I traditionally look for game deals around the holiday season, and since the stores and distributors are generally kind enough to indulge me around that time, fun-time usually ensues. Skyrim has been on my radar since before it was released, but even though it’s been out for over a year, I just can’t decide if I should give it a chance. There’s not too many other games on my radar at the moment, and as the holiday sales aren’t too far away, I thought I should try to decide on it before a sale appears and I have to decide quickly.
On the one hand, I loved Fallout 3 and New Vegas. I loved exploring everything, finding new locations, new side-quests, new gear & weapons, etc. I liked the leveling, the perks, and adding points to skills as I wanted to. Along the way, you could build some things like bottlecap mines, and you could learn to make some meds and such.
On the other hand, I did not like Oblivion. I could wander seemingly endlessly and not find anything but random creatures that killed me. I never figured out the magic potions, or whatever I was supposed to be crafting. I didn’t really get the combat down very well either, and IIRC, bows & arrows kind of sucked. I generally got killed a lot. It just seemed like Oblivion didn’t direct me enough, didn’t teach me enough, and it was essentially a great deal of tedium & confusion followed by moments of aggravation and death. I somehow found my way to a small fort or keep, killed everyone and made it my own, then lost interest.
I was hoping someone familiar with these games might give their opinion on Skyrim, particularly how it compares to Oblivion & the more recent Fallout games.
More games I’ve played and liked over the past few years: Dungeons & Dragons Online (several Sorcerer characters, and one Artificer), Borderlands 1 & 2, Portal 1 & 2, S.T.A.L.K.E.R., Left 4 Dead 1 & 2, Battlefield 3 & Bad Company 2. I’ve long been a big fan of the Half-Life series as well.