Is Elder Scrolls: Oblivion worth playing?

[Deleted]

I actually tried picking it up again a few weeks ago. Ever since the game came out I finished the game and most quests a few times, I think I spent around 700-800 hours total until Skyrim was released. After playing Skyrim I can't play Oblivion anymore though. The same reason why I couldn't play Morrowind anymore after playing Oblivion. The new games keep improving, the game mechanics atleast.

I'll have my doubts Bethesda can top the Oblivion Dark Brotherhood questline though, those were amazing.

[Deleted]

I found the video of oscuro´s mod
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBKjLxVJKRg
There it explains how it changes the game, a very detailed explanation at the end of the video.

[pateuvasiliu]

Mods aside it's a better RPG than Skyrim. So yeah, definitely.

[Tommy T]

Seems like Skyblivion has been in development forever...

[May90]

Well, I ruined my first character... Didn't quite understand all the mechanics at start, and now the character is crippled. I suppose I could still make it through the game if I really wanted (despite playing on the hardest difficulty), but I don't feel like playing for dozens (possibly hundreds) hours a character that I know is much weaker than he could be. Especially since I am only around 10 hours into the game, so restarting won't make me lose much.

The problem is, almost every possible action seems to work towards increase one of the skills. Some skills can be lowered by going to jail repeatedly, but some cannot. If Wiki is to be believed, no skills with Agility, Personality and Intelligence as governing attributes can be lowered in jail, so those skills should never be leveled more than needed for +5 level up bonus. This makes it a huge pain to plan efficient leveling.

I think I will just start with quests that don't require me to do any fighting, and max out Endurance and Personality in the process. Then I will max out Intelligence through Conjuration leveling and use the summons to get Felldew in Shivering Isles. After that I will just play the game, leveling various stats depending on what I feel like going.

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Really tempted to just use the "always +5 bonus" mod, but it feels a bit like cheating.

[Anegrohymn]

Honestly will say the worse thing about Oblivion was the skill up/leveling system. I personally turned towards Oblivion XP and never looked back.

[Kazgrel]

Oblivion remains my least favorite ES game I've played (which includes Morrowind and Skyrim), but least favorite =/= bad. Still a decent game and I would recommend at least one playthrough for anyone who is a fan of the series.

[corebit]

It's absolutely worth playing! The Heist quest and Mythic Dawn questline to search for Mehrune Dagon's are some of the best in the ES series. Mankar Camoran is also one of the best villains as well and he has such a sexy voice.

I also consider the Oblivion musical score to be superior to Skyrim.

[Poppincaps]

Seems like Skyblivion has been in development forever...

I think Skywind is their priority so that's why it's taking longer.

[May90]

Playing with the worst leveling system in the history of gaming is cheating. cheating yourself out of the fun the game can offer with the right mods.

Well, honestly, I'm having quite a bit of fun with planning the leveling and deciding what I'm going to do at this level to level efficiently. In Morrowind, I didn't care about it and I just went and did whatever I felt like. In Oblivion, on the other hand, I can do quite a bit of roleplaying aimed at efficient leveling. For example, currently I'm leveling Endurance and Personality through Armorer and Mercantile: I focus on collecting things that just lay around and selling them to merchants, and in the free time repair everything that needs repairing. I feel like my character, at least at the time, is really working on particular fields, as opposed to what I had in Morrowind, where the character felt just like a generic RPG girl that would do quests randomly.

I do use the jail trick though, so the leveling goes smoother. It is pretty funny to hit a guard with an axe, get into jail, then, as soon as I get out of jail, hit the same guard with an axe again, and so on...

But yeah, the leveling system is pretty nonsensical. I think it would make more sense if levels didn't exist at all, and just every time some skill increased by 10, its governing attribute would increase by 5.

[Graeham]

I actually found Oblivion to be much more enjoyable than Skyrim. The quests were often a lot more elaborate and immersive - and whilst the graphics are outdated now you can still make it look pretty awesome if you're in a position to install mods.

[May90]

The thing is the leveling system functions in exactly the opposite way with TES gameplay. When you play a TES game you want to be free to go and do whatever you want (they are even changing the MMO so the entire world and all factions are open to everyone from lvl 1 because you know, THAT'S what TES is about). Meanwhile the Oblivion leveling system wants you to control how many times you jump and how much you run. You want to be good with transmutes? Drown yourself. You want to be good with setting things on fire? Set yourself on fire! Find a weak mob to keep hitting you so you can spam cheap resto spells! And let's not mention the utter cheese that is possible with spellmaking . . .

Broken system, ruining what would otherwise be a much better game.

Well, I mean, the system (except for mob scaling) was directly copy-pasted from Morrowind, so we should blame Morrowind for that. In Morrowind though power play wasn't required, since the game was ridiculously easy even on the hardest setting, as long as you enchant things properly and don't slack on using trainers. You didn't need to set yourself on fire in Morrowind repeatedly (although you could if you really wanted) because you would get OP spells just by playing legitimately and leveling as you do quests - while in Oblivion on harder difficulties you won't even be able to start questing if you aren't powerful enough.

The mob scaling is what really annoys me. Some scaling is okay, but in Oblivion scaling seems to be almost linear. I liked the system they used in Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning and Dragon Age: Inquisition (and I think the same system was used in Fallout 3 and Skyrim, although I'm not sure), where each zone had a level gap, say, level 13-18: if you are level 13 or below, the enemies will be level 13; if you at between 13 and 18, then enemies will scale with you, if you are higher than level 18, then enemies will still be level 18. You always had a feeling of progression, since you always, by putting in enough time and effort, could eventually outgrow the mobs in a given area - but in Oblivion, it seems, some mobs scale infinitely with you, so if you by using various tricks managed to get to level 150, then you will face a lot of level 150 mobs wandering around the Imperial City.

In Morrowind, at some point I became almost godlike; it was easy at that point, but it was also good to feel that, after playing for 70-80 hours, I was rewarded with becoming extraordinarily powerful. I always like that moment in RPGs, when, after dozens hours of struggling, you finally feel having become a godlike being. In Oblivion, if I get it right, that moment never comes, and you will always struggle against certain mobs - unless maybe you put some crazy enchantments on your gear, like giving you permanent 100% Chameleon ability...

[thewallofsleep]

Personally, after playing Skyrim first, I couldn't get into Oblivion. I downloaded a ton of mods but it just didn't work for me. I have a really hard time dealing with pre-2010 3D graphics if I don't already have nostalgia for the game. I started gaming in the 80's but stopped playing games altogether around 2001. WoW grabbed me in 2007, and I've been playing a wide array of PC games since about 2009. The first decade of the 2000's sure has some ugly 3D graphics. Going back to playing something as outdated as Oblivion was impossible for me.