Replaying Skyrim

Last month I wrote about building a new gaming PC. Well, of course I had to buy a game to play on it. Skyrim happens to be one of my favorite games ever made, so, with a Steam sale going on, this was a no brainer.

I originally played Skyrim on PS3, so I didn't have mods. Along with the special addition and mods (plus my PC which is OP), I've got an insane graphical upgrades.

Mods are wonderful. Yes, I'm hanging out with skeletons that I own, a new companion, a pet frog, Hedwig, and I'm riding a giant beaver.

Upgraded texture packs, upgraded weathers, and new ways to play

I've been taking screencaps, mostly because I like to have a lot of changing background pictures.

I got a mod that adds like 50 new monsters to fight, too. Met these two earlier. It's such a surprise to see a new monster. 

New dragons mod, like this bird dragon

and this robotic dragon, and new perks, spells, and abilities to fight them with

a mod that makes giants... even taller

A mod that adds more grass and foliage. SO PRETTY

Anyway, this is what I've been playing lately. Still, Skyrim is a 10/10 masterpiece. One of the best games ever made.

The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim – My thoughts and ideas for improving whatever game comes next

I didn’t want to write this post until I had gotten all of the main game’s achievements/trophies, including the platinum. I know it’s late coming, but Skyrim was a long, long game for me. 230+ hours! I’m the kind of person that likes to play parts of games, move on, and come back later when I feel like it, so it took me a while (since 2011!) to finally complete it (but I did!).

I absolutely MUST start off by explaining the way I felt being a PS3 player. The unfinished product I purchased at game’s launch kept me from playing at around level 30 until the patch finally arrived to fix the bugs. Also, the DLC came so much later than it did for other users. It made me feel poorly treated as a consumer. When I finally got the DLC, it was exceedingly glitchy. The vampire DLC glitched out to the point where I couldn’t complete it because the castle gate locked and wouldn’t open. This issue had been noted for many PS3 players, so, after some research, I resolved that I had to reset my game to an earlier save file. The only problem was that the save file had to be a MUCH earlier save file because of an earlier action I made that set the glitch off. I lost about 15 hours of progress, which is more than what I put in for the entirety of most full games. It was awful. Also, the Build-A-House DLC was fun but really, really glitchy. None of the build-a-statues wear the armor I put on them, instead duplicating old items and standing naked. The items I placed in my house moved sporadically as if I had a poltergeist, and all the doors in my house, which I wanted to leave open, would close themselves for no reason.

PS3-specific awfulness aside, what can I say? I believe Skyrim is probably the best game that has ever been made. I truly loved every second of gameplay. Even with losing a whopping 15 hours due to a glitch, I wanted to keep going. I played through the glitches because the game was so immersive, such a wonderful escape, and so much gerd-derned fun that I couldn’t stop. Bethesda is the best studio in the world. I can’t stress this enough. The game, even though it is from 2011, is still the best game out there, imo. I could go on and on forever about the things I love about this game, but that would be pointless.

This blog isn’t meant to butter people up. It’s also not meant to tear game developers down.

My blog is a blog of ideas. I call it, Creative Enhancement for Nerd Culture for a reason. I'm not a game dev, so I know that I'm ignorant to the work it takes to make a game, so don't feel like I'm chiding anyone. I think Bethesda is insanely talented. This is just my dreams and desires. Anyway, without further ado, here is my want-list for whatever next Elder Scrolls game Bethesda does next… 

1. Make less followers, but make them more in-depth

There are a billion-trillion followers you can pick to join you during your 200+hour journey. Almost every player I know picked Lydia and kept her for the entire game.

Why Lydia?

Because you got her in Whiterun, which is where most people go in the beginning. She’s quick to get. On the main quest line. She’s also not much better or worse than anyone else you can get.

Why is that?

Maybe your follower could be a golem that needs help to become a man again

Because Lydia, like almost every follower, is not all that interesting. Followers in Skyrim don’t have much to say. Some particular ones have city-specific things to say. Some have more dialog than others. I tried a few followers, but I mostly stuck with Mjoll the Lioness for the game because she was the most chatty (although, I would also recommend spending some time with Cicero if you let him live). There’s not much of a reason to choose Lydia over the mercenary at the inn, because Lydia doesn’t have desires, needs, or much to offer to the plot. She’s just a mindless follower who you can send in the kill a giant for you or hold your gear when you’re overburdened.

My suggestion is this: The developers should make one or two REALLY awesome personal followers rather than a million boring ones. Why have 50 followers if most people will just pick the first one they get and stick with her? Bethesda, don’t waste time on that. Make one follower, and make her really, really interesting. I think the one thing New Vegas did right was have interesting followers with their own quest lines. You can talk to them more. Now, Mjoll, for sake of example, had a quest. Returning her sword, only then could she be made a follower. Not a very complex quest, truly, and by the time she was a follower, there wasn’t much else she had to say.

Imagine if your one well-imagined follower had involvement in several of the quests? Imagine if the one follower had ideas to add during conversations with other NPCs? If you only had to make one follower, then you could make her have more unique dialog. Mjoll would often talk over the quest-giver with her canned dialog. What if Mjoll would have added to the conversation instead? You could create relationship building mechanics, depending on how you treat her or talk to her. She could have her own desires, goals.

So, make one follower, and make her awesome. Don’t make a million boring followers.

Click the jump for more!

DRAAAGONSSS - my drawings

So, I've been keeping a new Tumblr in which I post drawings I make using ink pens and colored pencils. I've loaded nearly one hundred drawings to it, and I've really enjoyed having an excuse to draw. This past week, I challenged myself to draw one dragon every day, and that sounded just nerdy enough to post to my nerd blog here!

So, without further ado, my recent dragon drawings!

 My scaly drake took the longest time! All those scales! Circlecirclecircle....

 He's newly hatched... and he's also eating his unborn brother

I wondered what a furry dragon would look like!

an old dragon, you don't normally see a dragon die of old age! I wondered how that would be...

an armored dragon, with wormy noodle tongues

the eye of the dragon

yellow dragon with banana scales

Instead of scales, I thought an ice dragon would have cracks where the ice has shattered from movement

an unfinished dragon's head

a two headed dragon with two tails

This one reminds me of the Lego Dragon... if only it had red wings

Thanks! I hope you enjoyed my dragons! You can find more of my sketches by clicking here. Keep in touch! Find me on Twitter @Oxyborb

My List of Favorite Games I Played in 2013 (and my GOTY)

So, this list isn’t a list of my favorite games that came out in 2013… this is a list of my favorite games I played this year. This year has been…

Want to know who won in other years? Here’s the 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, and 2014 list.

THE YEAR OF CATCHING UP!!!

My gaming backlog was pretty heavy coming into 2013, and so I mostly worked on finishing and playing games from before this year. Actually, there weren’t too many games from 2013 I wanted to play, which was sort of nice with so many old games I had yet to beat.

So, without further ado, my 2013 list of favorite plays (in no particular order):

Project M – Smash Bros Brawl

Project M is a mod for Brawl that changes how the game is played. It rebalances characters and speeds them up to be more like Melee for Gamecube. It adds costumes, tournament-ready stages, and extra options. It also added back awesome characters like Mewtwo and Roy. Finally, with 3.0, I can now play as my main, which are the Ice Climbers, so now Project M has become relevant to me. It’s fantastic. The best way to play Smash. You don't even need to install any mods to play it. Find it here: http://projectmgame.com

Infamous 1 + 2 + Festival of Blood

Right after I knew I was getting a divorce, I blasted through the three Infamous games for PS3. I have to say, they were very special to me, because of the difficulty I was going through in my life at that moment. Because of the divorce, I was forced to move away from Seattle back to a cornfield in the middle of Southern Illinois. I missed the city very badly, but the cities from the Infamous games brought me back. That developer is from Seattle-area, and so the worlds in those games feel like walking the streets of Seattle. I got all of the trophies on those games, I loved them so much. Anyway, thank you, Sucker Punch, for making such special, meaningful games. I cannot wait to play Second Son for PS4. It’s the reason why I want PS4 over Xbox One.

Skyrim

I’ve put nearly 200 hours into Skyrim. Let me tell you, when you get divorced, nothing is more satisfying than immersing yourself into a fantasy world with nothing to think about but killing giants and leveling up your blacksmithing. I believe that Bethesda is the best game developer in the world, hands down. I cannot believe how deep I fell into this game. The music. The landscape. The creatures… Everything just comes together to feel like fantasy is reality. I still have so much to do in this game, but I get distracted just running around killing deer. Sometimes I just walk around and explore the fields, no particular mission to do. It’s just so much fun. I haven’t even beaten it yet. I plan on putting another hundred hours into it soon.

Mario 3D Land for 3DS

Note, I do not mean the new Mario 3D World for Wii U. That game looks awesome, but I don’t own a Wii U. I had already beaten 3D Land coming into 2013. In fact, I’m pretty sure I had beaten it in 2011 when it was released, but it’s such an amazing game that I replayed the entire thing again this year. Honestly, I believe that 3D Land is the perfect Mario game. I liked it better than Mario Galaxy, even. Just the way that the foundational mechanics work (shrinking and growing instead of a life meter, flagpole grabbing instead of touching the star, shorter levels rather than giant worlds to explore) makes the game better, overall.

Minecraft

How much did I pay for Minecraft again? 13 bucks? I got it during alpha. This is the one game I’ve spent the most time with more than any other. It’s the best money I’ve ever spent on a game. I used to run a sever, and I made tons of friends with random players from around the world. I can’t even begin to say the amount of crap I’ve built. It’s almost embarrassing. I’m still loving Minecraft in 2014, though less than I used to, it’s still fun. I just love the “go out and do anything” mentality in games like these.

Honorable mentions: (still just games I played in 2013, not necessarily released)

Batman: Arkham City - Great fun, but the hand-to-hand combat is not fun. When your stealth is given up, you lose the fun factor.
Diablo 3 for PS3 - The best Gauntlet Legends-type game, but not the greatest Diablo game
Kid Icarus: Uprising - Hilarious voice acting, amazing Sakurai-style gameplay. Controls aren't the best, though

Little Big Planet 2 - Still the best logic-game toy out there. I hope they make a 3D version so I can make my own Banjo-Kazooie!
Red Dead Redemption - Fantastic western. Best horseback riding ever. I'll probably go back and finish it, but I stopped playing at Mexico.

My Game of the Year for 2013

This is my choice for the best game I played that was released in 2013. This has nothing to do with the list above, since hardly any of those were released in 2013. This is just the best game that was released this year, in my opinion:

Streetpass Mii Plaza’s DLC

No, I’m not joking. In 2013, Nintendo came out with new games for Mii Plaza for 3DS. As someone who frequents conventions and nerdy events, new Streetpass games were exactly what I was craving. The original Puzzle Swap and Find Mii were excellent, and the new games (Mii Force, Warrior’s Way, and Monster Manor) are awesome, too. I love getting “hits” on my 3DS, which get me fun puzzle pieces and fighters for my games. Out of all the games released in 2013 that I played, Mii Plaza’s DLC is my favorite. It doesn’t beat Infamous, but for a Game of the Year, you’ve got to pick one released in the actual year, so Mii Plaza’s DLC gets the gold from me. The one exception is Flower Town. That game is awful. I tried to get into it, but I ended up skipping the dialogue as quickly as possible.

Thanks for stopping by my blog!
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