r/gaming • u/Playful_Code_8978 • 21h ago
Skyrim made me realize that sometimes ignoring the main story is the best part of a game
One thing I’ve always liked about Skyrim is how easy it is to completely forget what the main quest even wants you to do.
You can start out planning to finish one mission and suddenly spend hours exploring a cave, joining a faction, finding some random quest, or just wandering somewhere because something in the distance looked interesting.
A lot of newer open world games are bigger but sometimes they feel like you’re just clearing icons from a map. Skyrim always felt different to me because wandering off course could become the actual adventure.
I wish more open world games made getting distracted feel this rewarding.
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u/agha0013 21h ago
The only reason I want to get at least a bit of the main story line going is because it helps open up a bunch of side quests, and it activates the dragons that otherwise don't generate if you don't get to a certain part of that quest line.
Since it doesn't matter to specific quests if you put them aside for a while, there's no harm.
I kinda like collecting mountains of main and side quests before starting to work on them all.
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u/Samakira 20h ago
go until you gotta get dat horn.
the only shouts you miss out on is clear skies and dragonrend.
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u/StacheBandicoot 2h ago
I’ve put several hundred hours in over the years and never did the quest that turns on dragons because heard it can cause NPCs to die to attacks and mess up certain side quests.
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u/Dycon67 21h ago
Idk the philosophical musings with Parthunaax makes the story worth it a go around once.
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u/buttbuttlolbuttbutt 4h ago
Parthunaax be like, "I could not celebrate his fall, for while my girlfriend, the peachiest of princess, no longer was kidnapped by the great King routinely, she seemed antsy and bored in this new peace, so I ask you, is peace truly peaceful?
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u/thescreenhazard 21h ago
Wait... what ARE we "supposed" to be doing in that game??
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u/ienjoyedit 21h ago
Something about talking to some old dudes on top of a mountain. Never did find out which one, though.
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u/Ha_eflolli Android 15h ago
Actual, serious answer, for anyone who's curious:
Ancient Evil Dragon (re-)appears after being thrown forward in time the last time he was around trying to destroy the world; wants to kill you because as the Dragonborn you're the only one in existance who can actually kill Dragons for real, so you're the one thing that can actually pose a threat to him (this is what causes the Tutorial to happen, he tries to get you right there). Once you find out you even are the Dragonborn, you're called by the ancient Wizard Circle who know how Dragon Powers work to clue you in on everything and you're told by their Leader, one of the very few actually-good Dragons, to go out and stop Ancient Evil Dragon; which you eventually do by first defeating him normally, then chasing him into what's basically Skyrim's Version of Valhalla to kill him for good.
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u/LordofDsnuts 19h ago
Grab the bow and arrow from the tutorial and stealth archer your way around the map
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u/teddytwelvetoes 21h ago
been playing Bethesda games for 20+ years and they are probably my single-player GOAT. I have completed one (1) main quest, which was Starfield lol
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u/Benjamin_Starscape 20h ago
I always complete their stories at least once with the elder scrolls. and always do with fallout. and have, so far, always done so with starfield, too.
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u/flippydude 21h ago
Amusingly, the worst of all their main quests
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u/sup3rdr01d 21h ago
Actually the starfield main quest was pretty cool conceptually. It's just that they padded it out way too much with the shitty temples.
I thought a lot of the missions were actually cool and very interesting and the lore was really cool too. I can tell they had a lot of influence from mass effect and the expanse
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u/flippydude 20h ago
I thought “you can play the boring game again” thing was really dull.
There is more diversity in their medieval setting than their galaxy-wide sci fi setting and it bored me.
The setting, story, and characters pale in comparison to Mass Effect.
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u/sup3rdr01d 20h ago
I mean to me that just made sense. Most of space is empty and barren and standing on starfield planets made me truly feel like the only person on a floating rock in space. I think the atmosphere and vibes of the worlds were great even if the POIs were boring.
Obviously it's not as good as mass effect. I'm saying I can see influence from mass effect in the themes of the story and lore.
Also the best part of starfield by far is the orbital mechanics and skyboxes.
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u/flippydude 20h ago
Yeah, I really enjoyed the feeling of standing on those planets and feeling like I was the only person there, until I stumbled across another abandoned robot factory. In fact, you can’t not, because the entire galaxy is full of them at randomly generated intervals not exceeding a few km to make sure a player was never on a tile without one.
The selling point wore off quite quickly and there wasn’t anything for me underneath it.
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u/Benjamin_Starscape 20h ago
huge disagree. to me it's their best story to date and likely won't ever be surpassed on an emotional and philosophical level.
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u/Brochacho27 16h ago
Yeah exploration in starfield was meh but the story was pretty good. People just didnt like the Bethesda camera during cut scenes since the other rpgs of the time had better camera angles
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u/Benjamin_Starscape 16h ago
I fully believe a lot of the reason (not all) people think bethesda's writing is "bad" is because they don't do cinematics. and I prefer they never start doing them.
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u/balbok7721 16h ago
I just finished kcd2. I tell you there is greatness ahead of us. One day there will be the missions where Ziska does his thing and it will be one of the most beautiful moment in gaming history
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u/Chupaqueedeuva 21h ago
Nothing bad ever happened in my Red Dead Redemption 2 save. The gang lived happy there in Valentine's camp forever while Arthur spent all his time hunting animals.
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u/IceFrogger1313 19h ago
I just finished my second playthrough. The first time I just ran through the story as I was busy. This time I stopped to look at everything. In the case of RDR2 I'd say about half the game is exploring and finding stuff and half is from the story. So you should finish the story at some point. Just trust me, I have a plan!
(Knowing what was coming this time I went out of my way to catch the White Arabian and name it Artax before I finished chapter 6.)
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u/Privateer_lev 21h ago
My best play through.
Just an orc who went left after leaving the cave.
I discovered so much orc specific content. 👀 don't remember if I ever became dragonborne
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u/No-Instruction-9292 20h ago
skyrim makes getting lost feel like the real adventure not a side task
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u/Throwadickmyway 20h ago
People shit on the main stories in Skyrim and Oblivion, but I feel like a lot of the exact same individual missions in them would be beloved if they were sidequests. Like I understand the appeal of not feeling pressured to do them, but when I finally played these games, I didn't understand what was so "bad" about them compared to the side content.
They're just excuses to play through classic fantasy scenarios and action setpieces, like the sidequests.
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u/Strange_Compote_4592 21h ago
That's bethesda's magic. No one else does it like them. And no one ever will
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u/PartialChicken_Wing 21h ago
Including Bethesda.
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u/BK99BK 21h ago
I have zero hope for the next Elders Scroll. I feel even with my expectations being zero I’ll still be disappointed.
They captured lighting in a bottle with Skyrim and they will never do that again.
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u/FoxyGoddessX 20h ago
They have a lighting rod in that bottle because every game they’ve ever made has been a hit and been successful.
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u/FailingAtNiceness 20h ago
Fallout 76 and Starfield were not hit games.
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u/FoxyGoddessX 20h ago
Do you even know what it means to have a hit game? It’s like saying call of duty isn’t a hit franchise year after year.
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u/Strange_Compote_4592 20h ago
Starfield literally topped selling and playing charts. It sold faster than Skyrim did! And was THE top played game on Xbox and set a record.
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u/BK99BK 17h ago
What do you deem as successful? Financially? Sure. Have those games been as critically acclaimed by fans, peers, and average gamers as well as Skyrim? I don't think so.
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u/Strange_Compote_4592 9h ago
You are comparing it to SKYRIM, FFS literally one of the best selling games EVER.
Every game is an underperformer compared to it.
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u/FoxyGoddessX 21h ago
I mean Fallout 4 and Starfield proved that yes they still build worlds like that.
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u/flippydude 21h ago
Starfield proved they didn’t understand what made Skyrim so magic, and implied they may never create anything as good again.
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u/sup3rdr01d 21h ago
I really loved starfield but it's absolutely nothing like Skyrim in any way. I thought it was still really fun though
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u/FoxyGoddessX 20h ago
Anyone comparing Starfield and Skyrim are just arguing in bad faith. It’s like comparing Cyberpunk and the Witcher. They are two entirely different identities.
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u/sup3rdr01d 20h ago
Imo starfield has the best orbital mechanics and planetary skyboxes of any game ever made. I have found some TRULY breathtaking screenshots and landscapes in the game and it felt like real exploration to me.
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u/FoxyGoddessX 21h ago
Spoken like someone whose only experience with Starfield is through Reddit threads. It’s easy to tell who has and hasn’t played Starfield. Just look at how they describe the bad parts of the game.
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u/flippydude 20h ago
I played it. My favorite bit of Skyrim is finding somewhere I haven’t been on the map and exploring to see what is there.
That is utterly futile in Starfield, because unlike Skyrim where a person has put thoughtful touches over a small but loved world, a computer will spit out the same places you’ve been over and over again.
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u/FoxyGoddessX 20h ago
Yup you haven’t played it. Like I said it’s easy to tell who has and hasn’t played it. Ignoring the fact there are dozens of planets that have set locations that are not procedurally generated, you also ignore how the procedurally generated system fundamentally works.
If you’re going to argue against a game make sure you actually play it before condemning it
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u/flippydude 20h ago
Are you broken?
I didn’t like the same thing you liked, so that means I couldn’t have played it?
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u/FoxyGoddessX 20h ago
You get basic fundamentals of the game completely wrong and you expect me to believe you’ve played the game?
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u/flippydude 20h ago
I hated the boring and repetitive proc gen. Once I’d seen the handful of handcrafted locations, there was no reason to explore the in between, the good bit of their games.
Go on then, oh mr played starfield, what did I get so wrong in my 40 hours of not playing it?
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u/Strange_Compote_4592 20h ago
Bruh, you literally self admitted, that you haven't payed attention to shit, and expect to be taken seriously?
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u/flippydude 20h ago
What is going on? I played it for 40 hours and didn’t enjoy it because there was no value in just wandering around like there is in Skyrim and apparent that means I haven’t paid attention? Last person said i iced an AI cause they didn’t like that I didn’t like the game?
Why is this place so fucking toxic?
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u/UncleRichardson 20h ago
I will say as someone who has completed Starfield twice...it is not even close to the same level of Skyrim. It has good enough gameplay, but it is utterly lifeless outside the ship design. There is none of the joy of getting distracted by noticing something just off the road you're traveling on. There's no great secrets hidden in the shadows of a mountain.
Starfield is not the dumpster fire that Reddit likes to pretend it is, but it is equally dishonest to say it is a good game. It is average at best, fun for a playthrough or two then shelved for a couple of years until a hyper specific urge to play it comes up.
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u/FoxyGoddessX 20h ago
In terms of environmental story telling and world design it is a step back and I’m glad they’ve acknowledged that and aren’t going to do that again.
There’s plenty of criticisms to be had of the game. Environmental story telling is one of the biggest downgrades from Fallout 76.
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u/Emergency-Paper-6626 21h ago
Did you miss the Starfield release...? The end quality didn't warrant a 7-8 year release window and it barely broke even lol
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u/FoxyGoddessX 21h ago
First, it spent 5 years in development not 8.
Second, there’s no evidence of that because we don’t know the budget and only have a rough estimate on how much it made FROM SALES (that’s a very important distinction that Redditors forget)
Third, I own the game and have 200 hours in it. The game is good but was a step down from Fallout 4.
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u/Emergency-Paper-6626 20h ago
Youre right about the development time, google misled me on the quick check. Estimates put the cost between 200-400 million after marketing and distro costs, meaning they barely broke even if we use a ballpark figure, which we can do in any reasonable conversation. Ignoring that, they've done an immense amount of damage to their brand name since Skyrim and haven't shown a single atom of interest in assuaging customer fears or concerns. I also played Starfield for about 30 hours (1000 hours across FO3, Oblivion, Skyrim) and it was barely an advancement in tech from previous instalments, not to mention their defense of the game was embarrassing as hell. "It was exciting for the astronauts to land on the moon and that was empty"
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u/FoxyGoddessX 20h ago
“Immense amount of damage” just like how this will be the year Call of Duty doesn’t have the top 5 best selling game of the year.
Fucking hell Reddit users have no concept of reality and you are a prime example.
Overall tech in games has barely budged since 2008. The only thing we’ve seen is enhancement in graphics, Visual Effects, and animation quality. Other than that we’ve barely made any advancements in design, loading, audio, etc.
But I’m not going to continue this. It’s clear you just hate Bethesda and are happy being a pathological liar.
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u/Emergency-Paper-6626 20h ago
I love when Redditors use Redditor like some sort of insult? Yeah I'm a Bethesda hater now because I used to love their stuff and they dropped off a cliff due to mass layoffs and Xbox messing around. Pathogical liar is just sad, you can find everything I've claimed published online without any trouble. Games have come a long way over the years not just in tech, but in areas like design and interface, and they used creative engine again despite alternatives with less flaws.
I'm not even attacking you just providing examples of why Bethesda isn't the game maker they used to be.
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u/FoxyGoddessX 20h ago
You’ve backed none of it up with a source.
You are pulling shit out of your ass and just seeing what sticks. I don’t care for you people
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u/Strange_Compote_4592 20h ago
> gnoring that, they've done an immense amount of damage to their brand name since Skyrim
What damage? Redditors being weirdly perpetually butthurt about anything this company does is not "brand damage". It is reddit moment at its finest
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u/FoxyGoddessX 20h ago
Redditors don’t know what the term brand damage actually means
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u/ImAShaaaark 11h ago
While it's clear that the game underperformed compared to Skyrim, idk if I'd consider making $100m+ without even including the 15 million or so people who played it on gamepass "barely breaking even". They were using it to sell gamepass (which makes $5b+/year), so it's pretty obvious why the publicly available sales figures would be less impressive than other titles that weren't included in a popular subscription.
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u/Strange_Compote_4592 9h ago
Every game is underperformer compared to Skyrim. It's literally the third best selling game EVER. It's very, very dumb to compare anything to it
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u/itsdefinitelynotsam 19h ago
They are special although I do think kingdom come deliverance fits right in the bethesda niche. Kcd feels just like oblivion
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u/Strange_Compote_4592 19h ago
Yeah, only KCD come somewhat close. But still, as you said it, not close to modern bethesda. When was oblivion released? 2006? Their best competitor is 20 years behind.
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u/itsdefinitelynotsam 19h ago
I mean I would say oblivion and skyrim are pretty neck and neck for the best bethesda games. Im excited for es6 but until then its hard to say someone is 20 years behind when they haven’t made a similar game since fallout 4, along with the kcd series having some good improvements. Either way the future is looking good with the next kingdom come game coming out next year, elder scrolls 6 coming out in the next 2-3 years, and then the lord of the rings project a couple years after that!
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u/Strange_Compote_4592 19h ago
Brother, you will never understand just how much this single positive comment of yours, without shitting on bethesda, without making BS claims, without acting like a complete lunatic... Just how much this comment make this entire comment section worth it.
Cheers to you and good games!
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u/Bandage-Bob 21h ago
Tainted Grail got pretty close on their first attempt.
With the failure of Starfield and the loss of talent at Bethesda from recent Xbox layoffs, as well as another 1300 being fired this financial year, it's only a matter of time until someone replaces them.
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u/Strange_Compote_4592 21h ago
> With the failure of Starfield
Oh my lord, loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooool
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u/Bandage-Bob 21h ago
30 000 currently playing Skyrim.
13 000 playing Fallout 4.
7 000 playing Fallout 76.
4 000 playing Starfield.
Starfield is decidedly a failure and just following the trend of Bethesda's fall.
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u/FoxyGoddessX 20h ago
Because player counts on Steam count Xbox and PlayStation.
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u/Bandage-Bob 19h ago
Stands to reason you'd see the same basic spread of players when you add console numbers.
Like, I'm not saying this maliciously why are people getting so upset over the basic fact that Bethesda has been in decline.
Everyone seems to get so emotional when the collapse Bethesda is mentioned but no one bats an eye when you talk about Bungee, BioWare, or other beloved developers that became husks of their former selves over the decades.
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u/FoxyGoddessX 19h ago
Yes you are. Anyone who cites Steam player counts are people who don’t know what they are talking about or trolls.
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u/Bandage-Bob 18h ago
"anyone who disagrees with me doesn't know what they're talking about."
Okay, it's been clear for a long time but I'll just call you out on it.
You're a fanboy who is emotionally invested in Bethesda to an unhealthy level and as such need deny the reality that they're going the way of Bungee.
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u/Chalifive 18h ago
Do you understand how scientific studies work? They take a randomized sample of a population and use it to represent a larger group, as any trends within the group (as long as it is large enough) is representative of the population.
Do you understand why I'm telling you this in this context?
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u/Strange_Compote_4592 21h ago
AHAHAHAHAHHAAAAAAAAAAAA
Are you actually serious right now?
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u/Bandage-Bob 20h ago
Yes, look at steam charts.
I grew up playing Elder Scrolls games, all the way back to Arena, and the change in the company is very obvious. They've grown so big they've lost what made them special and it's reflected in the collapse of dedicated playerbase.
You're being weirdly defensive about this.
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u/FoxyGoddessX 20h ago
“Collapse”
Name 10 single player games that maintain millions of players 3 years after launch. Go
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u/Bandage-Bob 19h ago
All you need to do is look at the current users to see that the golden era of Bethesda is long over; Starfield, a 3 year old game, has 15% of the playerbase that Skyrim, a 15 year old game has.
Every game since Skyrim has been less successful but in short and long term.
That is a collapse. It seems like you're arguing more from an emotional perspective rather than looking at the data.
It happens all the time, just look at Bungee.
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u/FoxyGoddessX 19h ago
When your game has sold 10+ million copies player counts are irrelevant. But go ahead and make up bullshit. Did Cyberpunk fail? After all it sold less than Witcher 3 and has less concurrent players.
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u/Bandage-Bob 19h ago
Starfield, and to a lesser extent Fallout 76, failed in that they irreparably damaged the trust and willingness of players to blindly trust Bethesda.
It's about Bethesda consistently losing large chunks of their playerbase with each subsequent game because each subsequent game has been further and further from what their core playerbase wants.
The collapse isn't over, it's ongoing.
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u/Political_Piper 21h ago
CD Projekt Red?
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u/FoxyGoddessX 21h ago
Absolutely not.
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u/divorrYan 20h ago
LOL. CDPR surpassed Bethesda YEARS ago.
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u/FoxyGoddessX 20h ago
CDPR has extremely basic NPC AI. But whatever dude.
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u/divorrYan 20h ago
A bethesda fan talking about NPC AI 😄 😄 😄
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u/FoxyGoddessX 20h ago
When Cyberpunk Launched NPCs would despawn if you turned around too fast. So much more advanced
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u/Strange_Compote_4592 21h ago
Not even close to bethesda's level. They are more like GTA. Big, but not much more than that. Zero interactivity, almost zero reasons to explore world.
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u/Lee_Townage 20h ago
I had the most fun in Skyrim doing everything without all those annoying dragons showing up everywhere I go. Just don’t give the dragon stone to Farengar.
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u/SlackerDao 20h ago
That's basically the Bethesda formula. All of their ES and FO games follow that principle. Going off the beaten path is often more rewarding than staying on it.
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u/Fugaciouslee 19h ago
Kingdom Come Deliverance is great for this. Particularly the second where you can just be a blacksmith if you want. There's a bit of an advantage by putting off the main story, in the first half of the game anyway. By the time you reach the wedding you feel like you actually belong as a guest and aren't just a crasher. You know the other guests and have history with them.
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u/Bunktavious 19h ago
Fallout 4.
I have 1600 hours in the game and I've never made it to the Institute.
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u/USBombs83 21h ago
If you're 40 hours into Skyrim and you already talked to the Jarl of Whiterun, you're doing it wrong.
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u/TG-Benji 21h ago
Nah, speedrun getting shouts then go nuts
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u/Strange_Compote_4592 20h ago
Speedrun to shouts, so that dragons now spawn... And never use shouts, lol
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u/DCilantro 21h ago
I usually speed run killing the first dragon, and then don't touch the main story for 100 hours or so
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u/bumford11 20h ago
I love how urgent the main quest is and I'm like "no, I am going to pick flowers for 20 hours"
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u/velociraptor_balls 20h ago
i put like 160+hrs in before i even remembered there was a main quest to follow lol
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u/condor6425 21h ago edited 21h ago
Thats one way to look at it, another would be that the main story was really weak and it sucks that none of the side content is related to it. Like you can straight up kill the emperor of Skyrim for the Dark Brotherhood and it doesn't tie into how the Civil war plays out at all.
Both sides have some validity though. I cant pretend I didnt have a great time getting immersed in the game world and making my own stories as I went that were lots of fun too. I think thats the aspect you're getting at and thats valid too, I just wish there was actual payoff to more of the side content outside their own questline.
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u/FoxyGoddessX 21h ago
Bethesda also poisoned the water supply, burned our crops and destroyed our city!
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u/KnightKal 20h ago
Eh one of the best mods gives you the ability to remove the main quest, pick a new starting point/background, and just live in the world as a nobody instead of the chosen one.
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u/zeldaink PC 19h ago
The main storyline is like 1-2 IN GAME days. That's ~3-6 hours, depends on how much time you spend in the Cloud District. You gotta rack up the 300 hours of gameplay somehow.
So in some 2 (two) days a bloke that was about to loose his head ownership privilege went and defeat Alduin, Son of Akatosh The World Eater himself. Yeah, it needs a lot of distractions for the main quest line to make chronological sense.
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u/internetcats 19h ago
I played oblivion for years without finishing the main quest. I realized skyrim was coming out in a week so I finally went back and beat Oblivion's main quest.
Ive been waiting for elderscrolls 6 to do the same with skyrim for..... uhhh...15 years now?
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u/El_Serpiente_Roja 18h ago
This is what's known as "the elder scrolls epiphany" which I first read about in game informer.
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u/JiminyJilickers-79 14h ago
Skyrim is one of my favorite games of all time. I've sunk hundreds of hours into it. I have a gaming PC and a Quest 3 and a big part of why i bought both is so I could play (heavily modded) Skyrim in VR and it is one of the coolest experiences I have ever had in my life. I even have a tattoo. And I have never beaten the game and I probably never will. Lol The parts of the story that I've played have been cool, but it's just beside the point for me. I like having my own adventures.
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u/Avenheit 13h ago
i ignore the msq til the very end just so alduin doesnt feel like the weakest fuckin bitch of a final boss
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u/BlizzyBlizz 12h ago
honestly, yeah, once I can't just wander into the main quest line anymore I kinda start ignoring it until there's nothing else left
once I get the call to high hrothgar is my trigger to start fucking around.
same thing with fallout 4, sitting down with nick valentine is my cue to ignore his office until I need to to unlock more sidequests. (and only because you can stumble upon him without needing to be given the pointers on where to go by ellie)
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u/mantenner 11h ago
Oh oh, I have a story on this.
My mate and I were so hypes for skyrim, possibly the most anticipated game of our lives.
We essentially rushed the main story and completed it at the same time while talking over the landline phone. In 24 hours.
We were in such disbelief because we had waited so long for it to end so fast. Dont rush the main story, enjoy the journey.
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u/lotusbloom74 10h ago
Last time I played Skyrim and Oblivion I avoided the main quest entirely by not completing certain quests. Just playing as some average person instead of the sort of superhero is fun to me
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u/hi_m_ash 2h ago
Yakuza games are like that. A person's life could be in mortal danger but it won't stop Kiryu from singing in Karaoke.
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u/CactusSleuth 21h ago
I still haven't finished the story in No Man's Sky and I'm not really that eager to do so when there are cool spaceships to fly.
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u/MySmellyRacoon 21h ago
To each their own. I got stressed out by the sheer number of side quests that would pop up after hearing a random conversation and then trying to figure out what the main quest was because the main menu didn’t differentiate between them.
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u/Brochacho27 16h ago
I understand what youre saying, but asking for another Skyrim is like asking for another sistine chapel, its a 1/1
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u/Extra_Highway_1228 21h ago
I actually played Skyrim 4 times and always ended up not finishing the game while playing more than 100 hours. It was my 5th play through that I decided to finish it. The story is crap like I thought it was but I finally did end up beating the game. The game is amazing but it’s all in the side content.
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u/Strange_Compote_4592 21h ago
Calling the story "crap" is like calling Superman "boring"
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u/Extra_Highway_1228 21h ago
I mean yeah Superman is boring. A super hero that can basically do anything and is unbeatable isn’t my cup of thee. But the story of Skyrim is even worse than that. You can say that of pretty much all video games with a few exceptions. I like the Metal Gear and Xenoblade stories. The last of Us was ok too.
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u/Strange_Compote_4592 21h ago
Aaaand, just to prove my point, thank you, lol.
Such a surface level outlook on things...
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u/Extra_Highway_1228 21h ago
I mean … yeah I don’t know what to say. If you think video game stories are good then you haven’t seen proper cinema. They are full of plot holes and the premise Is mostly the same. When games speak the language of video games though, I find the stories to be more fun.
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u/Strange_Compote_4592 21h ago
You really don't understand my point, do you?
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u/Extra_Highway_1228 21h ago
No
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u/Strange_Compote_4592 20h ago
Ok, I will take this as a literal misunderstanding, and not you playing with me.
My argument about superman is as follows:
At the surface level, he does indeed seem boring. He is overpowered, can basically do everything. But is his whole point: it is on the surface level, if you read the comics, you see that he does struggle, he loses sometimes. He even DIES sometimes.Same goes for skyrim: on the surface level it's just a story about a chosen one defeating the great evil. But there are nuances, there are details, connections, that elevate the story for a mindful player.
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u/Extra_Highway_1228 20h ago
Yeah sure but it’s in the side content. The world building and stuff is amazing. Doesn’t mean I like the main story. There are games I think do a better job at their Main stories because they integrate them so well in the games and there are even some open world games which do have fun stories like Cyberpunk 2077. I still think Skyrim is on the weaker side of things but I don’t mind because I love the game.
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u/Atlas-Rising 21h ago
Same thing for Breath of the Wild. My favorite thing was just to wander around and explore little details and the game rewarded you for it. Both Skyrim and BotW I found so relaxing!
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u/TH3PhilipJFry 21h ago
Interesting, those games are great examples of empty, wasted worlds to me. Nothing but checkmarks to track, and it’s mostly collectibles that I don’t care about.
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u/sup3rdr01d 20h ago
Breath of the wild is the best open world sandbox ever made imo. No game has given me that feeling of exploration besides botw, Skyrim, and elden ring
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u/Atlas-Rising 21h ago
Oh, interesting. What's your take on a good open world, then?
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u/TH3PhilipJFry 21h ago
Skyrim is the point of the post, it fits.
RDR2 felt truly alive to me. Everywhere you go you end up in a new story or interaction, and the world feels like it’s reacting to itself and you. It felt like you were a part of the world that existed whether you were in it or not.
BotW felt like an early tech demo to me, cool systems but lacking in polish and fleshed out executions. The 2nd game felt like the more polished 1.0 to me, but it was still mostly just chasing Koroks and shrines. The world only existed because I was in it as a hero. If I wasn’t active, nothing was really happening.
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u/FoxyGoddessX 21h ago
Skyrim had 100 developers working on it with weaker hardware. Red Dead Redemption 2 by comparison had better hardware and 3000 developers working on it.
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u/TH3PhilipJFry 21h ago
It’s impressive what they achieved on the device they achieved it on. As mentioned in my other reply, the tech was interesting and the systems and ambition deserved respect, and still does. The one thing that stuck with me was the development quality and their systems.
The story/cycle was fine but not the best Zelda has ever been IMO, and the world itself felt mostly empty to me. You asked me what I consider to be the best worlds, I answered.
Team size and hardware decisions do not factor into which worlds have been my favorites, sorry. Skyrim runs fine on switch and it’s got plenty of world events in it. Please tell me more about how Nintendo and Zelda are the scrappy underdogs doing more with less lol
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u/FoxyGoddessX 20h ago
There is a seven year difference and entire console generation between Skyrim and RDR2.
Nuance is a very dead concept on this subreddit.
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u/Atlas-Rising 17h ago
I tried getting into RDR2 but it just wasn't for me. It was my first Rocksteady game so I guess I just wasn't used to their button logic. Running was waaaay too slow for me. BUT I totally get why people love it and I totally see it's epicness. Guess I just jumped on too late.
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u/FoxyGoddessX 21h ago
It’s clear you haven’t played either game.
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u/TH3PhilipJFry 21h ago
Ah yes, my opinion is different therefore invalid
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u/FoxyGoddessX 21h ago
I mean you’re just objectively wrong. There’s having an opinion then there making shit up
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u/Strange_Compote_4592 21h ago
It is valid... It just shows that you either not a type of player to enjoy such games or really haven't played them. Calling such world "empty" and "wasted" is bad faith at the least.
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u/TH3PhilipJFry 21h ago
Ya good point, ppl spending time telling me I haven’t played games that I clearly have is much more based on good faith debate lol
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u/Strange_Compote_4592 21h ago
> ppl spending time telling me I haven’t played games that I clearly have i
Again, you either not the target for the game, or you skimped through it, without getting into the gameplay loop.
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u/TH3PhilipJFry 20h ago
Or I experienced it, found it to be impressive from a technical standpoint but disappointed from a content standpoint, and moved on after exploring the entire world and beating the story.
Not every game is a masterpiece to everyone and that’s ok. I’ve since replayed other Zelda games and enjoyed them more, it’s just not my favorite of the series.
Idk why you need to invalidate my experience for yours to exist. I’m glad you found more to the world than I did and I hope you continue to enjoy it!
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u/Strange_Compote_4592 20h ago
> dk why you need to invalidate my experience for yours to exist.
As I said, again. You either haven't payed attention or this is just not your game.
I will answer with your own words:
Idk why you have to punch down a masterpiece to validate that you didn't like it. It's okay. Not every game is for you. I hope you find what you enjoy.
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u/TH3PhilipJFry 20h ago
Well those aren’t my words at all. You may be comprehending wrong, or comprehension just isn’t for you.
I never punched down on a masterpiece, I gave my opinion of a game and its systems, on a gaming sub. You haven’t actually talked about the game or shared any meaningful opinions other than you thinking I’m wrong.
Thank you for repeatedly telling me I did it wrong, I hope you have convinced yourself of whatever you needed to lmao
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u/caracarn 21h ago
Botws worls was mostly boring, finding random kuroks isn't really rewarding
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u/FoxyGoddessX 21h ago
There’s always a contrarian
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u/Strange_Compote_4592 20h ago
Judging by our commends, we are the contrarians here :D
I will never understand reddit's hateboner for bethesda
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u/Enough_Elderberry101 21h ago
Well yeah that used to be the whole appeal of open world games. Skyrim really popularized the genre because of that.
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u/Strange_Compote_4592 20h ago
"Popularised" is a strong world, for genre that only 3.5 companies can do, and only 2 can do properly.
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u/Palikkaland 20h ago
The story is too familiar. In my recent playthrough, I though that I'll just gear a little bit and beeline though the thieves guild questline to make Karliah my permanent follower. 88 Hours in, I got legendary in 1h, enchanting, smithing, destruction and illusion skills, I managed to beat the Mercer's ass.
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u/hera-fawcett 20h ago
modding skyrim is my fave thing bc then u can mod urself to not be the dragonborn.
its nice to be an npc and do npc things.
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u/JerbearCuddles 18h ago
Yeah, the writing for the main story is beyond ass cheeks so people don't want to interact with it. Lol.
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u/BK99BK 21h ago
Skyrim is the lighting in the bottle. Even with the next Elders Scroll release I truly believe Skyrim will live on. I actually believe Skyrim will outlast ES6 and live till the dawn of time.
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u/FoxyGoddessX 20h ago
I mean it’s like Ocarina of Time. The game keeps getting rereleased because Nintendo knows there’s an audience for the game that will buy it. Same will go for Witcher 3, Resident Evil 4, Mass Effect, Marvel vs Capcom 2, Street Fighter 2, etc.
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u/BK99BK 17h ago
Besides RE4, those other games haven't had the impact that Skyrim had, imo.
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u/Enkundae 21h ago
I bought Skyrim in a physical box at launch fully expecting it to be a true Bethesda game; horribly buggy, badly balanced with a weak storyline.. but also set in a well crafted world full of ambient storytelling that would be an incredible modding sandbox for their absurdly talented modding community.
Vanilla Skyrims actual gameplay is shit and the writings wildly inconsistent but the world design and that worlds ability to create an atmosphere you just want to live in to see what’s around the next corner is incredible.
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u/creepy_doll 20h ago
If they do it like Skyrim where random place have stuff going on I can live with it.
But quite frankly I’m done with poi slop open world games. For the most part it’s the same set pieces cobbled together with a couple of random journals that go nowhere… cheap “worldbuilding” farmed out to some intern writer or something.
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u/nelflyn 21h ago
you dont just work your way through questions marks on a map, you kinda make a character and then do whatever fits and what you feel like doing. Sandbox-RPG, above all. Thats why its so different to other open world rpgs.