The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion

[econ21]

I’ve been beating up Martin repeatedly to level up, with absolutely no witnesses around, and he definitely hasn’t gone anywhere to tell anyone.

Isn't "Martin" the Sean Bean character - the rightful king you are supposed to restore to the throne? And you are secretly beating him up? And praising the story and immersion?

Sorry, I'm just teasing you - what you do with your computer is none of my affair.

But in Oblivion the story presentation, graphics, voice-acting, gameplay and immersion factor is all phenomenal.

....

I’m guessing that comparison would hold true with Oblivion vs. any other game out there, but if not please do enlighten me with specific titles that have better presentation and immersion than Oblivion does. If Oblivion is not a masterpiece, then what game is?

Oblivion is very good in terms of graphics and presentation, that's undeniable. For example, it beats NWN2 hands-down on those things. The other criteria, I am not so sure about.

The story was unimpressive - not a patch on the Kotors, for example. The voice-acting I disliked - Sean Bean and Patrick Stewart are top notch of course, but otherwise too few recycled bland American voices. They did not sound like fantasy characters - in fact, I am not sure what they sounded like; hammy North American actors is the best I can come up with. Again, the kotors are the natural reference point - the actors voicing Bastilla, Jolee, etc are right up there with Hollywood's finest, IMO. It never occurred to me that they were anything other than the characters they portrayed.

Gameplay - well, the melee combat is superb for a First Person game, I agree. I actually like it better than that in the much lauded Mount & Blade (which I love as well). It has less frantic clicking and gives less power to quantity as opposed to quality. Some of the quests are nice - I really liked the creepy abandoned village you find with an underground community. But overall it's too free-form an experience for me. And the quests still feel too small and self-contained. It can't compare to the wonderful main story arcs and fascinating sidequests of BG2 and FO2.

Immersion is pretty good, except when you talk to the annoying minor characters. Wandering around - or rather stumbling through - Oblivion and Kvatch was excellent. But again, the free-form nature of the game just meant it did not grab me. Someone said Morrowind was a world simulator, not a game, and I think there's still an element of truth of that about Oblivion.

You asked what was better. Perhaps the best "modern" ropleplaying game I would say does immersion better than Oblivion is Vampires - the Masquerade: Bloodlines. I hated the premise of that game (being a vampire - I always like to play lawful good, paladin types) but people here said it was great so I gave it a go. I started off lurking in the sewers, full of self-loathing, feeding off rats. But gradually the game sucks you in and you start to really identify with your character, so that when someone from your former life recognises you, I reacted out of character just as my vampire was supposed to do in character - I recoiled from her out fear that she might "out" me and drag me out of my new life. I ended the game leaping on foes with abandon and joyfully draining them of blood in combat. The voice acting and side quests were fantastic - the guy who takes you through in the tutorial section of Vampires is a more vivid character than anyone in Oblivion. Presentation was perhaps patchy - a few bugs - but nothing a bit of patience cannot overcome and graphically it was gorgeous (Half-Life 2 engine).

Raiding a castle with other Knights during a fierce thunderstorm – is definitely the most immersive thing I’ve experience in an RPG.

Sounds like fun - what quest was it? Kvatch? That was a corker. I agree very high up there with other RPGs. If only the game had sustained that strong central story arc throughout, instead of dissipating it with the free-form go anyway, world simulator thing. But I guess that's like criticising a lion for eating meat - it's what Elder Scrolls games do.

EDIT: BTW, I loathed Guild Wars. I can't play it for more than half an hour before wanting to rip my brain out at the sheer inanity of it. But then I've just done the bland PvE stuff, not the PvP stuff that people get excited about.