Poll: The Elder Scrolls vs. Fallout

[Mr.PlanetEater]

Judging them by their old school games, Elder Scrolls just because I played Arena and Daggerfall a before I played Fallout 2. Judging them by their new school games, Fallout because New Vegas was a wonderful game that actually felt like Fallout; plus I never sunk as much time into Skyrim as I did the Mojave and the DLC is just so well written.

As a series on the whole, I would say they're pretty much even. Fallout provides excellent narrative and deep characters--both in the NPCs and PCs--four out of the five games (Tactics <3); while TES provides an excellent world with really interesting lore and, in the case of Morrowind, really unique plays on the High-Fantasy genre.

Choices are hard.

FAUX-EDIT: SPECIAL is modified GURPS and I love GURPS, so perhaps Fallout really does have a slight edge in my mind. Then again Arena and Daggerfall were essentially DnD on the PC...

 

[Vorpal_Smilodon]

MarsAtlas bring up a good point - I prefer the pair of Fallout 3/NV over the combo of Oblivion/Skyrim. I couldn't get into Morrowind or Fallout 2 - I remember one being way too hard and the other being aimless walking around cities, no idea where I'm supposed to go.

 

[Bioluminescence]

I'm giving the edge to Fallout. I love playing Elder Scrolls games, but for whatever reason the characters don't have the emotional weight for me that characters in Fallout do.

 

[Maxtro]

Hmm, it seems that most of the people that like Fallout the most don't care for Fallout 3 which is funny because it's the only one that Bethesda actually made.

While I did enjoy Fallout 3 and New Vegas, I loved Morrowind, Oblivion and Skyrim. The Elder Scrolls games have so much potential and I just wish that Bethesda would see how far they can push things. Basically we've seen enough of the human lands, I want to see what else is out there.

 

[BathorysGraveland2]

Before I put down an answer, does Fallout 1 & 2 count in this poll? Or is just Fallout 3?

 

[irok]

New vegas > skyrim, they were about even before that to me, skyrim is just painfully casual.

 

[waj9876]

Meh, I prefer swords and sorcery kinds of games over futuristic shooters. (No matter if that futuristic shooter is about a wasteland where technology hasn't advanced in the slightest and people are worshiping atom bombs as gods.)

I also prefer swords, magic, and bows and arrows to any kind of guns or other melee weapon.

 

[DishonoredElderSouls]

I'm not going to vote on this poll, as I really dislike having to choose one. I personally feel that out of all of the games from either of these series, Obsidian's New Vegas had the most balance, options, and overall depth. However, Oblivion provides one of the most remarkable and beautiful settings ever seen in video gaming. I would say that Oblivion and New Vegas are on near-equal footing, but Fallout as a series is overall more notable, while The Elder Scrolls is more notable for having loads of potential and visual/lore-based wonder that, should it really be applied well, would allow it to easily smoke Fallout.

 

[endtherapture]

New Vegas > Skyrim > Oblivion > Fallout 3.

 

[JetFury]

Elder scrolls lore is so rich. I feel they could have done more with skyrim. Or at least pick a more interesting region...

 

[Wesley Brannock]

I hate games that give a " magic " or " fantasy " theme to them. Elder Scrolls is little more then an extension to the whole Dungeons And Dragons theme / cliche that has grown tiresome. Though one could hardly call Fallout " original " it is original in the sense that it is a R.P.G that ISN'T a copy of the now Dungeons And Dragons theme / cliche that has flooded the market of R.P.G's. Yes there are a lot of post-apocalypse video games but out of those how many of them are R.P.G's ? I would guess not many. Besides Fallout allows for more immersion for the fact it's centered in the real world yes it's to an extreme but at least that extreme is somewhat on the level unlike Elder Scrolls.

 

[eimatshya]

I started playing both series in 1998, and Daggerfall and Redguard are the only TES games that I've ever been able to get really into. Fallout 1,2 and NV are some of my favorite games, however, and I enjoyed my playthrough of FO3.

As such, my preference is definitely for the Fallout Series. Fallout 1,2 and NV are filled with interesting characters that bring them alive and make them feel like virtual worlds. The Morrowind and Oblivion (I haven't played Skyrim, Arena, or Battlespire, so I can't comment on them) feel very... cardboard to me. There's no substance to them. Nothing to draw me in. I look around and think, "wow, I'm going to explore over there," but every time, I find nothing of interest. I just have no investment in the world or its inhabitants.

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

I prefer Fallout to Elder Scrolls. The classic fantasy genre doesn't really do it for me. I'm hoping against all odds the new Bethesda game will be a Fallout title that is heavily influenced by New Vegas.

 

[BrotherRool]

I prefer Fallout to Elder Scrolls. The classic fantasy genre doesn't really do it for me. I'm hoping against all odds the new Bethesda game will be a Fallout title that is heavily influenced by New Vegas.

I think it's very reasonable that the main plot will be much more like New Vegas. Skyrim was beginning to experiment with weaving factional politics into the main questline more than they did in Oblivion right? Skyrim spawned Imperial Legion vs Stormcloak threads in a way Oblivion didn't and there was a lot of emphasis on making those factions flawed and believable, in a way that Fallout 3 didn't. And that should make a fairly big difference to the game, because suddenly everything you do becomes more focused and intertwined with each other almost by default

I haven't got enough Elder Scrolls or Fallout 3 experience to know if they could consistently churn out Vault 11 small detail writing though.

 

[chozo_hybrid]

Why not a both option, because I love both and play them both for different reasons, themes and play styles.

 

[Evonisia]

Fallout is more interesting but I haven't liked a single game that I've played of it (that being 2, 3 and New Vegas). It's possibly just the fact that it depresses me too much to be in a post apocalyptic brown land, aside from the glitches.

I only like Oblivion of The Elder Scrolls, Morrowind was nearly there but it, too just depressed me too much and Skyrim was boring. I guess The Elder Scrolls wins by default in my books.

 

[Doom972]

I love the Fallout series more mainly because of the impact that Fallout 1 & 2 had on me as a gamer.

With that said, I'd rather that Bethesda will make another Elder Scrolls game and leave Fallout for Obsidian.

 

[Rob Robson]

wow, did not expect this result, really saddening. Fallout is fun and all but it's very narrow in scope of both plot and setting.

But I guess as a European I can't have nearly the same irrational love for it, being heavily about US nostalgia.

To me, Fallout is just a reskinned TES these days and the stories they tell and the "humour" bounce off me. Still solid games. Come to think of it, the cultural non-link might be part of why I hate BioShock too. (In addition to being completely on rails)

If you'd asked this question on a more non-US dominated website I'd bet you'd get 95% votes on TES.

 

[Sigmund Av Volsung]

Fallout, but that could be because I played both F:3 and F:NV, whilst the only Elder Scrolls game I played was Skyrim.

Also I think that the Fallout setting is more interesting than TES universe.

But then again, Sheogorath