Originally Posted by
Neeshka
Playing this game slowly made me realize how good blizzard is; and how much we've been spoilt with good gameplay.
I've put in about 35-40ish hours into this game; and now I have almost no incentive to open it up anymore.
I'm playing a one-handed dual wield warrior; level 42 or 43 now. I'm probably 2/3rds through the main quest (just finished the mountaintop stuff). Dragon + daedric armor and weapons, 100 smithing, 100 one handed, 100 alch, 70 or so enchanting; 65 or so restoration magic.
Everything I come across dies in 3-4 hits at most. Why is game balance so bad ? What's the point of levelling up skills and getting better armor if there is absolutely zero challenge from any of the enemies in the game ?
Dragons that are supposed to be all "EPIC" and "MAJESTIC" die to 1 shout and 4-5 hits. "hard" in this game seems to just involve pausing more, using the same craptastic ui and using just a few more potions. Why ?
Combat involves :
1. Nudge close to enemy
2. Hit right/left mouse buttons
3. Nudge back
4. If health is low then {spam click 10,000 potatoes, 200 potions} else go back to (1).
Combat is supposed to be a reward in itself of gameplay; not sure why bethesda never realized this. Combo points, multiple resource mechanics, proc and reactive abilities, multiple attack directions, debuffs, or simply put = HITTING MORE BUTTONS. Another thing, constantly pausing in a real-time game totally destroys game flow and immersion.
Using spells or bows involves wading through an ocean of horrendous UI garbage. I'm not sure I've ever seen a UI this unresponsive or horribly designed.
Every other kill there is a badly animated "slow motion" death scene; very similar to fallout 3 ones; that appeal to the "AMG EXPLOOOSHUNZ" crowd. The beheading is usually done wrong and the camera angles are really weird. Why not make a QTE death move or a finisher or just do away with this gimmick completely ?
Every dungeon seems to be 1 of 3 types :
1) Crypts
2) Indoor barracks/tower type affair with a spiral staircase (the spiral stairs are a must guys)
3) Dwemer ruins with falmers.
Quests are the same mmorpg crap of fetch/deliver/kill [aka fedex quests]. The worst of these are the "gather 20 nirnroot" or "gather 5 flawless sapphire and get 100gold yay" type quests.
Levelling itself isn't balanced; you level up in the most bizarre way in this game. Quests themselves give you zero xp. XP progresses based of skill use. However there's a problem. As you level up a certain skill, it takes longer and longer to level it up. And if you go to a trainer it gets incredibly costly.
BUT, getting +1 skill level in ANY skill has exactly the same xp progression for your character. What this means is as you reach higher levels; if you want to level up; it becomes optimal to go to a trainer and train in a skill you rarely use since it's cheap; or use crap skills on opponents and then switch to your weapons. Again doing this means wading through a mountain of dung that is the UI.
As you level up you rapidly outscale your npc companions, which become little more than an extra backpack to dump dragon bones/scales/ore on to. Because it somehow makes sense to allow friendly fire; onto an npc that will die in 2 hits.
Companions don't always follow you, and there is no notification if they die. Every time you save you have to make sure your companion isn't dead. If you think he/she's stuck somewhere and not realize they're dead; and then hit quicksave THAT'S IT. You just lost 10 dragonbones and the companion; whoopteedoo. Horses are also equally retarded; they die in 1 hit apparently and just have to attack everything.
Which brings me to - inventory weight: why does stuff weigh so much ? Why do I have to open up the crap UI every time I pick up something and trade it to my companion ? Even with 420 carry capacity the entire inventory system is an exercise in frustration ....
And so then I have to run back to my "home" and put junk in cupboards. When I want to make dragon armor I grab them and walk at 1 cm per second to the smith in whiterun - but o no you can't fast travel so it takes a full 10 minutes to do this.
The main quest so far is very disappointing - it's the same cliched "chosen one" that gets to kill dragons. There is a big evil dragon rezzing dragons, only you can kill him. He still dies in 5 hits though, of course.
Bugs, I won't go into much detail, but the entire markath zone bugging out and being hostile after a quest (until i did the stormcloak chain and conquered it), dragons stuck in mid-air, suddenly swimming in zones. Weird and buggy steal/wanted system.
It's been a mediocre hiking simulator; with some pleasant bits like the misty village for the drunken daedra quest and some of the early spriggan caves.
Someone please tell me why this game is good again.
Also, why the hype ?