Dorkus Malorkus

Right.

So I’ve got well over 30 hours into the game so far, and I have to say, it’s fantastic.

My previous gripes remain, but like everything else in life, people tend to remember the fond memories and suppress the ugly ones (luckily for me, that’s worked on the wifee as well :D ).  So it’s still irritating to see the “Loading area” message, but it’s rare when you’re in towns and interacting w/ people — it mostly shows up when you run across vast, open fields.  When you’re on horseback, it’s downright annoying.  Having said that, and stated that I’d get on w/ the positive aspects, I’ll do just that.

Before I begin, I think it’s worth noting that this is my absolute first Elder Scrolls game.  As a fan of the genre, that’s a bit surprising to me now, but it is what it is.  Entering the Elder Scrolls world for the first time, I have no predisposed ideas of what it’s supposed to be, nor what any of the shortcomings of the previous iterations were.  My first impression of the game is of course centered upon the character generation engine, which I took my time on.  The image I’ve included here is what my character looks like, which took about an hour to create.  Sadly, the third-person perspective is woefully disappointing, and spending all of your time in first person means you don’t identify w/ your on-screen toon all that much.  You ARE that person, but you I’d really love to see a more WoW-styled character model next-time around.

After I created my character, I immediately started punching things (more out of the “let’s see what I can do” mindset than the “I hate the world” ilk).  Since you start the game in a jail cell, I was a little limited in what I could toy w/, but when I punched the shackles hanging by a chain from the roof, they swung w/ convincing physics.  VERY COOL!  Turning around, I went to the table and found that the food and dishes on the table were all independent items, and so were the individual pieces of silverware.  Not only can you take individual items, but you can pick them up and even toss them if you want.

Wow.  Very cool.

As I progressed, I found that every person’s face was created w/ the same meticulous character creation tool I used, and they all spoke to me in w/ very convincing voice-overs.  Wow.  Towns all have their own feel to them, they each have their own schedules, and NPCs all live their own lives.  Wow.  There’s an amazing amount of detail fleshed out in this game.

Quests are really, really well thought-out.  On a recommendation, I went on a quest to find a painter.  I’ll save the spoilers, but I’ve never been on a quest like this.  It was original, well thought-out and CHALLENGING.  The monsters in the game all adjust to your current level, so no matter when you get to a quest, you’ll have to work for it.  Most of the quests that I’ve done have all been pretty creative — not too many of the standard get-an-object or escort-this-person quests — they all seem to have some kind of distinguishing twist to them, and it’s that extra thought that keeps me from being taken out of the game and reminded that I’m just playing in someone else’s world.

In the interest of getting this published, I’ll say that w/ 30+ hours in, I feel like I’m only just beginning the game.  The main quest line is definitely intriguing, though I’m just realizing that I’ve kind of screwed myself by spending so much time on the auxiliary skills my character has.  His sneak skill is roughly twice as high (at about 90 now) as the other skills (including blades, much to my dismay), and as such, is a terrible melee character.  At level 16, that makes things like the arena pretty difficult.  For now, I’ll concentrate on getting those skills powered up.

If you’re any kind of fan of RPGs, I most highly recommend getting Oblivion.  If you’re not a fan, I don’t think this is one of those universal games that everyone will love, so… there ya have it!

Ok, so as a complete n00b to the Elder Scrolls series, I was completely meh about the impending launch of Oblivion. As the day approached, I watched some of the videos IGN posted on their site, and most of them were of the “Here’s me walking aroundâ€? variety. Having played it for roughly 4.5 hours, I have to say that I’m glad I bought the thing. It’s really gotten into my head, and I’m pretty sure I’m hooked (though it’s too early in the morning for me to be certain).

In this post, I’ll discuss my pre-purchase concerns and talk about why I love the game in my next posting.

First off, my reservations were based upon the fact that the character animations were all really ’95. Having fallen for GRAW, I’ve come to expect (among other things) a high level of realism and immersion from my console games. The way the characters move in GRAW, you actually feel like you’re looking at a person running. When you move the character on-screen, it takes a slight second for them to change direction — they don’t immediately face the direction you point them in. In Oblivion, however, watching characters animate is like stepping back into PS1-style gaming.

Not every animation is lame, but take the example of raising a glass; in Oblivion, the arms move from dead at the character’s side to full-speed arm-raising. Realistically, you should see an accelerated movement. It may seem like a minor gripe, but considering how long the game’s been in development, and that there are tons of games that’ve gotten it right, it sticks out to me.

Next, my other reservation was the whole first-person fantasy gaming point of view. First person seems to work really well for FPS games — having a gun sitting out in front of me makes sense. For whatever reason, when there’s a sword and an arm in front of me, it just bothers me. It just takes me back to the days of King’s Field for the original PlayStation. While I really, really liked King’s Field back in the day (1996), I was pretty much done w/ that whole first-person rpg fascination, and wasn’t really hyped about doing it again — particularly when the npcs animated the same as they did in King’s Field.

Along the same lines, battle in first person is really kind of … iffy. It’s not completely broken, but wtf? Zelda on the N64 created the target lock — why don’t I have that here? Prior to buying the game, I watched a few battle sequences where I noticed that NPCs completely dodge attacks and disappear off-screen. In WoW, if someone tries to circle strafe, I can easily see which direction they’ve gone. In Oblivion, I tend to lose track of them — most likely, to be fair, because I have a shield up and am trying to block their attacks. Still — why can’t I lock on to a target? Jeebus.

Right, so having bitched and moaned: I love this game. Those were my concerns PRIOR to buying it. Yes, I’m a sucker for packaging, so yes — I even bought the collector’s edition. The bonus material included in the collector’s edition is a decent paper map, a brass-type coin of significant heft w/ some guy’s head on it, a booklet w/ tons of backstory that I haven’t read, a “Making of/History ofâ€? DVD and special packaging.

My concerns w/ animation and combat are still valid points — they do diminish the game *a little*, but the game’s so engrossing that I’ll save my positives for the next post.

So great news — Sony’s finally released some info on the PS3, and I’m pleased.

First off — it’s officially delayed until November, at which point they’re going to mount a worldwide launch (US, Asia and EU).  This doesn’t surprise me, so I’m not upset about the delay.

The BIG news is that they’re going to have an online service like Xbox Live, which is a no-brainer.  They HAD to come to the market with SOMEthing, or they’d definitely lose some market.  The even better news is that so far, it’s “basic” service (details of what that entails are still sketchy) is going to be FREE.

The most important thing to learn by this announcement is that w/ a worldwide launch, you’d better reserve a console early.  I’m personally going to put my name on every registry I can find – just in case.

For the second weekend in a row I’ve had friends over to play video games.

Back in the day, I did this all the time. My wife even got into the action a couple times with some 4-player Mario Kart action. since the advent of MMORPGs, however, my co-op gaming has only been through virtual meetings.

Now that I’m playing more 360 these days, I tend to have friends over to satisy their curiosity over what the buzz is all about. Knowing that they’re going to get their own 360s saddens me a bit, in knowing that we won’t all huddle together in one room laughing our asses off together, anymore.

Xbox Live is a GREAT deal of fun, but thanks to 360 shortages, I’ve been reminded just how much fun *true* co-op gaming is.