The Elder Scrolls - Skyrim vs. Oblivion

Couchpotato

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PCGamerHub has a new opinion article were they debate is Skyrim, or Oblivion the better game. I can't wait to see your opinions in the comment section. As for me I pick Skyrim so debate away my fellow forum readers.

You wouldn’t call it an age old battle, unless you loved the Elder Scrolls as much as I do. So an age old battle is what we’ll call it.

Oblivion. Skyrim. And one ring to rule… Wait, that’s not right. Truthfully, the storyline of both these – say it with me – awesome games is hardcore smack-you-in-the-face fantasy. Ain’t nothing better than that. Or is there? Perhaps the sandbox style gameplay. Or the amazing graphics. Or the cheeky NPCs.

Yes, the Elder Scrolls series is great. In fact, it’s so great it’s almost diabolical. There’s just one problem: which of these two recent games is better?

For a lot of people this might be a no-brainer. Skyrim is newer, sexier and has dragons. But don’t judge a book by its cover – or a tavern wench by her skirt stains – because there’s a lot more to a great game than just its graphics.

I remember the day I picked up Oblivion for the first time. I remember the name of the character I made, her race and her class. I can’t say the same for Skyrim. And that says a lot. Perhaps, Oblivion evokes a sense of nostalgia in my inherently girly goblin-slaying heart, but I can’t shake that feeling of excitement. It’s the reason I ordered the 5th Anniversary edition of the game.

So let’s break it down. Let’s compare Skyrim and Oblivion. Mano a mano. Alduin vs. Mehrunes Dagon.
More information.
 
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I'll take Daggerfall! ;)

I didn't play oblivion at all due to the horrible character system (played Nehrim though). Oblivion has the worst character system I have seen so far in any game. They didn't just manage to make in unintuitive, they even made it counter-intuitive.
So for me personally Skyrim is the better game of these two anyways, don't even need to look at any other aspects of the game.
Would have loved more Daggerfall in Skyrim though. The random quests they put in Skyrim were horrible and not really what I was looking for.
 
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Without mods Skyrim is tied with Morrowind as the best Elderscrolls game with Daggerfall a little behind that and then Arena next with Oblivion at the bottom. With mods Oblivion is the best with Morrowind next and Skyrim third and then Daggerfall and Arena.
 
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"cheeky NPCs"??!??!?

I cannot remember a single character in any elder scrolls game at all. Could not have been more bland and generic.

I'd go Skyrim anyway, Oblivion totally bored the shit out of me.
 
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Morrowind modded is the undisputed king. Even without mods is the better game. Daggerfall comes in second, with no doubts. If the game could be remade in HD, would win even over Morrowind. Skyrim is the third, mainly because is a wee bit closer of those two. Arena is next. Oblivion suffered due to the atrocious decision to level up the enemies, instead of bringing new ones ( i mean battling a goblin at level 1 or at level 40, not much of a difference ).

So for me, that's the top for the Elder Scrolls games.
 
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Since were talking about the Elder Scroll games I was thinking of trying out Morrowind again with the overhaul mod is it worth it? Some advice would be welcome.:)
 
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I've avoided the overrhaul. No doubt it's very good, but for me the barren landscapes of Morrowind is more in line with how I imagine the region. So despite the quality of the overhaul, I think it will affect my immersion negatively. (Based on the images, never actually tried it, which perhaps is kind of silly)

pibbur whose favourite part of MW is the ashlands. And who in all Elder Scrolls games turns on permanent rainstorms.
 
Overhaul allows fog of war settings. It's sort of silly not to run it for texture fidelity and basic shaders if for no other reason.
 
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To me, Oblivion was 10 times better than Skyrim. I know most here disagree, but that's how it was for me.
 
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Oblivion has soul? She clearly never played any of the Gothics...
Its drab fantasy setting started boring me after generic dungeon #3.
 
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They're both enjoyable games, but they also lack just about any sense of personal interaction. Yes the NPCs say things, but they could just copy it to the journal for all it matters. Then again, the Fallout games have the same issue.
 
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I'll take Daggerfall! ;)

I didn't play oblivion at all due to the horrible character system (played Nehrim though). Oblivion has the worst character system I have seen so far in any game. They didn't just manage to make in unintuitive, they even made it counter-intuitive.
So for me personally Skyrim is the better game of these two anyways, don't even need to look at any other aspects of the game.
Would have loved more Daggerfall in Skyrim though. The random quests they put in Skyrim were horrible and not really what I was looking for.

What's wrong with the character system? Just asking, just curious, since I didn't notice anything particular about characters@oblivion.

pibbur who probably doesn't pay attention to things he should pay attention to.
 
Morrowind > Skyrim > Oblivion

But in a weird twist I like some systems from Oblivion better than they are in Skyrim, mainly because they are closer to how they are in Morrowind.

I love the Elder Scrolls mostly for the lore and in that regard Morrowind will always win.

Also, I reflect now the static-ness of Morrowind was actually a plus. Oblivion and Skyrim both feature open-warfare. They both start in an open-warfare scenario. In Oblivion it starts with the Oblivion Gates in Kvatch, Skyrim starts with the execution scene in Helgen.

You can ignore it in Oblivion by forgetting about the Main Quest, in Skyrim you can engage it if you join the Imperial Legion or the Stormcloaks (I haven't played either scenario yet, they might be good), if you don't engage the civil war, the only time you come across it is in side-missions ore a diplomatic mission within the main quest. Another win for Skyrim over Oblivion because it's more optional.

In Morrowind it was kind of an underground war, you eventually took the fight to the enemy but with the exception of the sleepers and dreamers popping up in the cities it didn't effect the world outside of the Ghost Fence since you basically stopped them before they became a big threat.

In Morrowind I felt more Jack Bauer/Jason Bourne, while in Oblivion and Skyrim I felt more Arnie with a mini-gun.

In the way they promoted Skyrim with the basic Nord 'Dragonborn' character, I feel like we won't have a shady/agent Nerevarine -esque character ever again. I don't think I ever heard them market Nerevarine before Morrowind was released but then again Morrowind wasn't the sequel to Oblivion (which was the sequel to Morrowind) so I doubt there was any major marketing at all.

I haven't truly played Arena and Daggerfall but from the Storylines at the Imperial-Library.info it seems the Daggerfall hero was more the Jack Bauer type and the Arena hero more the Arnie with a Mini-Gun type.
 
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To me, Oblivion was 10 times better than Skyrim. I know most here disagree, but that's how it was for me.

I agree to an extent. There are aspects of Oblivion I miss in Skyrim, notably the skill system and item repairs etc. I know the skill system is flawed but I like the detail. The Oblivion world lacks variation but it was still good for ~200 hours of combined play. I'm well aware of Oblivion's flaws but I will never understand the hate for it. The overhaul mod is excellent here too.
 
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Morrowind>Skyrim>Daggerfall>Arena>Oblivion

Daggerfall and Arena were good, but the randomly generated world (which always feel generic) was a critical flaw that took them down a few notches for me. Oblivion manages to be generic and boring in a handcrafted world which is a feat in itself.
 
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I'm waiting for an Elder Scrolls game that has the class system of Arena, the ability to customize your background traits à la Daggerfall, an improved version of the randomized dungeons and NPC's of Daggerfall, and the engaging combat of Skyrim. A setting as well presented and atmospheric as Morrowind wouldn't hurt either. I'm not sure what cues to take from Oblivion.
 
I'm well aware of Oblivion's flaws but I will never understand the hate for it..
For the same reason I have hated DA2. Without Morrowind and DA:O Oblivion and DA2 would have been ok. Not great but ok. But there WERE Morrowind and DA:O….
 
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Oblivion gets a lot of hate but I recently played it for 300 hours and it was some of the best RPG gaming I've experienced in awhile. I found many of the criticisms about the game to be flat out not true.

That said, I can't pick which is my favorite Elder Scrolls game because it's a bit like picking your favorite child or something. They're all great to me.
 
Halt!

Daggerfall.

Skyrim is a good second choice, but Daggerfall is the king for me. Character generation by far the best of the series, dungeons most 3d and geographically challenging, best political world scope (if slightly limited implementation in practise), best world scope + atmosphere etc.
 
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