If you are expecting a post about New Years Resolutions and starting a new year and turning over a leaf....well, fugettaboutit.
I am starting off this new year with a total lack of motivation. As if that wasn't obvious from the brilliance and volume of my posts. This wasn't my first choice for how I wanted to start the year, but there you are. I just cannot seem to get excited about anything. I was in a bit of a funk before Christmas, and now, after New Years...I still got it. I'm tired, and what's usually important is what I am tired off, but right now, I am tired of...everything.
So, here's to the New Year.....whoopie....
I'm gonna go take a nap.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Monday, January 9, 2012
Skyrim
Before getting into what I think of Skyrim, I think you should have a little of my history with The Elder Scrolls series.
I first discovered The Elder Scrolls with volume 3, Morrowind. A friend loaned me a copy after learning how much I liked Neverwinter Nights. In many ways, I would say that Morrowind is my favorite game of all time. Only Mass Effect has come close for me.
I played Morrowind until my character was level 80. I had done pretty much everything. I beat the main quest and continued on. I played so long that I was running out of things to do. I finally decided to try one of the vampire lairs. I had avoided them to that point because of the warnings in a couple of player guides. I walked in, and none of the vampires were even a challenge. That is when I stopped playing Morrowind.
When The Elder Scrolls 4, Oblivion came out I bought a copy the first week. Then, a couple of weeks later I built myself a new system, because the old one didn't play it well enough. I was hooked at the moment when the game intro finished and the music swelled up. It was a moment that gives you goose pimples. In Oblivion I went through each of the four major side quest lines, but for a long time I didn't bother with finishing the main quest. I figured out how to be virtually invisible, and that made a lot of things way too easy, though they were still fun.
When Bethesda announced that Oblivion would be the last segment of The Elder Scrolls, I was heart broken. It was like having an old friend die before you got to see him one more time.
I don't know when Bethesda changed their minds, but eventually, there was Skyrim, and I looked forward to it. Money was tight, so I didn't get it the first week, and I don't have the money to buy a new PC, even though I need one, but I finally got the game.
First, I have to admit that I am not playing on the highest video settings, so that might be coloring my judgment a little. The Elder Scrolls has been, at least for three versions, a game that draws you into the game world. It makes the game seem real, to the point where the sound of a cold breeze and a snowy landscape will send a shiver through you and have you looking for a blanket to throw over your shoulders.
Also, Skyrim is the frozen north part of Tamriel, the continent and empire that has been the been the setting for all The Elder Scrolls games. It is populated by Nords, who are in a word...Nordic. But the problem that I am leading to is that the game seems a bit grey, almost monotone. There isn't a lot of color. There are a few bright flowers, but small ones, and a few green trees, but they seem faded somehow. All the people dress in subdued colors, which might be part of the belief that no one wore bright colors in the past, which we know to be false.
The only other problem I have seen with Skyrim is that isn't quite grabbing me the way Morrowind and Oblivion did. I am enjoying it, but I don't feel as involved. I am not sure I can adequately describe it.
The leveling system is still better than anything else. You level by improving skills, and many of the skills can only be improved by really using them. They have eliminated a few of the more exploited skills from Oblivion, which makes leveling a little more difficult, though admitted not much.
The world is huge. I have been playing for about two weeks now, and I haven't explored more than a quarter of it. I have reached the end of two of the major side quest lines, Assassins and Thieves, and still have two go to, as well as having about half of the main quest line to finish. There are still many side quests, there are ones in each of the major cities and several of the smaller ones to do, and much much more.
But, I am beginning to feel that this series has run out its time. There is too little that's new. Yes, there's dragons, but your only interaction with them, is killing them. They attack somewhere near you, and you kill it. I haven't reached the point where I learn why they are back, and maybe that will change things, but I have not going to hold my breath.
I'd give it 7.5 out of ten. It's better than Fallout 3, which isn't too surprising, though they borrowed a numbers of things from Fallout 3. Of course, then again, Fallout 3 had the same greyness problem. It's worth checking out, but don't expect too much. If you liked Oblivion or Morrowind, you'll like it.
I first discovered The Elder Scrolls with volume 3, Morrowind. A friend loaned me a copy after learning how much I liked Neverwinter Nights. In many ways, I would say that Morrowind is my favorite game of all time. Only Mass Effect has come close for me.
I played Morrowind until my character was level 80. I had done pretty much everything. I beat the main quest and continued on. I played so long that I was running out of things to do. I finally decided to try one of the vampire lairs. I had avoided them to that point because of the warnings in a couple of player guides. I walked in, and none of the vampires were even a challenge. That is when I stopped playing Morrowind.
When The Elder Scrolls 4, Oblivion came out I bought a copy the first week. Then, a couple of weeks later I built myself a new system, because the old one didn't play it well enough. I was hooked at the moment when the game intro finished and the music swelled up. It was a moment that gives you goose pimples. In Oblivion I went through each of the four major side quest lines, but for a long time I didn't bother with finishing the main quest. I figured out how to be virtually invisible, and that made a lot of things way too easy, though they were still fun.
When Bethesda announced that Oblivion would be the last segment of The Elder Scrolls, I was heart broken. It was like having an old friend die before you got to see him one more time.
I don't know when Bethesda changed their minds, but eventually, there was Skyrim, and I looked forward to it. Money was tight, so I didn't get it the first week, and I don't have the money to buy a new PC, even though I need one, but I finally got the game.
First, I have to admit that I am not playing on the highest video settings, so that might be coloring my judgment a little. The Elder Scrolls has been, at least for three versions, a game that draws you into the game world. It makes the game seem real, to the point where the sound of a cold breeze and a snowy landscape will send a shiver through you and have you looking for a blanket to throw over your shoulders.
Also, Skyrim is the frozen north part of Tamriel, the continent and empire that has been the been the setting for all The Elder Scrolls games. It is populated by Nords, who are in a word...Nordic. But the problem that I am leading to is that the game seems a bit grey, almost monotone. There isn't a lot of color. There are a few bright flowers, but small ones, and a few green trees, but they seem faded somehow. All the people dress in subdued colors, which might be part of the belief that no one wore bright colors in the past, which we know to be false.
The only other problem I have seen with Skyrim is that isn't quite grabbing me the way Morrowind and Oblivion did. I am enjoying it, but I don't feel as involved. I am not sure I can adequately describe it.
The leveling system is still better than anything else. You level by improving skills, and many of the skills can only be improved by really using them. They have eliminated a few of the more exploited skills from Oblivion, which makes leveling a little more difficult, though admitted not much.
The world is huge. I have been playing for about two weeks now, and I haven't explored more than a quarter of it. I have reached the end of two of the major side quest lines, Assassins and Thieves, and still have two go to, as well as having about half of the main quest line to finish. There are still many side quests, there are ones in each of the major cities and several of the smaller ones to do, and much much more.
But, I am beginning to feel that this series has run out its time. There is too little that's new. Yes, there's dragons, but your only interaction with them, is killing them. They attack somewhere near you, and you kill it. I haven't reached the point where I learn why they are back, and maybe that will change things, but I have not going to hold my breath.
I'd give it 7.5 out of ten. It's better than Fallout 3, which isn't too surprising, though they borrowed a numbers of things from Fallout 3. Of course, then again, Fallout 3 had the same greyness problem. It's worth checking out, but don't expect too much. If you liked Oblivion or Morrowind, you'll like it.
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