Why The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Might Not Be Worth Your Time

We decided to post the Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim trailer for anyone who deigned not to watch the Spike Video Game Awards over the weekend. Rumors have been popping up for weeks that Bethesda would announce the game soon, but it still came as a surprise.

After turning their attention to the Fallout franchise for a few years, it’s only natural that they’d make another Elder Scrolls title. After all, most people see Oblivion as one of the best Western RPGs ever made. Or that’s how it seems at least; the game’s received near universal praise since its release almost five years ago.

Sure, there are dissenters. The proud few who played Morrowind, the Elder Scrolls game that preceded Oblivion, and actually liked the older game more. For those few, there is no question of which is the better game. It’s glaringly obvious. And since I am one of them, I’m going to explain to you now why Morrowind is better than Oblivion, and why Skyrim probably won’t be worth your time.

Even before you start comparing it to its predecessor, you’ve got to realize that Oblivion comes with some seriously fatal flaws. Most glaring is the leveling system: when you’re level one, every enemy in the game is level one as well. When you’re level 20, enemies are level 20, and so on. Furthermore, it’s impossible to find powerful weapons and armor until you reach a high enough level, no matter how hard you search, and once you do reach that level, half the enemies you encounter will be outfitted in the best equipment available.

In Oblivion, you will never be more or less powerful than the world around you. It doesn’t leave you feeling very special.

Morrowind makes you feel special at every possible opportunity, asking only that you put some work into it. Where Oblivion settles for a generic quasi-medieval setting, Morrowind‘s world is unlike anything you’ve ever seen. There are hubris-filled gods, ancient robots, mushroom-dwelling sorcerers, hidden tombs, secretive vampires, and a million other things waiting to be discovered.

Morrowind provides no constraints save your own commitment, ingenuity and imagination. Its world reacts to your presence in ways a game like Oblivion – a game that plays it safe – couldn’t possibly be capable of.

Unfortunately for those of us who know what truly makes a game great, Oblivion proved that playing it safe pays off. Save perhaps fixing the leveling system, which, granted, is Oblivion‘s most obvious fault, there’s little chance that Bethesda will start taking risks again just because a vocal minority like myself knows that Morrowind is a far better game.

I’ve only scratched the surface of this argument. I could go on for pages – in fact, I already have, and you can read it here, if you’d like. Alternately, leave a comment if you think I’m an idiot.