So...Oblivion.

[Angelo Credo]

I've been avoiding this game for a while, don't ask me why, I have my reasons, though I finally picked it up simply because it was at a bargain price of about £20, for the GoTY edition.

Now, I've been a long follower of the Elder Scrolls series,from Arena, to Morrowind and through all the expansions, and yet here I am, facing a game which is part of a series I adore, released three years ago, and the only thought that pops into my head when I start playing it?

"God this is boring."

Now, I'll admit I've not done very much, I've closed the first Oblivion gate, gotten pretty far with the Thieve's Guild, gone exploring and all that jazz, but I'm going to be brutally honest here, I've spent nine hours trying to get myself absorbed into the game world, nine long hours, sure, it's started to pick up a little bit, but when you have to spend nine hours on a game for things to get a little more interesting, something has gone very wrong.

I want to say one thing, just for arguement's sake, I finished Dead Space in nine hours, and I completely enjoyed it from start to finish, I did everything there was to do and I feel like I got something from the experience.

Oblivion on the other hand though...It feels slow, sure, Cyrodill is beautiful, the attention to detail is fantastic, I wouldn't expect anything less from Bethesda, but the gameplay feels slow and uninspired, the combat especially feels slow and sticky, it's like...Imagine trying to swim through a pool of custard, then you'll know what I mean.

Some people may say I have no right to comment, having played through very little of the game itself, but I got immersed in the downtrodden ruins of Fallout 3's Washington DC the minute I stepped bleary eyed out of the Vault and into the Capital Wasteland, and that was 30 minutes in. Yet with Oblivion, I'm feeling none of the much loved Bethesda magic 9 hours into what is supposed to be one of their greatest games.

So...Riddle me this, how is it that the so called pinicale of the Elder Scrolls series, to me, a long time fan, feels dull and boring?

I'll keep plugging at it, and I'll give it a second chance, but if I find myself 18 hours in and still bored, guess what's going back to the store?

 

[Black Angel]

I don't know about the story. I just ignored it and did whatever I wanted.

I had allot of fun exploring the world, throwing fireballs at random animals. Finding caves, old castles ect was fun. Killing the inhabitants and stealing all their things was fun too. I enjoyed Oblivion. Spent my leveling points in dark spells and demonic minions to become a powerfull warlock and eventually terrorized the civilized world with my dark spells.
Shure I missed out on the story, shure maby I gliched it so that I can't do some quest somewhere because I just randomly killed everyone once I had gained the full extent of my dark powers but I had fun. I ended up feared by basically the whole world and found a nice wizard tower I refurbished into my dark fortress of doom. I had fun. But the world might be doomed or something, cause like I said I ignored the story missions. Although admittedly the reason I decided that the NPCs in this game don't deserve to live is cause it is impossible to care about any of them. They are all badly charecterized, the writing is terrible, there are only like 2 voice actors and they are just generally irritating.

I also totally ignored the story in Fallout 3 and had an even better time.
Unlike Oblivion, every place I found was creepy or scary in some way and I love horror so the experience was top notch. Also unlike Oblivion every place I discovered had its own small story to discover and was filled with challenging monsters. I decided to spend my leveling points in nothing but stealth and a little melee so I could pretend I was playing a survival horror game:lol: Try exploring the capital wastes with nothing but a cloth outfit and a rusty knife. I ended up stealing from everyone in town and stealth killing and looting everything I meet in the wasteland. Ended up with a room filled with stolen goods near the end. It was fun, scary, and an intense challenge. Also just about every character in this game is well rounded and imaginative and a pleasure to interact with. I especially liked Moira Brown a whole lot. She is the one reason I decided not to blow up Megaton. I also loved doing her quests.

After playing better games I can see why Oblivion might seem boring now but I liked Oblivion(When I was killing the NPCs). Maby the story in these games is just the boring part, cause like I said I couldn't be bothered to do it. Wasn't aware untill recently that Oblivion even had a story. Also the NPCs are all terrible If you are trying to interact with them. I guess if you are the kind of gamer that tries to play the good guy and save the earth rather than randomly fool around Oblivion isn't a very good game.

 

[DeviRyuuD]

Fallout 3 is a developer mistake fix for Oblivion. What i mean by this is:
1. When you start Fallout 3 you get tied to your character, living every big scene in the vault, you see your character grow into the char you`re going to play, while in Oblivion your char is like - In the Face! You`re thrown in a JAIL for god knows what reason, it`s fun right? No it`s not, that`s something that keeps you from playing the game.
2. When you get out in the open, in F3 you know where to go because you looked up for the info on the PC, but Oblivion - you`re supposed to be from the place right? you don`t have any city on map(if i remember correctly) only the main objective.
3. Oblivion makes everything clear about what you`re supposed to do next while F3 offers all kind of weird developments as you complete the quests.

So Oblivion is pretty much a boring game, That`s why you don`t want to play it. When i first played it i was shocked i was in jail and that bastard king.. i have to protect him from assa`s? Why, that buttox put me in jail and i have to protect him... great.. When i got out of the dungeon i saw a huge world, but had no idea where to go next, i needed a city where to get some equip otherwise i was naked.. but the game didnt offer me anything. after about 4 hours of gameplay i uninstalled the game and said - F* that. It was boooring.

 

[Dark Drakan]

It can seem a little stagnant at first but as soon as you start getting some cool items, better weapons, good spells and interesting quests it picks up. It is a little slow for the first portion because the game can be a hundred hour title and 8-9 hours can be used on a handful of quests. Id had the most fun stealing, murdering, making spells, and over all just finding the most interesting quests i could. The game gives you freedom to pretty much do things how and when you want so make the most of that freedom.

 

[Black Angel]

Fallout 3 is a developer mistake fix for Oblivion. What i mean by this is:
1. When you start Fallout 3 you get tied to your character, living every big scene in the vault, you see your character grow into the char you`re going to play, while in Oblivion your char is like - In the Face! You`re thrown in a JAIL for god knows what reason, it`s fun right? No it`s not, that`s something that keeps you from playing the game.
2. When you get out in the open, in F3 you know where to go because you looked up for the info on the PC, but Oblivion - you`re supposed to be from the place right? you don`t have any city on map(if i remember correctly) only the main objective.
3. Oblivion makes everything clear about what you`re supposed to do next while F3 offers all kind of weird developments as you complete the quests.

So Oblivion is pretty much a boring game, That`s why you don`t want to play it. When i first played it i was shocked i was in jail and that bastard king.. i have to protect him from assa`s? Why, that buttox put me in jail and i have to protect him... great.. When i got out of the dungeon i saw a huge world, but had no idea where to go next, i needed a city where to get some equip otherwise i was naked.. but the game didnt offer me anything. after about 4 hours of gameplay i uninstalled the game and said - F* that. It was boooring.

That jail sequence is shorter than the vault level F3 makes you do. On top of that it never tells you it was the king that threw you in there, you are supposed to come up with a reason for being in jail on your own. so your assuming it was this "basterd" king's fault is entirely because of your lack of creativity. Also, you don't really have to protect him, if you don't like the guy you can just not fight. Also if you loot the bodies you find in the dungon and the assassins you end up with decent starting equipment. Right out of that jail I had a set of evil dark robes, some leather armor and a staff that shoots lightning. So not picking up supplies in the jail is also your fault. Also you have every city on map, you just can't fast travel untill you walk there. Try playing again correctly.

 

[aka958]

my experiences:

It is an awful game to just play through right on. Some just explore and kill and find stuff.
It is an epic game to roleplay. I like the oblivion games but not that thing that the cities are already pinned on the map. A boring main storyline that has nothing with your hero to do. No personal conflicts or emotions. Just kill through to make the world happy.
To actually have a fun time i usually do these things:
-No quick travel
-Eating, eat when you feel that your char hasn't eaten in a while
-Why go up and down and not go deep in to a town? Concentrating on 1 city and around it for example. Getting a city of favor to live in.
-While your exploring don't go sell all stuff at a merchant. Get the things your think are interesting and special and show them off in a house. I have a fully decorated house with a table filled with all kinds off Gems and everywhere I am showing off my most priceless stuff i've found
in my travels.
-Have a concern of day and night. Does your hero stay awake 5 weeks in a row without a little time of sleep? doesn't sound right. Get a sleeping habit is a great way of letting the Roleplaying soul in.
-Get a special thing for your character. Example: Known to be famous of all the guards
Example: Thief that steals from the ones that irritates you
and lots of more.

I don't think Oblivion is a fast play game. Not only kill kill kill and lvl up kind of thing.
To play it you need to know it is time consuming. If you find the game still boring and not trying to find a way in the game that you have thought was fun then the game isn't for you. But if you have found something in the game that you have felt was a great deal of fun you make a new character clear the boring start and ditching the main storyline to play as a character that does that little fun thing.
I like thieving and that is a great thing to do. I know someone who leveled up to level 7 just stealing in a city and that of course thought it was fun.

 

[Black Angel]

my experiences:

It is an awful game to just play through right on. Some just explore and kill and find stuff.
It is an epic game to roleplay. I like the oblivion games but not that thing that the cities are already pinned on the map. A boring main storyline that has nothing with your hero to do. No personal conflicts or emotions. Just kill through to make the world happy.
To actually have a fun time i usually do these things:
-No quick travel
-Eating, eat when you feel that your char hasn't eaten in a while
-Why go up and down and not go deep in to a town? Concentrating on 1 city and around it for example. Getting a city of favor to live in.
-While your exploring don't go sell all stuff at a merchant. Get the things your think are interesting and special and show them off in a house. I have a fully decorated house with a table filled with all kinds off Gems and everywhere I am showing off my most priceless stuff i've found
in my travels.
-Have a concern of day and night. Does your hero stay awake 5 weeks in a row without a little time of sleep? doesn't sound right. Get a sleeping habit is a great way of letting the Roleplaying soul in.
-Get a special thing for your character. Example: Known to be famous of all the guards
Example: Thief that steals from the ones that irritates you
and lots of more.

I don't think Oblivion is a fast play game. Not only kill kill kill and lvl up kind of thing.
To play it you need to know it is time consuming. If you find the game still boring and not trying to find a way in the game that you have thought was fun then the game isn't for you. But if you have found something in the game that you have felt was a great deal of fun you make a new character clear the boring start and ditching the main storyline to play as a character that does that little fun thing.
I like thieving and that is a great thing to do. I know someone who leveled up to level 7 just stealing in a city and that of course thought it was fun.

Seems like people who craft their own story and character end up having fun with Oblivion.

Becoming the evil demonic dark lord, feared by all, known for killing anyone and everyone was allot of fun for me.

 

[aka958]

Except for that if you kill someone all the guards go frenzy on you. Killing everyone in 1 hit doesn't alert the guards but 2 hits do. That is so unrealistic. Someone is alone in their house i hit them and they scream inside their house i kill them making them not going anywhere and then the guards are coming telling that i've killed someone.

 

[DeviRyuuD]

That jail sequence is shorter than the vault level F3 makes you do. On top of that it never tells you it was the king that threw you in there, you are supposed to come up with a reason for being in jail on your own. so your assuming it was this "basterd" king's fault is entirely because of your lack of creativity. Also, you don't really have to protect him, if you don't like the guy you can just not fight. Also if you loot the bodies you find in the dungon and the assassins you end up with decent starting equipment. Right out of that jail I had a set of evil dark robes, some leather armor and a staff that shoots lightning. So not picking up supplies in the jail is also your fault. Also you have every city on map, you just can't fast travel untill you walk there. Try playing again correctly.

Aw, i`m sorry, it`s been almost 3 years since i last played it, so i don`t remember the details, i thought it was the emperor that threw me in, oh well, it doesn`t matter. For the heck of it, i installed it back on to at least try and play it like an RPG enthusiast, but how unfortunate, two hours down the drain. I dislike everything about Oblivion, especially the dialogs(what dialogs?). The fact that you have the freedom to let your fantasy do the talking to them - the way you like, or think of a reason why you`re in jail, is more like an excuse that Bethesda couldn`t think of any different mood responses accordingly to what you say and how you put it, and/or any good/bad reasons why you`re in the jail. I liked the F3 Vault sequence a lot better than TES4`s jail/dungeon/cave/sewer/whatever sequence. Besides, who are you to tell me *playing correctly*? I play like i play and you have no right to judge my gaming style and tell me what`s right and what`s wrong. God.
I guess i went offtopic, sorry, but i was just trying to say, i guess i didnt choose the right words, that; Oblivion is one gloomy and boring game, Morrowind wasnt as gloomy from the start, but this...

 

[Angelo Credo]

Seems like the trend here is evident, to get any enjoyment from the game, you have to craft your own story...
But you know what, sometimes I don't want to craft my own story, sometimes I want a story I can enjoy crafted for me, basically, it feels like Bethesda have just thrown together a game world without putting together any reasonable excuse for a story, then they thrust you in there and say.

"Right, we made this world, now you can do the hard bit of making a story."
Then they casually sit back and watch you flail around for a few mind numbing hours before you might finally get into the swing of thngs.

It wouldn't bother me so much if the characters invoked some sort of emotion in me, like they did in Fallout 3, but when you're Roleplaying in a world with stale, ramrod stiff characters, it saps the fun out of things.

 

[Black Angel]

Besides, who are you to tell me *playing correctly*? I play like i play and you have no right to judge my gaming style and tell me what`s right and what`s wrong. \

When you start blaming the game for things you missed yourself is when I start calling you out on it. If your play style is one where you miss out on basic supplies it is your fault not Oblivion's.

Anyway, seems some of us like a crafted story. But others like freedom to do what we want a little better. Weather or not Oblivion is a good game depends on the type of gamer playing.

Although I will be the first to admit that the NPCs are all boring, stupid and unlikeable. I think there are like 2 voice actors for all the NPCs in this game and the lines they spout are all badly written. There is no real attempt to give you much direction at all. No real motivation to do much beyond screw around.

But even so, there is a near infinite number of possibilities and allot of different things to do and total freedom to do them however you want. The enviorments are fantastic, the spells and armor you can get look very cool. The downloadable content was great as well.

 

[Dark Drakan]

Seems like the trend here is evident, to get any enjoyment from the game, you have to craft your own story...
But you know what, sometimes I don't want to craft my own story, sometimes I want a story I can enjoy crafted for me, basically, it feels like Bethesda have just thrown together a game world without putting together any reasonable excuse for a story, then they thrust you in there and say.

"Right, we made this world, now you can do the hard bit of making a story."
Then they casually sit back and watch you flail around for a few mind numbing hours before you might finally get into the swing of thngs.

It wouldn't bother me so much if the characters invoked some sort of emotion in me, like they did in Fallout 3, but when you're Roleplaying in a world with stale, ramrod stiff characters, it saps the fun out of things.

The story itself is decent but the side quests are a lot of fun especially the Dark Brotherhood and Thieves Guild quests. They give you freedom to do most quests as you please so depends on your imagination. Though some of them give you set parameters that can be fun to try and achieve too. For example if you are asked to go and get something from someone you can go about that multiple ways. Ask them for it and hope for the best, kill them for it, wait until they sleep and break in and steal it, pickpocket them for it, buy it off them, kill someone and make it look like an accident etc etc. There are lots of quests where the amount of fun depends on what you want to do.