When Todd Howard came out on stage at the VGA's last year the nerd's of the world had their hearts skip a beat when The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim was announced. We were teased with 15 minute gameplay demos, small morsels of information gathered in both formal and informal manners. But Skyrim is here and it is a fantastic game... the problem is that Bethesda has repeated the same mistake that they have been known for this console generation.
When starting out Skyrim Elder Scrolls fans know what to expect, you are on your way to your own execution and are then presented with a character creation screen. The character creation system is so vast with multiple races from Khajiit's to Dark Elves. I decided to play as a Dark Elf, hoping to develop my skills by raising my majicka and learning new shouts. I wanted to join the Dark Brotherhood, harass the towns people, become a werewolf. I wanted to marry a girl local to Whiterun and then settle down once I defeated Alduin: The world eating dragon. That is what I love about Skyrim. I had the power to carve my own path, to create my own narrative. It's something Bethesda has truly shown that they have mastered this art of creating games in which the player can truly make their own tale.
The gameplay in Skyrim depends on how you want to play. Do you want to be an archer, taking out enemies from a distance? You can do it. Do you want to be the soldier type, rushing in with two swords... hacking and slashing your way to victory? You can do it. Do you want to be a stealthy Khajiit assassin? You can do it. The gameplay variation is almost endless in Skyrim. However, the great thing is that you are not bound by choices that you make like in other RPG's. Did you get tired of shooting spells from your hands? You can swap out and become a brute. Skyrim is a game with no restriction's in player choice. This game was designed for you, and you decide how the game goes.
But I still have not even talked about what else makes Skyrim so great, the music that ramps up during every encounter. The intense battles with dragons that are filled with tension and excitement. I still have not fully talked about everything this game has to offer, as I can not as I feel that it is a task to impossible to accomplish as there is so much content.
That is why it is so hard to review a game like Skyrim, as you feel like you can't review the game until you hit that 100% complete, in fear that you are missing something out. I have spent approximately 80 hours playing Skyrim, and I know what many are thinking while reading this review. HOW CAN YOU REVIEW THIS GAME WITH SUCH LITTLE PLAY TIME? Well the truth is Skyrim won't let me play it anymore.
This is because I decided to buy Skyrim on the PS3. And this is where Bethesda has ruined this game. Many people may have heard of the 6mb save problem players on the ps3 are having. I am one of those people afflicted by this problem. My experience with Skyrim is no longer as incredible as the moment I put that disk in the slot. Now it is a jagged, slow, irritating version of its former self. I believed an editor at Gamesradar said it best "Watch the Skyrim gameplay trailer and pause every two seconds for an accurate representation of Skyrim on PS3" The framerate has dropped so much, that I honestly can not play this game anymore. This really makes me wonder why Bethesda struggles so much when making games for PS3. Fallout 3, New Vegas, and in some cases Oblivion have all had this trouble as the PS3 versions are filled with bugs and problems, that make the game virtually unplayable. And this sucks to as I was waiting for a long time for this game, excited for it to release, but I am saddened that Bethesda has made this same mistake. I though that things would have changed, but I was wrong. This is honestly my saddest experience in gaming as Skyrim on PS3 is incredibly broken and we honestly have no clue if Bethesda is going to fix this problem on the PS3 or not. We know that a patch is incoming on Thanksgiving time in America, but will it fix the gameplay problems Skyrim has?
Skyrim is an incredible game, no one should think otherwise, but Bethesda needs to stop making PS3 gamers feel like they got bent over. I would not have minded waiting for Skyrim, If Bethesda did a similar move like Bioware did for Mass Effect 2 and properly make the game run for all consoles equally. But they did not. If you are planning on buying Skyrim, I strongly recommend you buy it for the PC or 360.
Bethesda, your games are amazing, but please you have to start showing some equality towards all gamers, in order for one side to not feel like they were cheated out of a fantastic game. In the meantime, Skyrim sits on my shelf, waiting for one day for Bethesda to fix this problem on the PS3. Im even considering selling it back in order to get a PC copy of the game. This is truly one of the saddest moments in gaming history
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.
The freedom to explore large areas, approach objectives in multiple ways, and stumble across amusing distractions will always be an excellent format for video games, but some do it better than others. To celebrate the formula and parse the best from the best, have a look at the best open-world games of all time so far.
Score should be minimum 9.5 since the sub scores are minimum 9.5
I agree man. I'm about 70hrs. in on Skyrim PS3, and I can't play it anymore :(
the Fps is horrible even when I'm just doing nothing .So when I fight any type of enemy or walk into a town in Skyrim the game is unplayable because of how the game pretty much stops because of how low the Fps goes.
I wish this game would get patched!! The game is sooo awesome, but the bugs ruin it. I guess its back to MGS HD collection,Saints row 3 and some BF3 till Skyrim gets patched..
I've put in more than 95 hours for Skyrim on my PS3 and my save file is currently at 12mb. I'm only getting low fps when I leave my PS3 on for 6 hours straight playing it.
Good choice to score it like this. I have exactly the same problem with Battlefield 3: great game for me but mic bug is a total game breaker as I can't talk to my squad. I've stopped playing it until they fix it (if they fix it). That means wasted money, that means I was deceived. That actually means they broke law selling me a faulty game. If you buy a broken TV, you go and return it. Why not games? We need to start voicing our customer concerns to game companies. If you can't make a game for a platform, don't. Or hire more skilled people. Or betatesters. Or whatever. I don't care because it's you, devs, who gets the money. If you promise but won't deliver, I'll call you cheaters and thieves until you stop.
You guys are crazy
the games fine.
I'd be surprised if there wasn't ANY slowdown(I don't get as much as most I guess)
the only real problem I see is that the textures were condensed for 360. 5.5 gigs? really???
REALLY???
this should be at least a 8 gig install and it shows