Poll: It's About Time :: Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (a super-mecha-awesome review)

ironduke88

New member
Mar 20, 2010
129
0
0
A good review definately hit all the major ups and downs of the game. However there was one thing that I really really didnt enjoy about Oblivion and was how easy it was to break the game. Objects like the skeleton key made certain skills and playing the game in certain ways superfluous. I have to say that personally the extremely clunky melee combat and the complete lack of interest in the main quest made this an average game at best for me...
 

Always_Remain

New member
Nov 23, 2009
884
0
0
Dragon Age had better lore/story and I actually cared about the characters. Oblivion? Everyone is a lifeless shell of a person and the lore/story makes me want to sleep.

Sorry, I guess staying up til 4 in the morning makes me a dick. On a side note It is quite fun dicking around in Oblivion more so then Fallout 3. I'll give it that.

Wow this post makes like 5% sense. I should go to sleep.
 

Onyx Oblivion

Borderlands Addict. Again.
Sep 9, 2008
17,032
0
0
It indeed does encourage focused classes, but Fallout 3 basically said Small Guns and Lockpicking or bust. Actively punishing players who didn't walk out of the vault and use Small Guns. Hell, I was level 8 when I found my first decent energy weapon (ex, not the stupid pistol). And level 6 when I found my first Minigun. It did encourage melee, though. Giving you the powerful Baseball Bat at the very start. Which was nice!

But still, after 3,500+ hours in Oblivion, I've done it all. And all types of characters are playable, except pure non-stealth, non-alchemy archers. My favorite being the passive fighter that is the "Illusionist". Making enemies kill each other with Frenzy and Command spells is fun.
 

Stranger of Sorts

Individual #472
Aug 23, 2009
1,227
0
0
ironduke88 said:
A good review definately hit all the major ups and downs of the game. However there was one thing that I really really didnt enjoy about Oblivion and was how easy it was to break the game. Objects like the skeleton key made certain skills and playing the game in certain ways superfluous. I have to say that personally the extremely clunky melee combat and the complete lack of interest in the main quest made this an average game at best for me...
I don't think the Skeleton Key broke the game per-say. Lock picking isn't exactly challenging, even with a low security skill. But as I've said, the melee combat was a pretty big problem but I quite liked the fact that the story isn't that important.

Always_Remain said:
Dragon Age had better lore/story and I actually cared about the characters. Oblivion? Everyone is a lifeless shell of a person and the lore/story makes me want to sleep.

Sorry, I guess staying up til 4 in the morning makes me a dick. On a side note It is quite fun dicking around in Oblivion more so then Fallout 3. I'll give it that.

Wow this post makes like 5% sense. I should go to sleep.
Yes, the lore in DA:O was pretty good, but the story was far too Lord of the Rings-y, and the game has a lot worse faults, namely the combat. Good night.
 

Stranger of Sorts

Individual #472
Aug 23, 2009
1,227
0
0
Onyx Oblivion said:
It indeed does encourage focused classes, but Fallout 3 basically said Small Guns and Lockpicking or bust. Actively punishing players who didn't walk out of the vault and use Small Guns. Hell, I was level 8 when I found my first decent energy weapon (ex, not the stupid pistol). And level 6 when I found my first Minigun. It did encourage melee, though. Giving you the powerful Baseball Bat at the very start. Which was nice!

But still, after 3,500+ hours in Oblivion, I've done it all. And all types of characters are playable, except pure non-stealth, non-alchemy archers. My favorite being the passive fighter that is the "Illusionist". Making enemies kill each other with Frenzy and Command spells is fun.
Everyone I knew chose to max the Small Guns, Repair and Speech skills first (you can get 400 caps by passing a speech check right near the beginning). After that it was Lockpicking and Energy Weapons then you're good to go.

But a pure non-stealth, non-alchemy archer would be almost impossible, yes. Personally I favoured the rogue route (stealth, marksman, blade, alteration, alchemy + a random skill then + restoration because that's sort of a must have) and found the most fun to be had with that. Though I found pure mages to be way too powerful, to the point where it's boring.
 

Onyx Oblivion

Borderlands Addict. Again.
Sep 9, 2008
17,032
0
0
Stranger of Sorts said:
Though I found pure mages to be way too powerful, to the point where it's boring.
That's why I tried stuff like the Illusionist. Fun to play. Go try it now!

Race: High Elf

Birthsign: The Mage

Skills: Illusion (DUH)
Conjuration (MOAR PASSIVE FIGHTING)
Alteration
Restoration
Mysticism
Sneak (to hide in the shadows, and Frenzy enemies without them seeing you, since Frenzy is much cheaper than a command spells, and they won't be right behind you when it wears off, too)
Destruction. (Just in case. :) You never know.)

Illusion Spells cost a rather hefty amount of magicka if you want decent duration. And you'll need money, so do what you must to get it. Custom spells are the Bread and Butter of illusionists. Get up in the Mage's Guild, or get the 2k gold for the Wizard's Tower candles.



And thanks for reminding me of Speech and Repair as basically requirements in FO3., too. Well, repair at least.
 

Stranger of Sorts

Individual #472
Aug 23, 2009
1,227
0
0
carpathic said:
Great review, thanks!
No problem, thanks for commenting.

Onyx Oblivion said:
Stranger of Sorts said:
Though I found pure mages to be way too powerful, to the point where it's boring.
That's why I tried stuff like the Illusionist. Fun to play. Go try it now!

Race: High Elf

Birthsign: The Mage

Skills: Illusion (DUH)
Conjuration (MOAR PASSIVE FIGHTING)
Alteration
Restoration
Mysticism
Sneak (to hide in the shadows, and Frenzy enemies without them seeing you, since Frenzy is much cheaper than a command spells, and they won't be right behind you when it wears off, too)
Destruction. (Just in case. :) You never know.)
Sounds great, I'll be back when I've enslaved all of Cyrodill. I may switch Destruction with something else to stop me going all power-hungry with the fireballs and the lightning and the *galvin*.
 

Onyx Oblivion

Borderlands Addict. Again.
Sep 9, 2008
17,032
0
0
Stranger of Sorts said:
carpathic said:
Great review, thanks!
No problem, thanks for commenting.

Onyx Oblivion said:
Stranger of Sorts said:
Though I found pure mages to be way too powerful, to the point where it's boring.
That's why I tried stuff like the Illusionist. Fun to play. Go try it now!

Race: High Elf

Birthsign: The Mage

Skills: Illusion (DUH)
Conjuration (MOAR PASSIVE FIGHTING)
Alteration
Restoration
Mysticism
Sneak (to hide in the shadows, and Frenzy enemies without them seeing you, since Frenzy is much cheaper than a command spells, and they won't be right behind you when it wears off, too)
Destruction. (Just in case. :) You never know.)
Sounds great, I'll be back when I've enslaved all of Cyrodill. I may switch Destruction with something else to stop me going all power-hungry with the fireballs and the lightning and the *galvin*.
How about Hand to Hand? For that "Last Resort" feeling.
 

Phoenix1213

New member
Sep 2, 2009
84
0
0
I find the lack of the word "mod" in this topic disturbing... well I guess the game box image is of the PS3 version, but I still expected at east a reply with the word. :)

Mods were definitely the biggest appeal for me when it came to Oblivion. Without them the world is rather empty, most quests are boring/generic, and not mention all the other significant flaws like the psychic guards and horrible leveling system.

Still a decent game though, I spent quite a bit of time on it even before I got mods.
 

Stranger of Sorts

Individual #472
Aug 23, 2009
1,227
0
0
Onyx Oblivion said:
How about Hand to Hand? For that "Last Resort" feeling.
In the end it went to blade for the stabby-stabby feeling with a dagger if they get too close.

Phoenix1213 said:
I find the lack of the word "mod" in this topic disturbing... well I guess the game box image is of the PS3 version, but I still expected at east a reply with the word. :)

Mods were definitely the biggest appeal for me when it came to Oblivion. Without them the world is rather empty, most quests are boring/generic, and not mention all the other significant flaws like the psychic guards and horrible leveling system.

Still a decent game though, I spent quite a bit of time on it even before I got mods.
As you noticed I played the game on PS3, as I do with all games so I have never played a game with mods. I don't know why you use the words "boring" and "generic" because really that is the opposite of what most quests on the game are. Pretty much all the Dark Brotherhood and Thieves Guild quests are pretty special, especially the former.
 

Heart of Darkness

The final days of His Trolliness
Jul 1, 2009
9,745
0
0
Stranger of Sorts said:
I think what I should have done here is write it as rag tag one-off requests so it's easier to understand. The problem is I have a very oratory writing style so things like this are always popping up.
Oratory or not, I still have no idea what you mean by "one-off." The closest I could guess was "one of the," as that was the only thing that made sense to me. By any chance, is this phrase common around where you live?

Similarly here, this was meant to represent a chain of thought, I have it clear in my head of what it should sound like but again, it obviously didn't transpose too well. I think it would work better if I used "..."'s (I forget the word for them) instead, therefore there is a pause between them but each section runs along into the next.
I would be careful about using the ellipses, as they make your thoughts feel unfinished...

Which is something you kinda want to avoid. I'd suggest either merging your thoughts, or removing them when you proofread before you publish. Which was a question I forgot to ask last time: do you proofread these before you publish, or do you publish them as is?
 

Stranger of Sorts

Individual #472
Aug 23, 2009
1,227
0
0
Heart of Darkness said:
[
Oratory or not, I still have no idea what you mean by "one-off." The closest I could guess was "one of the," as that was the only thing that made sense to me. By any chance, is this phrase common around where you live?
It is, it means one of a kind. So a one-off request would mean you would do that quest but not be asked to do another one.

I would be careful about using the ellipses, as they make your thoughts feel unfinished...

Which is something you kinda want to avoid. I'd suggest either merging your thoughts, or removing them when you proofread before you publish. Which was a question I forgot to ask last time: do you proofread these before you publish, or do you publish them as is?
Proofreading is usually minimal, every paragraph or so I read what I've done to make sure everything fits together but otherwise I only browse for mistakes at the end of writing.
 

Heart of Darkness

The final days of His Trolliness
Jul 1, 2009
9,745
0
0
Stranger of Sorts said:
Heart of Darkness said:
[
Oratory or not, I still have no idea what you mean by "one-off." The closest I could guess was "one of the," as that was the only thing that made sense to me. By any chance, is this phrase common around where you live?
It is, it means one of a kind. So a one-off request would mean you would do that quest but not be asked to do another one.
...Yeah, never would have guessed that. Slang might be something else to avoid, as not all of us come from the UK...

Just a thought.

I would be careful about using the ellipses, as they make your thoughts feel unfinished...

Which is something you kinda want to avoid. I'd suggest either merging your thoughts, or removing them when you proofread before you publish. Which was a question I forgot to ask last time: do you proofread these before you publish, or do you publish them as is?
Proofreading is usually minimal, every paragraph or so I read what I've done to make sure everything fits together but otherwise I only browse for mistakes at the end of writing.
That's something else I'd recommend doing: make proofreading a more involved process at the end. If you're reading with a critical eye for mistakes and problems with flow, your writing will vastly improve--not only post-proofread, but pre-proofread, too. You'll definitely see an increase in your quality of writing if you spend more time to polish the first draft, or determine if you need to scrap it entirely and start again.

Of course, doing it will take extra time on your part--time you may not have--but it's something to consider on your end.
 

Stranger of Sorts

Individual #472
Aug 23, 2009
1,227
0
0
Heart of Darkness said:
That's something else I'd recommend doing: make proofreading a more involved process at the end. If you're reading with a critical eye for mistakes and problems with flow, your writing will vastly improve--not only post-proofread, but pre-proofread, too. You'll definitely see an increase in your quality of writing if you spend more time to polish the first draft, or determine if you need to scrap it entirely and start again.

Of course, doing it will take extra time on your part--time you may not have--but it's something to consider on your end.
I will definitely do that for this series as I try to make the "It's About Time" ones a bit more polished (and usually longer) than my other reviews, doing it for all of my reviews however, may take some of the fun out of it.

Heart of Darkness said:
...Yeah, never would have guessed that. Slang might be something else to avoid, as not all of us come from the UK...
I never realised it was slang, the term has been around for as long as I can remember and everyone uses it so I assumed it was an international saying.
 

Heart of Darkness

The final days of His Trolliness
Jul 1, 2009
9,745
0
0
Stranger of Sorts said:
Heart of Darkness said:
That's something else I'd recommend doing: make proofreading a more involved process at the end. If you're reading with a critical eye for mistakes and problems with flow, your writing will vastly improve--not only post-proofread, but pre-proofread, too. You'll definitely see an increase in your quality of writing if you spend more time to polish the first draft, or determine if you need to scrap it entirely and start again.

Of course, doing it will take extra time on your part--time you may not have--but it's something to consider on your end.
I will definitely do that for this series as I try to make the "It's About Time" ones a bit more polished (and usually longer) than my other reviews, doing it for all of my reviews however, may take some of the fun out of it.
As I said, the more you do it, the better your writing will become all around. Starting with the longer ones would probably be a good idea.

Heart of Darkness said:
...Yeah, never would have guessed that. Slang might be something else to avoid, as not all of us come from the UK...
I never realised it was slang, the term has been around for as long as I can remember and everyone uses it so I assumed it was an international saying.
I guess then that's excusable. Just be careful around phrases that really don't mean what they say (or words that don't exist in your dictionary/mean what the dictionary definition means).
 

Stranger of Sorts

Individual #472
Aug 23, 2009
1,227
0
0
Heart of Darkness said:
As I said, the more you do it, the better your writing will become all around. Starting with the longer ones would probably be a good idea.

...

I guess then that's excusable. Just be careful around phrases that really don't mean what they say (or words that don't exist in your dictionary/mean what the dictionary definition means).
Thanks for the feedback, it will all go into the next review. Cheers.
 

Heart of Darkness

The final days of His Trolliness
Jul 1, 2009
9,745
0
0
Stranger of Sorts said:
Heart of Darkness said:
As I said, the more you do it, the better your writing will become all around. Starting with the longer ones would probably be a good idea.

...

I guess then that's excusable. Just be careful around phrases that really don't mean what they say (or words that don't exist in your dictionary/mean what the dictionary definition means).
Thanks for the feedback, it will all go into the next review. Cheers.
No problem. Remember, I am here to be a chainsaw, so that I may make your reviews multi-faceted and brilliant. So if anything came out as hyper-critical, I apologize, but that's just my "job."
 

Stranger of Sorts

Individual #472
Aug 23, 2009
1,227
0
0
Heart of Darkness said:
No problem. Remember, I am here to be a chainsaw, so that I may make your reviews multi-faceted and brilliant. So if anything came out as hyper-critical, I apologize, but that's just my "job."
No, if anything it's a great thing. I wish everyone would tear into my reviews with constructive feedback since then I'd be shot out the other end of the machine as some kind of "super-reviewer". Ah... I can dream at least.
 

Heart of Darkness

The final days of His Trolliness
Jul 1, 2009
9,745
0
0
Stranger of Sorts said:
Heart of Darkness said:
No problem. Remember, I am here to be a chainsaw, so that I may make your reviews multi-faceted and brilliant. So if anything came out as hyper-critical, I apologize, but that's just my "job."
No, if anything it's a great thing. I wish everyone would tear into my reviews with constructive feedback since then I'd be shot out the other end of the machine as some kind of "super-reviewer". Ah... I can dream at least.
As long as it's not a cannon, I can get behind that. Although being shot out of a cannon could be rather fun...