Is Oblivion the best Elder Scrolls game?

LotusEater said:

I would say: Skyrim>Morrowind>Oblivion.

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I personally don't see what's so great about Morrowind. Aside from a few creative architectural designs and several neat-looking creatures, I thought the world itself was pretty dull and not very aesthetically pleasing to look at (I have the same problem with Skyrim). But by far the worst thing about the game is its dreadful combat system, which in my opinion is flawed beyond measure.

Whilst I agree with you that Oblivion's spellmaking system could've used some work (and I can't deny that some of Cyrodiil's citizens looked downright creepy), the guild quests were superior to Skyrim's on almost every level. In fact, pretty much every quest in Oblivion was more memorable and interesting, but that's just my two cents.

Felidae said:

LotusEater said:

I would say: Skyrim>Morrowind>Oblivion.

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I personally don't see what's so great about Morrowind. Aside from a few creative architectural designs and several neat-looking creatures, I thought the world itself was pretty dull and not very aesthetically pleasing to look at (I have the same problem with Skyrim). But by far the worst thing about the game is its dreadful combat system, which in my opinion is flawed beyond measure.

Whilst I agree with you that Oblivion's spellmaking system could've used some work (and I can't deny that some of Cyrodiil's citizens looked downright creepy), the guild quests were superior to Skyrim's on almost every level. In fact, pretty much every quest in Oblivion was more memorable and interesting, but that's just my two cents.

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I hear ya. I totally concede that I'm in the minority regarding the factions. The 'stories' that the quests 'told' were more interesting in dialogue and twists (like thinking you had to go kill some rats... hilarious). I thought the humor was head and shoulders above Skyrim, even if some of it was silly. Maybe I just prefer the NPC's and atmosphere in Skyrim. I dunno, Oblivion factions just seem hollow to me for some reason.

As far as Morrowind over Oblivion, I hear ya there too. Truth be told, there really isn't much separating the two only I like the fact that Morrowind is more unforgiving and plus, I'm an old dude so I kinda dig that old-school feel.

Fact of the matter is, all three are outstanding and very little separates any of them from one another as far as I'm concerned. Plus I also like to break games as sort of a side hobby once in a while and the further you go back on these games, the more room for breakage there is. Getting my Acrobatics up to 170 made for some fun exploring, especially when I would cast Fortify Acro+100 on myself. Bouncing home from Cloud Top was extremely fun, if not extremely painful on landing.

Basically the game evolved (devolved?) from a somewhat punishing RPG to an open sandbox, would you agree? I'm more of a 'create your own RPG in a sandbox' kind of guy and I don't really need NPC anchors to have a fullfilling RPG experience. Maybe it's because I come from old-school AD&D mentality where all we needed to have an epic time was a pencil and paper with some funny dice. I'm more accustomed to creating content in my head as opposed to getting it fed to me through my eye holes. I see the buzzword "immersion" these days and listen to people complain about their precious immersion being broken and just have to laugh. The only thing that breaks my immersion is when the pizza guy shows up.

I understand where you're coming from. Truth be told most of my love for Oblivion stems from nostalgia, and if I had to choose which game is best from a technical standpoint rather than an emotional one I would probably go with Skyrim. Oblivion had such a cheerful atmosphere it was hard not to get completely sucked in.

I think that you could definitely make that argument and it would be tough to beat, but again it all comes down to what you like the most from the games. I personally enjoyed playing Oblivion more than a lot of the other games, but I still think that Skyrim is way better overall.

I think Oblivion is the best game. The DLCs are amazing, the story is just AWESOME. Eh, Skyrim was kind of crappy compared to the rest of the Elder Scrolls games.
Skyrim's good because Dovahzul. :3

Oblivion is my favorite game. Best soundtrack, best scenery, interesting questline. Was my first TES game, and still remains as my favorite.

It would be amazing if, in a future TES game that takes place at least partially in Cyrodiil, some of the soundtrack from Oblivion were used. Similar to how some of Morrowind's soundtrack is used in Skyrim when on Solstheim.

Harc said:

Oblivion is my favorite game. Best soundtrack, best scenery, interesting questline. Was my first TES game, and still remains as my favorite.

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Kohlar the Unkilled said:

It would be amazing if, in a future TES game that takes place at least partially in Cyrodiil, some of the soundtrack from Oblivion were used. Similar to how some of Morrowind's soundtrack is used in Skyrim when on Solstheim.

Harc said:

Oblivion is my favorite game. Best soundtrack, best scenery, interesting questline. Was my first TES game, and still remains as my favorite.

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That would be pretty sweet!

Sah said:

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I.. I need another ale.

Sah said:

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Sah has found her way into Oblivion, watch out Sheogorath!

Sah said:

so you recommend that this one gives it a go? ..........she will have fun like in Skyrim?

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I do!

Infact, she may have even more fun... Oblivion is quirky in ways Skyrim can't imagine. Yes, the answer is yes.

I adore Skyrim and Oblivion and have a hard time deciding which one is better, but I would have to go with Skyrim seeing as it is the newer of the games and is vastly superior in the combat and graphics department than Oblivion is; however, I found Oblivion to be superior to Skyrim in terms of the guilds, quest lines, and overall feel. For example, in Oblivion, if you were a bad character and did evil things, the people would respond in fear of you where as if you were good they would say "it's an honor to be in your presence" which is something Skyrim is missing. Another thing that I noticed is the citizens in Oblivion tend to know who you are and respond to you as the Hero of Kvatch or Champion of Cyrodill where as in Skyrim, no one other than the Blades and Greybeards ever refer to you as Dragonborn. Another thing that I noticed too is that the main quests in Skyrim (Dragon's Return and Civil War) are woefully under-represented and was one heck of an oversight on Beth's part. Matter of fact, I found some of the side quests to be more interesting than the main quests with saving humanity and riding Skyrim of the Imperials/Stormcloaks.

IMHO, Skyrim was a one step forward and two steps back type of game.