The Elder Scrolls

[Pike]

Let's talk about this series. It's a pretty great series. I love all the lore and such and how open-ended everything is. I'm currently playing through Morrowind and having a lot of fun!

[Quindiana Jones]

I don't want to make any extravagant claims, but it's safe to say that I am the greatest Elder Scrolls player that gaming consoles have ever seen.

[Slothy]

I don't want to make any extravagant claims, but it's safe to say that I am the greatest Elder Scrolls player that gaming consoles have ever seen.

Well if you're playing them on consoles then you're doing it wrong aren't you?

I've only played Oblivion so my opinion of the series isn't super high. Mind you I've heard from numerous sources that only playing Oblivion is probably the worst way to experience the series.

[NeoCracker]

Having played III, IV, and V I can safely say I have no Idea why this series is regarded as highly as it is.

I can appriciate a lot of what it does, but the praise these things get is boggling to me.

[Alpha2099]

I got Oblivion as a high school graduation present. I had never played an open world RPG before, and this game blew me away. Needless to say, there went my summer. Unfortunately, the laptop I had for school couldn't handle Oblivion, so to get my Elder Scrolls fix I backed up and got Morrowind. Loved that game too, but the technical gamer in me repeatedly pointed out things that were tedious/annoying/just plain stupid in Morrowind that Oblivion fixed up. It was, perhaps, the clearest case I found at the time of a game whose sequel fixed the mistakes of its predecessor and surpassed it in terms of quality. I love Morrowind and think it's a great game, but Oblivion is better.

And I haven't played Skyrim yet. I'm looking to fix that soon-ish.

[Laddy]

Actually, I find Oblivion to be quite mediocre and Skyrim underwhelming. Choice and freedom is great. But I care not for so many things to do if none of them are particularly interesting.

Morrowind and to a lesser extent, Daggerfall, were both highly enjoyable though.

[Quindiana Jones]

With each new installment, Bethesda add or change loads of things for the better, but remove considerably more. It's very upsetting.

[Clo]

I like to ride Shadowmere down waterfalls, brandishing my sword and killing elk. No bigz.

[escobert]

I've played III IV and V. I like Oblivion the best. Skyrim's cool and all but I just liked the feel of oblivion more. And Morrowind takes more thought and I guess perseverance to play

[Bunny]

I started another character on Skyrim to maybe finally beat it but I'm starting to get bored. The game is great, and I really do like it, but it is just so overwhelming with the amount of freedom that you have and the amount of things there are to do that it just becomes too much.

I'm going to try and keep going but who knows. I'll probably good bored as soon as a mage blasts my orc warrior to shreds.

[Jiro]

Morrowind is still probably my favourite. It's not quite as polished as the others but in terms of being absolutely incredible, it takes the cake. The map was huge and with the lack of quest markers you just had to live in this world if you wanted to get the most out of it. Truly amazing.

[Sephex]

I plan on playing Morrowind and Oblivion, but I have enjoyed my current run through Skyrim. I was late to the party on this series because I preferred Fallout. I keep stopping and starting every couple of months or so. Partially because I clear time for other games and partially because while I like it, I have grievances with the game.

[Madame Adequate]

I just spent half an hour writing a post explaining why Oblivion is a terrible game and it got deleted so smurf that noise, I'm just going to bulletpoint it.

• The fascinating setting of Morrowind was abandoned in favor of generic fantasy claptrap. Cyrodiil is actually the Roman Empire in a big jungle but screw that for some medieval forests!
• The leveling system is stupid and it means unless you plan and focus what you are doing you will gimp yourself.
• When you do level, the leveled lists are terrible and you will come across common bandits wearing armor worth more than a city.
• No, Todd Howard, a difficulty slider that adjusts damage taken and enemy HP does not make up for this
• The daedric invasion should be a complex, scary, fascinating event. Instead it's a few scripted battles and a bunch of generic, repetetive hellish dungeons. Outside of these there's absolutely no idea you're in the middle of a war between planes of existence, no threat that demons will spill out of someplace and force you to run back to the city, nothing at all except boars, goblins, and bandits demanding ONE MILLION HUNDRED SEPTIMS while wearing a suit of armor worth enough to let them retire to a beachfront manor.
• Daedra aren't supposed to be a bunch of mindless demons and you should be able to interact with them as individuals and factions in a parallel world.
• Ahahahaha what the hell is wrong with the speech options in this game.
• The combat is superficially improved thanks to active blocking and removing whiffs, but that and the addition of ragdolls isn't enough to make the game any more balanced or enjoyable in any underlying fashion.
• I ain't even touching the writing, quests, or plots, suffice it to say that you can approximate the same experience by feeding someone with diarrhea a spicy curry and waiting a few hours, then listening at the bathroom door.

In short Oblivion is a terrible game. Not a good game with flaws, not a decent game which simply fails to live up to its promise, a thoroughly broken, unenjoyable mess that I have no desire or inclination to ever play again.

[Quindiana Jones]

Your second point is incorrect, but the rest are pretty sound reasons.

[escobert]

I just spent half an hour writing a post explaining why Oblivion is a terrible game and it got deleted so smurf that noise, I'm just going to bulletpoint it.

• The fascinating setting of Morrowind was abandoned in favor of generic fantasy claptrap. Cyrodiil is actually the Roman Empire in a big jungle but screw that for some medieval forests!
• The leveling system is stupid and it means unless you plan and focus what you are doing you will gimp yourself.
• When you do level, the leveled lists are terrible and you will come across common bandits wearing armor worth more than a city.
• No, Todd Howard, a difficulty slider that adjusts damage taken and enemy HP does not make up for this
• The daedric invasion should be a complex, scary, fascinating event. Instead it's a few scripted battles and a bunch of generic, repetetive hellish dungeons. Outside of these there's absolutely no idea you're in the middle of a war between planes of existence, no threat that demons will spill out of someplace and force you to run back to the city, nothing at all except boars, goblins, and bandits demanding ONE MILLION HUNDRED SEPTIMS while wearing a suit of armor worth enough to let them retire to a beachfront manor.
• Daedra aren't supposed to be a bunch of mindless demons and you should be able to interact with them as individuals and factions in a parallel world.
• Ahahahaha what the hell is wrong with the speech options in this game.
• The combat is superficially improved thanks to active blocking and removing whiffs, but that and the addition of ragdolls isn't enough to make the game any more balanced or enjoyable in any underlying fashion.
• I ain't even touching the writing, quests, or plots, suffice it to say that you can approximate the same experience by feeding someone with diarrhea a spicy curry and waiting a few hours, then listening at the bathroom door.

In short Oblivion is a terrible game. Not a good game with flaws, not a decent game which simply fails to live up to its promise, a thoroughly broken, unenjoyable mess that I have no desire or inclination to ever play again.

most of these are common flaws with like every Bethesda game!