Oblivion - still can't get into it

Ozzie Dave said:
With Oblivion, Bethesda sold their soul to the mass market console crowd.....hardcore pc rpg'ers need not apply.
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I've tried and tried to work out why a few PC gamers have this feeling that its a console RPG. Its not all that different from Morrowind.

It has those 'interesting' mini games, that could be for the console. But they're not paticularly consoley. The leveling system is diabolical, but thats certainly not developed for the console, its developed for the mass market and to address the complaints about Morrowind.

Its nice to be egotisical and say you like facts and figures in your RPG and therefore you like 'real RPGs', aka. strict Dungeons and Dragons ruleset on PC. Well, very few commercial RPGs are strict D&D.

Games are moving to the mass market because of rising dev costs. Look at all the support the Wii is getting.

But if it makes you feel better to blame the Xbox 360 for the stuff you didn't like about Oblivion, carry on ahead.
 
The biggest killer for me was the much touted 'psychic guards' AI. i.e. you steal something in an empty room, then suddenly BAM you've got a guard standing right next to you.

How hard is it to put line of sight code into a game? I can tell you as a developer its NOT. Staggering that they let this one slip through. As Cronox said, the mods do help. But it feels disappointing to have to use modifications to the game just to get it to play normally.

Also, I find in a lot of good RPG's I've played, finding a superior weapon or armour upgrade would give you a real sense of satisfaction and a thirst to continue for more powerful upgrades. There is so much junk to sift through in Oblivion it makes loot hunting painful.

On a positive note -

I've discovered Hitman: Blood Money to be a very enjoyable diversion, and is easily the best in the series and one of the more entertaining titles out at the moment. Excellent graphics, AI, set pieces and comedy touches.
 
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Andelusion said:
I thought i'd absolutely hate it since i've never been a fan of RPGs but I love Oblivion.
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That's because it's not an RPG: it's a first person action game with a couple of unconvinving RPG bits. To be fair, Bethesda's interpretation of an RPG has been pretty individual for a while though, it's just the Ob is almost entirely a hack'n'slash - and not a good one.

Now I like Ob, and I've been playing a lot, but it is merely a good game, whereas Morrowind was a classic. As many people have said, what Oblivion is missing is the immersion: unlike Morrowind you always remember that it's just game, not a complete world. But both Morrowind and Oblivion are hard to get into - Morrowind more so if anything. If you've played MW it really gives you an unfair advantage playing Ob, because Ob is really MW stripped down, and what is left made to look prettier.


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Boogle said:
I've tried and tried to work out why a few PC gamers have this feeling that its a console RPG. Its not all that different from Morrowind.
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Personally I found the whole menu system very limited and time consuming because it was designed for the console. Why doesn’t pressing "m" take me straight to the map or "i" straight to the inventory or "c" to the character section. These seem to be fairly standard in PC RPGs. Instead I have to press TAB, select the section I want, and then select the specific area I want. Even after all this you only get a tiny map or a tiny section of my inventory because it's made to fit on a 640x480 TV screen and doesn't scale.
 
caff said:
The biggest killer for me was the much touted 'psychic guards' AI. i.e. you steal something in an empty room, then suddenly BAM you've got a guard standing right next to you.
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I couldnt believe it when I stole some horse from a stable, rode for miles to some other town. None of the townsfolk seemed to give a toss when I dismounted from the horse in front of them. Then when I got back on it they all tried to kill me :/

I just couldnt get into the game. I didnt like the combat or the interface layout (obviously designed in favour of 360). But I was impressed with the graphics and the music score.
 
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Boogle said:
I've tried and tried to work out why a few PC gamers have this feeling that its a console RPG. Its not all that different from Morrowind.

It has those 'interesting' mini games, that could be for the console. But they're not paticularly consoley. The leveling system is diabolical, but thats certainly not developed for the console, its developed for the mass market and to address the complaints about Morrowind.

Its nice to be egotisical and say you like facts and figures in your RPG and therefore you like 'real RPGs', aka. strict Dungeons and Dragons ruleset on PC. Well, very few commercial RPGs are strict D&D.

Games are moving to the mass market because of rising dev costs. Look at all the support the Wii is getting.

But if it makes you feel better to blame the Xbox 360 for the stuff you didn't like about Oblivion, carry on ahead.
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Its not a matter of blaming a console for the game, but more a statement of fact. Oblivion is console orientated in every way. Look at the UI, etc, etc

Bethesda marketed this game as the RPG to end all RPGs on both platforms....yeah right :D The hype was ridiculous. I'd even go so far as to say its no more than a fancy tech demo for the 360 but they couldn't even get that right. They had framerate issues and delayed the game several months to keep Microsoft happy by giving them a better performing console version. Not to mention its heavily dependant on middleware. Beth made a big song and dance about the RAI, soil erosion, Speedtree, Facegen etc, which is all very well...but I think they forgot about the actual depth and gameplay, which is what marks a good RPG.

In my house I have 3 consoles and 2 PCs. So I'm no anti-console crusader. Consoles are fun for certain types of games but when it comes to in-depth gaming I play on the PC. And RPGs are where the PC shines. So Oblivion is a missed opportunity imo, a real shame. Not that its a RPG anyway. I consider it an action/adventure game with some token RPG elements thrown in...So you see, many like me are dissapointed they have marketed this game as something it is quite clearly not.

Having said all that though, its still an okay game with a good selection of user made mods, but as previously mentioned it should have been that and a lot more straight out of the box.
 
caff said:
I can't see the fuss about Oblivion, and why it was instantly hailed as a classic. I bought it on launch, and have tried many times to sit down and absorb myself. But the game just lets me down on so many levels - jerky combat, clunky inventory and map system, poor performance even on my decent rig.

The artificial intelligence doesn't really shine through, and I don't feel challenged by the game in any way. It just seems like playing with a large database. It's just a constant trudge, drifting around, meeting uninteresting characters. There's no real sense of involvement, and I have no inclination to continue with it.

I was a big fan of Morrowind, and I like RPGs in general, so I'm a bit confused as to why I dislike Oblivion so much.

Am I the only one?
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If you don't like it then.....you don't like it. Flog it and move on.....you don't have to like it :) There are plenty of games that are "classics" that I can't stand - the GTA series for example.....I tried for ever to get into Vice City and hated every second of it. Counter Strike - yuk. And so on. Everybody is different.

What makes Oblivion so great to me is the total player freedom. You can Role Play in the purest sense. I haven't even bothered with the main quest - I've just been treasure hunting and tomb-raiding for rewards and riches. To me though it's the perfect example of a "flawed masterpiece" - there are so many slap-yer-forehead stupid things and annoying aspects to it.....however I find myself so immersed that I just forget about them.
 
Boogle said:
I've tried and tried to work out why a few PC gamers have this feeling that its a console RPG.
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No need to turn this into a PC vs. consoles debate mate, the Oblivion GUI is quite obviously a console port (F1-F4 menu functions with tons of scrolly submenus and big text, and no ability to remap keys in a sensible way, for example.)

I think it's a great game, and the interface doesn't bother me that much, but the fact is it's a console port through and through just like Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic.
 
Úlfhednar said:
Actually playing it might help. Running along a field for an hour makes it sounds like you did absolutely no quests, or any of the main quest. :p
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I was told to go see a guy, cant remember his name, i ran there, talked for 5 mins and was told to go elsewhere, so i ran there talk to a guy and was told to take him back, started running back and got bored >.>.
 
sargatanas said:
I was told to go see a guy, cant remember his name, i ran there, talked for 5 mins and was told to go elsewhere, so i ran there talk to a guy and was told to take him back, started running back and got bored >.>.
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Ah you went to Kvatch and back. You should've used fast travel because then there's an ace bit just after that. :)
 
I didnt even know there was a fast travel, but it bored me. The only breaker from walking for ages was the odd wolf suddenly attacking you from behind then having to fight them in the slow and clunky way you do .
 
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sargatanas said:
I didnt even know there was a fast travel, but it bored me. The only breaker for walking for ages was the odd wolf suddenly attacking you from behind then having to fight them in the slow and clunky way you do .
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Weren't using a hammer, were you? :p
 
Dunno then. I use bows and shortswords and never had trouble fighting, usually stuff is dead before it gets a shot in. I would turn the difficulty up but I put it up too far once and took five minutes to kill a rat, and I spent half of that time running away from it. :(
 
Maybe its just me who thinks that, just wasn't fun for me. The first 10 mins of running were fine, just admiring the view. But after that it just got lame. Now if they gave me a rifle ;) .
 
I have to agree, I reckon this game is a major major bore, i cant help thinking people hail this game as one of the best ever simply because.

A, Graphically its beautiful which you cant deny.
B, It clearly took a while to make, and has large free roaming maps and people appreciate effort regardless of a rubbish game.

I've gave the game a chance, played it for over 10hours infact lol and I still find it boring as hell, the combat doesnt have a good feel to it nor is it exciting.
 
i thought oblivion was amazing, though i did make a few annoying errors choosing my major skills at the start.
Even after you complete the game there is still a ton of things that you can do to keep yourself entertained.

Overall a great game thats worth trying or borring of a m8 :)
 
Vegeta said:
I have to agree, I reckon this game is a major major bore, i cant help thinking people hail this game as one of the best ever simply because.

A, Graphically its beautiful which you cant deny.
B, It clearly took a while to make, and has large free roaming maps and people appreciate effort regardless of a rubbish game.

I've gave the game a chance, played it for over 10hours infact lol and I still find it boring as hell, the combat doesnt have a good feel to it nor is it exciting.
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So people who don't agree with you are wrong? Where did I put my rolleyes...

Also, I've played for just over 50 hours and feel like I've barely scratched the surface of this game. I've only explored about 30% of the world. So excuse me if I don't rate your opinion very highly ;)
 
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