Oblivion

[jp]

The only reason I'm online right now is because I got called into work. So...


Who else got Oblivion? What coolness have you done? Class? Favorite weapons? Stuff?


So far I've put 27 hours into it. I'm level 24 (almost 25) and I'm a Ninja (custom class). I got turned into a vampire early on and have completed the quest for the cure... but I'm holding off. While having to feed every week is annoying, the power you get from being a vampire is excellent.
Currently I'm actively in the Dark Brotherhood and Thieves Guild. I'm IN the Mage's Guild, but I'm not really pursuing it at the moment.

And... this game is fucking awesome. Its what I've wanted from Elder Scrolls ever since Daggerfall. It was the reason I wanted a 360 (it and Senko no Ronde) and its definitely worth the purchase of a new system.

[icycalm]

Jesus, I didn't even know this was out yet. I have completely stopped visiting news sites/blogs related to gaming. I found out about the PS3 November released date from the Economist, of all places.

It's good to know you like it, though. Hopefully a lot of people will stop playing those inane MMOs for a few weeks and get into this. I'll play Oblivion probably sometime in the summer.

[Ord]

I just picked this up a couple of hours ago, so i'm still in the sewers. So far though this is really pretty good. The controls are tight and the visuals are amazing.
I'm a lowly level 1 dark elf under the sign of the warrior by the way.

[iatneH]

27 hours??

Didn't it come out like......yesterday?

edit: spelling

[jp]

I picked mine up at 10AM on Tuesday.


I "supposedly" took the week off from work (though I'm here now...) and my Spring Break is this week.

[it290]

Got the collector's edition on the way (had to get that pocket guide). Honestly, I'm not expecting it to be that great, since it seems like the game has been dumbed down and 'consolized' a lot. I also begrudge having to spend so much time on an RPG. But eh, it was inevitable I suppose. I'm also keeping my fingers crossed with regard to the performance I'll get.

[howmuchkeefe]

Downloaded it via direct2drive, which took just under 30 hours on my connection. It's very pretty.

Like Daggerfall, it forces you to slog through a dungeon before you get to play around with the world. I liked the way it suggests a character class to you based on what you did during the first dungeon, but I can see how a fellow could grow to hate that first dungeon.

The NPCs don't seem to have much to say, but perhaps this is because my speechcraft is so poor. I can't say much about the "streamlining" of the game, otherwise; I'm playing this on PC, while I played Morrowind on an XBox. I know that there is no levitation in this game, and that is a bummer, but so far I'd have to say that the game's other qualities make up for this.

It plays at 30 (outdoors, busy situations) to 50 (indoor locations) FPS on my system at "very high" quality (which isn't quite as good as it sounds), but as I'm not trying desperately to climb onto the weak spot of a thrashing colossus in this game, I'm more than happy to sacrifice framerates for bells and whistles. But yeah, this game would be heavenly on full detail at 60+FPS.

I'm impressed by the game. I can't wait to see what Bethesda adds to it in the future.

[nsonthi77@hotmail.com]

The game is great so far and its only going to get better as I get more familiar with it. I do have some minor complaints as far as the 360 version is concern.

1. Loading time between towns and such is horrendous, almost up to a minute to load the larger towns/dungoen.

2. Too much data streamming while exploring the world. Like every 3-5 seconds a message pops up letting you know the "data is loading" and gives you a slight stutter/hiccup each time. It can get on your nerves if you're traveling/exploring for a long period of time.

3. Maybe its just me, but everytime I go near a chess/drawer to open for items...sometimes I can't open them b/c I'm not standing in the correct position. Cheez, sometimes I would waste 3-5 seconds trying to stand in the right way to get the message "open chess" to pop up. Is there a more convieneint ways to retrieve items from the environment?

4. Laws are too strict. I was put in jail so many times that I decided not to steal(play as Warrior) anymore unless I could fight them guards off where my character is weak at the moment. Usually I would try to steal stuff at night when no one is around and when I tried to flee from town, boom...a guard is right on my grill or is chasing after me from behind. Oh c'mon...I've never seen these guards within 100ft from me and all of a sudden they're right there.

Now onto the good stuff. This game is probally the most beautifull graphically on the 360, especially if you love the fantasy/dark setting. The world you explore is soo freakin huge that it will take you months to see and explore everything and I love just wondering around doing stuff like hunting and checking out different dungeon for rare items.

This game is also the deepest action RPG that I've played so far. If you love stats and customization then you will love this game. You have total control to build your character exactly the way you want and have a wide variety of class to choos from.

All in all its an awesome game that will take you 200+ hours to complete everything, which means you will always have this game to play even if you finish all of your other games. I can't think of any other game that has as much replay values as Oblvion. Even after you beat it, you still have the option to start a new one with a diffrent class which plays diffently and will changes your overall stratagy. The best thing about this game for me, is that I don't have to advance the main objective right away, and that I'm free to do what ever I want at anytime including trying out the different side quest in which there're a ton of them and learning new things and there're a lot to learn. This is a good way to level up and gain new abilities before I decide to journy onto the main quest.

[Shatterhand]

Is this X-Box 360 only, or is also available for PC ?

[Ganelon]

Can you own houses and ships again? Is adult content in or has that part of TES been totally phased out? I'd love to try the game but I'm afraid my PC will be barely able to keep up with it.

[it290]

Shatterhand: It's available for both platforms, unfortunately it seems to have been designed with the 360 in mind as the font used in the game is huge and the interface is not as sophisticated as Morrowind's.

Ganelon: You can own houses and a horse, but I don't think you can buy a ship. I don't think there is any adult content at all, certainly nothing like Daggerfall.

[landshark]

Damnit. I wanna play this really bad. But I know if I pick it up, I'll drop Gothic II - which is incredibly fun (and f'ing hard ... the expansion).

[Thunder Force]

I'm going to hold off and pick up the PS3 version sometime down the line. (I still have a lot of things left to do in Morrowind first.)

[Vexorg]

If you're having problems with load times on the 360, try holding down the A button as the game starts (when the Bethesda logo appears, you can release it.) This is supposed to clear out the disk cache and improve performance.

I don't think I'm in much of a hurry to get this one though, I was completely lost 20 minutes into Morrowind, and never picked it up again from there. The graphics also look way too plasticky for my liking.

[raiden]

I know that there is no levitation in this game, and that is a bummer, but so far I'd have to say that the game's other qualities make up for this.

I´d say dropping levitation is an improvement. In Morrowind, Levitation at first was impressive, but then became one of the things cutting all challenge from the experience, just like the fact there was basically no dangerous enemy left once you reached level 10 and got some decent equipment. The lack of levitation in Gothic 2 adds a whole new element of gameplay, a kind of Jump n Run/Tomb Raider like challenge: "how do I get there?" - the level design actually starts to matter.

Damnit. I wanna play this really bad. But I know if I pick it up, I'll drop Gothic II - which is incredibly fun (and f'ing hard ... the expansion).

could you tell me in which way the expansion is different from the main game? Is everything new or just tiny bits? New areas? Characters? Quests? Items? I played the main game 3 months ago and consider it the best RPG ever, with Panzer Dragoon Saga and Valkyrie Profile following after that. To me, Morrowind was just a prototype of a game that could have been great if they´d taken the additional 3-5 years to actually finish it.

[landshark]

Damnit. I wanna play this really bad. But I know if I pick it up, I'll drop Gothic II - which is incredibly fun (and f'ing hard ... the expansion).

could you tell me in which way the expansion is different from the main game? Is everything new or just tiny bits? New areas? Characters? Quests? Items? I played the main game 3 months ago and consider it the best RPG ever, with Panzer Dragoon Saga and Valkyrie Profile following after that. To me, Morrowind was just a prototype of a game that could have been great if they´d taken the additional 3-5 years to actually finish it.

I wihs I could. I've never played the original "Gothic II". I bought "Gothic II Gold" as a recommendation from others on this board.

It's HARD. I've read some forums and they cranked up the difficulty on the Gold version. It actually reminds me of playing an MMORPG, but alone. I'm finding myself creeping through the forest hoping to not aggravate too many creatures. And fighting humans? I can take one ... but more than one will woop me (can't seem to block more than 1 attacker).

Lots of regeants to pickup, lots of weapons to find and sell. I like the environment and the world design is beautiful. I'm running 1600x1200 max everything and I love how they have put cliffs and mountains and ravines everywhere. Really adds to the feel of the world. It's fun to climb around - you are usually rewarded for it.

But man, it's hard. I'm still trying to kill an Orc - problem is they kill me in about 2 hits. I've only found 2 of them though. Even the little skeleton goblins destroy me.

Fun game though.

[howmuchkeefe]

In Morrowind, Levitation at first was impressive, but then became one of the things cutting all challenge from the experience

You're absolutely right, of course.

Balance issues aside, I've had a flying fetish since I was young, due to my frequent and usually pretty darned vivid dreams of flying. I don't really like flight sims, but I've spent hours doing nothing but float about the landscape in games such as Morrowind, Vice City and San Andreas.

I would dearly love to fly about in Oblivion's Cyrodiil.

[Marc]

So what's Morrowind on Xbox like? This thread has me hankering after some western RPG style geekiness, so any impressions, mini reqiews whatever would be welcome. From the press at least, reception appears to have been mixed, I'd rather hear a gamer's opinion. I liked the Star Wars games if that's any help.

[howmuchkeefe]

I liked Morrowind on XBox enough to beat it four times at around 60-100 hours a pop.

Pluses: Good character customization options, the game is very non-linear, interesting weather effects, lots to explore, lots of items to find, improve, repair, sell and fence, pretty cool enchantment/item creation system, a pretty well written storyline, you can adopt houses (which I preferred) or be granted one (which could have been cooler, maybe if I had joined another faction I would have gotten a property with a less remote location)

Minuses: The game isn't as pretty or fluid as its PC counterpart, it has longer load times than its PC counterpart, landscapes and NPCs tend towards the generic, the magic system is overly strict- you won't so much blast beasties to death as you will blast beastie to death, and the game will occasionally lock up (about 3-6 times per playthrough for me)- so, save frequently, and backup those saves every so often, and you'll see more of your inventory screen than you might like, thanks to the limitations of gamepad as input device

That being said, I thought they did a pretty darned good job with the control scheme.

[raiden]

I wihs I could. I've never played the original "Gothic II". I bought "Gothic II Gold" as a recommendation from others on this board.

It's HARD. I've read some forums and they cranked up the difficulty on the Gold version. It actually reminds me of playing an MMORPG, but alone. I'm finding myself creeping through the forest hoping to not aggravate too many creatures. And fighting humans? I can take one ... but more than one will woop me (can't seem to block more than 1 attacker).
Lots of regeants to pickup, lots of weapons to find and sell. I like the environment and the world design is beautiful. I'm running 1600x1200 max everything and I love how they have put cliffs and mountains and ravines everywhere. Really adds to the feel of the world. It's fun to climb around - you are usually rewarded for it.
But man, it's hard. I'm still trying to kill an Orc - problem is they kill me in about 2 hits. I've only found 2 of them though. Even the little skeleton goblins destroy me.

are you sure Gothic 2 Gold is the same as "Gothic 2: Night of the Raven"? Because over here, a Gothic Collector´s Edition is sold with 3 games in it: Gothic, Gothic 2, Gothic 2: Night of the Raven. After playing through Gothic 2, I´ve been thinking about getting the collection, but I´m anxious to spoil the fun by having too much of it in a short time.

Yeah, the game is hard, it´s supposed to be that way. Orcs are truly dangerous enemies until about chapter 4 or 5, and the sense of danger is intended. If you´re not getting through somewhere, it´s probably a good idea to try somewhere else until you´re stronger. Sometimes it´s also a matter of using the right strategy: try using magic, or long range weapons from a good point where you can hardly be reached, or running through danger until you reach another safe haven, or hiding and sneaking around enemies, or finding NPCs who help you survive. You can also use creature hostilities to your own advantage. For example, snappers are pretty dangerous because they usually attack in groups and are pretty strong as well. But when you see a wolf near a horde of snappers, it´s a good idea to kill the wolf from a distance, because the snappers will go on and feast on the dead wolf. If you attack one of them at that point, the others are less likely to help him, so you only have to deal with one of them.

Another thing I find really fascinating about Gothic 2 is the fact it plays VERY differently depending on which character class you choose. The story changes substantially, too. I only played it on low details last time, but I´m looking forward to play it again on high details once I have a system suited to that task.

So what's Morrowind on Xbox like? This thread has me hankering after some western RPG style geekiness, so any impressions, mini reqiews whatever would be welcome. From the press at least, reception appears to have been mixed, I'd rather hear a gamer's opinion. I liked the Star Wars games if that's any help.

Morrowind is probably the biggest RPG ever made. A work colleague of mine played the game for more than a year. You´ve got hundreds of quests, a monumental world to explore, with an incredible attention to detail at some points. It has its drawbacks, though:

For a start, fighting is only hard up to level 10, after that, you basically mow everything down. It´s a shame, because you´ve got a very complex magic system, alchemy, enchantable weapons, you can summon creatures, have a few nifty special abilities, but the bottom line is you just don´t need it, at least not when fighting. You can use it for quests sometimes. Quests get chaotic quickly if you accept any quest you´re confronted with, because it takes much longer to solve them than getting new ones, so you get a full diary and don´t remember what you were supposed to do where soon. So you should discipline yourself to only do one quest after the other, which is hard because some quests are a lot harder than others, and when you´re stuck on one, it´s tempting to just do another (and sometimes, it´s necessary, because you need an ability you can only get by finishing another quests).
The atmosphere is terrific, but after a while you´ll notice more and more recurring elements: for example, there are hundreds of dungeons, but only about 5 different types of them. So it´s easy to get bored after a while.
Presentation is rather minimalistic. People don´t talk with voice samples, instead you´re supposed to read lots and lots of text. Dialogues are in text, but you also find books, sometimes whole libraries of books, each of which consists of about a dozen pages (on average). I like reading, but holding a controller at the same time feels pretty futile.
There is very little real plot. You can play through the plot in 5 hours if you know what you´re doing. 99% of the game is optional sidequests. So you can basically finish it anytime you feel like it, or ask yourself whether you still want to see more. You don´t necessarily feel compelled to play on.

Personally, I think Gothic 2 is a much better game overall, although there is much less to explore in that game, exploration makes a lot more sense, and I was actually curious how the plot continues, something that never happened to me in Morrowind.

But having not played either, you should definitely try out Morrowind, it´s certainly a milestone of the genre, especially when you´re tired of jp. RPGs following a certain formula over and over again.

[jp]

I'm going to hold off and pick up the PS3 version sometime down the line. (I still have a lot of things left to do in Morrowind first.)

Then you'll be waiting for a looooooong time, as it has yet to be announced for the PS3.

If you're having problems with load times on the 360, try holding down the A button as the game starts (when the Bethesda logo appears, you can release it.) This is supposed to clear out the disk cache and improve performance.

Vexorg, you are the man!!! Last night my game kept freezing up and the loading was becoming horrendous. I thought it was my 360 dying or something. I'll definitely try this TONIGHT!

I´d say dropping levitation is an improvement. In Morrowind, Levitation at first was impressive, but then became one of the things cutting all challenge from the experience, just like the fact there was basically no dangerous enemy left once you reached level 10 and got some decent equipment. The lack of levitation in Gothic 2 adds a whole new element of gameplay, a kind of Jump n Run/Tomb Raider like challenge: "how do I get there?" - the level design actually starts to matter.

I agree. I was not a fan of levitation in Morrowind. What I WAS a fan of, was wizards falling out of the sky and me "testing" their scroll out.
I had to start my character over... but it was very funny.






At any rate. I'm level 26 now. Last night I focused on completing the Dark Brotherhood story, which, in Achievements, I completed. But it seems once you become the Listener the Dark Brotherhood stuff never ends. You don't kill anymore for them, you just serve another purpose. Which is fucking awesome. Now I have a weekly duty and income from the Dark Brotherhood.

Also, this game SHOULD NOT be rated T. I would NOT let my 13 y/o play this game after seeing the shit they did in the Dark Brotherhood campaign. That was some fucked up shit. And seeing a corpse hanging from a ceiling, eviscerated, castrated, and having its mouth cut off... that was some crazy shit. I will say the Dark Brotherhood quests were GENIOUS though. I only wish there had been more "creative" ones, as those were the best.


Tonight I'm going to do the Thieves Guild thing. After that, Main quest for a bit, until I feel like doing the Fighters Guild quests and the Arena.

Also, can you only buy one house in the game? I bought a house in Anvil, but I can't talk to anybody about buying a house in the other towns.

[it290]

So levitation is out, but can you still make ridiculous jump spells/potions?

[landshark]

are you sure Gothic 2 Gold is the same as "Gothic 2: Night of the Raven"? Because over here, a Gothic Collector´s Edition is sold with 3 games in it: Gothic, Gothic 2, Gothic 2: Night of the Raven. After playing through Gothic 2, I´ve been thinking about getting the collection, but I´m anxious to spoil the fun by having too much of it in a short time.

Gothic 2 Gold comes with NotR. They raised the difficulty too (from what I've read).

What do you mean by character class? I never got to choose one. Maybe I'm not far enough.

[raiden]

Gothic 2 Gold comes with NotR. They raised the difficulty too (from what I've read).

okay, but I thought NotR had a different story? Does your game start in Xardas´ tower, you go down the path to Khorinis, work on a farm for a while, then enter the town? Did Xardas tell you about the Eye of Innos and dragons coming out of the valley?

What do you mean by character class? I never got to choose one. Maybe I'm not far enough.

the classes in basic Gothic 2 are Paladin, Mercenary and Fire Mage. To become Paladin, you need to join the Khorinis militia first. To become Mercenary, you need to go to Onar´s farm, talk to Lee and get admitted. To become Fire Mage, you need to go to the Monastery with a live sheep and 1000 gold ready for admittance. The three are mutually exclusive, you can not go on like in Morrowind and join everything you see. I read that NotR has 3 additional character classes and a different story.

[landshark]

Gothic 2 Gold comes with NotR. They raised the difficulty too (from what I've read).

okay, but I thought NotR had a different story? Does your game start in Xardas´ tower, you go down the path to Khorinis, work on a farm for a while, then enter the town? Did Xardas tell you about the Eye of Innos and dragons coming out of the valley?

Yup, started in tower. Yup, worked on farm. Yup, he told me about the eye and dragons.

[howmuchkeefe]

A few months ago, I read that there will be no jump spells, potions or scrolls. Likewise, feather fall is also out.

This was also apparently due to balance concerns/how the city maps are separate from the world map.

EDIT: I feel compelled to repeat that one of the reasons why it's such a bummer that there is no levitation or levitation like products in this game, is because the landscape is so beautiful. It really is, probably surpassing that of SotC (on my system, at least, and I assume on the 360, too).

[it290]

Finally got a chance to play the game (put in a marathon session last night), and frankly I'm a bit disappointed. The graphics have some funny bits (like the extremely low LOD on distant terrain), the city design is somewhat lazy (practically the same church model in every town), horse riding is pointless, and there seems to be a lack of creatures in the wild. It's still pretty fun, but it feels like the wait wasn't justified -- the game is almost just like Morrowind, only with fewer quests and such. So far the only new features that I think are really neat are the new spellcasting system and the physics when you blast someone with a fireball.

[Twiddle]

I am having a lot of fun playing at +83% difficulty

it's nice having an rpg where it's possible for enemies to kick your ass

it's now an action rpg but still

[ahnslaught]

Curiosity got the better of me and I bought this today for the PC...it's fricking amazing!

Among the things I've done so far, I've played Encyclopedia Brown at a castle and gone to oblivion and pummelled some imps to death. I've been playing using no weapons - just my fists of fury, and it's fun as hell punching the crap out of people, wolves, and rats!

I was pretty surprised how well it runs on my computer, which is not beastly by any standard - it's basically the recommended computer specs, and it runs perfectly fine except for some stutter when outside, especially on 3rd person view.

As fun as it is, however, I really think, apart from the graphics, the game could have been done perfectly fine on the xbox. It's very similar to Morrowind, with a more streamlined interface. What to do guys think? Am I dreaming, and is it truely a "next-gen" game?

[Ord]

Yer dreaming.