The Escapist: "Hearthfire does have a couple fun new features to play around with, but home building and child rearing just isn't interactive enough to feel genuinely personal."
Replaying Skyrim after 13 years is a reminder of the progress made in western RPGs over the last decade, but also what's been lost.
RPGs are often huge, sprawling endeavours. With limited playtime, we have to choose wisely, so here's the best western RPGs available today.
"I started playing games yesterday" the List... Meh!
How about a few RPGs that deserve some love instead?
1 - Alpha Protocol - Now on GOG
2 - else Heart.Break()
3 - Shadowrun Trilogy
4 - Wasteland 2
5 - UnderRail
6 - Tyranny
7 - Torment: Tides of Numenera
And for a bonus game that flew under the radar:
8 - Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden
Not only glorious jank, but the idea that the story can completely change depending on what you do, or say, or side with, makes it one of the most forward thinking games ever. The amount of story permutation is the equivalent of a Hitman level but in Story Form. And it wasn't just that the story changed, no, it was that you met completely new characters, or missed them, depending on your choices. Made Mass Effect feel static in comparison.
Alpha Protocol was absolutely glorious, indeed. And it was, and still is, more Next Gen than most anything out there these days. In this regard at least.
Pity.
A new Partner Spotlight Sale is now live on the Switch eShop, including Skyrim, lowest price ever for Bomb Rush Cyberfunk, and more.
I was really let down by Dawnguard and Hearthfire just sounds really dull from what people have been saying.
What made Bethesda DLC expansions (note "expansions") great in other titles were the new vast areas to explore, the boundless new weapons, enemies and plots etc.
All the Skyrim DLC so far has been a huge amount of Meh, and after the disappointment of Dawnguard and being f**ked over £40 on my inital PS3 copy, i won't be supporting Skyrim any further, or possibly Bethesda products altogether.
That company have seriously snowballed downhill for me late in this gen.