Poll: The best at medieval fantasy lore

[Grouchy Imp_v1legacy]

Elder Scrolls by far.

They dont do much with it in the games, but just head over to UESP (google it) and read some of the lore. Shits amazing. Some of it will blow your mind.

They're all the same as far as I'm concerned.

...

Urg, so very sick of fifth generation Tolkien rip-offs.

*****, you better read the teachings of Vivec and wrap your head around CHIM before you talk shit about TES lore. Orcs exist and dwarfs existed, but thats where the similarities end.

Lore that isn't actually in the game doesn't count, you know that right?

OT: I'd have to say Bethesda. Because at least they're trying to break away from the "THERE ARE THREE CLASSES AND ALWAYS WILL BE" method of thinking. Hell, dwarves aren't even a thing.

Oh, or Black Isle.

But all of this lore:

<a href=http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Daggerfall:Books>Daggerfall
<a href=http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Morrowind:Books>Morrowind
<a href=http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Oblivion:Books>Oblivion
<a href=http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Books>Skyrim

does exist in-game, including the teachings of Vivec and the secret of CHIM. Plus all of that is just the literary lore that exists in the games, more background on NIRN can be gained by speaking to characters too.

OT: I reckon Bethesda (surprise), simply for the sheer volume of literary lore available in-game. With a lot of games the lore and setting is explained as the player progresses through the main campaign, but with TES whilst a goodly amount of lore is revealed through quest completion there are entire libraries of lore that a player can uncover without so much as, say, delivering a package to Balmora. The keys to understanding the game worlds are placed in the game worlds themselves, not doled out in cutscenes by NPCs. The player can uncover as much or as little as they like about the background of NIRN and so tailor their gaming experience to their tastes, and at their own pace too.

 

[shimyia]

i personally like (nerd love) the Warcraft 3 lore/universe ...

it's got some of the most memorable characters in gameing. The overall journeys, even the loading screens contain lore and a map of the surroundings(not only just showing off the destination but also unrelated towns and such.

The no good, no evil, just choices (which thankfully aren't in the player's hands) and the insane amount of conversions and transitions of sides and mistunderstood actions and...
it's just the best story/lore ever.


(my favourite game is PoP: SoT though)

 

[gigastar]

To me, the one great medieval fantasy lore is Tolkien's Middle-Earth.

Though certain games have been kind of failing to properly transmit this out of the books. At least the movies are still great. Well, the movies so far.

 

[JSDodd]

I think that Bethesda is the best at creating expansive believable and dynamic universes but that Bioware is better at creating believable, realistic feeling sympathetic characters.

 

[Vhite]

IMO lore of TES games is very realistic and boring. Bioware makes better lore for sci-fi and Blizzard makes better fantasy so I got to say Blizzard.

 

[riverblue]

They're all the same as far as I'm concerned.

...

Urg, so very sick of fifth generation Tolkien rip-offs.

Actually mate i'm pretty sure Tolkien ripped of Bethesda

 

[Joccaren]

Eh.
Bethesda... In game there ain't a ton of lore to be said. Well, not entirely true. There is a lot of lore, but very generic and only half baked, until you read wikis. IMO, no reading of a wiki should be required for detailed lore.
DA is hugely generic, but Origins did it very well. Detail is in the game, and can be gained both by talking to people and by reading the codex. IMO, its the most real feeling fantasy world due to all this.
Warcraft plays off every fantasy cliché in the book. On top of that, it just doesn't feel serious, which makes it feel that much less real. Diablo... Never played it.
Out of this lot, Bioware. Out of all... IDK.

 

[Gali]

I vote for Blizzard. Though I don't like in which direction the Warcraft lore goes since WoW, I really enjoy Diablo's. This Heaven/Hell conflict may not be the most original idea, but I still prefer it over the Dragon Age and Elder Scrolls universes. I kinda like... dark fantasy or how it's called. The only downside is, most of it is only mentioned through the novels (e.g. the Sin War trilogy). I'm excited how much background information we get with Diablo 3 or if they will mention stuff from the books.

 

[repeating integers]

Eh.
Bethesda... In game there ain't a ton of lore to be said. Well, not entirely true. There is a lot of lore, but very generic and only half baked, until you read wikis. IMO, no reading of a wiki should be required for detailed lore.

Indeed. This, IMO, is where Tolkein failed (alright, so appendix =/= wiki, but close enough). However, Skyrim is actually chock full of books you can choose to read within the game which provide detailed background information, as well as NPCs you can talk to.

On my first exposure to TES lore, I'm liking it. I haven't played Dragon Age, and Warcraft? Seriously? So TES gets my vote.

 

[Thyunda]

I vote Bethesda. I was reading a history book on the Vikings, and the way Bethesda create their lore - well, you could have replaced everything in the Vikings book with Elder Scrolls-created characters and events, and it would still have been as thick, as interesting AND as believable.
Tolkien's elves are superior to humans in practically every way. Bethesda's elves are vile, abhorrent little shits with a superiority complex. Elves are universally admired in Middle-Earth. Elves are abhorrent little shits with a superiority complex on Nirn. Tolkien's elves are mysterious, wise and powerful beings living in grand buildings in picturesque locations. Bethesda's elves are abhorrent little shits with a superiority complex living in abhorrent little cesspools that they assure me are beautiful.

Windhelm is the only place to treat those elves properly. Not those other places that let them run free and frolic. Fucking things. I swear, if there were no elves in the Elder Scrolls, everybody would live happily ever after. Humans may be greedy, clumsy apes who accidentally open dimensional rifts and destroy their world, but elves? Elves do that shit on purpose.

 

[TheRightToArmBears]

TES, the lore has a ridiculous amount of depth. Admittedly I wasn't a fan of adding dragons so prominently into the lore with Skyrim, but it's still a brilliant load of work for a game series.

 

[Jamacus]

For me, it's Bioware. While Bethesda has the most assessable lore, this is due to the benefit of an open world, filled with so many quests. It gives them the opportunity to show the lore off.

In contrast, by focusing on tight narrative and deep characters, Dragon Age limits itself. It has good law that often cannot really be accessed besides snippets of information. The law given in game must have some relevance to the particular quest you are on, continuing the idea of condensed, well developed and focused game play. Bethesda lacks this focus. I haven't played any blizzard game, so I'm in no position to discuss.

 

[nokori3byo]

For me, Bioware's lore just winds up being a fantasy take on what I'd call The Bioware Monomyth: there's some sort of vast, encroaching darkness threatening all that's good and you, the hero, must assemble a band of allies to cock block the apocalypse. Don't get me wrong, I love Bioware, but their games have really begun to resemble each other.

I like Bethesda's lore. I think it does a pretty good job of setting itself apart from the standard fantasy setting. However, I would agree that lack of focus on character development and a tight, compelling story often makes makes it feel a bit distant, as though the PC were watching the whole thing through a layer of plexiglass.

 

[Jaeke]

Bethesda is so unimaginably sparse and diverse in their univeres its mind-blowing.

 

[The Funslinger]

Elder Scrolls by far.

They dont do much with it in the games, but just head over to UESP (google it) and read some of the lore. Shits amazing. Some of it will blow your mind.

They're all the same as far as I'm concerned.

...

Urg, so very sick of fifth generation Tolkien rip-offs.

*****, you better read the teachings of Vivec and wrap your head around CHIM before you talk shit about TES lore. Orcs exist and dwarfs existed, but thats where the similarities end.

Lore that isn't actually in the game doesn't count, you know that right?

OT: I'd have to say Bethesda. Because at least they're trying to break away from the "THERE ARE THREE CLASSES AND ALWAYS WILL BE" method of thinking. Hell, dwarves aren't even a thing.

Oh, or Black Isle.

I should point out, all the Elder Scrolls lore IS in game. It's just out of the way. Reward explorers, y'know?

 

[Woodsey]

I consider the matter of "Best" as a matter of opinion.

Well... yeah.

They're all the same as far as I'm concerned.

...

Urg, so very sick of fifth generation Tolkien rip-offs.

*****, you better read the teachings of Vivec and wrap your head around CHIM before you talk shit about TES lore. Orcs exist and dwarfs existed, but thats where the similarities end.

Eh, everything I've seen about the TES setting and lore was generic piffle.

Pseudo-medieval Europe land, high tech underground dwarves, long-eared elves who live in forests and like bows, rich stately arrogant elves who like magic, fire-breathing dragons, magic that consists of light coming out of people hands, 'The Empire', fierce warlike orcs with a honour schtick, anthropomorphic people... blah-de-fucking-blah.

In short, this is a dance that I have done many times before. Y'know, like in damn near every fantasy game ever.

"Pseudo-medieval Europe land"

Uhh... Morrowind?

"high tech underground dwarves"

The dwarves in LotR are good builders, not really the same thing.

"fire-breathing dragons"

Some, but there's more to it than just "there are dragons".

"'The Empire'"

Oh no! A form of government!

OT: Out of those three? Its really just a toss up between Dragon AgeOrigins) and TES. A real competition for me would scrap Blizzard and include The Witcher instead.

 

[Marcus Kehoe]

Gameplay bethesda
Story/ lore bioware
RP elements blizzaed

 

[Seventh Actuality]

Going to say Dragon Age first for a distinctive, understated and internally consistent setting, followed by Blizzard second for mixing interesting ideas with a lack of coherency and poor storytelling and Elder Scrolls a dismal last, because my only problem with Skyrim was that the world and the people who populated it were so fucking boring.

 

[MrLumber]

None of the above? I'd vote From Software, but hey I'll admit that Demon's Souls is not entirely medieval.

I guess in context though, Blizzard and Bethesda shouldn't really be up there :| (Although as you probably guessed I'm not a huge fan of Bioware)

 

[Kenjitsuka]

Bestheda. But Blizzard goes WAY beyond them, making their OWN universe.

So Blizz is #1 imho, despite Bethesda being better at realizing the standard stuff!