Lime wrote:So, Skyrim Special Edition is £17.99
I keep looking at is since it's often compared with Breath of the Wild - although obviously not the same, it is an open world fantasy-type game.
But different how?
If I take the plunge, what should my expectation be? Is it slower? More complex? Is it hard to know what to do next? Does it take itself very seriously (so it could feel like 'work' rather than entertainment?)
Any guidance is welcome!
It's a completely different game to BOTW - the only real comparison is the fantasy world setting. They are both open worlds, but the open worlds are very differently handled. I guess that both share the hook of exploration, but don't expect any of the emergent gameplay and interacting systems of BOTW in Skyrim.
Skyrim is pretty much the definition of a game being better than the sum of its parts. It's a game I really like and have put hundreds of hours into, but individually practically none of it holds up critically.
Combat is dull, repetitive and broken. The more levels you go up and skills you unlock the more OP you get, even with the game's blatant level scaling (it's handled at least better than Oblivion's ubiquitous level scaling). Stealth and archery is probably the most fun combination, but incredibly poor AI leads to very unsatisfying stealth outside of the simple "I snuck up on them without them ever seeing me and one shotted them all" scenario.
The main quest is badly paced and doesn't marry well to the relaxed open world design. Don't expect to get caught up in any narrative - this is a game where the plot insists you are the chosen one on an urgent quest to save the entire world, but where the gameplay encourages you to delay doing that to instead help a peasant man recover a family heirloom from some bandits.
Side quests are very repetitive, with little interesting writing and the vast majority following the same structure. Basically expect most of your questing time to be "talk to quest giver -> fight through cave -> collect trinket -> return to quest giver". All the caves/crypts/dungeons may as well be the same three places too.
The Elder Scrolls lore is deep and interesting, but it's hidden away from the player in Skyrim and can be hard to find. The less generic fantasy parts (and hence more interesting parts) are especially toned down and only alluded to.
Oblivion is a better game in almost every way, as was Morrowind before that. Don't go into Skyrim expecting a strong narrative, engaging writing, interesting quest structures, innovative level design, any real roleplaying, or fun moment-to-moment gameplay.
All that said, I can't wait for it to come out on Switch so I can jump back in to the world