Skyrim - Preview @ PC Gamer

PC Gamer has a preview of Skyrim. And the plot is about - dragons.
Here's a snip about the start. As usual, you'll find yourself arrested and in a cell.

You’re released. Why, we don’t know yet. But you’re released into a nation that’s tearing itself apart. It’s a land governed by nine holds, regions that are traditionally each controlled by a single ruling family. But the system hasn’t lasted – many holds are now governed by elected councils, some have been overthrown, and they’re on the brink of war with each other. And as the conflict reaches crisis point, the dragons show up.

In Oblivion, a dragonborn showed up. Now it's dragons.

When the Dragonborns die out 200 years later, it’s not the demons of Oblivion that break through – it’s actual dragons. They’re already ravaging the world, and they’re nothing compared to what’s next. Alduin, the biggest and baddest of the long-lost species, is coming. The Elder Scrolls foretold it, and only a Dragonborn can stop it.

This plot does seem familar, doesn't it?
More information.

to be honest, I don't care if the plot has similiarities. As long as the game makes an advance in tech and storyline compared to Oblivion, then it will be good enough for me. I'm allowing myself to fall for the hype on this one. I'm eating up every tidbit of info I can get and can't wait for Skyrim to come out! Drrragonporn!

I like the image about what hand can hold what.

Confused turtle is something I will have to try.

Sigh - early speculation that the return of dragons was merely a small part of a larger Akaviri invasion sounded more interesting. The prospect of being able to go to an Avakaviri settlement/colonoy/occupied city had me excitied. Plus the Tiger-Dragon Emperor is a slightly less cliched villain than Alduin - or at least we don't automatically understand his potential goals and motivations. Alduin on the other hand is a tried and true force-of-the-apocalypse type type of antogonist with little to no chance of being complex or sympathetic. He's what Joss Whedon would refer to as this installment's "Big Bad" but little more than that.

The game mechanics and engine do look promising though. I find the fact that they are allow dual shield wielding amusing. The "confused turtle" option might actually work with shields enchanted to reflect damage or cast constant frost/lightning/fire shield as well. I don't imagine it being particularly exciting to play that way though.

With Skyrim they’re shifting the focus a little: Oblivion’s combat model was all about the sluggishness and difficulty of combat with large, heavy weapons. Skyrim’s is more energetic and fast – there are gruesome finishing moves for each weapon and enemy type. It’s also more tactical: you can no longer run backwards to get away from a fight while still defending yourself. Your reverse movement is much slower, so you have to decide: stay and fight, or turn and flee?

Instead of vague statements, give us some vids ;-)
I like my combat about reflexes, but also about taking on more than one enemy at once; positioning yourself, timing your attacks, choosing ground, deciding when to take on melee or ranged first, drawing enemies out. Finishing moves are useless if whilst performing some crazy humiliation type of thing on an opponent everyone else just stands to watch. Throw in a quest about some legendary swordsman knowing how to take out weakened and stunned enemies really quickly or when you're positioned behind or sprinting aside or … I'm saying add invention, not gimmicks.

If you gave me 5 minutes and a piece of paper and asked me to come up with a cool plot for TES5 I swear to God I could do better than "DUDE… DRAGONS!"

It's pretty sad.

That said it might still be okay, and frankly exploration will make the game worth playing no matter what for me.

Just because we don't know any details doesn't mean there aren't any details! Like I said in the comments there, though, I'll be interested in knowing why I'm supposed to be out fighting instead of <ahem> spreading my gene pool around the populace.

Originally Posted by Zloth
Just because we don't know any details doesn't mean there aren't any details! Like I said in the comments there, though, I'll be interested in knowing why I'm supposed to be out fighting instead of <ahem> spreading my gene pool around the populace.

Haha well maybe that's a viable non-violent path to victory in the game. Sounds a little too much like something you'd find in a Fable game though.

Originally Posted by Zloth
Like I said in the comments there, though, I'll be interested in knowing why I'm supposed to be out fighting instead of <ahem> spreading my gene pool around the populace.

You can do both in The Witcher.

Dragon … Dragon … returning … Dragon Age ? Cataclysm ? Divinity 2 ? Drakensang ?

I guess there's a little bit too much dragons around in the genre, lately …

Um, every elder scrolls game starts out in a dungeon/jail. Every one.

Originally Posted by rune_74
Um, every elder scrolls game starts out in a dungeon/jail. Every one.

Well you actually wake up in a cave at the start of Daggerfall, but you're in a dungeon a moment later anyways…

Originally Posted by Alrik Fassbauer
Dragon … Dragon … returning … Dragon Age ? Cataclysm ? Divinity 2 ? Drakensang ?

I guess there's a little bit too much dragons around in the genre, lately …

That's the problem with long development times. By the time Bioware was starting development on Dragon Age, Larian and Bethesda were working on other games featuring dragons.

One is not gonna scrap away five years of work just to have a different enemy.

On the other hand, orcs are a feature of many RPGs. And personally I find it annoying if a type of enemy is an orc in all-but-name. They just have different name, but the way they behave is exactly as what one is used from orcs. The savage beasts of Dungeon Siege (can't remember the name) and DarkSpawn in Dragon Age are the typical orc horde prototypes. Quit dicking around and just call them Orcs already!

What I do find interesting is if they take the orc role a bit further. Like in the Elder Scrolls orcs turning from savage to civilised from Daggerfall to Morrowind because of the Orcs service to the Empire. Making the orcs of earlier games not dumb savages but misunderstood rebels. In Gothic 3 they actually made the orcs win (almost) and we had a look into how they ran things.

Originally Posted by JDR13
Well you actually wake up in a cave at the start of Daggerfall, but you're in a dungeon a moment later anyways…

Yeah, they went with the "I forgot all my skills because of getting knocked around" scenario with that one.

While in the other three they went with the "I withered all my skills and sense of self away in prison".

Either way, your character has to reinvent itself.

Originally Posted by JDR13
Well you actually wake up in a cave at the start of Daggerfall, but you're in a dungeon a moment later anyways…

Was thinking about that when I typed my answer(thats why I added dungeon) but it is kind of a staple of the series. In a way I think this gave the devs the ability to ignore the past of your character unless they wanted to.

Hmmm, I wish some fantasy maker would look at how system shock 2 handled char gen, that was genius.

Perhaps we're a political prisoner this time, and we're released because the leader is assassinated. That'd be fun. Being freed by the dude who offed the local ruler You get separated somehow and end up in a ruin with part of a dragon word. The power of the word knocks you unconscious and you dream of the Super Worm.

I'm looking forward to this with some reservations.

Agree the dragons plot sounds very cliche, and the Dragon shouts sounds very dumb. I also dont like that it appears attributes are gone from the game.

So which magazine will award the first 94% game of the year score? Maybe PC gamer?

Thankfully this time you will be able to totally ignore MQ

Well, the plot was never all that strong in the ES games, so this is hardly surprising.

Originally Posted by JuliusMagnus
What I do find interesting is if they take the orc role a bit further. Like in the Elder Scrolls orcs turning from savage to civilised from Daggerfall to Morrowind because of the Orcs service to the Empire. Making the orcs of earlier games not dumb savages but misunderstood rebels. In Gothic 3 they actually made the orcs win (almost) and we had a look into how they ran things.

In Aventuria, Orcs are still like some sort of "Barbarians", but the still have heir own - yet brutal - culture. A few tribes of them are even more "civilized" than others. And the highest chief of them is currently building some sort of orcish town, the first real town in the orcish culture, I guess.
But apart from that they are rather treated like brutal savages - sort of. Their fighting and wepon-building skills are highly respected, even by their foes, in Aventuria.
Therefore they are very well respected as mercenaries, despite any other prejudices against them.