Oblivion VS Skyrim

[KingBran]

I have a feeling most people will pick Skyrim but for me Oblivion was the better game. It's probably because it was the first ES game I played and I was amazed in wonderment of the entire experience. Skyrim definitely kicked the game up a notch and made it more user-friendly (the game wasn't as clunky) and was absolutely beautiful looking but to me Oblivion had much better setting and story. I liked the music in Oblivion much more too. The biggest edge I would give Skyrim was it's Vampire expansion which by itself may be better than any single quest / storyline in Oblivion but overall as an entire game I have to say I loved both but Oblivion was more fun to me.

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[Peat]

Neither game hit Morrowind heights for me but I think I'd probably give Oblivion the edge.

 

[NyQuil]

I agree that the main plot of Oblivion was more compelling.

Unfortunately, virtually everything else was better in Skyrim.

I got so tired of that bored English voice (Jauffre) that they used for like 400 NPCs as well in Oblivion.

Skyrim was a little more focused in terms of ecology and climate and mood whereas because Cyrodil was such a mish-mash of places, it was a much more shallow experience. Not to mention, Imperial City was massive and yet felt completely empty.

I don't like to sound critical, because Oblivion was my first ES game and I really enjoyed it - I just found Skyrim to be a more sublime and immersive experience.

 

[KingBran]

Neither game hit Morrowind heights for me but I think I'd probably give Oblivion the edge.

Ah yeah and I tried Morrowind after I put probably 200 hours into Oblivion and I had a hard time getting into it. I have a few friends who would absolutely agree with you though!

I agree that the main plot of Oblivion was more compelling.

Unfortunately, virtually everything else was better in Skyrim.

I got so tired of that bored English voice (Jauffre) that they used for like 400 NPCs as well in Oblivion.

Skyrim was a little more focused in terms of ecology and climate and mood whereas because Cyrodil was such a mish-mash of places, it was a much more shallow experience. Not to mention, Imperial City was massive and yet felt completely empty.

I don't like to sound critical, because Oblivion was my first ES game and I really enjoyed it - I just found Skyrim to be a more sublime and immersive experience.

I think repetitiveness is just part of giant open-world western-style RPG games. No doubt the same voice actors got old. My biggest complaint with Skyrim as far as repetitiveness was the Dwemer dungeons. Some of them were so long and there wasn't much variety as far as bad guys. Sure Oblivion had the same issues but a lot of the dungeons just didn't feel as tedious to me. Again, maybe because I had played so much Oblivion before and it's kind of just more of the same.

I think Cyrodil was a mish-mash BECAUSE it's the capital province. Much like the real-word in capital / big cities you will have a much broader mix of people. I agree the Imperial City felt empty at times but I spent hours just thieving around in the imperial city. Good times.

 

[NyQuil]

I think Cyrodil was a mish-mash BECAUSE it's the capital province. Much like the real-work in capital / big cities you will have a much broader mix of people.

It was more the fact that they tried to have tundra (Bruma), swamp, forest, plains, coast ecosystems and I think by varying it so much, you didn't quite get the immersive realism of being more focused on one or two like in Skyrim.

 

[KingBran]

It was more the fact that they tried to have tundra (Bruma), swamp, forest, plains, coast ecosystems and I think by varying it so much, you didn't quite get the immersive realism of being more focused on one or two like in Skyrim.

Ah I get that. Makes sense.

Also very RPG-ish trying to have different "worlds" or quests in different climates. But for a (now) smaller-ish open world game I see where you are coming from.

 

[Centrum Hockey]

I agree that the main plot of Oblivion was more compelling.

Unfortunately, virtually everything else was better in Skyrim.

I got so tired of that bored English voice (Jauffre) that they used for like 400 NPCs as well in Oblivion.

Skyrim was a little more focused in terms of ecology and climate and mood whereas because Cyrodil was such a mish-mash of places, it was a much more shallow experience. Not to mention, Imperial City was massive and yet felt completely empty.

I don't like to sound critical, because Oblivion was my first ES game and I really enjoyed it - I just found Skyrim to be a more sublime and immersive experience.

Shivering Isles was a lot more unique than Dragonborn with the landscapes items quest's. Dragonborn was good for what it was though even expect for the underdeveloped dragon riding.

 

[Mount Suribachi]

Skyrim by a country mile.

My first Elder Scrolls was Morrowind, so I can compare them all. I rank Oblivion as easily the weakest of the three.

There are several reasons for this. The much maligned levelling system for one. The repetitive nature of the main quest. And I'm no graphics whore, but the horrible bloomy shiny graphics are just hideous. The faces are even worse, I can barely look at them. The dungeons are so dark you can't see a damn thing....I was just never able to get into it. It was also one of the first games released on the Xbox 360 and it showed IMO.

Conversely, Skyrim came at the very end of the 360/PS3 lifecycle and was able to take advantage of being on a mature, well understood platform. Graphically it was on another level. Gameplay wise it hit that perfect sweet spot for me of balancing progression with being user-friendly and easily accessible. The open world was vast, diverse and gorgeous. Skyrim's biggest problem is that it was so successful it became a meme, and people remember it for the memes, not the great game that it was. A few years ago I went back and re-read the original Skyrim thread on this board - page after page after page of people gushing over how amazing the game was, discovering new, amazing things. It won GOTY on this board by one of the biggest margins ever. Before it became hip to dump all over Bethesda, and all the cool kids were telling you it was unplayable without mods.

 

[NyQuil]

Before it became hip to dump all over Bethesda, and all the cool kids were telling you it was unplayable without mods.

I guess what is impressive is how good the game can get with mods.

I'm running 125+ mods and it's an impressive experience.

I don't expect Bethesda to produce that kind of game within a reasonable timeframe which is why the modding community can be such a benefit in terms of fixing up little details.

If they would stop trying to monetize their own volunteer mod community it would be a plus.

 

[Centrum Hockey]

Skyrim by a country mile.

My first Elder Scrolls was Morrowind, so I can compare them all. I rank Oblivion as easily the weakest of the three.

There are several reasons for this. The much maligned levelling system for one. The repetitive nature of the main quest. And I'm no graphics ****e, but the horrible bloomy shiny graphics are just hideous. The faces are even worse, I can barely look at them. The dungeons are so dark you can't see a damn thing....I was just never able to get into it. It was also one of the first games released on the Xbox 360 and it showed IMO.

Conversely, Skyrim came at the very end of the 360/PS3 lifecycle and was able to take advantage of being on a mature, well understood platform. Graphically it was on another level. Gameplay wise it hit that perfect sweet spot for me of balancing progression with being user-friendly and easily accessible. The open world was vast, diverse and gorgeous. Skyrim's biggest problem is that it was so successful it became a meme, and people remember it for the memes, not the great game that it was. A few years ago I went back and re-read the original Skyrim thread on this board - page after page after page of people gushing over how amazing the game was, discovering new, amazing things. It won GOTY on this board by one of the biggest margins ever. Before it became hip to dump all over Bethesda, and all the cool kids were telling you it was unplayable without mods.

Skyrim’s multiple Re Release’s and the over saturation of Skyrim content in bethesda's less regarded games have overshadowed the quality of the game itself.

 

[Commander Clueless]

Skyrim because I played that one.

 

[PK Cronin]

Oblivion, I got bored of Skyrim pretty quickly.

 

[mouser]

Vanilla Skyrim was easily a better game then vanilla Oblivion imo.

Modded up Oblivion was 100 times better then vanilla though. Especially some of the big game mechanic tweaks like Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul and monster/item expansions like Martigen's Monster Mod.

 

[Osprey]

Forget Skyrim, Oblivion and even Morrowind. Daggerfall is where it was at!

Ok, I'm joking, but it's always been hard for me to rank them because they're all good and a natural evolution from the last. It's like trying to rank Sid Meier's Civilization.

 

[Turin]

Oblivion had better quests. Skyrim had better exploration. Oblivion was more whimsical, Skyrim was grittier. Skyrim’s NPCs don’t look like playdough and it’s art style is better. I like both for different reasons. Vanilla Oblivion’s lore
was especially mediocre coming off Morrowind and Skyrim’s world building was much better (though not as good as Morrowind.)

 

[KingBran]

I remember the first time I found Fin Gleam out in the water in Oblivion. So freaking cool. I don't remember anything like that except maybe Notch's Pickaxe in Skyrim. Were there more?

 

[The Nuge]

The combat in Skyrim is obviously much better, but Oblivion beats it in almost every other way imo.

The cities felt a lot more unique and full of personality (The Imperial City was freaking awesome). The quest lines were much better, and felt much more immersive (main quest, dark brotherhood, and thieves guild specifically). The levelling has system made you feel like you were actually making a certain type of character instead of Skyrim’s style of switching to whatever you feel like whenever you want. The world in general was more fun to explore, and the stories themselves took place in much more interesting locations than Skyrim’s “oh look. Another cave”. You name it, it was more immersive and interesting. When I first picked up Skyrim, my reaction was “oh. This is kind of disappointing”, and I went and played Oblivion again.

and I say that as someone who’s most played game every year since 2011 has been Skyrim (22% of my playtime last year was Skyrim). What we need a remastered Oblivion with the newer combat system.

 

[bambamcam4ever]

Oblivion had better quests. Skyrim had better exploration. Oblivion was more whimsical, Skyrim was grittier. Skyrim’s NPCs don’t look like playdough and it’s art style is better. I like both for different reasons. Vanilla Oblivion’s lore
was especially mediocre coming off Morrowind and Skyrim’s world building was much better (though not as good as Morrowind.)

The NPCs in Oblivion looked like they were about to eat my soul.

 

[RandV]

People will have their preferences but overall I think Oblivion is closer in contention to Morrowind than it is Skyrim.

 

[member 157595]

Forget Skyrim, Oblivion and even Morrowind. Daggerfall is where it was at!

Ok, I'm joking, but it's always been hard for me to rank them because they're all good and a natural evolution from the last. It's like trying to rank Sid Meier's Civilization.

On a serious note, Daggerfall was good for its time. Arena was clunky though.

 

[GlassesJacketShirt]

Going with Oblivion. Comes down to the quest lines for me, they were actually memorable and fun to play through despite the engine's limitations.

 

[SuperScript29]

Skyrim was a better game and I definitely enjoyed it. But I liked the setting in Oblivion more, which made it a little more enjoyable for me.

 

[KingBran]

The NPCs in Oblivion looked like they were about to eat my soul.

 

[kingsholygrail]

I just really liked Skyrim's world. I was a hundred hours into the game before even bothering with the MSQ.

 

[RandV]

Going with Oblivion. Comes down to the quest lines for me, they were actually memorable and fun to play through despite the engine's limitations.

I didn't really get far enough into Oblivion to make the distinction, I make the comparison more to Morrowind, but I gotta agree that the biggest issue with Skyrim were the 'quests'. Not just that they were lacking but also all around terrible design principle. Relied heavily on 'just go here' map markers, and more critically what seemed like little threads could send you all over the map with no real rhyme or reason. Chances are to complete one quest you have to travel half way across the map, during which you'll get routinely distracted and pick up 5 more quests along the way which would also sends you all over in every direction. You get to the point where you open the quest log and you have 30+ active quests going and have to start focusing on systematically completing and closing them because you've noticed the game is starting to run a little clunky and then find out all these open quests actually effect game performance.