Bethesda: Skyrim to be Less Like Oblivion, More Like Morrowind
Bethesda: Skyrim to be Less Like Oblivion, More Like Morrowind
Posted 03/15/2011 at 9:41pm
| by Nathan Grayson
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For tykes weaned on the clean, orderly fantasy world depicted in Lord of the Rings (and its many immitators), The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind was a bit of a shock to the system. After all, it was really, really weird. Like, downright bizarre in some places. We'll never forget the first time we rode around the countryside in a giant bug – mostly because no amount of therapy is enough. And that's only the tip of the iceberg. There was, however, a certain appeal to it, and Bethesda freely admits that Oblivion lacked that exotic flavor.
"With Oblivion, we're dealing with the capital province, and we wanted to get back to the more classic Arena and Daggerfall feel of a fantasy world that felt more refined and welcoming,” Bethesda's Todd Howard told OXM.
"But in that, we sacrificed some of what made Morrowind special: the wonder of discovery,” he admitted. "It should feel alien, kind of 'stranger in a strange' land, with familiar looking elements only rooting you early in the game. The whole tone ends up being one of 'I'm an outsider, I'm uncomfortable'.”
Obviously no longer oblivious to Oblivion's mistakes, Howard fully intends to make things right in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.
"With Skyrim, we're trying to bring some of that back and walk the line between Morrowind and Oblivion. Where it's at first familiar looking, but has its own unique culture and spin on it,” he explained.
You won't be hearing any complaints from us. Well, so long as our old pal the giant (and surprisingly deep-pocketed) Mudcrab Merchant makes a cameo, anyway.
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allantang
March 16, 2011 at 2:44am
Obviously no longer oblivious to Oblivion's mistakes...
nicely done!
I loved Morrowind. I liked Oblivion. There were good things in both games, so hopefully they take the things from both and make a kickass game. I will preoder now if it was on steam.
allantang
March 16, 2011 at 2:41am
Obviously no longer oblivious to Oblivion's mistakes...
nicely done!
I loved Morrowind. I liked Oblivion. There were good things in both games, so hopefully they take the things from both and make a kickass game. I will preoder now if it was on steam.
POMF2K
March 15, 2011 at 9:58pm
but I couldn't be happier to hear this.
It's not that Oblivion was by any means a bad game, but I was immensely disappointed from day one. I had never played any other Elder Scrolls games, besides of course Morrowind, but I had very high hopes for it. It did not deliver.
Oblivion lacked the "exotic flavor." It lacked the immersion. It lacked realistic looking characters, even for a fantasy game. It lacked the local politics and faction loyalties. It lacked the feeling of an endless world. It lack that feeling that you are in a far corner of a strange world. It lacked. . . spears.
Oblivion felt to me like it was catered to console gamers. A bit too Zelda and Final Fantasy-esque and much less Elder Scrolls.
It did however have some lovely sunsets.
Lazorlink
March 17, 2011 at 7:12pm
The one area for me that completely redeemed any flaws for pc: mods. The mods I used completely changed the game. most important for me was the real time mod. Another favorite of mine was a more realistic combat system. I always hated how a backstab with a dagger just mildly inconvienienced the receiver. I forget the name of that mod, but it basically upped the damage on all weapons to do an insane amount of damage, even enemies weapons and spells. While you could kill with one good blow, you could also be killed just as easily. Put an arrow in their eye, dead. Another favorite was the darker nights/dungeon mod. It was cool actually NEEDING torches/night vision spell. Makes it 10x more imersive for me.
As long as skyrim allows mods, I think any minor problems will be solved by the community.
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