quote:
The immersion in Skyrim is unbelievable. Especially in the earliest days after release, I'd find myself racking up side quest after side quests and every time I finished one it would lead to three others. Before I knew it, it was 4AM and the hours had literally disappeared and I had to be at work by 6AM. Man, those were the glory days.

I agree in general, but not in specificity, and that’s the issue. I absolutely agree that Skyrim could suck you in with its radiant quest system. But looking back now, how many of those quests do you actually remember? I know I can barely remember any of them, while so many years later, I can still describe probably a solid dozen Oblivion sidequests in detail. Skyrim simply felt mile wide inch deep by comparison. And I say that as someone who bought it the day it was released and wanted to love it.

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Posted by Thundercles

Mars

Member since Sep 2010

5220 posts

Posted on 4/1/24 at 2:54 pm to Joshjrn

I think there's key differences and you're right. Skyrim wins on immersion but lost out on quests. Skyrim had so much more random interaction with NPCs and so many random small shacks and communities with things to check out. The world being so much more alive (and graphically superior thanks to technology) made it very easy to simply get lost in and pass the time walking around.

I do a lot less random walking around in Oblivion. The areas between the cities aren't as interesting and the cities aren't as populated. The quests and writing are much higher quality, but the world just doesn't draw you in. I still love the charm Oblivion and think I love the unique feel of the cities more.

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Posted by TigerAxeOK

Where I lay my head is home.

Member since Dec 2016

25291 posts

Posted on 4/1/24 at 3:02 pm to Joshjrn

quote:
I agree in general, but not in specificity, and that’s the issue. I absolutely agree that Skyrim could suck you in with its radiant quest system. But looking back now, how many of those quests do you actually remember?

I remember some side quests but only because I've replayed it recently. They certainly could have done better, like the overall content of side quests being just "deeper" like they were in Oblivion.

If Bethesda would figure out a way to make side quests you completed (or skipped), or seemingly trivial random occurrences, affect the main quest line more like CDPR did with Witcher 3, they could potentially create a contender for best game of all time. They always seem to lack just one or two ingredients though. Skyrim definitely knocked it out of the park with the main and guild quest lines. They were some of the most memorable of relatively recent times. But you're absolutely correct that many of the side quests were very milquetoast.

I really believe that W3 set the gold standard for deep and meaningful side quests that actually affect the big picture in both insignificant and big ways. I'm waiting for another game dev to catch lightning in a bottle and give me something like that again. Might never happen but I sure hope it does.

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