Why is Skyrim popular?

[RastaBadger]

Because (and this applies to all Elder Scrolls games and not just Skyrim (proper Elder Scrolls games not Redguard and Battlespire)) they offer large open worlds with great immersion, large amounts of freedom, tonns of stuff to do and the occasional hilarious bug.
On top of that since Morrowind they have also included a large community of modders giving even more game for free.

 

[PiggyGamer]

I'm pretty sure this is a troll thread.
I, being a CONNOISSEUR of worthwhile gaming experiences, am delighted to discover that I greatly enjoy both Skyrim and Skyward Sword. Been playing Skyrim on and off since launch. Clocked maybe 40 hours in it, which is really just a sliver of the time it takes to see most of what the game has to offer.
While it's true that a certain blandness and repetitiveness starts to set in with TES V, there's still more variety in the dungeon crawling than Oblivion, and just the whole feel of it (menus, dialog options, skills and perks) is fun to experience, even after it becomes all too familiar.

I interpret my enjoyment of the newest Zelda in a similar way. I only started it a few days ago, and I'm just at the volcano (2nd dungeon), but it's been a fun experience so far. It's Zelda, so I know what I'm getting into for the most part. There's some newness in the art style and the feel of having Skyloft as a main hub, and the more standard quest-like structure with assignable waypoints and dowsing (much like map markers and the compass in Skyrim!) create a unique blend of familiarity and freshness, which, mixed with the consistent quality of Nintendo's first-party efforts, creates a thoroughly worthwhile experience.

In closing, people have these things called tastes and opinions, and they vary wildly throughout the population. Both of these games are "good", for similar and different reasons, and there's really no point in concluding a game is overhyped and overenjoyed(?) when you HAVEN'T PLAYED IT yet. So yeah.
Don't be hatin'.

 

[zenoaugustus]

I love Skyward Sword. (It may seem weird that the first paragraph of a thread has no apparent connection with its title, but bear with me.) It's beautiful, well-written and solid, and really pushes the Wii's hardware to its limit. It is a game that everyone deserves to get, and a game that would turn any graphics junkie or motion-control naysayers into followers of the Nintendo way.
It would, but for some reason, everyone seems to be ignoring it in favor of a completely different game.
Now I have not played this particular game yet, but from what I've heard about it, I'm not sure I want to. A sub-standard if not retarded script, bugs and glitches in every corner of the game, a completely broken and lazy PS3 port and gameplay mechanics that have been outclassed by so many games before it add up to a game that doesn't deserve the memetic status it holds.
I'm not saying it's bad. I'm saying its place in the hearts of everyone here... confuses me.
Which brings me to my question: How did this all start? What were people looking forward to in Skyrim, why did they even care about it, and why is "Arrow to the Knee" of all the lines in the game quoted and twisted like it's an untruthful cake?
tl;dr: Why is Skyrim popular?

First and foremost, how many consoles is Skyward Sword on? How many consoles is Skyrim on? And finally, how many Skyrim commercials did you see prior to its release? I don't think there were even a remotely similar number of advertisements for Skyward Sword. I think that should be a decent answer to your confusion as to why there is such a large disparity in popularity. A lot of times, it may not have as much to do with the actual game, so much as the exposure for it.

Secondly, please provide a few examples of how the script is "retarded"? How are the gameplay mechanics "outclassed" by other games? Otherwise, don't make claims you can't legitimately back up. I own the PS3 version, and while there are limitations at times, nothing is game breaking, nothing dissuades me from playing. I certainly wouldn't call the PS3 port "lazy". And I've played for over 130 hours.

I don't really understand your argument. It kind of sounds more like a biased complaint than anything else. But please, I would like to be proven wrong. I would like to hear why the script is "retarded" and the gameplay is "outclassed" by other games.

 

[ShindoL Shill]

maybe because they liked Oblivion.
and Bethesda improved it in skyrim.

 

[AlternatePFG]

It's a extremely hyped sequel to an already massively popular series, so no surprise for it being a huge sales success.

As for it being a great game? I dunno. I can admit it is a great game, but I don't like it nearly as much as other people seem to. I guess this is just because I didn't really like Oblivion either (Haven't played enough of Morrowind to say yet) but the game just feels so hollow. Like, it's big and stuff, but it gets really repetitive after awhile, the content feels like it's repeating itself, there isn't much depth or choice to any of the questlines and I just lose interest. The writing is also pretty damn bad in places, but that's just par for the course in a Bethesda game. Just personal opinion though.

As far as Skyward Sword, I haven't played it. I own it, but decided not to play it until I finished my current playthrough of Wind Waker and beat Twilight Princess again.

 

[count9]

It brought together: Graphics Junkies, epic RPG fans, sand box fans, mod community, people sick and tired of linear game play (not sandbox fans per se), MMO fans (have you tried hardest difficulty? It's definitely more grindy than MMOs). It also became one of the few games that doesn't hold your hand and let you read a damn wiki or fan site to figure out what everything means rather than dumb it down to you. It got rid of the absolutely terrible oblivion skill system for one that makes sense and streamlined crafting (thought not enough).

Skyrim is an insanely capable game. Yes, there are 1 million things wrong with it too (interface, map, bugs, repeating dialogue that breaks immersion to list a few), but if you only focus on the negatives even Half Life 2 or Ocarina of Time or w/e game is considered really top tier can look terrible.

Skyward sword is not that good, it's just another zelda game. I like zelda games, and I liked skyward sword, but it is definitely just another zelda game.

 

[Weaver]

protip: different people like different things.

I liked Skyward Sword and Skyrim. I also have major design complaints about each of them.

1) The dowsing in skyward sword is grindy, boring and irritating. It servers nothing more than to just pad things.

2) The UI in Skyrim is awful and Destruction magic needs massive, massive balance adjustments. Luckily mods are in the works.

 

[SextusMaximus]

Embarrassing excuse for thread. You haven't played it, and you're asking WHY it's popular?

Fantastic game, with an extensive, expensive marketing campaign.

 

[Tryforlive]

It is awesome cause it can hold me over until mass effect 3

 

[irishda]

How do you think I feel? I think LittleBigPlanet is one of the greatest games ever, but it might as well have been a new Madden game the attention it got on here. Some games are more popular with this community then others.

 

[djAMPnz]

A sub-standard if not retarded script, bugs and glitches in every corner of the game, a completely broken and lazy PS3 port and gameplay mechanics that have been outclassed by so many games before it add up to a game that doesn't deserve the memetic status it holds.

I like the script. I barely noticed any bugs or glitches. I play on Xbox, so PS3 port isn't an issue. And I think the gameplay mechanics are awesome. And if you don't like the meme, just ignore it.

I, like many, many others, love this game. It's totally immersive for me. I get absorbed in the world and my character and there seems to be an endless supply of things to do. If you play this game you need to a have a decent attention span as there is a lot to take in. There is an absolute plethora of information on any topic in the game (in game, that is) and many, many books to read. Just don't play it as you would a FPS, or play to "beat" the game. If you go into it that way you're totally missing the point.

Also, I don't have a Wii, but Skyward Sword does sound like it'd be pretty cool.

 

[Pyotr Romanov]

I think it's mostly because there's more to talk about in Skyrim than there is in Skyward Sword, as everybody has different adventures in that game due to its ridiculous amount of freedom.
I'd imagine a conversation between two fellow Skywarders to go a little something like this:
"Hey, I beat ... yesterday, did you beat...?"
"Oh yeah, I fought him last week, was good, wasn't it?"
"Yeah!"
"..."
"..."
"Oh, and the music was good"

When everyone experiences more or less the same thing, no matter how amazing said thing was, there won't ever be much to talk about. In the case of Skyrim, however, everybody plays different stories, characters, and partakes in different scenarios. Things like this [http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2011/11/21/skyrim-lydia-death/] happen, which other people might never experience. This is why Skyrim is such a beauty of a game, even with it's faults.
I'm sure Skyward Sword is an amazing game, though to be honest I never really cared much for Zelda games, but in terms of aftermath, it's hard to fight against something as open ended as Skyrim.

 

[Sexy Devil]

Umm... wait a second...

"Skyward Sword is so awesome!"
"Why do people like Skyrim?"

What exactly do these two things have to do with one another? Because I can't help but get the impression that you're sulky about the fact that people (or at least the people here) are talking about Skyrim instead of Zelda.

He kinda has a point. I remember around the time Skyrim came out, whenever someone made a post about some other new game, the general reaction was "Wait, this isn't Skyrim. Let's talk about Skyrim!"

 

[Chunga the Great]

Because people sometimes like things other people don't. And as for the glitches, I played on the 360 and expierenced ZERO glitches except for a few pathfinding errors (perfectly acceptible in my book)

 

[AyreonMaiden]

Speaking as someone who agrees 100% with the OP in that SS was leagues more fun than Skyrim...

Count in your hands how many possibilities are in SS compared to Skyrim. Can you role-play in Zelda? Can you convincingly tell your own tale? Can you roam free and watch a procedural world go about its business? Can you plunder one minute then dance on a table the next? Can you kill a whole village?

In Skyrim you can, and an assload more. In my 38 blissful hours with SS, I found no such possibilities and it is such things create discussion value because they vary from gamer to gamer. I feel you, being a Zelda fanboy who also wants to talk about SS, but facts is facts. Whether it's better or not is up for debate, but it is a stone cold fact that Skyrim is and does far more than Skyward Sword.

 

[similar.squirrel]

Jesus fucking Christ. The frequency with which questions like this pop up on these forums have led me to believe that a significant proportion of posters here are heroically shit-brained.

Because people like it. That's why. Read some reviews of any game, and you will find some positive points about said game. People like those.

 

[IamLEAM1983]

It seems to me like we've scared the OP off. Although, to be honest, I was about to quote the OP and respond with a simple picture of a man facepalming.

Asking "Why is Game X more popular than My Favorite Game of the Moment?" isn't what I'd call the brightest example of research. People have varying tastes, different strokes for different folks, and all that. It's the sort of question that comes with a painfully obvious answer.

I barely scratched the surface of Twilight Princess, whereas I'm wasting days away in Skyrim. Personal preferences at their finest. If you balk at that statement, OP, then I regret to inform you that I, as an individual with my own tastes, cannot find a kindred spirit or interesting character in a pointy-eared man-child with golden hair and oversized eyes whose entire lexicon can be resumed to variations on "SKANK!" and "SEIYAA!"

Does this mean that Skyward Sword is a bad game? No. Far from it. It only means I'm not interested in it.

 

[Kimarous]

I love Skyward Sword. (It may seem weird that the first paragraph of a thread has no apparent connection with its title, but bear with me.) It's beautiful, well-written and solid, and really pushes the Wii's hardware to its limit. It is a game that everyone deserves to get, and a game that would turn any graphics junkie or motion-control naysayers into followers of the Nintendo way.

It has horrible visual design, shits all over lore, has samey gameplay, and if that's pushing the Wii's hardware, it just goes to show what pathetic hardware the Wii has.

See, this kind of argument works both ways.

 

[Random Fella]

Because it's a vast world of explorable wonders and dangers, where one can jump in, and be sent to a completely different world.
A world with beautiful scenery and huge amounts of quests.