I refrained from buying Skyrim simply because people tend to get overexcited before a game launch and then splurt out that, whatever game it is they've been waiting for, is the best ever. So I wanted an opinion on Skyrim when everyone had gotten over the initial excitement.

By coincidence I was given Skyrim for Xmas and, after forcing myself to play through as much as I can (around 50 hours) I can honestly say that Bethesda haven't learnt their lesson from the faliure that was Oblivion. Not only is Skyrim very boring, but it's also very lazy. The new combat is way better than we've had previously, the music is top-notch and the fact that the dungeons aren't so cookie cutter now really helps. But the game itself as a whole package just lacks any kind of soul. Morrowind was waaaaay better IMO, yes it was flawed and had pants combat, but if Bethesda took Vanilla Morrowind and gave it Skyrim's asthetics and combat then it would be by far a better game.

Skyrim was just so dull, and the fast travel + "magic compass" which displays everything (360 version so couldn't turn it off) + poor RPG elements + leveled items just totally killed and kind of fun you could have exploring. Such a shame and I was gutted, but overall it's a big letdown.

Really suprised how many people fell in love with it tbh. Just wondering if many out there have a different opinion of it from when they first purchased it?

And just as a side-note I thought Dark Souls was vastly, vastly overated too.

9/10

PC version btw no compass and i don't use fast travel, I don't get why people say it has no rpg elements i mean look at baldurs gate one of the best rpg's ever created and it doesn't have nearly as much "rpg elements" as skyrim..

Needs mods, will do that soon.

9.5/10 IMO. Great game, but it has some flaws.

Beautiful atmosphere but it is a little dumbed down ( I wouldn't ever have said that before release ) and it lacks good writing or meaningful consequence. The NPC's are pretty boring too.

8/10

Could have been better and a little less buggy but it's still very playable and enjoyable, even after 3 months.

Yeah they should of dropped the dragon borne crap and just built around the civil war, it would of been a much netter game...

7/10.

Mediocre writing, no consequences, very few memorable NPCs, tiny cities, level-scaled items, too many meaningless perks, terrible journal, compass that can't be turned off.

I'm talking about vanilla, of course. And it's still a great game, just not best-game-ever kind of great.

Don't fast travel + turn off the HUD + use your imagination for roleplaying like every TES game + what's wrong with leveled items?

I think I must be strange but I don't see that big a difference between the three TES games. Certainly never regretted purchasing any of them.

Any game that entices you to spend hundreds of hours exploring it is certainly a good game. Sure lots of people would like lots of things changed but any game of this magnitude will always have that element to it. I would like some things changed also but the game as a whole definetly is worth the purchase and one of the best games of the year. The only other game i've played more of is gears of war simply because of the leveling process.

Skyrim is a success and well worth the money for most of us.

I think skim is an excellent titfle, while I can agree with u on most parts I have to disagree on it lacking soul I think its packed full of soul and it is very atmospheric.

The thing is u must remember morrowind was the first of its kind so it holds a special place it many peoples hearts and while I love morowind I think skyrim apart from the journel and the magic compass is.superior in every aspect.

10/10 for me, its an rpg so remember if you immerse yourself you cant really beat the tittle.

Played for 2 months non stop, I'm in the middle of a 1 month break now before going back to it. I have 161 hours of game play and I still feel like there's so much to see and do.

It's 9/10 now and I think it will be 10/10 with mods made on the CK.

Without any doubt it's a great game but the direction Bethesda took regarding trimming off the fat & removal of elements that were fundemental to my style of play really does affect my enjoyment of the game, Butchers it to be honest.
It's a personal thing, Some people like the direction Skyrim has gone & others like me do not, We're all fans of Bethesda however & we can all find plenty of positives to agree on.

More importantly for me, My opinion of Bethesda has taken a huge leap up after the recent patches & optimizations, For the first time in years i really feel that they are supporting me as much as i'm supporting them & they are really showing their quality.

8/10, Could & should be a 10.

This is a polite way of saying it, so i'll just add a ditto to what you said.

I guess I don't understand, what kind was Morrowind the first off?

It is a good game I have gotten way more then my $60 worth of entertainment, I expect to get a lot more with the CK. I would of done things different in some paticulars, but so what as a designer you have to choose a direction to design in and make it the best you can.

7/10, the sheer amount of content assured my investment of many hours, but the actual content and implementation of quests and systems ultimately falls short and left the bitter taste of a shallow experience that could've been much more in my mouth.

It's an absolutely fantastic action-adventure game but you have to live with a rather substantial loss of traditional RPG elements such as meaningful dialogue, actions with consequences and developed characters.

Love this game. Love it, love it, love it.
BUT it is flawed. Not a scratch on Morrowind.
Where are all the attributes; agility, strength, intelligence etc. They have diluted it somewhat.
I feel they have gone more for size and visual stuff rather than gameplay. The land area could have been half the size it is and I would have been happy.

Loved it at first but it didn't take long to realize it was mostly just a pretty painting with no actual substance. I got to a point where I knew there was a lot more to do and see but I just stopped and stared at the screen because I couldn't be arsed to actually care or play any longer because I knew the exact same enemies would appear in the exact same dungeon replica with the exact same loot and once done the world would be no different for it. At this point I can say I'm no longer able to put a single ounce of faith that Bethesda will ever put a game out with any kind of meaningful substance again. Meh.

Oops, my post posted twice. Apologies.

Far better than previous TES games, but not the epic pinnacle of game design that some make it out to be. Falls short because it is too much like the other TES games and Bethesda isn't keeping up with the progress in game development.

Interesting perspective.
A lot of people I have talked to and seen post in this forum think that it has in fact been gutted of a lot of its TESness.

5/10

I just can't get into this. I don't feel like doing anything because there's no feeling of growth. The NPCs don't acknowledge my accomplishments, there's no point in questing or dungeon-diving since self-made weapons and armor are almost always superior and even the perks are a let-down; I get 20% more damage and it feels as though my enemies conveniently gain 20% more health, so combat feels EXACTLY the same.
There's just absolutely no feeling of progression for me, and at the same time, the story is an absolute let-down. It's sooooooooo bland and basic and even the civil war feels copy-pasted. (because it is, right down to the dialog)

Some people may say "how dare u give big game like Skyrim 5/10 when it STILL has more content than 90% of the games on the market." That may be so, but that shouldn't be an excuse either. Giving it a 7 or an 8 out of 10 just sends the message of "you have room to slack off, so go ahead and do it." The reality is though, I'm sorry, but I simply CANNOT bring myself to play this game. I've tried dozens of times, never lasts for long. And yeah, I think Bethesda does need to know that Skyrim, for me, is an outrageous disappointment and the worst game they've ever produced.

my opinion is based on other rpg/roleplaying games: i've dropped it from an 8 to about a 7.

too many deficiencies. too shallow and simple. meaningless decisions/quests/loot.

great graphical world/detailed with a system where you level-up what you use with some ok perks. that's it.

as well, for me, i feel forced to strictly roleplay.

edit- 360-version

Agreed on fast travel (since it's optional). If you turn off the HUD, you don't see ANYTHING - no names, no health bar, no nothing. It's extremely difficult to play with no information at all and even if you can do that, most players can't and, what's more important, shouldn't have to.

The problem with leveled items is that getting them is supposed to be rewarding and make you more powerful. As it is, acquiring a quest reward too early will in fact gimp your character, because you won't be able to use the item on higher levels anymore - what you smith or even find will be much better. It shouldn't be this way. The player shouldn't search wikis, calculate levels and wait for the perfect moment to do a quest...

I don't regret buying any of TES games either (well, I had my doubts with Oblivion, but after all...). They all offer very similar gameplay experience - open world, complete freedom to create your character, role-playing more in your mind that in numbers or the choices you make. There might not be any HUGE differences, but there's a lot of little ones, and when they're all put together they change the game noticably.


In my rating I'm actually trying not to compare Skyrim to the previous titles, but rather to other games and my own vision of a perfect game. Skyrim is beautiful and detailed, it offers a wonderful gaming experience and hours upon hours of content, but it's not exactly what I expected it to be. It lacks the elements that I value most in the games I play: consistent and thought-out mechanics, well-written characters and storylines. TES games have never been about meaningful interactions with NPCs so I won't judge them on that, but all the rest...
If rated as an RPG, I don't even want to imagine how low it scores.
If rated as a TES game, it's one step forward and two steps backward.

Massive open world RPG on it's scale.

whoever said thet they should of forgot the dragon stuff and built around the war i totally agree that had much more potential, i havnt done the MQ yet but i dont normally do them in the TES series im too busy exploring and having a blast, thats why i give it 10/10. cant argue with bugs on a game of this scale in my opinion the'll always be there