ES4:Oblivion First Impression
I bought Elder Scrolls IV:Oblivion yesterday at lunch. I also had a roll playing game to go to, so I didn't get it home and installed till after ten pm. I played for about two hours and here's what I think: It's as awesome as they say it is!
Since I only played two hours and I didn't even get out of the first dungeon yet, there's not much here too spoil.
Character Creation
First, I was really impressed with the first character creation page where you choose your race. After choosing a female Redguard I was somewhat repulsed by the default image they gave for my characters' face. But then I noticed I could completely change her features and skin tone to make her anything I wanted. The editor lets you see the character from two different light levels depending on what side of the face you're looking at. It's very easy to make the character completely repulsive, but with enough playing around with the sliders I was able to make her a somewhat attractive black woman. I notice now that some of her features are a bit masculine from some angles, but someone more artistic than I am could really make some neat faces.
Combat
Redguards are typically a fighter kind of race, so I was able to kill the occasional jumping rat without taking much damage. I also started out with two spells: a fireball and heal. I learned quickly that my best tactic was to skulk around and blast things with a fireball or arrow and if that didn't kill them switch to my sword and shield and beat them up that way. Combat is still a bit chaotic for me, things attack really fast and it's hard to know if your mouse click to swing your sword worked or not. If the other character is damaging me my character goes into a fit and staggers around a bit so my swing doesn't happen. I've learned to try to swing and then hold the defense button until my shield comes up so I know I can attack again.
The Plot
The King (played by Patrick Stewart) doesn't really have much role to play. He merely stands around while his retinue kills assassins that occasionally come by and then talks to you about how his dreams have some meaning. If I didn't know that was the plotline my character has to follow I'd just consider him a nutter and forget about it. So, for now at least, I'm not too impressed with the plot. Now, I've got his huge gem necklace though. I don't see my character keeping such a thing so I'll probably deliver it just so people don't try and kill me to steal it.
That's what I loved about Morrowind. I can imagine my character having his own goals and reasons for doing things and act accordingly. The open endedness of the Elder Scrolls series really lends itself to real roleplaying despite the limitation of being on a computer.
Since I only played two hours and I didn't even get out of the first dungeon yet, there's not much here too spoil.
Character Creation
First, I was really impressed with the first character creation page where you choose your race. After choosing a female Redguard I was somewhat repulsed by the default image they gave for my characters' face. But then I noticed I could completely change her features and skin tone to make her anything I wanted. The editor lets you see the character from two different light levels depending on what side of the face you're looking at. It's very easy to make the character completely repulsive, but with enough playing around with the sliders I was able to make her a somewhat attractive black woman. I notice now that some of her features are a bit masculine from some angles, but someone more artistic than I am could really make some neat faces.
Combat
Redguards are typically a fighter kind of race, so I was able to kill the occasional jumping rat without taking much damage. I also started out with two spells: a fireball and heal. I learned quickly that my best tactic was to skulk around and blast things with a fireball or arrow and if that didn't kill them switch to my sword and shield and beat them up that way. Combat is still a bit chaotic for me, things attack really fast and it's hard to know if your mouse click to swing your sword worked or not. If the other character is damaging me my character goes into a fit and staggers around a bit so my swing doesn't happen. I've learned to try to swing and then hold the defense button until my shield comes up so I know I can attack again.
The Plot
The King (played by Patrick Stewart) doesn't really have much role to play. He merely stands around while his retinue kills assassins that occasionally come by and then talks to you about how his dreams have some meaning. If I didn't know that was the plotline my character has to follow I'd just consider him a nutter and forget about it. So, for now at least, I'm not too impressed with the plot. Now, I've got his huge gem necklace though. I don't see my character keeping such a thing so I'll probably deliver it just so people don't try and kill me to steal it.
That's what I loved about Morrowind. I can imagine my character having his own goals and reasons for doing things and act accordingly. The open endedness of the Elder Scrolls series really lends itself to real roleplaying despite the limitation of being on a computer.