HF Retro Game of the Year - 2006 - Oblivion Wins

[Blender]

True. I never felt threatened by a Dragon. An Elder one killed me once early on but he had a Priest with him... I just randomly ran into them while exploring. But I agree.

EDIT: And the only thing that REALLY bugged me about Oblivion was repairing. I hated repairing everything all the time.

For me it was the leveling system. It was awful and I always downloaded mods to change that. Who decided it was a good idea to punish you for playing how you like?

 

[Bjorn Le]

I think Skyrim did quite a few things better than Oblivion, which was vast but lacking a lot of depth. The fact that Skyrim could focus on mainly one ecosystem I think helped with the level of detail.

Imperial City in particular was vast but with very little to do aside from talking to people about quests. The size of the cities in Skyrim fit the engine a lot better.

But Oblivion was the first one I played and I really enjoyed the various quest lines and the Oblivion plane visits (which were far spookier than anything in Skyrim).

I agree that the main story/Mage Guild storyline was better than Skyrim, but the DB and Thief's Guild quests in Skyrim were pretty amazing. Dawnguard and the Dragonborn DLC were solid as well.

The aesthetics were better in Skyrim, but Oblivion still had a cool world. While I agree that Skyrim made better use of their cities, I don't necessarily think there was more to do in them. Skyrim had six major cities, while Oblivion had eight, with a ninth that gets destroyed during the game (I believe it was supposed to be rebuilt but that was cut). It really bugged me that Winterhold wasn't a city, but a very small town with a Jarl's longhouse and a (relatively) small Mages guild. Winterhold is supposed to be a major city in TES lore, but it was cut very early and they made some BS excuse that it was destroyed.

That's mostly my problem with Skyrim. For being in development for so long, so many things were cut. Numerous quest lines were made much shorter, areas were cut, the Civil War wasn't finished so they cut almost everything at the last minute, etc. The Fighters Guild/Mages Guild felt very shallow (you only have to play for a couple hours to beat the Fighters Guild story), Daedric quests weren't nearly as good as on Oblivion. I do agree that the Brotherhood and Thieves Guild questlines were very good, but I'd say they were on par to Oblivion more than being better.

 

[KingBran]

For me it was the leveling system. It was awful and I always downloaded mods to change that. Who decided it was a good idea to punish you for playing how you like?

I would just run and jump everywhere I went. Every 20 seconds or so "Athleticism has increased!" and then "sleep to level up!"

I agree though it was fairly wonkly. I was sad Skyrim wouldn't let me cheese it the way Oblivion did. However... being a conjuror you could conjure up a sword than dispel and repeat and level up very quickly.

 

[Blender]

I would just run and jump everywhere I went. Every 20 seconds or so "Athleticism has increased!" and then "sleep to level up!"

I agree though it was fairly wonkly. I was sad Skyrim wouldn't let me cheese it the way Oblivion did. However... being a conjuror you could conjure up a sword than dispel and repeat and level up very quickly.

Doing that in Oblivion would quickly leave you underpowered compared with enemies though.

 

[KingBran]

Doing that in Oblivion would quickly leave you underpowered compared with enemies though.

I never had a problem with it. Again, being a conjuror... I would raise imps and fight them. My armor, destruction and conjure would level up fast and then spend the points.

 

[NyQuil]

When I played Skyrim, I would only use the skills appropriate to the quest line.

It was kind of fun because I had low magic skills by the time I did the Mage Guild questline but the opponents were leveled up due to my other skills.

Telekinesis would go up pretty fast.

I did use a mod that would keep mobs like bandits low level for realisms sake.

 

[Leafs at Knight]

Kingdom Hearts 2 slightly over Oblivion , both are like top 15 games of all time for me.

 

[Bjorn Le]

I did use a mod that would keep mobs like bandits low level for realisms sake.

Biggest issue (partial exageration) with TES series. The bandits on Soltsheim were ridiculous, my guy eats dragons for breakfast but gets one shotted by a bandit chief?

 

[SniperHF]

Votes close tomorrow, I'll work up an '05 list.

 

[KingBran]

Votes close tomorrow, I'll work up an '05 list.

2005 was a great year. I already know what game I am going to vote for. I think I have a hunch of what game will probably win that year too.

 

[Aladyyn]

Which year's poll is KotOR2 going to be in? 2004 or 2005?

 

[SniperHF]

Which year's poll is KotOR2 going to be in? 2004 or 2005?

I usually go by first release year, so '04.

 

[SniperHF]

2005 list:

Battlefield 2

Call of Duty 2

Forza Motorsport

God of War

Guitar Hero

Jade Empire

Psychonauts

Resident Evil 4

Shadow of the Colossus

Sid Meier's Civilization IV

Splinter Cell Chaos Theory

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Additions, changes, etc?

 

[syz]

I'd count Ninja Gaiden Black as 2005 just because it's the definitive version of that game.

Also lots of DS games this year, but mostly Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow and Advance Wars: Dual Strike.

Maybe something like F.E.A.R.?

But also RE4 wins this by a mile, soooo...

 

[Pilky01]

To be honest I didn’t play much of that 2005 list. I quick reminder from meta critic and here’s my best of 2005.

Burnout Revenge
NBA Street V3
Zelda: Minister Cap
MVP Baseball 2005
The Warriors
Ultimate Spider-Man

Plus RE4

 

[Osprey]

Additions, changes, etc?

You could possibly add Age of Empires III, but it may be pointless because most PC strategy gamers (me included) are just going to vote Civ IV over it.

I'd count Ninja Gaiden Black as 2005 just because it's the definitive version of that game.

You can't start doing that or there'd be no consistency, IMO. What's "definitive," when a game reaches all platforms, gets its last major patch that fixes all outstanding issues, gets its last expansion pack or gets a remastered version? Should GTA: San Andreas be considered a 2005 game because that's when it arrived on PC? Should Civilization IV be considered a 2008 game because it took 3 years and several expansion packs to reach the "definitive" version of the game? Should Skyrim be considered a 2016 game because that's when the Special Edition was released? Should Age of Empires be considered a 2018 game (instead of 1997) because its literally-named "Definitive Edition" was released last month? The only way to be consistent is to go by first release.

 

[aleshemsky83]

I'd count Ninja Gaiden Black as 2005 just because it's the definitive version of that game.

Also lots of DS games this year, but mostly Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow and Advance Wars: Dual Strike.

Maybe something like F.E.A.R.?

But also RE4 wins this by a mile, soooo...

I finally beat sigma, fantastic game and ahead of its time visually, doesn't look out of place at all on ps3

Tried hard mode and noped out pretty quickly

 

[Aladyyn]

I usually go by first release year, so '04.

My 2 favorite games of all time in 1 poll? AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA how am I supposed to choose
Gran Turismo misses the cutoff by 3 days because of Japan release, Tekken 5 was on arcades in 2004 to...

I guess my favorites from 2005 are Lego Star Wars and the first Brothers in Arms...

 

[SniperHF]

and the first Brothers in Arms...

I like Earned in Blood more (also a 2005 game...)
The first game has a better story but EiB nailed the gameplay. The enemy AI was a lot better especially.

 

[KingBran]

2005 list:

Battlefield 2

Call of Duty 2

Forza Motorsport

God of War

Guitar Hero

Jade Empire

Psychonauts

Resident Evil 4

Shadow of the Colossus

Sid Meier's Civilization IV

Splinter Cell Chaos Theory

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Additions, changes, etc?

Condemned: Criminal Origins (IMO top 3 Xbox 360 game)
Star Wars: Battlefront II (The best Battlefront game)

 

[Big McLargehuge]

My 2 favorite games of all time in 1 poll? AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA how am I supposed to choose
Gran Turismo misses the cutoff by 3 days because of Japan release, Tekken 5 was on arcades in 2004 to...

I guess my favorites from 2005 are Lego Star Wars and the first Brothers in Arms...

Not that I had any interest in it, but I definitely consider Gran Turismo 4 a 2005 release. It was only barely a 2004 game in Japan and a 2005 release basically everywhere else.

Arcade ports are a different argument altogether.

I'll nominate a darkhorse - MVP Baseball 2005. Far and away the best sports game of the decade IMO...sucks that EA had to stop making baseball games right as they figured out how to do it well.

Lumines also deserves some props as the best reason to play the PSP in its launch year.

Civ IV will win for me, bonus points for releasing on my 18th birthday.

 

[Oilslick941611]

I’m not even gonna vote. I don’t think I played anything but sports games in 2006. I feel a burning indifference towards pretty much all of those choices. A terrible year for games IMHO.

what?

RB6:V is a great game. Twilight Princess. Madden 06 on 360 was great, Bully was great, and oblivion was amazing. it was a great year for games!