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Old 01-09-2011, 04:57 AM   #1
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Default Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (first info)

Aside from the announcing trailer, the first info on the next Elder Scrolls (as far as I've seen) is out. Here are scans off a magazine, showing a bit of the visual style and they also have tidbits about the game.

I'm particularly interested in the text in this picture, which has dichotomy between the chance of a greatly improved gameplay and/or a far-too-great emphasis on combat and a streamlined interface (like (and no doubt following) Mass Effect 2, which, while being very good, went too far in it). The Elder Scrolls are one of the last major representatives of more traditional RPGs, and I'd hate them to lose their roots and treat it like an action game. Then again, there is great room for improvement, and if done right it could take these kinds of RPGs to a whole new level.
Here's some quotes:
Quote:
For the fifth numbered entry, Bethesda is taking its fans two centuries into the future [from the previous games]. Skyrim isn't a direct sequel in the traditional sense, but rather the next major chapter in the prophetic Elder Scrolls.
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A thrilling new combat dynamic encourages flexibility and creative ability combinations. A rethought user interface abandons the cumbersome menus of yesteryear. And a new way of presenting interactive storytelling aims to reinvent the way players experience role-playing.
(italics mine )
So you can see there quite the changes and promises. The previous games were slightly cumbersome (especially Oblivion, I felt, and I'm not talking about the menus now, mind you) so this might be a perfect place for those last tweaks towards a magical game, but I'm fearing that they think that "menus are bad, we must not have any inventory!". Unlikely, but worst-case-scenario... They do say they will stay rooted in tradition, while taking new gameplay chances (I didn't quote it but it's there), so I suppose it's even more unlikely. And they don't want to alienate their fans. But there's always the risk of too much streamlining.

The combat sounds intriguing though, I always felt it was a little dull before. Even though the oblivion gates in Oblivion were horrible, the games have otherwise been great in their stories and storytelling, so I'm very eager to see what will happen with the "new way of experiencing role-playing". (Now that I think of it though, I've not finished either of the two games I've played)

I originally feared that it would be all snow and stone, but I'm glad to see there are some very interesting locations there besides just snow, like that centre picture here.

One thing I always wish is that they'd allow more personal character creations so that even if you don't exactly do traditional choices in making your characters, it can still be played. Usually it's just very much so that if you try to do a character with a slightly unusual set of skills, it will end up so weak you'll die to almost everything

Also, I wonder if you'll start out as a prisoner this time... All that dragonborn stuff sounds like you're too well known to start out as an unknown prisoner.

Anyways, I'm really rambling here, so time to stop talking. I have to say, these pictures gave me much higher expectations than the trailer! (Especially with the narrator with far too much saliva in his mouth...)
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