One of the things I never understood with rpg type games is that every piece of equipment is “one size fits all”. And this is especially troubling when things are labeled “dwarven” or “gnomish”… Those guys are tiny! You can’t expect my Redguard to be able to fit in that!
Though I guess WoW got around this with the armor tokens so it wouldn’t really matter what the drop was, you just head on down to the outfitter and get the right sized trousers. Still though, they should make you tailor gear when you get it! >)
So it looks like there’s yet another DLC for the Skyrim game coming out! And if you’re a PC gamer like myself, it also means another few months of waiting while them 360ers prance around all happy… dang dirty consolers… >)
Anyways! Skyrim DLC! Hearthfire Moon! It’s the expansion to the marriage system where you and your significant other get to buy a nice new house, get materials for it to build additions and various other things, plant herbs and crops, raise childrens, and wait a second! I’ve played this game before! Think it was on the Gameboy Color it was! Harvest Moon!!!! So yeah, the fine folks a Bethesda have finally lost their little minds and brought the HM farming fun to Tamril! Now I joke and jest and will continue to mock this mini expansion, but at the end of the day… it just looks really fun! Maybe it’s because I grew up on games like Harvest Moon, but the tedious day to day “open world” quests to level up a house or clear out the field or just hug some chickens to get the “S” quality eggs… it all just seemed wonderful to me. It could be why I like Minecraft so much as well, though they could really import a lot of HM elements into that.
Anywho, I like this. I really do! I like the adoption of the “mini daily task” aka “chores” into games such as this, where you can shape your world and the people within it. It gives you something tangible to work towards and I swear I’d be darn sold on it if we had to cook up a prize winning sweetroll for the winter’s Evening Star cooking contest! Other than that, I’d love to see more growth and interaction between the main character and the rest of the (handfull of) inhabitants of Skyrim. Like quests or gifts to make them happy and they’ll do fun stuff for you or unlock things… like in that one game… what was it called? >)
But that’s just me! How do you all feel about this? Do you think domestic type quests and chores improves gameplay or is it just another time wasting daily quest thing that’s not really needed. What say you? Moon it up or not?
Edit: This just in! Turns out there’s a new game on the horizon, State of Decay, a zombie apocalypse type game… with… wait for it… Farming! Yup, your favorite HM pastime is coming to a zombie shooter near you! Source - Escapist
Ah, Skyrim, it’s been on my review todo list for a while. But looking at this game critically is very hard; I mean, they pumped out one darn fine game so anything I can come up with will be little nit picks.
So unless you just aren’t into the first person rpg genre, this is Skyrim, part of the Elder Scrolls series (not to be confused with Scrolls, the game by the Minecraft guy, I’m sure nobody confuses them, but you know…). My first introduction into the series was Oblivion, which was just wonderful… though it had its moments… I think, however, they fixed most of the issues with Oblivion with this edition; being the stupid stupid AI pathing that would usually end up with you tossing out a fireball in the direction of your buddy as he rushed into battle… resulting in them either dieing or turning on you. The other was the extreme bottom of the valley uncanny stares you’d get when speaking with NPCs. Man, still have nightmares about that…
But with the venture to the frozen north in, what I’m assuming is the Canada of the Elder Scrolls world, AI is much better and they don’t look directly into your soul as much as before. I still can’t stand that everytime I walk somewhere, EVERYBODY looks at me. And it’s not like some sort of antisocial thing either, it’s just that… everybody looks at you. I guess my Redguard in dragon skin armor could warrant a few stares, but that’s not even the worst of it. They, well… they don’t turn to face you. What I mean is, they will turn their heads like a demon possessed owl in what can only be described as completely unnatural for anything other than a jellyfish. Just one of those things that kind of kills the immersion when you get that Children Of The Corn feeling in the back of your neck every time you enter an inn.
Then, of course, is the distinct lack of population. I know programming is hard and filling up the world with useless characters takes away from other works, but when you sum up the total number of NPCs that are not randomly spawned, like bandits, then you get the feeling that there may be only about 100-200 some odd people in this entire area. And let me tell you, the area of Skyrim is HUGE, so it feels very desolate. Sure, you can argue that it’s a wintery wonderland, but when you hit a big city like Whiterun, and there’s only about a dozen homes, it kind of kills it. I swear Oblivion had more filler homes/people, but I might be remembering that wrong. Still, I’d be happier if it was filled a bit more. Oh and… more marriage choices! What’s the harm in making any non married person an eligible choice?
Ah well… but you know what, there’s not a whole lot more you can say about it. Sure, it had a rough PC launch with more bugs than a knock off Snes game*, some U.V. issues, and there could be more work done on the little details like population and more flavor items, BUT this really is THE game to get! It’s awesome and you’re missing out if you don’t have it! So there! XD
