim.

Agreed. the satnav GPS map is god awful. What were they thinking.

I respectfully disagree. Skyrim is, to date, the greatest game I have ever played. And I have played my share of games.

I have found very little lacking. It's like eating mac and cheese your whole life and then suddenly there's a giant plate of chicken fettuccine alfredo in front of you.

There's little things here and there I'd like to see, but it's like dating a supermodel and wishing a mole on her cheek was fractionally farther to the left.

for me, anyway.

I honestly laughed out loud when you said Oblivions dungeons were innovative and unique while Skyrims were cut and paste. LOL?

Never have I heard such an absurd and blatantly false statement. Every single one of Skyrim's dungeons are unique in design. Yes, it's the same atmosphere and textures, but all are uniquely crafted in their design and layout.

Oblivion's dungeons are truly copy paste, no uniqueness at all and once you do ONE cave, ONE elven ruin, ONE fort, you've done them all. This cannot be said for Skyrim.

People have the right to express their feeling. I myself liked Oblivion dungeons more. Maybe they were copy/pase but they felt darker.

UI is an improvement? Now that is BS. Not only it's buggy ( at least on PC ) but it also lacks tons of options and looks just awful. Also I couldn't imagine an RPG w/o some kind of a proper Journal, yet Skyrim managed to do the impossible.