The Elders Scrolls IV: Oblivionwas a great action/RPG that did a lot of things right. The next game in the series,Skyrim, also did much to advance the series and the action/RPG genre. These two games also had their problems – and not just a few. What lessons should Bethesda take from the previous two games inThe Elders Scrollsfranchise as they develop the sixth game in the series?
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These lessons don’t necessarily indicate a mistake on Bethesda’s part, and in fact might be something positive that gamers hope Bethesda brings back forThe Elders Scrolls VI. This list will focus on details unique to eitherOblivionorSkyrim, and not those shared by both.
10Oblivion – A Game-World Full Of Color
This is a lesson that manyElder Scrollsfans wish Bethesda had learned betweenOblivionandSkyrim.Skyrim’sgraphics are inarguably better, but visuallyOblivionbeatsSkyrimin terms of the color palette.Oblivionwas filled with vibrant colors that helped bring the game-world to life.
The dull tones (mostly browns and greens) of Skyrim’s color palette was something for which it got a lot of criticism. Sure, the game was set in a rugged subarctic climate without much vegetation, but the colors still could have been a little brighter.
9Skyrim – Make The Game’s Currency A Little More Scarce
Running out of money inSkyrimnever seemed to be a problem – for anyone. It did not take long for players to amass a fortune they couldn’t spend in a hundred lifetimes. The only thing that most players ever needed to spend money on was lumber and the occasional rare alchemical ingredient.
Everything else the player uses over the course of the game was either craftable or found in abundance in the game-world. This basically turned collecting gold pieces into the equivalent of trying to get the high score on old-school arcade games – in other words only for prestige.
8Oblivion – Creative Side-Quests
Skyrim’sside-quests were a grind of the same tired fetch-quests and NPC hunts. Fans of theElder Scrollsfranchise almost unanimously agree that the worst side-quests inOblivionwere as good as some of the best side-quests inSkyrim.
MemorableOblivionside-quests like “An Unexpected Voyage” and “A Brush With Death” don’t have an equally compelling counterpart inSkyrim. The side-quests inSkyrimfelt more like an afterthought; hopefully Bethesda puts as much thought into the part VI’s side-quests as they did forOblivion.
7Skyrim – Guilds Should Be More Exclusive
Most players finishedSkyrimwith a character that was the head of the theives’ guild, the head of the Dark Brotherhood, and the Archmage of Winterhold. InSkyrim, joining these guilds seemed almost obligatory; inOblivionit was an unexpected and spontaneous event.
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Also, inOblivionthese guilds would seek-out the player’s character as a prospective member - players had to be invited. This made joining theguilds inSkyrimmore like an exclusive event combined with a clandestine adventure. It should also be much harder to become the leader of these guilds.
6Oblivion – A Less Linear Storyline Is Better
The direction thatOblivion’smain quest took felt like something over which the player had control, while still remaining mysterious.Skyrim’smain quest held the player’s hand from beginning to end and at times felt more like a chore than an adventure. Hopefully Bethesda will learn from this and make the main quest in part VI one with a more branching mission structure – so that every player doesn’t have the exact same experience during a play-through.
Role-playing games should allow players to decide their own destiny;Skyrimwas more like an interactive novel the events of which the player had no influence, despite being the protagonist of the story.
5Skyrim – Running Speed
A character’s running speed inSkyrimcould be affected by certain things, like sheathing your weapon, but was not something a player could improve upon. InOblivionplayers had the ability to increase their character’s movement rate. The player had the ability to increase their character’s Athletics skill for increased running speed; this also increased the distance of their character’s jumps.
Some players, usually those who used melee weapons, enjoyed being able to make their character faster so they could close the distance between spellcasters and archers quicker. It also makes traversing a large, open-world map a little less tedious.
4Oblivion – Character Creation
In terms of character creationOblivionwas so much better thanSkyrim.Obliviongave the player a choice of profession (class) as well as assigning skills as major and minor. There were also more skills available to players inOblivion. This larger selection of available skills allowed for more customization.
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Skyrim’sskill-and-perk system felt less confining thanOblivion’s, but a closer examination of its system reveals it to be more of a zero sum game thanOblivion’ssystem. Skills inSkyrimare improved at the expense of improving other skills more so than inOblivion. The character creation system inOblivionalso provided a better equilibrium of play-styles; whereasSkyrimseemed to favor stealth archers.
3Skyrim – Species/Races Need More Distinct Appearances
Skyrimhad a lot of humans NPCs, and the otherplayable raceswere surprisingly well represented for such a remote setting. The problem was it was nearly impossible to tell what race of human or elf a character was, based on their appearance.
InOblivionthis was never a problem as every race and subrace was easily identifiable. Gold elves had a golden tint to their skin color. Wood elves were a little shorter than gold elves and had brownish skin color. Even the khajiit and argonians had more variation in appearance inOblivion.
2Oblivion – Spellcrafting
One of the biggest complaints aboutSkyrimamong gamers was the removal of the spellcrafting options that were present inOblivion.Oblivionallowed players to alter spells and even create new spells. The player had the power to combine various spell effects, set the spell’s range, how the spell was delivered (touch or at range), and the spell’s area of effect.
This could be done only by members of the mage guild at a special altar. Inexplicably,Skyrimhad none of that.Skyrimdid have dual-hand casting, but this should have been in addition to the spellcrafting system inOblivioninstead of being its replacement.
1Skyrim – NPC Reactions
The NPC reactions inSkyrimwere not affected by anything the character did for them. The player could slay a dragon attacking a farm and save the farmer’s life. What does the farmer say when you talk to him? Does he thank the player? Does he ask the player who they are? Nope and nope. The farmer turns to the player’s character and says, “There are dragons about, traveler. Be warned.”
The player can take over the leadership role of a guild, but still get spoken to like an untrusted outsider by its members. InOblivionguild members would call the player’s character “master” after the player became the leader of the guild. Also, as the storyline inOblivionprogressed NPCs would begin recognizing the player’s character and react accordingly.
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