So I finally obtained Skyrim.
And I have ...complaints, strangely enough.
I dont know why, but I think I liked Oblivion better. Here's a short list why:
1. You cant fight underwater. Why I cannot draw my weapon while swimming is beyond me. I did not have these issues in Oblivion. FAIL.
2. The HUD is entirely too futuristic and clean looking to gel with a hunter/gatherer game. I hate it, and I want the old rustic looking HUD back, because it has the look of antiquity and fits with the era. Plus, its easier to get a grasp on what's what.
3. The map sucks, and I hate it. You would think they would at least have had a toggle option for those of us who DONT want a 2D? 3D? map, so that we could view a flattened version without having to download a mod. FAIL.
4. What up wit da haggling/speechcraft? Why did they reverse the ability to haggle the trader in each session, and to max out your sales ability? I guess that was a feature they decided to automate for us? Now we've no need to go around having a speechcraft menu with NPC's because......well, because they removed it. I guess they felt we were too dumb to figure that part out?
5. Why didnt the single item trade ability make into this so-called "advancement" of TES universe? In Oblivion I downloaded a mod that allowed me to sell 1 item at a time by depressing "CTRL" or "SHIFT" - since we all know that speech is increased by each transaction, rather than the number of items in a transaction. It irritates me to have to move the slider in every sale. FAIL.
6. Why do I get the impression that they made this game off the same chassis (if you will) as Dragon Age? Honestly - it is conceptually now the same game. Race war? Check. Need to chose a side? Check. Oh, look - dragons!! Check. And dwarves!! Check. And dwarven ruins!! Check. That are strikingly familiar to the ones in dragon age! Check. I am literally fatigued with the level of political intrigue in these games - they are starting to push it to max to where its not even fun to play anymore. I get that real life is complex, and there are myriad gray areas, but cmon man - do our games have to rigidly mirror real life? Whatever happened to good old escapism, when it was plain good vs. evil, and your bad guys were bad, and everyone banded together to advance the good.
The elves are snobs, the Nords are racist pricks who would be the elves to everyone else if the elves didnt have them cowed, and Im constantly scratching my head thinking that whoever wrote this game is clearly a person that feels no need to tolerate other cultures. At all. I cringe every time one of my housecarls shouts something narrowminded and racist like "Skyrim is for the Nords!" REALLY? I'm all for patriotism, but in this game I'm starting to think its mere xenophobia masquerading as patriotism.
Im not a Nord in the game, but I realize the game has the Nordic storyline as the protagonist line, since "Skyrim" is a Nordic country, and its antagonist is the Thalmor. And I really, really do not want to be a Nordic hero. The elves are bunch of douchebags, but the Nords are real tools - if I could get away with it, I'd help the Thalmor break all the Nords even more, and then I'd dice up the Thalmor.
See what I mean? This is a GAME. Its supposed to be fun, not annoying.