An Elder Scrolls Analysis - Episode Three

[@zombbro]

After Oblivion: Bethesda: I think we should go more with a 'Dungeons and Dragons' approach Tood: Okay gotcha more dungeons more dragons Bethesda: No Todd no wait

[@henryviiifake8244]

Bethesda Softworks: 🤢🤮 Beshesda _"It-Just-Works"_ 😌

[@cyllananassan9159]

@@henryviiifake8244 TODD, Bethesda Softworks: lets make $7.5 BILLION, let´s monetize the crap out of it, cut all corners possible, lie to the fanbois , and sell to MICROSOFT🤢🤮

[@thrillainthemanilla1409]

@@cyllananassan9159 wasn’t really Todd doing all that lmao. It’s the company. Todd net worth is only a few million

[@cyllananassan9159]

@@thrillainthemanilla1409 wake up !!!, Todd defrauded the gamers by his own volition, , he is the BOSS at Bethesda

[@cyllananassan9159]

@@thrillainthemanilla1409 once upon a time devs were beholden to the fans, to the players, now it is dump this crap , cos i want need a second G5, this is his company, and after fallout 76 there is no more place for simps of lying and greedy $billions megacorp executives, so spare the simpimg, TODD is not a victim, he is a lier and a thief, and so is PETE hines

[@thewerdna]

Fun fact, Nightgate inn has one of the best background detail stories. One of the NPCs staying there has a blades katana, and attacks you if you enter the inn while wearing Thalmor robes, indicating he is likely a former member of the blades hiding out there. There are no quests for this, so this is entirely just a background world building thing, something I wish Skyrim had more of.

[@willhowardlokoartyui]

Skyrim has a lot of it for being the game with AI complex enough to manage it, but not enough sadly. I hope more is added in TES 6

[@donatodiniccolodibettobardi842]

I literally never heard of it until this video. I heard of some other interesting locations I've never seen. Skyrim taught me to meander from place to place and never look too much, lest I want to get disappointed and shatter an fragile illusion of immersion... It almost feels, like some of the old Morrowind dev guard still lurk in the dark corners of Bethesda maintainance sector, adding the good bits of exploration on the run, whenever they could. :)

[@Dasaltwarrior]

Skyrim is the best 6 / 10 ever. Its world is ripe for more stuff like this, and the world building is often great when its not done with spoken dialogue. Its the reason why town and city mods are my favourite for the game, the soft world building they provide is fantastic. But damn is everything else either meh, or just straight up bad. The world and soundtrack carry this game hard.

[@donatodiniccolodibettobardi842]

@@Dasaltwarrior Jeremy Soule is the Godfather of the series.

[@Dasaltwarrior]

@@donatodiniccolodibettobardi842 The fact that there are hour long videos of his music set to random scenes of the game world speaks volumes for his work. His work on tes isn't all that different from other big high fantasy composers on the surface, but Soule's music has almost a zen quality to it that cant be replicated.

[@ERGOPROXY.]

You can really tell that there’s a heart and soul that was poured into these three videos. This wasn’t just a retrospective analysis of these games. It was equal parts diary entry, love letter, intervention, and eulogy. Thanks again for the content, NeverKnowsBest. Here’s to the hope we’ll find love again.

[@risingson7773]

🥂

[@bam_bino__]

Eh i found this to just be a series abt how morrowind was so great it was a gift from god himself… and the rest just shitting on every game following it… had he jusged each title on their own terms instead of morrowind did this and tha it might have been good as it stands now it just comes off as fanboyism for morrowind.

[@luisiana1121]

@@bam_bino__ though I see what you mean with his obvious disdain and apathy towards Skyrim and affability towards Morrowind, it’s difficult to only judge Skyrim only as its own game. Why do I say that? Morrowind and Skyrim are under the Elder Scrolls name: 3 and 5 respectively. They are made by the same people: Bethesda and have a 9 year gap between them. It’s expected to maintain good elements or even improve upon it in a way that makes sense relative to its lore, existing mechanics and storytelling. Though it is slightly unfair to ONLY see the game as a sequel without seeing it as its own game, it is a definite expectation to anticipate improvements based on previous iterations. Not saying skyrim is better or worse than Morrowind since I haven’t played Morrowind but the point remains.

[@oddmontsoddington8961]

@@bam_bino__ I like the videos but they do really come across as bitchy.

[@CMan790]

Not really. Guy just whines about everything. Every topic leads back to Morrowind best, everything else bad. It's ridiculous

[@hj-ct2qi]

every side quest: noblewoman: "i am a well established socialite here in [city], i have a lot of connections and a lot of opinions, and i need your help with something." player: "ooh what can i do for you? should i attend your next social gathering and spread unfavorable rumors about your rival? should i quell an uprising amongst the peasants? should i ---" noblewoman: "i left a necklace in a cave full of draugr, please go get it for me and i'll give you 400 gold"

[@iamwritingrightnow8217]

i really hated fighting the daugr

[@nubberton1345]

Dragur in Nordic folklore are so much cooler than the ones we got, they just copied the name. Fighting giant level 100 zombies would’ve been more fun

[@devinmes1868]

​@@filmfan6226Not every quest was a fetch quests. That isn't Skyrim's issue. There are a number of interesting and well thought out quests in the game. The problem was just that there were too many fetch quests.

[@MrDj232]

​@@devinmes1868 The fetch quests were randomly generated by their radiant quest system. Every so often the game will pick a random NPC, a somewhat fitting item, and a random nearby dungeon to give players a new fetch quest.

[@MakerInMotion]

That feeling when the critiques are valid but you still love the game.

[@ianwalters11]

Oh yeah for sure. I sunk over 500 hours into PS3 version ( dread to think how much of that time was loading screens but I didn’t experience many bugs tbf) and another 500 on the PS4 special edition which was night and day better experience with hardly any load times and much improved graphics. I’ve bitten the bullet and paid for Anniversary upgrade and loving it. I’ve got every trophy so no need to worry about accidentally fucking up a mission (I got carried away with Dark Brotherhood on PS3 so by the time Hearthfire came out I’d already killed the NPC at Falkreath who sells you land to buy one of those 3 houses and I’d fucked up something else (or could have been a random dragon attack that killed them I can’t remember) so I could only build 1 house out of 3 so I really enjoyed putting the time into the 3 houses on special edition, I spent a crazy amount of time mining clay, wood and travelling the world buying up every goat horn etc..but l that time invested collecting all the ingots for nails abs hinges made it feel like I’d built the houses. I can’t see me bothering this play through, I’ll just explore and see where it takes me. Some of those new houses look cool with Anniversary and I got new quests to look forward to. The critique is valid for most part but it’s still a unique experience and better than anything else on offer, that’s why the world is still addicted to Skyrim. But come on Todd, hurry the hell up with ES6 we ain’t getting no younger mudda forker!

[@haruhirogrimgar6047]

@@ianwalters11 I wouldn't say it is strictly "better than anything else on offer." Skyrim is explicitly just good at giving you a slow mindless drip of dopamine. If you want to compare Skyrim as a storytelling/artistic medium, it is in the bargain bin at best compared to many if not most of its competitors.

[@ianwalters11]

@@haruhirogrimgar6047 I see your point when you say it that way. I’ve tried with the Witcher 3 as they often get compared and I do like it but it doesn’t hook me in the same. Like you say though maybe that constant drip of dopamine is clouding my judgment. It sure is good at hooking you in despite the flaws in artistic/quality storytelling. Mind you I also got sucked in to the original Destiny I bought every DLC which is very unusual for me as I have strong feelings about the lack of quality content and rip off activities of companies (which makes it even more incredible I bought Destiny DLC as although most of it was good it was very expensive, end of year 1 pack The Taken King was £39.99). Story was practically non existent in game, ironically there was a lot of lore in Grimoire cards yet I couldn’t stop playing it, the constant promise of better loot and endless grinding to get those Exotic weapons and armour turned me into a hopeless addict. Two very different games but that gameplay loop grabbed me hook line and sinker.

[@vanessalawson68]

@@ianwalters11 oh wow I didn't know about Anniversary edition, I've played the special addition. I'll have to check it out!

[@gobuns2]

@@haruhirogrimgar6047 I just listen to podcasts while taking down bandits in some cave. I also bought Morrowind recently, to do the same thing but no way xd

[@NeverKnowsBest]

For anyone wanting to know the background music used: The 'Skyrim Loop' is tico-tico no fuba The ending is Liebesleid (Love's Sorrow) The other song used at various times is Waltz Op. 64 No. 2 by Chopin Any other music is from Skyrim's OST. Also I am not currently planning to cover ESO or Enderal.

[@donatodiniccolodibettobardi842]

In recent Tom Scott's video the A.I. generates a video title that defines the last two decades of my experience with this series: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fKiZeJ13hdV-q6M

[@donatodiniccolodibettobardi842]

@@zanmaru139 Isn't his point is that devs had been overrelying on that idea. It's like tropes. They are tools, they aren't necesarily good or bad, being aware of them can be helpful, but looking at everything through the lens of tropes and measuring everything to its tropiness (either to follow them or avoid them) may hinder your creative process.

[@RinaSC1]

@@donatodiniccolodibettobardi842 The issue I see in what NeverKnowsBest said is that "gameplay loop" is a technical term, it serves a purpose to be an educational term that (like @Zanmaru said) defines the core means a game engages the player with activities/challenges, which for most games tend to happen in a loop (or various loops of activities). Complaining about it comes across as one complaining about other technical terms in any other field, creative or technical, it's a bit silly. You made a comparison with tropes, and while I see and agree with your point about how measuring everything by them as a hindrance to creativity I don't feel tropes are an accurate one. I feel this way because, as I see it, "gameplay loop" isn't a tool but an integral part of what constitutes a game and the process of game design. Terms like "script", "sound direction", etc would likely be more accurate parallels in my opinion. Having said that, I understand his frustration, and I believe it comes from a similar place as my own with games journalists and KZbin game critics in general: technical terms get thrown around so much outside of their intended meaning by those that want to sound more intelligent than they actually are that sometimes one can't help but cringe internally each time they are misused

[@donatodiniccolodibettobardi842]

@@RinaSC1 That makes sense. I felt like NeverKnowsBest's point was more of a sentiment, rather than a condemnation of using technical terms in general. Design by commity, streamlining the pipelines, gameplay over logic type mentality, etc AT THE COST of trying to thinking about Skyrim as a living world, adapted as a video game which has gameplay loops to keep things fresh and engaging... It goes without saying, that some games thrive in embracing their artificiality, but others require a bit more sensitive approach.

[@DanKaschel]

@@donatodiniccolodibettobardi842 your point is born out by his other topics, such as the algorithmic approach to loot and dungeon length. Maybe it could be said that focus on the gameplay loop is a powerful tool for game analysis, but a poor tool for game design.

[@Zaria_Dobbs]

I would unironically watch an hours-long critical dissection of skyrim perks, even if it had no editing to speak of

[@borislavarnaudov475]

I'll give you all of the analysis you need right here. They're shit. The entire leveling system in Skyrim was trash. You mean to tell me that in the base game, the only two ways to progress into the later stages of content (level 60 and up) I would either have to spend hours grinding skills that are completely irrelevant to the character I'm playing, or to have my character hit themselves with a brick hard enough to completely forget the fact that they've already mastered a certain skill? Yeah, that's a pretty shit way to expect for me to get all my late game perks. Also, the perks were shit. Barely any of them did anything new or interesting. Off the top, I can only think of Necromage and Shadow Warrior. Everything else is just a numbers buff, nothing to give you entirely new ways to make use of a skill. Scratch that, there are perks that give you new ways to use a skill. The dual cast perks, all of which are noob traps. Actually useless garbage, with a slight exception for Destruction, as it opened the path to Impact, allowing you to stunlock enemies as a mage because you sure as hell couldn't kill them with your pathetic damage. In case you didn't know, dual casting gives you only 10% extra effectivenes for 40% increased magicka cost. If you wanna know what perks should have been, look up Misti on the Skyrim Nexus. Implemented a system for major and minor skills to define your character, the different skill trees interact with each other, unique end game perks that you have to choose only one from per tree, and a lot of other cool shit. Another really cool perk overhaul is Adamant, but this one is mostly for mages. Dual casting is slightly overhauled and made completely baseline, with any perks related to it being interesting and cool as shit, such as dual casting flesh spells applying them to friendly targets around you.

[@BOO-ii3ni]

@@borislavarnaudov475 but i loved it

[@SPVA4]

@@borislavarnaudov475 mistake number 1 was not installing a perk mod. Anyone who plays bethesda games unmodded deserve to be laughed at

[@borislavarnaudov475]

@@SPVA4 Read the full comment.

[@AndrewIHanna]

Wake up son, new neverknowsbest video dropped

[@Sleepysunsetz]

Ah shi....

[@Hero_Of_Old]

Wake up Samurai

[@nickodotw]

Well, not even last night's storm could wake you. I heard them say we've reached Morrowind, I'm sure they'll let us go.

[@bonzos9305]

You’re finally awake...

[@acbeaumo]

Everything you said resonates as true. After spending hundreds of hours playing Skyrim, modding Skyrim and creating mods for Skyrim, I am so intimately familiar with its flaws that I can no longer immerse myself in the game world any longer. The act of playing this game now feels like I'm just going through the motions.

[@Xegethra]

I started feeling that way while playing too....I was on auto pilot for most of it.

[@sectphiro607]

It's the only TES game I haven't finished, and I had the ps3 pre-order. It just gets so droll very quickly for me.

[@skate60331]

But that was after spending hundreds of hours...right?

[@K_Kobe]

I’m the same way I’ve been playing it for nearly a decade but it’s still cozy to play for me

[@oddmontsoddington8961]

You know how weak minded an opinion like that is? You no longer enjoy something because someone pointed out flaws. That's as if you really enjoyed Three Musketeers candy bars til someone explained how simple and mundane it was, so you don't like them anymore. WUT

[@lo-fihound1859]

"You haven't earned it." How fast I stopped the video, and jumped to part one. Thanks for the heads up. Love your content man.

[@alexsm3882]

I honestly felt like watching them out of order purely out of spite lol

[@Bollibompa]

@@alexsm3882 You're probably quite immature.

[@woodsyjones]

Sleepy Fish is the Lo-Fi god

[@Deoxys_Used_Mimic]

I will never forgive the absolute heresy that is Level-Scaled Equipment. There is no excuse that a Deadric Artifact should ever be weaker than any weapon below Orcish just because I obtained it at a low level. ...and RNG-scaled equipment (like the necklace for becoming Guildmaster of the Thieves Guild) can die in a hole.

[@blackenedwritings]

Can't wait for 2039 when we get the video about The Elder Scrolls VI, one year after it was released.

[@cyberninjazero5659]

Make it two. Have to give all of the expansions time to breathe

[@monstergelo1072]

at least it'll be released before beyond skyrim 😭

[@cyberninjazero5659]

@@monstergelo1072 I'm just waiting for Skyblivion fam (though I'd play Skywind too)

[@Grafiction]

To be quite honest, I don't think we'll all be alive until that day. But, I hope I'm wrong and our comments will be horribly dated til then.

[@GrandElemental]

I'll definitely watch the video, but probably skip the game.

[@kirkvanallen5202]

That ending was perfect. This series is the gem of KZbin.

[@DMIwriter]

Something about it ending with "Nerevar Rising" playing in the background really hit something deep down inside me

[@tonyvaldez9552]

i just got done watching all 3 of your Elder Scrolls videos. these are 100% what ive been looking for. im trying to learn game theory and game design. THIS what the high level insightfull analysis that ive been looking for and i have indeed looked far and wide. absolutely beautiful. i cant wait to watch all of your other stuff. thank you for this. ill be studying these videos again in the future.

[@ColdHawk]

Blackreach was so disappointing to me after the initial burst of excitement. This fantastic, strange, new ecosystem illuminated by a a magical orb and faintly glowing fungi… but populated with the same dull monsters we already knew. How amazing would it have been to have Blackreach as a whole new world with its own collection of terrifying darkness-hunting, bioluminescent creatures worthy of the nightmares of benthic fish? As it was, it fizzled. I was so excited to find this “secret” world within a world that I was a little crushed when I realized it was just more of the same.

[@christianschaller7873]

Blackreach was not even officially planned. It only ended up in the finished game thanks to the commitment of individual programmers..

[@ColdHawk]

@@christianschaller7873 - If that’s true then bless their hearts. Emerging into that dimly lit underworld was a moment that crackled with such high voltage potential.

[@TheOrian34]

@@christianschaller7873 We need those passionate developers more, aaah.

[@James-u1y]

@@TheOrian34god my soul hurts thinking of what it could have been

[@TheOrian34]

@@James-u1y Indeed it does... We still have some epic moments, like the secret dragon fight from shouting at the orb. But yeah.

[@hallamhal]

I levelled up my One-handed Skill *in lieu* of impressing the opposite sex

[@EinFelsbrocken]

The opposite sex: *block 100*

[@igoronline]

You kids these days have it easy! Back in my day I fully leveled out multiple alts in WoW and Ultima Online *with* a girlfriend, while rehearsing with multiple bands every weekend for 4h each. Barefoot, and in the snow!

[@chack321]

@@igoronline While having to walk everywhere uphill in the pitch black at night without any navigation aids!

[@valdris86]

That heartfelt letter to an ex was kinda beautiful, not gonna lie

[@Spyno41]

It was outright poetic! Hope to find someone that loves me as much as this guy loves Elder Scrolls

[@DATskorge]

@@Spyno41 i wish you luck in your quest bro

[@eirschu8973]

@@Spyno41 same...

[@Bassist-Beneath]

@@eirschu8973 just remember man, stay working on yourself and the rest will come together

[@stunnafan8905]

Nah bro it was straight ass

[@Corrupted]

Playing skyrim gave me the same feeling I got after playing wow for over a decade. "What am I actually doing here? Just playing a game for the sake of wasting time?" - maybe skyrim just doesnt work well for people who question game design, but single player games rarely give me the feeling of wasting my time, I just don't experience anything at all after the first 15-20 hours. Playing many bad games gave me a more fulfilling experience than 60 hours of skyrim. It felt like it didnt add anything to my overall gaming "life" - I just did stuff, grinding ubi soft map markers in a single player mmo without character progression. The music is amazing and carries a lot, but playing it just made me feel so empty, in a really bad way - this might sound overly dramatic, but playing skyrim forever would probably be my gaming hell - it honestly gets me depressed, and I usually genuinely love dark/depressing games done well

[@Robert399]

Yeah I feel exactly the same. It's a game which can capture your interest for days but always leaves you wishing for your time back.

[@idnintel]

@@Robert399 I never played it but think I will try in VR with mods so it feels like you are there in this magical fantasy world. I think that will be the very key difference. Otherwise I agree I love games like arcanum, bloodlines, pathfinder kingmaker and shadowrun dragonfall over the shallow elder scrolls.

[@Robert399]

@@idnintel I'm glad to finally see Dragonfall on one of these lists :)

[@beetheimmortal]

Just mod it. I know it's not an excuse, but in my mind it's more of a blank canvas, which you shoild customize to your liking.

[@riftbandit223]

*sweats with 3000+ hours played on skyrim*

[@VenomLion]

I want to thank you for all three of these videos. I'm sure they must've taken an ungodly amount of time to plan out, script, record and edit! You make great points in every one of them, and even though I haven't always agreed, these were exceedingly fun to watch!

[@benl2140]

I would totally watch you go through every single perk in Skyrim.

[@andyb2977]

Part 4 Bonus Video will be you discussing every perk in the game, right?

[@ghostoflazlo]

I'm here for that 🥂

[@Don11037]

Then all the spells and there lore then the stones then the cover eso

[@jbark678]

Here's hoping

[@swedishplayer97]

"I killed more bandits than the entire population of Skyrim." Well, yeah, that's true for Oblivion, Morrowind and dozens of other RPGs too.

[@artemgushin5228]

not for Morrowind btw, there are more NPCs there than in Oblivion and Skyrim even if you combine them together, about 2.5k

[@curtisgagnon2871]

@@artemgushin5228 yeah but they are all generic with the same dialogue options and responses.

[@MidlifeCrisisJoe]

Doesn't mean it's good.

[@curtisgagnon2871]

@Galahaund Lacerium not really. Why would everyone know the exact same things about pretty much everything and all give the sam es verbatim response? Where do you live where people are like that? A cult?

[@SonofSethoitae]

@@curtisgagnon2871 That isn't true? Plenty of them have unique things to say

[@j4vik600]

Ah yes 1 hour mark is the New 10 minute mark

[@zidanelionheart]

So true

[@alanlee67]

J4Vik we just had a baby and all I can do nowadays while tending to a newborn is to watch KZbin on my phone so....god send

[@henrik1743]

Game critique / analysis are my covid happiness the last year pretty much

[@Corrupted]

@@henrik1743 so many good videos and games to play out there, its an alright timeline haha

[@SomeWetDude]

@@alanlee67 Congratulations! - From a stranger with a similar interest in the Elder Scrolls

[@thesummerofmark]

OH HELL YEAH. I swear I was just wondering when you’d post the finale to this series

[@MrCameronK]

I thought the very same thing after discovering his channel last week and watching both Morrowind & Oblivion b2b. I’m curious to know what NKBs background is, educational & professional, because the talent he has to break down each game to such granular detail, compare them to previous entries in the game series, all whilst being able to present in a formulaic, captivating and easy to digest... journey. It’s fucking incredible. Oh and his vocab is top tier.

[@tamsirjames3793]

@@MrCameronK check out noah caldwell gervais they are the best imo. He's like the American version of this haha

[@henrycrabs3497]

Don't know what either of you are talking about, Joseph Anderson is the king of critique vids

[@tamsirjames3793]

@@henrycrabs3497 lmao his work rate is terrible though

[@zacherylouis8660]

Your issue with the term "Gameplay Loop" doesn't seem like a problem with the term, but with an adherence to a philosophy that every game should focus on a gameplay loop without consideration for the rest of the game's material

[@gengegaming5467]

I paused the video to comment something really similar to this. The term "Gameplay Loop" is really helpful for designers to think about how the player will move through the game. The problem with Skyrim, and especially the loop that was discussed in the video, is that it's extremely apparent that it is a loop. After doing 3 quests with almost identical loops in an identical setting, you start to notice the pattern, and then after 8-10 quests it becomes tedious, especially if the gameplay can't isn't engaging or varied enough. Gameplay loops work best when it's not apparent it's the designed loop.

[@Tony_Regime]

there shouldn't be a "Gameplay Loop" in a story driven game like Skyrim. imagine you are reading a book and chapter 5 has the text "re-read chapters 2 to 4 inclusive", that is the feeling I get with "Gameplay Loops"

[@evanahearne1479]

Honestly I think avoiding terms like "Gameplay Loop" and "Ludo narrative dissonance" is silly. It means that you have to say "there is a disconnect between the story, characters, and themes of the game and its gameplay" every time you discuss the issue. Not using the terms does not come across as down to earth or grounded, better than the academics, it just comes across as pretentious, like a hipster trying to avoid something mainstream. Maybe if the widely understood terms were used, this wouldn't have had to be three videos at all.

[@AlanGresov]

Yeah that's not how gameplay loops work. Every game that has the majority of its content focused on a set of basic mechanics has a gameplay loop, that's how games work.

[@haruhirogrimgar6047]

@@Tony_Regime Your first mistake was thinking Skyrim is "story-driven."

[@Nebelkorona]

After hearing the gameplay loop part I realized your videos are so great, because you treat games as an "experience" not a "product".

[@french_bread4961]

I know you may find it kind of "cringey", in a way, but I still love it when you end your videos like this one here. Because, it never seems forced. As in, when you end it like how you did here, you mean it. And it leaves me with a great sense of passion that you've always had for this subject, a fire which punctuating the sweet comfort felt throughout the video. It made me realize that I care to watch to your videos because you show that you really care to make them - like a conversation between two friends reflecting upon the days before, in earnest. Sorry if I wrote this comment in a manner which may be hard to understand, but I just wanted to let you know that I appreciate this kind of effort that you put into your videos.

[@JC-kl3uc]

There's nothing cringey about being genuine.

[@deusxyz]

Wholesome comment.

[@picahudsoniaunflocked5426]

JC & Deus = commenter synergy

[@picahudsoniaunflocked5426]

Heard that in JC voice & it only made it a billion times more wholesome & soulful. Never let them say they “augged” your humanity away, JC.

[@CallumDT]

I agree overall but there are some important notes to take. Nightengale inn does have a secret. Inside it is the former blade fulthiem, there are dozens of amazing lore/story driven clues and secrets in the game, watch camelworks and the epic nate. There are some caves in skyrim which have surprise attacks and or don't have any enemies. About 5 I know of. Still not great but it's there. Rise in the east is another quest which isn't in a dungeon and is actually on its own small island. Very cool and underappretiated quest, kinda lesser known. The legendary system is fantastic because players may want perks back to spend on other trees. Overall I take all on board and agree for the most part but I'm happy I could fight skyrims corner a little.

[@CeramicShenanigans]

I agree completely, I'll pop skyrim on once in a while but I haven't played without mods in years. Interesting npcs and other immersive mods change the whole feel of the game and add stories and lore to different locations and towns. If it was just the vanilla game I wouldn't be able so much time into the game, not like I was able to do with Morrowind. Just watched these 3 episodes for the second time, great work I loved it all!

[@Outpost-13-Hockey]

It's so funny you talk about Nightgale Inn. It's one of the places that really resonates with me, it's one of those locations in a game that feels like a place I have been, and very few games leave me with that sense that it's hard to pull apart fiction and reality.

[@NewWorldSinner]

I literally had an intake of breath in excitement when I saw this

[@CErra310]

A Gasp?

[@NewWorldSinner]

@@CErra310 shit you right

[@CErra310]

:)

[@nMsFreeStyleZ]

I decided to start again with the first episode before watching this one

[@nubberton1345]

I like how the entire Skyrim loop bit was a very passive aggressive rant on how dungeons are repetitive

[@blonded0532]

Skyrim, despite its flaws, continues to be my favorite game of all time. Absolutely nothing else has been able to recreate it’s magic, and it’s a tragedy that it will probably be near 20 years in-between it’s and TES 6’s release.

[@roshtoux]

I know Elden Ring gets praised a lot and is a completely different type of game then Skyrim, but it brought back such a great sense of wonder and discovery that I haven't felt since I was 11 years old playing Oblivion for the first time. Games like Witcher 3 and RDR2 have come close to replicating that feeling, but Elden Ring is the first one.

[@Stellos812]

@@roshtoux Even though I've only got 35 hours in Elden Ring so far, I wholeheartedly agree with your statement. Skyrim has been my favorite game for over 10 years, and playing Elden Ring brings me back to those days when I'd spend hours wandering that frozen land. Of all the games to ever bring that feeling back after a decade, I never expected it to be a game like Elden Ring.

[@aldiascholarofthefirstsin1051]

You have very low standarts or very deep nostalgia.

[@killadrill]

@@aldiascholarofthefirstsin1051 that is not a counter argument

[@picahudsoniaunflocked5426]

Lol Aldia is the 1st sin being a killjoy for zero reason🤡?

[@onatgz]

take a shot everytime he says "dungeon." i'll keep the -ambulance- mortician ready. edit: i blame the game for this btw, not the critic.

[@TheHighBear]

More like morowind I swear I could predict when one is coming up

[@RHR1991]

I remember I played this game at the same time as Witcher 2 and unlike pretty much anyone else at the time, I liked the second The Witcher game more, and this video captures perfectly why. Despite being 10.000 times bigger, Skyrim always felt quite empty and dead to me whereas on the Witcher 2 the world was much smaller but also way more organic and interesting to explore.

[@lucifer0247]

I have to disagree, because of one thing the Witcher games, felt for me always like a play in a theater, its a good story and good characters, but the world itself feels belnd, empty , the NPCs do nothing, the world besides some spots is lifeless, not rly much to explore besides the tracks. No freedom, you cant enter in every house, you cant touch the items.

[@haruhirogrimgar6047]

@@lucifer0247 Is entering every house or picking up random objects really that important compared to writing and characters to you?

[@AcceptGamingDKD]

@@haruhirogrimgar6047 well between a world where you can interact with almost anything vs a world were you can not I would say the world where every house is accessible and every item stealable to be the more believable world. I mean can you become Jimmy the silverware thief who steals all the utensils in a persons house in any other game besides a Bethesda game?

[@haruhirogrimgar6047]

@@AcceptGamingDKD Idc about becoming "Jimmy the Silverware Thief." I could just be Geralt of Rivia and make hard ethical choices in a world with well fleshed-out (literally and metaphorically) characters. Or pick up SMT Devil Survivor and try to navigate an apocolyptic siituation with rapidly deteriorating social standards/responsibility. My draw towards a meritocratic society versus one based on equality being deciders of what happens with the option to be cowardly or self-centered. Or Play Rune Factory and build up my life & fall in love with the girl of my dreams while making friends in a new town. Or... If the developers wasted time on making it so I could go around habitually stealing silverware they wouldn't have time to make an actually compelling experience that engages with me on an emotional/logical/ethical level. Like, what can Jimmy actually do? He can level up his sneak skill, he can grab Silverware and sell it for a pittance. And then just do the same exact sh"t as Jack the Thieves Guild guy, except he might grab more silverware along the way for no reason other than your personal obsession with the concept.

[@AcceptGamingDKD]

@@haruhirogrimgar6047 that's called roleplay. I had a character named link that took every item off dead bodies because I could. I had so much stuff in my storage containers before I was finally done with the playthrough. Idk man maybe you like a story layed out for you but elderscrolls games have always been a make your own experience and roleplay a character that just happens to follow the questline sort of game to me.

[@unbearifiedbear1885]

Seeing a NeverKnowsBest upload is like seeing Gandalf crest a nearby hilltop, just as the battle seems darkest and all seems lost and for nought Thank you, -Gandalf- Never ❤

[@CamiloFHSC]

There is not much difference between saying "what you do most of the time" and "primary gameplay loop". Like any academic term, it's a shorthand to define a function. In games mechanics, defining your loops is not dissimilar to a writer defining the arc and acts of a story. I mean, defining a character by their arc is mechanizing their humanity into narrative functions; yet you wouldn't complain about a writer who writes a character with a specific arc in mind, or a critic that analyzes it as such. The same happens with gameplay loops- the more organic, the less you notice- and the more engaging the less you care. From a game designer perspective, knowing your gameplay loops is important- because unless every single action in your game is unique, some of them, will loop.

[@fredhrodrigues9019]

I waited a long time for this, thank you. So many great memories from Skyrim. You are the best reviewer on KZbin.

[@allknowingidiot1835]

I honestly just have to point out one thing that bothers me to no end before I continue to video. Skyrim absolutely has leveled items that punish the player for getting them early. Prime examples being the Nightingale armor and weapons. There aren't a ton sure, but they are definitely there. I remember feeling quite upset when I found out that doing the thieves guild first was the absolute worst thing you could do.

[@stephanmuller5804]

oh, i did that too.. But i also had 60-80 hours of gameplay not knowing how to get Dragonsouls. was quite fun untill then.. then those pescy dragons started polluting the whole of skyrim.. very annoying..

[@progamer461]

Been waiting for this to drop and its finally here, don't think I've ever clicked something that fast before, thought was gonna wreck, this the perfect thing to listen to while I make delivery's

[@nekrovulpes]

Unique items in Skyrim actually are still scaled, IIRC. You can end up getting piss weak versions of some stuff like the nightingale armour or daedric artefacts if you do the quests at a low level. Skyrim level scaling is better than Obvlivion, but not without its own problems IMO. You just totally get sick of killing bandits and such at some point because you know they'll never drop anything valuable.

[@MidlifeCrisisJoe]

Level scaling is the devil, and it should be exorcised from gaming. It's quite literally the purest form of "artificial difficulty" that you could ever devise. If you're going to create a completely procedurally generated world, then fine, you'll have to make such a system. But if you're going to make a handcrafted world, then it has no place.

[@Gum_Cuzzler]

@@MidlifeCrisisJoe Agreed. If you don’t want players to have access to OP endgame gear maybe just make the quests and dungeons that grant you that shit too hard for most under levelled players to complete.

[@peddazz2365]

@@Gum_Cuzzler or just tie them to certain stat/skill requirements.... oh wait skyrim got rid of those well whatever

[@imalittletoxicjustalittle]

how is artificially tying it to stats better? and how is putting it in front of super hard enemies any better? the end result of "you cant use it until later" still happens so it makes little to no sense other than personal preference. by OP's argument he actually would prefer oblivion scaled levelling cause bandits will drop better loot , personally i prefer how bandits work in skyrim as it makes more sense and actually allows you to become OP and will spawn better versions of bandits at higher levels with better gear in the midst of the cannon fodder bandits

[@peddazz2365]

@@imalittletoxicjustalittle It is less artificial than tying it to levels since it makes sense that you need certain stats or skills to use weapons or tool, like a certain amount of willpower to use a magical staff, a certain amount of strength to wield a Warhammer, or proper knowledge of how to handle some futuristic weapon, etc. it is more immersive it gives the player the option of how they want to reach the goal of being able to use the weapon, they could put fewer points into other stats, or invest more into certain skills that in order to be able to use a strong weapon sooner not only makes this character development more engaging for the player, it makes your characters more unique, instead of having the same shit available on the same level at the same point in the game every time, it also intertwines your equipment and loot system more deeply with your character giving the decision of how to skill your character more weight have you every played something like, gothic, deus ex, system shock 2, shadowrunner? honestly, both systems were garbage, oblivions bandits got loot that was way too valuable, while skyrims bandits were wearing what came down to a fucking uniform

[@Faygris]

Okay, the part about the Gameplay Loop™ should definitely be awarded a prize

[@CL33R]

i`m new to your channel but i can tell you genuinely enjoy making videos. Having over 1 hour long videos is something not many youtubers do. Keep it up.

[@vicvera4636]

I love your videos, and although I don't share some of the ideas you have about games, I respect them. Your taste and passion for what you do are very motivating. I hope you keep creating more content as good as you have been doing so far.

[@four-en-tee]

There's nothing really "wise" about Skyrim, it's just a natural progression of Oblivion's design philosophy. The reason why Skyrim succeeded as well as it did is because It's a game that had the right amount of advertising backing it up, came out right before major graphical advances in the gaming industry started to plateau, and had the right amount of mod support keeping it alive. Even to this day, Skyrim hardly looks THAT dated (although it helps that it got a remastered port a few years later). On top of that, Skyrim got to piggy-back off of a lot of the world building from it's previous titles, so it got to still benefit from having a very rich lore despite the fact that a lot of the stories Skyrim brought to the table weren't very well written (well actually, let me rephrase that: the new books added in Skyrim and other related world-building lore was great, but the actual quest-line plots can be pretty hit or miss). That being said, it's streamlining of the class system was a pretty ingenious way of making the game more casual friendly. Granted, as someone who likes more hard limits from class systems in RPG games since it better defines one's character and exemplifies their inherent strengths/flaws, I really wish vanilla Skyrim's class & perks system was as mechanically impressive as something like Daggerfall, Morrowind, Fallout New Vegas or even Cyberpunk 2077 (which honestly feels the closest to Skyrim's class/perk system).

[@four-en-tee]

I want to add on a few things, but i also don't want to bloat my OP, so I'll add some additional thoughts here. 1) I don't think there's anything necessarily wrong with wanting to do grand, big stakes stories for faction quest lines. The dark brotherhood especially was rather enjoyable, and part of that i think had to do with its pacing, not to mention that rather than progressing through the ranks, your guild is destroyed and you're charged with rebuilding it from the ground up. In the case of something like the College of Winterhold, i think if the game spent some more time at the beginning further acclimating you to the college before introducing the big stakes plot-line, it would've helped the quest tremendously. Like, an obvious comparison we can make is the stories and setting in the Harry Potter books. Those books spend a LOT of time showing us what normal life is like at Hogwarts, it explains how the different houses at the school work and what all the different classes are, and there's a lot of room for the story to breathe before the main conflict of the story truly presents itself to Harry and his friends. 2) If the game is going to send me to radiant dungeons, I'd prefer that it be handled similar to The Elder Scrolls Blades where you're simply taken there after a loading screen and are returned back to your "hub" so to speak after you've cleared the dungeon (your hub in this case being a given guild hall). That way, none of the actual world itself is being bogged down by radiant dungeons. Bethesda could have their radiant quests and radiant dungeons without it hurting the world design, and I don't think the players would necessarily be opposed to that since those who don't want to farm those quests for items and resources can just opt to not do them. One could argue that it's immersion breaking, but having radiant dungeons and quests to begin with is already immersion breaking, so i'm simply proving the best possible pitch that would preserve the rest of the world design. I imagine that's a hill that Bethesda is simply willing to die on.

[@BastosFC2]

@@four-en-tee chill out bud

[@innerstrengthcheck]

Great response!

[@nyalan8385]

@@BastosFC2 the guy is just expressing his thoughts for people to see, if you don't want to see them you can scroll past

[@introspectiver1787]

I think part of the cause of the dissatisfaction is that the modding community showed just how much better skyrim could be.

[@Whippets]

Absolutely ... I wonder how many players have actually played Vanilla Skyrim ... and what would they think about it?

[@vanyadolly]

@@Whippets this game sold, and continues to sell, massive amounts on consoles that don't have mod support. I'm a pc player with a considerablw mod list myself, but I think it's ridiculous that people push this idea that it's the mods making the game good. The mods are good because the framework of the game presents you with an almost unlimited amount of things to do and different ways to play.

[@Whippets]

@@vanyadolly I didn't suggest it was the mods that made this game good. The vanilla game is fine (a bit frustrating at times), but modding did breath a lot of new life (for PC users of course) and I suspect a considerable number of people have always played the game with some level of mods.

[@vanyadolly]

@@Whippets Sorry if I jumped to conclusions about what you meant. I'm just seeing a lot of this "Skyrim is bad" meme nowadays and I think it's getting a bit ridiculous.

[@peddazz2365]

yeah it could be a 7/10 with mods but sadly was just a 3-4/10

[@sense_maker1816]

We don’t like the term “gameplay loop” because it makes us think about the fact that the game world that we’ve imagined in our minds is nothing but an aesthetic shell that covers up what the game actually is: the gameplay loop.

[@MEGA_FIRE_DONKEY]

This multi-part deep dive was awesome. Thank you for putting so much work into this.

[@Ppanos423]

I can forgive every single flaw of Skyrim, because until this day I have no words to describe the feeling of exploration. The music, the ambience, the scenery, everything was so perfect. Also I actually like the skyrim combat. I know its a bit basic, but everytime I pressed my mouse to fire an arrow, I felt that I was the one who was shooting it.

[@helenline1790]

Agreed.

[@Madhattersinjeans]

Don't let a miserable critic take away the fun you had in this game. Notice how he never lets morrowind be topped by anything in skyrim. At least not directly. I think this speaks volumes about his own biases. This guy wants morrowind 2.0. And will grind any game into dust if it isn't.

[@MrMasterKaio]

I really like the Skyrim combat, too. It just let's you be 'more free'. Other games lock you onto the enemy for example, or you can't use the environmet to your advantage. That's not to say there aren't games with better combat, but for me personally, there aren't any first person RPGs with better combat than skyrim.

[@Ppanos423]

@@Madhattersinjeans Nah, he is not miserable. I think that he really like the elder scrolls, and he is very critical with them because he think they could be better.

[@roojackaroo8517]

@@Madhattersinjeans Yeah,the amount if whining I have seen about how Skyrim is not enough like Morrowind is crazy, like....just play Morrowind? Bethesda found something that works and is nigh universally loved(except for RPG elitist snobs) and will keep making games in this manner. Although I do agree with his criticisms of the perks, I cannot play Skyrim without the Ordinator Perks mod, so much wasted potential honestly.

[@unluckie1282]

Are you going to talk about Elder Scrolls Online? Due to production history, multiple changes and lore focused quests I think it would make a nice epilogue to the series.

[@nxamaya]

I think it deserves at least an honorable mention, it has quite a lot going on for the immersion, especially for an mmorpg, I was impressed.

[@snit22]

ESO is a symptom of the same problem.

[@rickysavage9557]

It's insane how mods are still being made for this game.

[@catgaming9791]

Part 3. You really made a serious effort. You also did a great job! Thank you.

[@comradeeyebot]

Why did the "Hey Elder Scrolls, hit me up some time. We should go for coffee and catch up" get me right in the gut😭

[@Starkiller3481]

Lol

[@Drgsoul]

Perhaps the true elder scrolls were the friends we made along the way...

[@invock]

... what?

[@natashamaddox3117]

This really pulled together a lot of my major feelings from each game. Very well made!

[@CelynBrum]

I didn't get far in Skyrim until I installed the Frostfall mod. It completely changed how I interacted with the world. I couldn't travel in straight lines through freezing water, so I had to explore. I had to consider how I would eat and drink and sleep, so journeys took forethought and planning. Once I stumbled, freezing and drunk and half starved, into a remote inn that had absolutely nothing of interest to it... except it saved me from certain death by the elements. Skyrim has so much untapped potential that Bethesda didn't use. Edit: Pretty sure it was Nightgate Inn, actually.

[@michaelelliott5611]

Some bandits outside caves or mines won't attack you on site and warn you about coming close (Embershard Mine) Valheim Towers also has bandits blackmail you for gold and will leave you alone if you pay it or pass a speech check.

[@waluigi3515]

Skyrim needs more of that for it to be noticeable

[@bladeranne5005]

Yeah but you can count thpse on one hand when you end up gping trough hudreads of bandits

[@zaratustra00]

That's the only notification I am truly looking for on YT

[@DrSubtle]

After watching each part, multiple times, I feel like you didn't even scratch the surface of issues Skyrim riddled our experiences with, but well done in the aspects you touched, as always!

[@fergusofdalibor4264]

That ending is actually super cute, bro. It warmed my heart. I am literally sitting here playing skyrim (heavily modded) listening to your whole series. And yeah you're right. These games promise us grand adventure but keep pulling back on the sense of discovery part that makes them special. Thank God we have modders to complete the game. Hopefully the stories of ES6 will at least be good.

[@kmaginn]

Still watching but you asked why bother including radiant quests when there's plenty of other content; i think it's a matter of worldbuilding. As part of making a faction feel 'real', it should have work available, and that work shouldn't ever run out. I always had the impression that I *could* keep stealing or killing mountain lions loose in peoples' living rooms, because the other members of the faction are doing that sort of thing all the time, but I'm generally too busy to bother with that menial quest labor. I feel like the real sin of the radiant quest is that they *look* like real quests. By wearing the clothing of quests, they invite judgement on the same criteria that quests are judged by. If they were presented as a different system entirely, something like 'tasks' that are obviously not real quests, I think they'd better accomplish their purpose. If there was, for instance, a post-board in front of the Companions' hall that had task postings for menial work, presented in-world as 'if you ever find yourself at loose ends, take a look at the board and earn some extra gold', that would make the notion of the Companions as participants in an ongoing public life that isn't necessarily glamorous feel more plausible. When I built the randomly generated missions in battletech, i knew they wouldn't ever be competitive with the carefully crafted missions of the main quest. But I also wanted to ensure that the player could *feel* like a mercenary commander, taking available jobs anywhere they went. If those jobs weren't as compelling as the Big Story, that was okay; they weren't meant to be. They were background texture rather than foreground detail.

[@durpasaur3052]

That's a great suggestion and I agree 100% about having the busywork available. It's cool to get a designers opinion too

[@lipsontajgordongrunk4328]

I enjoyed this video but there are a few nitpicks I do have, I’ll add them as I come across them: • gear in Skyrim DOES scale to player level, for example the quest rewards from certain quest lines like the Thieves Guild has a variable that is impacted by player level that determines how powerful the enchantments are on the armor you receive. This applies I believe to pretty much all quest rewards with most capping out once you surpass level 35+ • there is a bit more nuance to the level up options than just always picking health, at least for stamina. If you play sword and board, stamina helps how much you block and are able to shield bash, a strategy which is immensely useful at almost all levels of combat and difficulty. Stamina is also your resource pool for “sniper aim” where you can slow down time when aiming with a bow, so it’s actually really good to have a fair amount of stamina because that gives you all the more time to line up that shot. • there is actually quite a few things you can dump gold into. Purchasing the homes and furnishing them in each of the keeps, training under-leveled skills each level, and then if you have Hearthfire, building and furnishing those homes will quickly eat into that 180k gold you have. And I’m saying this as someone who’s favorite ES game is Morrowind, so I feel like these are legitimate points that were missed.

[@mikeclarke3990]

"A sinkhole of wasted potential" pretty much sums up all Elder Scrolls titles.

[@Bill_Garthright]

Nah. That might describe my life, though. :)

[@___.51]

I can't remember the name of the dungeon but in vanilla Skyrim there is one Draugr barrow that is shown (through a short dungeon crawl quest) to be still used by the local Nord families for traditional burial. More stuff like that, please! More evidence that the world you're exploring is a world in use by the people inhabiting it. That's all I really want. The design consequences that stem from that decision would make for a better game in my opinion. As dungeons, I'd love to see fewer that are story relevant to multiple questlines. In Skyrim for instance, Saarthal; first city of the Nords, Labyrinthian; the big bad dungeon returning from TES1 Arena, and Ustengrav; proving ground for users of the Thu'um since time immemorial. Imagine if these three dungeons were complexes so large and multi-faceted that you kept returning to new parts of them, unraveling their secrets and learning about the world in doing so. Saarthal may lie half-buried and in ruins completely but Labyrinthian and Ustengrav are still partially in use by traditional Nords to this day. I'd take three dungeons like that over 100+ bite-sized ones with little to no clear significance for the world they inhabit. Now they're significant places in both the lore and gameplay, fleshing out both. Biggest gripe, I'm tired of the shooting-gallery treatment the unique races are receiving in Bethesda's latest titles. Skyrim's giants are mostly there to be something you can fight. The best interaction is a radiant encounter where a nameless farmer is giving a giant one of their cows as tribute. The farmer clearly painted the cow in the style of the giants as part of the tribute ritual. Such a cool concept, too bad it's one encounter and no named NPC's ever talk about paying tribute to the local giants, or trading with them, forming alliances, fighting them off, signing treaties, co-existing, anything. A quarter mile from Whiterun's walls is a giant encampment and that has no story significance and isn't acknowledged by the locals in any way. Sometimes Jarls put out bounties on giant camps, and it is suggested that the giants are bad neighbors, but this is no more than a radiant "smash and loot" event, and implies that giants are monsters to be slain rather than a sentient race to be reasoned with. There are no giant NPC's to interact with save the one in Sanguine's quest. And the bandits... Many groups of bandits clearly live off the land, their leaders are called chieftains, some of them occupy forts, some of them appear to be semi-nomadic, and some appear to be migrants from the broader empire holding out on the fringes of civilization. Why are they all just called "bandits"!? Why are they all one-dimensional baddies to swing an axe at? Why wouldn't some of the chieftains, who clearly seem to be tribal Nords, side with Ulfric in the ongoing war? How cool would it be to encounter a tribe of neutral "bandits" who have occupied a fort in Stormcloak territory on behalf of Ulfric? Maybe the local warlord has a quest for you to take down a rival warlord, or extract tribute from a nearby farm, or really any interaction beyond fighting them? Speaking of bandits, my god the Forsworn. It's almost more disappointing to see a feeble attempt at characterization than seeing no characterization at all. The Reachmen are a distinct culture within Skyrim, subjugated by the dominant Nords, and there is no opportunity to include them in the broader story. They can't participate in the civil war even though they would be natural allies of the Empire. The Forsworn are just very unique, regional bandits. Non-hostile Reachmen have painted faces, some of them complain about the Nords, and that's about as far as it goes. Karthwasten, a predominantly Reachmen settlement, seemingly shares the same cultural identity as any other micro-village in Skyrim except the locals have names like Ainethatch instead of Roggi Knot-Beard. The Orc strongholds have possibly the strongest characterization of the sub-groups. Blessedly non-hostile, they have their own quests, a unique bounty system, and even restrict non-orcs from entering their strongholds freely. If only they could be shown to have interactions with each other and the outside world in some capacity. Maybe some tensions or distinctions from local orcs and Imperial orcs. The strongholds show that Bethesda is capable of interacting with their own lore when they want to, which makes the above examples that much more egregious. Lastly, Draugr... Why not have multi-faceted Draugr encounters? Maybe, dare I say it, even Draugr NPC's? If their purpose is to undyingly tend to the barrows of Skyrim, why would they necessarily be hostile to all NPC's all the time? Even if they are all hostile, why don't they get more characterization and why is their existence barely acknowledged by the local Nords? When you delve into dozens of traditional burial sites, slay all the caretakers, and rob the place blind why isn't that acknowledged? TL;DR, I hope Bethesda embraces their lore in TES6 and does their best to build a believable world. I think Skyrim was one step in the right direction compared to Oblivion for merely including some of these details, but I fear that Fallout 4 might have been two steps back. FO4 is a different franchise, and a whole other can of worms, so only time will tell.

[@sqratattack8717]

Interesting concepts

[@lenajohnson6179]

Look... you can't complain about backtracking through dungeons in one game, then condemn the next for having ways to quickly get around backtracking. You gotta pick a lane.

[@bazzatron9000]

Well-made video but honestly, it feels like your real issue, is that Skyrim comes close to being your dream game in concept but ultimately doesn't fulfill that wish. So much of what you criticize can be boiled down to sensible video game design. It may not be realistic for a dungeon to be linear but it's a more natural structure for a game. Morrowind's approach of giving directions was a bit more immersive but after the novelty wears off, it just becomes an inconvenience to keep checking your journal. It's not like following directions was challenging in any way. A quest marker fulfills the same process and in fact, because you ONLY know the direction & not which specific route to take (there could be a mountain or chasm between you and the destination), you probably stray from the beaten path MORE. But those are just some examples. I agree it has its faults but I feel like too many criticisms are about what people want the game to be, versus it having serious problems. And couldn't disagree more on replayability & every player character being the same. I've started many playthroughs focusing on different play styles & still enjoy the game to this day. That we're still discussing it 10 years on is a testament to that.

[@BleydTorvall]

I also felt like he was being overly critical of some of the game mechanics. Like, complaining that stamina was pointless? The boost in carry capacity alone is a huge benefit in the game, and not boosting stamina leaves you exhausted and practically useless in combat after about 2 sword swings. I also never noticed money being overly prevalent and useless in the game. Sure, you probably won't find daedric gear in shops to buy with your coin, but you will find some powerful enchanted items that are just as expensive, and just as useful to acquire, especially seeing as you need to destroy an enchanted item to learn its enchantment. There are also houses you can buy, which provide some realistic benefits, such as a more restful night's sleep than you'd find in a random inn, and a place to store your valuables rather than carrying them around with you everywhere like a hobo. And the biggest money sink in the game is probably trainers. They're how you would normally reach the highest levels of skills to access those top tier perks. Honestly, it makes a lot more sense to learn skills from a teacher than to just figure it out on your own. I'm pretty sure I'd get to be a better swordsman by training with a master than by hacking a million mudcrabs to death. Those were all improved gameplay mechanics that also added to immersion, at least IMO.

[@thrillainthemanilla1409]

Dungeons being linear is absolutely a valid critique lmao. They cut corners with the dungeons and their designs and that’s obvious. Reading your journal for directions being an inconvenience is subjective, OBJECTIVELY the journal is immersive and realistic. The point of a critique is to analyze the weaknesses of the game and that’s exactly what he did. The dungeons being linear and same-y is a weakness along with the progression, combat, story and all the other things he said in the video. The replay ability is a valid point because eventually your character will be maxed out in everything and as such will be the same as every other maxed out character unless your specifically limiting yourself by playing the exact same way with no variation the entire time you’re playing a specific character

[@bc4737]

I feel like I've been waiting to watch this all my life

[@toboterxp8155]

I think Gameplay Loop is primarily a term of game design, usurped by critics. Because from a design perspective it makes a lot of sense to think of activities in games that way, to ensure rewards feel useful (because they impact other aspects of the gameplay loop), and the player has something to do in case he lacks the creativity to come up with something himself.

[@JothamBate]

From a designers point of view, Gameplay Loop is really useful to identify because it can identify the structure around which you develop the game and you can use the gameplay loop to explain the game to other developers or pitch it to investors. It’s not really useful for players to know through, because it does sort of take away from the general enjoyment of games. Critics normally say it to sound clever.

[@MidlifeCrisisJoe]

Yes, and part of the problem is that too many games critics are wannabe games designers, so they pretend to fit into the club by using their terminology. Still, it's not a great term for even a designer to use if the point of the game doesn't mesh with that kind of design. That's really the whole point of this series: The Elder Scrolls came at the problem of designing an RPG world from one approach focused on immersion (whether mechanical, graphical, or emotional) as it progressed to its 3rd installment, and now has veered away from immersion towards addiction as its focus as it's moved away from it. "Gameplay Loop" is a great term for the game designer who wants to focus on designing dopamine addiction mechanics in games, it's terrible for a game designer who wants to make meaningful experiences or truly interesting worlds. The fact that it becomes core to discussions about Skyrim is extremely telling.

[@Alkis05]

2:35 I just noticed that the footage of his own video he used, not only has only his one view, he disliked his own video.

[@khobarkastenglish5029]

The last time I was this early, it was still called Burma.

[@duncanlutz3698]

Oh the pettiness in his voice as he enunciated that name.... XD

[@jakobsofficialone]

"You should start at Episode one because you don't deserve to start at Episode 3, You haven't earned it." I don't really appreciate being treated this way by a youtube video... I am an adult and …I … uhm ...already watched the two other parts already, oh well, carry on then. In unrelated news: If you don't murder every Stormcloak you see you are playing the game wrong. There, I started it, I have no regrets.

[@alexmuller6752]

stormcloaks are followers of a traitorous thalmor puppet. best they deserve is me being sorry for having to kill them.

[@Redshift2077]

Imagine siding with the guys that tried to cut your head off for no reason

[@ThwipThwipBoom]

@@Redshift2077 Imagine siding with the guys who are massive racists and value physical strength over intellect like barbarians

[@TheReZisTLust]

@@Redshift2077 imagine not just letting the dragon eat your and leave a Shitty world since dragons came from the depths of stories

[@blake7756]

just opened up youtube to find this gem dropped

[@sirwolfwoods]

Man, just finishing the 3 of these up. Great work. Really enjoyed them. I will say, it does make me kind of sad watching people rip apart these games, especially Skyrim. I think I just play open world games different than a lot of people. I thoroughly enjoyed Skyrim, and I know you enjoyed it too, but these shortcomings didn't bother me as much. I avoided the radiant quests when I could. I adventured and explored, and never minded if I cleared a dungeon without a quest to do so. And if a quest took me back to the same dungeon, it didn't bother me. Skyrim was hardly a dungeon diver for me. I spent far more time above the surface than below. When an overworld is as enjoyable as Skyrim, I tend to avoid fast traveling. There are so many moments like finding Nightgate Inn that get missed by fast traveling. I also tend to ask myself regularly in open world games "does this sound like fun, or does it sound like a chore?" and if it's the latter, then I don't do it. If it sounds like fun later, then maybe I'll pick it up again. A lot of open world games suffer pacing issues and missions that feel like chores. Learning this, I try to fix these things by how I play them and it makes them quite a bit more enjoyable to me. Otherwise I agree with what you're saying as the most important things they can do better. I especially wish they'd develop their games without quest markers so we have to use a little bit of our heads to get stuff done. Loved that about Morrowind.

[@Sweet_Clod]

The thing is, with a few mods, this game turns into a near perfect experience. Nevermind graphic mods (which i cant play without these days) camping mod, survival mod, and some combat mods give a reason to stop at inns, to stop and make camp, cook food, travel the roads and think before you go into the colder areas because you’ll freeze to death. I hope Bethesda learns a lot from the popular mods from skyrim and implements then into ES6

[@billlyons7024]

This is the "Lord of the Rings" of game reviews. Please release the director's cut so I can binge-watch for 8 hours.

[@alexsm3882]

Patrician TV

[@hallamhal]

Even the Dawnguard DLC - you make a choice whether to join the Dawnguard or the Vampires, but either way you end up doing mostly the same quests

[@Boomerrage32]

My God... You hit the nail on the head! I do pick up (almost) every single piece of junk and sell it to different vendors just to see my gold increase even though I know that I have nothing to spend it on. And I don't like the game, yet I still do have 336.7 hours of time logged into this game on my Steam account. I do exactly the same with the various Fallout games. I think it's just that I like the idea of liking these games. I don't really like them though.

[@yuqianwang7817]

They create dopamine loops so you get trapped into being "addicted" to it, even though as you gradually get used to the loop in the 300 hrs long play through so much so that it no longer excites you. You just end up doing them as habits more than anything.

[@crimsonhawk52]

I would love to see you review A Short Hike. It really made believe that meaningful exploration can be achieved in a very small game.

[@candiedskull9841]

Heck yeah, love these videos. Edit: 3 minutes in and already mildly surprised.

[@TheBigJConYouTube]

Really confused by "there's nothing to spend gold on" when there's training, player housing, guild refurbishing, potions and materials, spell tomes...I mean there definitely is stuff to spend gold on.

[@fridgeking6014]

None of that is really important though. You can finish everything in the game without any of those and wouldn't even be hindered that much. Even if you somehow run out of the endless supply of potions you constantly get for free (which is almost unimaginable to me) they will only cost a fraction of all the money you bring in.

[@ScrubbyBubbles]

Your videos are excellent, started on the morrowind one and ended up watching the whole series. Also your voice is. Quite relaxing

[@unbearifiedbear1885]

36:36 this is _so_ accurate for Skyrim.. the first time I absorbed a dragon soul was *literally* crack

[@mobugs]

Tha lighthouse quest was for me one of the most memorable gaming moments ever, compunded by the fact that shortly after it i stumbled into blackreach. these two moment plus a dog suddenly talking to me are what made skyrim memorable for me.

[@wilkk92]

Why, I DO want to see video going over every single perk in Skyrim.

[@augustojantschcrepaldi5916]

1:32:30 "I guess I was young... and naive" *Cuts to heavily deformed orc with dove eyes" this made my day.

[@J-Cycle]

“Most people would say, you know, "The last one is the most refined." Right? Well. So Skyrim is the most refined, but people will say "Well I prefer Morrowind, I prefer Oblivion, I prefer this" and we say "We made those too, we love those games". They are intentionally different. Whereas people really like Morrowind, it's a very exotic world. But people forget - when Morrowind came out, the Daggerfall fans went "What the fuck are you doing?" Right? And then Oblivion comes out and the Morrowind fans go "What the fuck are you doing?" and then Skyrim comes out... So they all are their own thing. But there are game systems we're refining but each of them are intentionally, thematically, how the world feels, is very very intentional. And for TESVI we know how that world is going to feel, it's very, very intentional. We don't know all the game mechanics yet, right - that's something that we work our way through. But how the world feels, we know. 'Cause that's really where we start. And there are people who would say "Why isn't this like Skyrim?" Well, that was Skyrim, it's still there, go play it, it's on everything!” -Todd Howard, 2019, when asked what his favorite TES game is.

[@TheBigJConYouTube]

Yeah. This. It's ok for the games to be different. I was really looking forward to this series, but it seems like so much of it was just "this is bad because Morrowind did it better".

[@l1teralcanc3r78]

Being different is all well and good, but when the experience becomes progressively more shallow as the years go on, valid grounds for criticism arise. Not every Elder Scrolls game needs to be Morrowind, but they should all be competent RPGs in their own right. Skyrim especially fails at this when it comes to its progression and exploration as has been expounded upon in excruciating detail by half of the internet.

[@TheBigJConYouTube]

@@l1teralcanc3r78 why do they HAVE to be competent RPGs is my point. Why can't the series move in a different direction?

[@l1teralcanc3r78]

@@TheBigJConKZbin because a series loses its fundamental identity after a point. If a studio wants to make a different game by all means do so, but slapping a recognizable name on it for branding purposes is a disingenuous and cynical way to bait people into buying a product they don't actually want.

[@TheBigJConYouTube]

@@l1teralcanc3r78 your mama

[@dragonman7856]

1:32:06

[@RealHorsen]

Damn, he's a massive

[@nib4626]

1:07:20 You play this game wrong. It's a roleplaying game. You're complaining about the College questline not immersing you in the College itself and instead just rushing you through a story, without realising that you're the one rushing it by blitzing through the quests. If you're roleplaying, you can very easily pace yourself between quests. Do one or two College quests, then allow some time before the next one by doing things like practicing spells until your skills are respectable, reading in-game books about magic from the library, going on expeditions to study the Dwemer, imagining that you and J'Zargo are travelling to another city on behalf of the College to pick up an item, etc. If you use your imagination and proactively immerse yourself in the game by not rushing it, it's so much more enjoyable. You can feel like a College student who is actually learning and progressing. The same principle goes for any faction, and for the game in general. If you roleplay as a character with a realistic daily routine, you'll find that the stories in questlines don't feel quick, or even necessarily important. They're just bonus things that add flavour to your character's story. You seem to want the game to do all of this for you. You bounce from quest marker to quest marker and then complain about a lack of immersion, when it's literally in your hands to immerse yourself as much as you want to. If there's one thing I'll be elitist over, it's TES, so I'll just say it: stop playing like a casual and then complaining that the game is made for casuals. Use immersive HUD, limit or entirely stop fast travel, live like an actual citizen of Tamriel who is either working or doing something for a particular reason. Depending entirely on Bethesda's quest and dialogue writing to immerse yourself in this vast world is just silly.

[@wickedAberration]

I can't tell if this is a bit, or if you're not even joking about your idea of solo roleplaying by not doing anything the game provides as a solution for low immersion, but instead pretending that the game has quests that don't exist?

[@nib4626]

@@wickedAberration Don't be silly, I clearly never said that. I said you should make your own stories and immersion in and around the quests. The point of the video I was referencing was when he said the College was too rushed. He claims you don't have a chance to practice spells, form bonds with college members and discover ancient artifacts before the College questline starts. My point was that you have unlimited time to do that before or during any quest.

[@FaySpirit]

This video washed all the frustration and anger i felt when i played Skyrim back in the days and had little knowledge about game design. We moved on, on many levels. Now games feels better and also might feel worst, its up to us to find joy into the little things and accept what it is offered, rather than live in expectations.

[@Sorenzo]

I remember the "tasks" in Dark Age of Camelot... Instead of quests or simply grinding levels, you could go up to certain NPC's and just say the word "task", at which point they'd tell you to find a random nearby type of mob to hunt... I actually had more fun with that than I do with randomly generated quests in Skyrim - for one thing, in DAoC you had to actually locate the random mob yourself, and for another, they didn't put you through 6 loading screens to enter the house, fast travel, enter the dungeon, and back.

[@KragV]

I'd love to see you cover Enderal

[@jloveskorn1]

Get ES 6 Devs to watch this series before release or we'll have 300 dungeons in the next game

[@MarcusHedenberg]

Ah, now I can finally enjoy my evening.

[@brandyntillman9575]

I feel the design choice was spot on to bring the game to main stream success. Focusing the game on dungeons allows people to get that dopamine hit with shorter gaming sessions, but still contribute to something greater.

[@Mcfly-or7ky]

Gotta say really enjoyed all 3 of these critiques. Keep up the good work bud!!

[@valdris86]

I can't play Skyrim without dozens of mods at this point.... Especially Legacy of the Dragonborn and perk/class overhauls lol

[@GuyOnTheInternet53]

When I hear things like this it makes me glad I never got into pc. I could play vanilla skyrim all day long

[@blob22201]

@@GuyOnTheInternet53 lol vanilla skyrim is great, modded skyrim is even better (so long as it works)

[@lorddestrustor8828]

About prestiging your skills being pointless: While the skill level is reset and the perk points are refunded, your overall character level isn't, and re-leveling a legendary skill still counts for level progress. So skyrim's legendary skill system isn't so much about showing off, but rather a way to let a character perpetually level up. This tangible, real progress could be enough to make a player spend yet more hours in the game where they would normally stop due to having maxed out all their skills and seeing no point in continuing without the ephemeral reward of a level-up fanfare.

[@peterkurzweil3758]

Dude, after watching so many of your videos i realised that i am not only watching because of your balanced, well researched, prefectly paced videos, no, i just wanted to hear you talk^^ is there any chance of you doing hearbooks of some sort?

[@Eragorn_98]

Your videos are truly amazing. This three-part documentary is one of the best I've ever seen. Congrats!!!!