Poll: Best Elder Scrolls opening sequence

[endtherapture]

Which TES game had the best opening sequence for you? Morrowind, Skyrim or Oblivion?

Morrowind had a very boring opening but at least it was over quickly and you couold get right into the game. Although you have completely no idea what's going on and there's nothing to grab you and pull you into the main quest.

Oblivion had a more cinematic opening and you could save the game before going into the world properly and remake your character which is good. It also kick starts the main quest with a bang, and Patrick Stewart! However the pacing was off and you're left alone for a big section killing Goblins when it'd probably be better if you were with the Blades and Emperor the whole time.

Skyrim had the most exciting and cinematic opening yet and sets up all of the games themes in an exciting manner, but sitting through the entire thing just takes too long. The dungeon is really long, the Nord guy speaks far too much and is annoying, but at least it has 2 paths you can take, although I always go Empire so the Nord guy just shuts up.

What would you lik to see in the opening sequence for TES6?

 

[ShinyCharizard]

Morrowind. Because it was short.

 

[BeeGeenie]

I voted for Oblivion, but I'm torn. If they had made the exposition dump cart ride a bit shorter I'd have voted for Skyrim.

Morrowind had its good points too though: It starts with Azura's dream sequence, so waking up on the boat en medias res is kind of a nice touch, and less jarring than just "Oh look, you're in a dungeon" or "Oh look, you're on a cart"

 

[BathorysGraveland2]

I liked Morrowind's the most. It was quick, so you didn't have to replay the whole fucking thing for an hour everytime. It had mystery to it. It was atmospheric. It didn't throw you down deep in over your head. It wasn't so direct like the others, so if you wanted to play a character that never touches the main quest, you can. Oblivion's was just boring, through and through, and Skyrim's was a little too action epic for my liking.

As for what I'd like to see in the next game, if I decide to play it, is a start where you're not a fucking prisoner for once. I know Bethesda's writers will need to wreck their brains trying to think of an alternative, but seriously. The unknown prisoner is starting to get a little overdone.

 

[ohnoitsabear]

I like Morrowind's because it's short and doesn't try to pressure you into doing the main quest. Both Oblivion and Skyrim's openings are cool the first time, but they become really tiresome after that. Plus, they don't make very much sense if you totally ignore the main quest, which is what I usually do in Elder Scrolls games.

 

[Misterian]

I personally liked Skyrim, if only because it's more tense and exciting, yet also was able to immerse me into the game and build considerable atmosphere.

As for what I'd like to see in the next Elder Scrolls game, here's what I'm thinking:

It takes place just years after the events of Skyrim, and the Dragonborn has somehow taken the throne of the Tamrielic Empire and thus has lead the Empire into a war with the Aldmeri Dominion.

You are an agent specifically hand-picked and sent by the Dragonborn Emperor into Dominion territory, or more specifically Elsweyr (though the rest of the game can take place in Valenwood and the Summerset Isles as well), to find ways to cripple the Dominion from within as you see fit.

However, you're shortly captured by the Thalmor, who proceed to imprison and torture you for infomation, only for a group of Khajiit rebels to shortly break in and rescue you.

After few fights that serve as tutorials for the game's combat mechanics, you finally manage to escape the Thalmor stronghold you were imprisoned in and the Khajiit rebels tell you they know who you are and they have the same goals in bringing down the Dominion and suggest you team up with them before leaving for their headquarters, thereby setting you at the start of your adventure.

 

[DoPo]

"Wake up. Stand up. There you go. You were dreaming. What's your name?"

Morrowind for me. Daggerfall was...meh. Not entirely too bad but Morrowind's was way better. Oblivion had a good thing going in the prison with the other prisoner mocking you first then the emperor coming over bu-u-u-ut the dungeon afterwards I found obnoxious and annoying. Skyrim was...Half-Life's opening, only you can't move at all, you don't get to see many interesting things and don't really do much. The next dungeon sequence was better than Oblivion's dungeon, though.

Still, Morrowind stands above them for me - I've always felt Jiub way more sympathetic than any of the other characters from the other sequences. He was kind, and you could feel he's caring, also he doesn't come across as "exposition dump guy #1 for this game" like Skyrim's people or "bland people I can't care about" from Oblivion. Then you get the guard first guard who comes off quite natural, although his only dialogue is a cold "Come with me" - it is how a guard who's the same thing over and over again would act. In the other games you get characters who don't really feel as natural. Afterwards comes "You finally arrived, but our records don't show from where." - compared to Oblivion, you just start off with a race, you don't get it naturally occur. And in Skyrim you have to wait way, way too long to get a choice, not to mention it's just "Who are you?" which is then pops up the race window. Doesn't flow as well. And finally the filling of the papers is just wonderful. Want to change something? Well, just correct the papers. Oblivion's mechanic is unimmersive, Skyrim doesn't have one (or did it? Can't recall if you get to change your race after you chose it first). Daggerfall goes straight to character creation and then drops you in, so no immersive factor there.

 

[w9496]

I've only played Oblivion and Skyrim, so I choose Skyrim. Oblivion loses for being boring and killing Patrick Stewart right away.

I've noticed that Bethesda likes to do that. They kill the big-name voice actors right away. Also happened in Fallout 3 with Liam Neeson.

One gripe about the Skyrim intro is that they never tell you why you are on the execution cart.

 

[SajuukKhar]

For first time viewing? Skyim's, because it's the only one that actually does what an opening is supposed to do, aka SET UP THE GAME'S SETTING.

In Skyrim's opening we
-Get a view of Nordic culture
-Learn there is a civil war
-Learn The Empire got their asses headed to them by elves
-Learn dragons are coming back
We learn pretty much every single major issue going on in the world in that opening, and about the people involved in those events.

Oblivion and Morrowind are half assed as shit in this regard, Oblivion we learn someone is trying to kill TEH EMPEROR, but that's pretty much it, Cyrodiil? Imperials? Thieu culture? whats that?, you wouldn't know, because the game doesn't tell you, and in Morrowind's.... actually, we learn nothing from Morrowind's opening, the cutscene before the opening told us we were sent to Morrowind just cuz......, but it doesn't exactly tell us jack shit about Morrowind, or whats going on in it, or what exactly this prophecy is about.

In terms of replaying it, Morrowind's, only because it was short.

 

[Goofguy]

Skyrim because you quickly get introduced to the main antagonist in a spectacular fashion. Oblivion is probably the least impressive of all of them even if Professor X is involved.

 

[Fappy]

"Wake up. Stand up. There you go. You were dreaming. What's your name?"

Those words, and Azura's speech from intro vid, still haunt me to this day. They set the scene better in 5 minutes than Skyrim's did in 30.

This, exactly. Not only was it short, but what little was there was interesting and memorable. Jiub's in the game for all of 3-seconds and became an instant fan favorite simply due to his introducing you into the world of Morrowind.

 

[w9496]

One gripe about the Skyrim intro is that they never tell you why you are on the execution cart.

Actually they do. You were crossing the border and got caught in the middle of an Imperial/Storm-Cloak battle, and the Imperials took you in under the assumption that you were with the Storm-Cloaks.

They don't tell you which way you were crossing the border though, or why.

But as a roleplaying game its up to you.

Huh. I never figured that. Thanks for helping out.

 

[Vern5]

I have to go with the Morrowind opening. The video is mysterious and short. The complete lack of any kind of important backstory makes it easy for you to ignore the mainquest and focus on the stuff you WANT to do.

 

[sanquin]

Morrowind's didn't give enough information. You were left alone very quickly with no idea on what to do. Though at the same time that also was it's charm, as everything you needed to know was still explained. Just not in an 'in your face because I think you're retarded' type of way.

Oblivion's sequence had a lot of pacing problems. That being said, you got to try out all of the skills while in the tutorial area, and it was quite exciting. A bit more info on the world you would be stepping into would have been nice, but not needed.

Skyrim's opening had the same as oblivion's. As in. the tutorial area gave you the means to learn about every skill you'd be using in the game. Well, apart from smithing/enchanting at least. However that first sequence...just one huge exposition dump. And a poor one at that. A new player will go through that, hear dozens of new names and places but still have no clue what they all are. No idea about what it all means. Only players of the other games will recognize the names being said. It's not exactly a mood setter either. And your movements being restricted to such an extend for such a long time is just...annoying.

So I vote for Oblivion's intro. The pacing was wrong, but it did the other things right. Morrowind and Skyrim did multiple things wrong.

 

[AndrewF022]

Skyrim's was probably the most enjoyable to play through the first time, but it's a pain to replay when starting new characters.

Oblivion's was probably the worst since it is more or less a sewer level, and not a good one at that. Although at least you can make a hard save at the end and never have to replay it.

Morrowind's was good because it was short, and puts less pressure on you to burn through the main story straight away. Make's it good for repeat playthroughs since the time between new game and actually being free to roam is very short.

I voted Morrowind, but if I were judging it off exactly one playthrough of each game I would probably vote Skyrim since it was the most exciting and set up the world quite well.

 

[Saviordd1]

I voted Skyrim.

I'm going with first impressions here, and Skyrim was (In my opinion) a nice way to slide into the universe and the setting, much better than Morrowinds "Get the hell off my boat" and Oblivions horrible dungeon.

That said it is easily the most annoying for new characters.

 

[Gottesstrafe]

"Wake up. Stand up. There you go. You were dreaming. What's your name?"

Morrowind for me. Daggerfall was...meh. Not entirely too bad but Morrowind's was way better. Oblivion had a good thing going in the prison with the other prisoner mocking you first then the emperor coming over bu-u-u-ut the dungeon afterwards I found obnoxious and annoying. Skyrim was...Half-Life's opening, only you can't move at all, you don't get to see many interesting things and don't really do much. The next dungeon sequence was better than Oblivion's dungeon, though.

Still, Morrowind stands above them for me - I've always felt Jiub way more sympathetic than any of the other characters from the other sequences. He was kind, and you could feel he's caring, also he doesn't come across as "exposition dump guy #1 for this game" like Skyrim's people or "bland people I can't care about" from Oblivion. Then you get the guard first guard who comes off quite natural, although his only dialogue is a cold "Come with me" - it is how a guard who's the same thing over and over again would act. In the other games you get characters who don't really feel as natural. Afterwards comes "You finally arrived, but our records don't show from where." - compared to Oblivion, you just start off with a race, you don't get it naturally occur. And in Skyrim you have to wait way, way too long to get a choice, not to mention it's just "Who are you?" which is then pops up the race window. Doesn't flow as well. And finally the filling of the papers is just wonderful. Want to change something? Well, just correct the papers. Oblivion's mechanic is unimmersive, Skyrim doesn't have one (or did it? Can't recall if you get to change your race after you chose it first). Daggerfall goes straight to character creation and then drops you in, so no immersive factor there.

Agreed, Jiub was an instant favorite. One of my favorite parts of Oblivion was hearing the rumor about him being canonized at some point and chasing out the cliff racers for good.

And yes, Oblivion's opening had it's pacing problems (I felt that opening cinematic should've taken the opportunity to show off the city more, if only to show what you were trying to protect and accentuate that lives were at stake). However, I'm going to give credit where credit is due: it has a set-up and pay off. Immediately after you create your character, the Dark Elf across the hall (Jiub's antithesis) beckons you to the cell door to smack talk you, with unique dialogue depending on your gender and race. If your sudden and inexplicable escape following shortly after wasn't gratifying enough, you're also given the opportunity to return to your old stomping grounds later in the game as a part of a Dark Brotherhood quest to exchange words with your old friend, among other things. His descendent in Skyrim Romlyn Dreth is also a nice throwback, especially in light of his conversations with Indaryn and Keerava about his ancestor.

Whenever Jiub is not on screen, all the other characters should be asking "Where's Jiub?"