OnlySP: In a recent interview, Konrad Tomaszkiewicz uttered the most jimmy rustling sentence that I’ve ever heard spoken in regards to gaming. “Skyrim is generic.” The game director for the upcoming third installment of The Witcher series also claims that there is zero immersion into the world. Non player characters don’t respond the hero’s achievements and the quests in general were reused and fell into a repetitive rut.
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.
When I read the statement the person made, I just thought pot meet kettle, lol.
There is absolutely no need for him to go there. Bethesda, Love them or hate them, build the most detailed and believable worlds in gaming. I look forward to playing Konrad's game, but it really better be as good as he is trying to sell it as. If his game turns out to fail at being this great open world game, his credibility is at serious risk. I am really hoping it is as good as they are saying, because Witcher 2 was enjoyable and would have been great if it were in a truly open environment.
You can't say that Skyrim, as a whole, is generic because it's not. Not unless you want to credit Bethesda and the entire Elder Scrolls Series as being single-handedly responsible for creating the open-world Western RPG, and they aren't. You can say that PARTS of Skyrim are generic, but not the whole.
That being said, Konrad was right about character interaction, and the author of this piece obviously either didn't beat Skyrim or conclude the civil war for either side or else the author would have seen that there is no acknowledgement of either act upon completion of them. Defeating Alduin seemingly never happened according to the people of Skyrim, and the Civil War is still ongoing if you talk to them after winning for either side. The people only acknowledge small events such as allying with the Thieve's Guild, and will acknowledge you as a friend if you help them, but the largest and most important things remain unacknowledged as though they never occurred. That is a HUGE problem.
It is hard to argue that Skyrim is generic when, unlike most games, it was able to drag so many people, myself included, in for an insane number of hours. I will be ecstatic if TW3 ends up putting it to shame by comparison, because it will have to be incredibly good to do so.
I have played over 150 hours of Skyrim. It is insanely generic and boring without mods. With mods Skyrim is the most amazing game ever made. Guess what... I am on the console and the game is generic and boring as hell. I have played the Witcher 2 on 360, it's a rich world that treats me like the adult that I am. He isn't wrong about Skyrim at all.