I don't think so. With crap mobs, yeah, but harder enemies or lots of enemies it's more tactical. Great Critical Charge is the sh*t.

After about three dungeons with using a Great Sword I didn't want to "hope it gets better later."

Nor do I want to have to carry around the Great Sword and switch to it for those "better" fights.

Amazing combat is amazing. Hardly changed since Morrowind? Cut the crap.

Well, it does get better. I guess that's kind of high up in the perks for some to want to wait though. In the meantime, it's still entertaining to hammer people's faces in. I've yet to not find that amusing.

My only regret with my own 2hander is heavy armor. It'd be more fun with light and that stam regen. You'd risk more, but get good returns when you land and running all over the place smashing more faces in. What's to not like?

I'd argue that combat isn't a main focus for Bethesda as it's not the crux of the game. I'd also argue that there are few games that do combat well unless that is their forte.

I honestly feel This thread has gone off track.

Trolling? Unless you're that awed by the slow-motion cutscene of an execution once in a while. In which case... nevermind.

Problem with that argument is at least 50%, if not a lot more, of the game play is combat.

And, looking at the Skill Trees, most all of them are combat oriented.

It isn't the cut scenes that make 2hand fun for me. It's how out easily out of control it can get, how you want to stand off from tough enemies, like it's one of those staredowns in a cowboy movie, and just running and hoping you line it up right, and... then, of course, the face smashing, as i said. It feels like a crazy mofo with a giant warhammer should feel like. Most charge attacks in games are done by holding the button down. This is actually better. Bethesda might not be combat focused, but they did something cool here.

The game also has competent combat. Combat is an element of the game, but it is not the main focus. Yes it holds a large portion of the game, but people don't play Skyrim for the combat like they do Demon Souls. I could argue that 99% of the combat in Mass Effect is a shooter, and it doesn't stand up to CoD, Gears of War, or BF. But that would be losing the main focus of the game, and finding a flaw in something that it never proclaims to excel in.

Is the combat terrible compared to Demon Souls? YES, but there are also elements of Demon Souls that are terrible in comparison to Skyrim. There will always be games that do something better, there will never be a game that does everything perfectly. Life has flaws, get over it.

Problems arise however in combat because Stamina is a broken resource.

You can perform any Stamina required move, like Bash or Power Attack, with just 1 Stamina.

I felt it was quite stupid that I could down a Stamina Regen potion and just Bash > Power Attack > Bash > Power Attack > Repeat.

Combat, to me, would have been far more effective, and tactical, if Stamina moves worked like Magic.

And if every regular attack used 1 Stamina.


For one, please don't bring in the "life has flaws, get over it." It's quite unneeded and doesn't help your angle.

No, there won't ever be a game that does everything "perfectly," but every developer should be striving for that. And Skyrim's combat is not an indicator of them trying to do that. We've had two console TES games prior to Skyrim, if each one got any amount of criticism about the combat, that means combat should be re~evaluated and perhaps re~designed. If not, that just means the next game is going to get flak again. A developer should never sit back and say "well... we're just not good at it, so we'll leave it like this," they should be trying to improve upon what they aren't the best at.

There's flaws, and then there's laziness. Like I said, the combat system hasn't improved since Morrowind. They made no effort, other than the occasion slow-mo up-close execution. Wow. Awesome. There are SO examples (like Dark Souls, God of War, and so on) that Bethesda could have used to create a new combat system.... but they didn't. Left click, right click, left click... watch the enemy randomly stagger... *yawn*

Sure, Skyrim isn't a combat game-- but combat IS a massive part of the game.

FailedToOpen, you hit the nail on the head.

Archery, 2handed, and full on dual wield mage/glass cannon are pretty cool. That's all I'll say.

Hasn't changed since Morrowind? Lol. Wow. Trolling or serious?

Too bad that nail went into his own thumb.


I was making an Orc 2h Mystic Knight (uses magic for battle prep, opening fire, wades in with 2h).

I did not have any fun.

I would take this over Morrowind, if only because the animations feel more solid. Same with Oblivion. I had more fun sneaking in those, kind of like playing Thief, but fast paced combat didn't feel as good.

Mass Effect doesn't do shooting like the cream of the crop FPS's. Guess it's a fail.

I do agree with you. People are negative animals, or creatures. It's easy for humans to think more about the negative rather than the positive. I know some will say "well Skyrim has more negative things in it than it does positive". That's your opinion.

But I don't agree with what you said about the same annoying things that are in Morrowind are in Skyrim.

Mass Effect does however do shooting on par with Gears of War, which is a Third Person Shooter, which Mass Effect happens to be.


Things I would have liked to have seen in Skyrim:

You bring up animations... I would have liked to have seen a forward, back, left, and right normal attack.

I would like to have seen an enemy stagger back and maybe even fall down if I smash him, or even his shield, with my mace Power Attack.

I would like to have seen enemies winch, cry out, or stagger if you land a solid hit now and then. Not every hit, but it would have been nice if an enemy cried out in pain and moved their arm to their side if you slashed their ribs.

I think this is ironic. Skyrim plays more like Demon Souls because you actually have an influence over the battle. In Morrowind you were restrained by your stats, in Skyrim you could defeat a giant at level 1 if you had enough skill. I'd honestly argue that Demon Souls and God of War struggle with the exact same thing you criticize Skyrim for. Both games have ways to cheese the game and both rely on you basically mashing a button over and over.

I also find faults in comparing a game like God of War to Skyrim. If that were the case I could compare Devil May Cry, Ninja Gaiden, and even Tekken to Skyrim. All those games have better, more flashy combat, but they aren't even comparable.


You're still missing the point. God of War focuses on combat. Dark Souls/Demon Souls focuses on combat. That is their draw, that is why people play them. People don't play Skyrim for the combat.





As someone who has played the original Gears of War and Mass Effect 2 I'll argue that they're not even close. Mass Effect is an RPG with shooter elements, just like Fallout 3. Gears of War is a competitive shooter that has enough bro dialogue to satisfy the Jersey Shore.

FailedToOpen, how do you know that people don't play Skyrim for the combat? Some probably do.

There are exceptions to the rule, I understand that. However I'd argue those people who buy, and play TES games just for the combat are few and far between. Just like people who only buy CoD for the story.

I've played Gears of War, Gears 2, and Gears 3 as well as Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2.

Mass Effect was an RPG with shooter elements.
Mass Effect 2, however, re~balanced RPG and shooter.

Stats are far less prominent in ME2 than they were in ME. In ME2, I no longer have to put stat points into accuracy.

ME2 is now much closer to Gears in terms of shooting game play, especially since they added more focus on running from cover to cover, getting within melee range, etc.

ME2's combat is simplified and is now as easily controllable as Gears.

Yea. If someone did buy Skyrim just for the combat it would probably get boring for them fast.