I just built a fancy new computer and I’ve heard a lot of good things about Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. I’m thinking about buying it on the way home from work, but I haven’t played any of the other games in the series. Will I be ok playing this one? If I like it, I may get Morrowind.
Will my enjoyment be significantly hampered by my not having played the other games?
It’s pretty much generic save the world fantasy stuff, if you want more background just read the books you find ingame.
Yes.
No.
I’m actually jealous of you visting Tamriel for the first time.
You will like it and you will want to play Morrowind. I actually like Morrowind a little better. One great thing about it is the staggering number of mods available.
I played Morrowind so much that the theme music was constantly running through my head and sometimes I would see a bird and think it was a Cliff Racer. I still have a little place in Balmora, as some of you already know.
I haven’t gotten that far in Oblivion… it’s on the back burner right now but I plan to continue soon.
Thanks so far, I’ll probably get it tonight.
For comparison, I don’t play many RPGs (the classic FF games, Diablo II, Secret of Mana and not much els is on my resume).
I love Morrowind, haven’t dished out the dosh for Oblivion yet, though. Let me know how you like it.
If you haven’t already, you’ll be wanting a GOOD video card.
Enjoy!
The game is absolutely stand-alone, with little (none, really) relation to the previous titles.
It’s arguably the most open ended game available right now, which can be good and bad at times. I think it’s a fantastic game, but then again I liked spending a hundred hours uncovering exactly how the mechanics of final fantasy tactics worked, and the mechanics of Oblivion aren’t much less complicated.
Moved from IMHO to CS.
I think it can absolutely be stand-alone. My husband played Morrowind (I watched, but since I didn’t play, I forgot most of the story), and then he got Oblivion when it came out. I played Oblivion after he was mostly done with it (I was out of work and tired of TV), and had lots of fun. There are a few in-jokes you won’t get, but nothing major, plot-wise.
I think you’ll really enjoy it! We both found it completely addicting, though, and it’s really easy to lose track of real-life time while playing, so be careful!
I never played an Elder Scrolls game before Oblivion and loved it. I’ll probably try Morrowind after I’m bored with Oblivion but with all the expansions and user mods, it has stayed interesting for awhile.
I’ve got a couple hundred hours in Oblivion, and still haven’t explored half of what’s available! Great game, but be prepared to do some tweaking and/or freaking to get it running its best.
Yes, it’s a stand alone game - and you can get the add-ons “Knights of the Nine” and “The Shivering Isles” when you finish, if you want.
Morrowind is great as well - especially if you play with some of the mods (“Better Bodies” springs to mind). I’m on my second go round with Morrowind after playing Oblivion and I personally prefer it.
I hope you have plenty of spare time - its easy to play for hours!
Well, those are fine and dandy, but maybe we can beef up your RPG resume. That cool by you?
I got a Nvidia 6600GT and it runs it pretty well. I wouldn’t suggest another smaller than about that and probably something even newer and faster would be good.
I got it a few days ago, and so far I’m enjoying it. I have a sexy 8800GTS with 640MB of RAM and it runs quite nicely.
So far, the sidequests are far more interesting than the main quest. I’m hoping to soon get over the initial hump and allow this to become a game that I can chip at little by little for a long time.
I didn’t think I’d like the sandbox nature of the game, but I’m really enjoying it. Like a version of EQ that stops when I stop. Very nice. Also more fun than EQ was.
I want you done in under a month so you can get on to NWN. Deal?!
Love it, but the sandbox nature is very love/hate.
I’d recommend buying the expansions along with your starting kit, if you can, to get the fullest enjoyment out of it but the most important thing is to set up a personalized cadre of mods to work out a lot of the flaws the game has.
And I do mean a few of them are nearly vital. The one that gives monsters fixed levels, for instance; in the default version of the game, monsters progress as you do, which means you’ll be at around the same level. While this is fine for a junior player who doesn’t want to be challenged to any noteworthy degree, it gets really annoying after a while. For instance, at level 30, you’ll face goblins only slightly weaker than you, and you’ll only “unlock” monsters to really break your teeth on (i.e. minotaurs) when you’re already at a level to beat them with relative ease. The mod creates a more natural enviroment, where there are places where you’ll actually be outclassed, like there would be in a proper setting.
It also has the backhanded benefit of giving you properly god-like abilities at higher levels, meaning a simple goblin cave in the hills will be the slaughter it should be. And that beating a stronger monster actually gives you a sense of accomplishment.
And then there are the “last 1% of enjoyment” mods, that takes great features and make them outstanding. The texture mods come to mind, like better bodies, realistic face expressions, better terrain texture, proper distance view, et cetera. If you want the very last 1%, check out www.tweakguides.com’s guide to enchancing Oblivion. Lots and lots of performance boosts and nifty optimizations there.
It’s an excellent game and I envy you your first-time visit to Tamriel, if only the chance to act opposite Sean Bean’s Martin. Enjoy!
(Shameless plug; If the fact that your horse is a glorified speed enchancement, not the war-tool a proper warhorse would be, bothers you, go check out Mount&Blade. It’s got a free trial for the first 6 levels, then you can buy a key for like $20, which gives you access to the rest of the beta and the full game when it comes out and the boatload of mods made by the very devoted fanbase. Fair warning, though, it’s not a story-driven game, but the action is probably the best in a fantasy game, evar.)
Heh, I’ll start NWM when I’m good and ready 
It’s not going anywhere.
Yeah, that’s one of the major things that I feel takes away from the immersion factor. Every enemy I come across is appropriately challenging. I want to accidentally wander into a crazy-powerful monster’s house and get my ass kicked, from time to time.
Is the level balancing thing a mod or included in the expansions? Where can I obtain such mods? (I ask even though I’m sure I can find them myself with a little Google-fu.)
I prefer the default monster settings myself but some people find them annoying. Some good links I’ve found:
UESPOblivion Wiki - Great resource for quests, known bugs, possible fixes, etc. I go there all the time. Recommended mods is a good page to check out.
TESS Oblivion Mods - Best site for mods.
A’s List of Recommended Mods - I like this guy’s taste in mods, I found a lot of my favorites on here.