Why I Prefer Oblivion Over Skyrim

GameGrin's James Furlong writes: "Skyrim is bland and shallow. That may seem a very odd statement to a lot of people, but I’ll stand by it. Games as a medium are constantly evolving yet, in another fashion, devolving. The sense that ‘bigger is always better’ is one that has always been in the gaming psyche; even when games just became longer, contained more levels, hundreds of collectables etc, there was always a want for more. This to me, is where Skyrim falls down."

[Mankey]

Enjoyed both for different reasons.

[Blacklash93]

Same here. Oblivion was deeper and had significantly more in the way of unique and fleshed-out quests, Skyrim plays better and has a much better presentation across the board.

Both are fine games. What's more to say?

[Bimkoblerutso]

The only thing I like more in Skyrim is the world. Oblivion kind of just seems like England in the middle ages 90% of the time. Skyrim seems a little more..."fantasy" than historical, even though it's openly influenced by Norse culture. All that being said, though, Morrowind is easily the most creative of the three in that respect.

I'm with Massacred, I kinda like all the Elder Scrolls games for different reasons.

[ProjectVulcan]

I preferred Oblivion. I loved it. It was also partly that impact it gave at the time, of a 'next gen' game. It was released very early in the life of Xbox 360.

I think it was the first new console game that genuinely impressed me and made me think that yes, this was next gen. The visual and environment improvement over the previous consoles and the previous version (morrowind) was just huge.

[joab777]

I felt the same way but for me Morrowind was my favorite, then oblivion, skyrim.

And maybe skyrim was bridging the gap to ESO and then mmo structure...unintentionally of course.

[Mankey]

I think the general consensus from TES community is the Morrowind was the peak of series.

I surely hope they don't simplify anything else in TES VI

[rayzorn]

i agree with morrowind it was my favorite followed by daggerfall, then skyrim, actually i thought oblivion was the worst in the series.

[Docknoss]

The Knights of the Nine and Shivering Isles DLC was amazing. Skyrim had horrible DLC in comparison. I enjoyed both games but oblivion's main story was better but Skyrim was a huge improvement in the leveling system and fighting mechanics. Both were equals, I hope for a Morrowind remake.

[Mutant-Spud]

Dragonborn was like a sample platter of ES lore, you got a little bit of everything but none of the individual elements were particularly satisfying.
I thought Dawnguard was OK, it was at least on a par with my other favourite quest line in Skyrim, the Dark Brotherhood.

[ElementX]

Wasn't this article written a little late? Skyrim has been out for years, not to mention Oblivion....

[ZodTheRipper]

People are still enjoying Skyrim and yes, even Oblivion. Thanks to the modding community these are almost timeless games, in fact I'm considering playing through Oblivion again one day. See here for example
http://www.youtube.com/watc...

[ElementX]

I have played Skyrim with mods. I never completed the campaign before so I bought it on sale and loaded up a bunch of mods.

[coolbeans]

Writers talking about retro games pops up quite often too. I don't see why there should be some arbitrary time limit for posting opinion pieces on certain titles, and certainly not for ones that have released so recently.

[WeAreLegion]

I love both of them equally, but for different reasons.

[-Foxtrot]

Because Skyrim felt dumb down compared to Oblivion in my eyes. They made things too straight forward and accessible, there was no actual thinking or planning that went into classes or levelling up. I spent ages and over 6 new games to get the right mix of class, race, main skills, however in Skyrim I only needed the one since any class can be good at anything.

[Blacklash93]

I, for one, appretiate that decision. I don't want to redo the introduction and levelling when I change my mind about whether or not I like a certain playstyle. I can be good stat-wise for any playstyle just by practicing with it at my own pace.

[-Foxtrot]

Redo?

You do realise there is a automatic saved game which puts you at the end of the intro level so you can re choose your choices.

[SITH]

I have to admit, the oblivion gates were cool feature and I loved finding them. I hope I have the same feeling when I play elder scrolls online with the dark anchors.

[Summons75]

yeah I liked the Oblivion gates more but I still enjoyed having a Dragon drop down randomly too. I liked the bright and fantastical feeling Oblivion had and it's why I enjoy it more. Skyrim has much better gameplay and the better graphics are definitely a welcome.

[solidboss07]

I preferred the atmosphere of the Oblivion game, but I hated the oblivion gates and actually going to Oblivion. So much so that I packed the game in. I finished the main story of Skyrim though, and a lot of quests. If only TES Oblivion had had a lot less Oblivion gates. It was a new experience for me to find good books to read in-game ect. I loved the Priory of the Nine. There was much to enjoy.
Damn.

[beatled]

Morrowind , then oblivion, then skyrim

[Dark_matter]

Oblivion is a classic game, I've got the 5th anniversary edition on ps3. Haven't played skyrim yet because of the bugs on the ps3 version btw have they fixed the bugs on the legendary version of skyrim on ps3 because I want to buy it but that's what's holding me back.

[newflesh]

Yes they have fixed it

[Dark_matter]

thanks for letting me know, now there's no hesitation in me buying it

[Nerdmaster]

Just for changing the horrible level system from previous games, Skyrim can already be considered the best one.

[Ghost_Nappa]

Goddamn those oblivion gates though

[Jyndal]

Like many of you, I think Morrowind was the best so far. Oblivion was unique in it's NPC "lives". Shops closed, people slept, ate and even had extra-marital affairs. Skyrim focused so much on being "epic" that it lost sight of how deep it could have gone into various areas.

[MysticStrummer]

Shops close in Skyrim also, and people eat/sleep. Donno about affairs. lol

I agree with the consensus of Morrowind, Oblivion, then Skyrim.

[Toon_Link]

Oblivion!!! Skyrim was cool too but didn't keep me interested enough to finish the main story. But with oblivion I finished everything from main story to the guilds and even the expansions. That's just my two cents I don't expect everyone to agree with me.

[Skate-AK]

Bought Skyrim on launch date. For bored of it and never finished it.

[Dark_matter]

what drives me nuts on oblivion is when you over level, had to start off another character. I can see why people didn't like the leveling system in it

[yeahright2]

I skipped skyrim because of oblivion. Too often I felt like a random person roaming the countryside doing random side quests. Save the dark brotherhood storyline, I felt no connection to any characters or plots. It just felt like quantity over quality.
Personally, I feel a game like that would benefit from having a party with you. Like in dragon age for example. You help alistair with his sister, not some random villager. You get praise/ a tonge lashing from morrigan depending on your choices, not just a "on to the next quest". You learn of a different culture by having a conversation with leliana etc.

[Mutant-Spud]

I like the Dragon's Dogma party system, the hired pawns are actually useful on missions because as they level up they gain knowledge of the regions and the quests and drop hints. Granted they're annoying sometimes but if you save up and hire some high level pawns for the more difficult areas it's well worth it, plus they warn you of ambushes, point out loot and resources, it's not a perfect AI system but it's not bad.

[anticlimax]

Any TES game without the glorious gamebreaking Levitation, is subpar!

[MasterD919]

Skyrim has it's flaws...but I enjoyed it more than Oblivion.