Spotlight - Pre Skyrim Jitters

If you're fans of the Elder Scrolls series, then you indubitably know that Skyrim, the fifth installment of Bethesda's epic open-world RPG, is about to be released on 11/11/11 - less than 15 days away. Now there's been an impressive amount of hype for the game, considering it has been over 5 years since the studio released the previous game, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. Yes, in addition to taking frivolous legal action against indie developers, Bethesda also still makes games! Imagine that.

Oblivion was hailed as one of the best RPGs of 2006, featuring stunning graphics (for the time), a massive world to explore, almost countless quests to complete, and its signature RPG leveling system; unlike most other models of the roleplaying videogame, the Elderscrolls uses a system where your abilities improve based only on use. That is, swing a sword enough times and you'll become a master swordsman. Blast enough enemies with fiery death, and you'll become a master mage. Spin enough diplomatic circles around your enemies with your silver tongue and you'll become a master ... debater.
Heh. Had to.

Skyrim allows you to kill bears like never before. As long as they aren't pandas, I say.

Still, for all its innovation and technical marvel, there was one area where I felt Oblivion fell short compared to its peers: narrative. Plot. Story. Now, I realize that these factors aren't really selling points of the Elder Scrolls series. Still, in a world where fans often feel justified in demanding improvements to game sequels (often to suit their own esoteric tastes), I feel okay jumping on the bandwagon here. After all, what gamer hasn't dreamed of ways to make the games they play better?

It has been my contention that there are two kinds of successful fantasy stories in RPGs: one based on setting, and one based on characters. Either your setting must be absolutely original and immersive, or your characters have to be compelling. Preferably, you would have both an original and interesting world to explore coupled with characters that you care about. In the absence of both, you must at least have one for a good story to be told.

Pretty? Yes. Interesting? That's debatable.

Case(s) in point. While Dragon Age's setting may not be the most original in all of fiction, the series still told an absolutely captivating narrative through your many party members. One of the best parts of the story in the first Dragon Age was trying to penetrate the witch Morrigan's caustic exterior. Or getting to know the man behind the string of sarcastic jokes that was Alistair. Or trying to decipher exactly what the mysterious shapeshifter Flemeth was planning.

Morrowind, the third installment of the Elder Scrolls series, took the opposite approach. The game managed to make up for its lack of memorable non-player characters using a fascinating and stunningly-well crafted setting based on a truly unique culture and intricate weave of lore. The sheer drama of this politically and religiously charged world more than made up for the lack of NPCs. You didn't just get to know a character in Morrowind. You got to know a whole nation.

Morrowind's capital city of Vivec, a thousand times more interesting than Oblivion's generic fantasy.

Unfortunately, Oblivion's setting seemed in comparison to be utterly generic fantasy with an unremarkable plot and dull, forgettable characters. Oblivion's narrative had neither the expansive and intricate backstory of Morrowind, nor the well-developed and layered characters of Dragon Age. The result was an utterly uninspired story. You got to know a world in Oblivion, yes. But it was like getting to know your husband/wife of forty years. Been there, done that. Seen it all before.

Note, that I don't think Oblivion itself was bad - just this one aspect. In terms of technology, gameplay, and sheer expansiveness of its world, Oblivion should still be considered the top of the top in its sub-genre of RPG.

Standing stones in Skyrim will impart special benefits to various skills.

With that tedious and overlong introduction done, I finally come to the point of this post. What will Skyrim do to address these concerns? Most other gaming sites seem to have conceded that the story aspect of the Elder Scrolls series is unworthy of note; the emphasis in most previews I have read has been decidedly focused on gameplay. That's fine; Elder Scrolls' massive worlds and unique gameplay are after all the major selling points of the series. Still, for a gamer who enjoys games primarily for their story content, what is there to expect?

Well, Skyrim is set in a brand new location, the home of the Nords. In terms of real world correlations, Nords are essentially fantasy Vikings. They make their homes in snow-covered plains that are broken apart by frost-covered crags and frozen tundra. This is a welcome change from the generic forests and medieval cities of Oblivion. As for the actual lore and backstory, we'll have to see when the game releases, but what's been shown so far seems to hit closer to Oblivion than it does Morrowind.

We can visit everything you see here, from Skyrim. Maybe not the clouds I'm guessing. Or can we?

As for plot, very little has been revealed. Apart from the fact that for some reason, dragons are trying to destroy the world, and your character is the fated hero chosen by destiny to defeat them and save the realm. Generic? Yes. Can it be done well? Again, guess we'll have to see.

Finally, Bethesda has not made a big deal out of its NPC characters. This isn't surprising, considering Skyrim's predecessors. There's supposed to be a new NPC AI system which is supposedly pretty revolutionary in terms of giving all the thousands of NPCs their own schedules. Gameplay wise, this sounds great. Story-wise, not so much. Quantity can't make up for lack of quality in terms of developing memorable characters to interact with. If every non-player character in the game has their own schedule, but none of them has any personality, that's big minus points in my book.

Dragons are an integral part of Skyrim's lore. Also, expect to kill a lot of them.

So, in short. Looks like Skyrim's not going to satisfy any narrative cravings. I look forward to being proven wrong, but I won't go so far as to hope for it.

That said, I still plan on fully enjoying this game. Despite Oblivion's lackluster storyline, I still found its massively open world absorbing and engrossing. Fans of the Elder Scrolls series often claim to forgo the main plotline entirely, choosing to carve out their own story and make their own mark in the Elder Scrolls universe. From what we've seen of Bethesda's latest RPG so far, there's no reason to think we can't do the same in Skyrim.

It's not an Elder Scrolls game if there's not a weird zombie skeleton all up in your grill.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim releases on November 11, 2011 on PC (via Steam), Xbox 360 and PS3.

Check out my review of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion here (please note that this was done on my old 5-point review system, which has since been discarded) and then catch some of the latest footage of the Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, plus the live-action trailer below!


Latest Gameplay Footage, via G4TV

Xbox 360 Games - E3 2012 - The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim

Live Action Trailer!

Preview - Futurama "Mobius Dick" 8/4/2011

Apologies for last week's preview video of Futurama; I don't think it had anything at all to do with the episode! I'm pretty sure this one is the right one for this week, though: Leela becomes obsessed with tracking down an albino space whale. Check out the teaser below and then tune in tonight!

Futurama

Preview - Futurama "All The Presidents' Heads" 7-28-2011

Good news everyone! Futurama has been renewed by Comedy Central for an additional 2 seasons. That means we'll be seeing Fry, Leela, Bender and the rest of the gang through at least 2013. As the Professor would say, "huzzah!"

Check out what I can only assume is a preview of tonight's episode, which apparently sends our characters back to the American Revolutionary War. Should we expect some ribbing at Sarah Palin's notorious statements concerning Paul Revere? Tune in tonight and find out!

Futurama	Thursdays 10/9c
Sneak Peek - Inside-Out Bender
www.comedycentral.com
Comedy Central Funny TV Shows Roast of Charlie Sheen

Preview - Futurama "Yo Leela Leela" 7/21/2011

Tonight's Futurama: Leela becomes a Hollywood bigshot after creating a successful new TV series. Check out the preview below!

Futurama

First Impressions - Bastion

I've played through the first few minutes of Bastion and the game - so far - does not disappoint. This XBLA downloadable plays smoothly, offers a fair amount of customization, and has been decently challenging. Beyond those gameplay elements, the game boasts a mesmerizing atmosphere that is rooted upon a beautiful aesthetic style, and the mysterious narrator who comments on almost everything you do - at least when you do it the first time. The first time I fell over the side, he jibed, "and then, he fell to his death. Just kidding." Thankfully, he doesn't say it every time I fall to a gravity-based death, or I might find his presence grating rather than atmospheric.

I am impressed. Expect a full review once I have completed the game. See the launch trailer released a few days ago, and check out a nice wallpaper provided by Supergiant Games on their website, after the jump.

Preview: Futurama "Silence of the Clamps" 7/14/2011

Catch a preview of tonight's Futurama when Bender is forced to go into a witness relocation program after testifying against the Robot Mafia.

Also, can I just say last week's episode "Law & Oracle" was definitely the season's best yet? The episode spoofed a whole bunch of movies and shows: Law & Order, Minority Report, Tron. Plus, I'm just a sucker for twist endings.

Futurama

First Impressions - A Dance With Dragons

While several sources have already released reviews for the fifth book of A Song of Ice and Fire, I'm still slowly chugging away at the monster. This is a busy week for me, so I probably won't get a chance to even finish the book this week, much less review it, but I am slowly tackling it. I can offer a brief first impression of what I've read so far, however. Beware: there are some very light spoilers in terms of the novel's structure below, but I won't reveal any plot points yet.

As most fans of the series probably know already, A Dance with Dragons is kind of an interesting book. Rather than being a direct sequel to the fourth novel A Feast with Crows, the timeline actually runs concurrent to the events in Feast, at least for a major portion of Dance. The decision to set up these two books this way came about when George R R Martin was working on a Feast with Crows and discovered it was rapidly becoming much too large and unwieldy than he intended. He did not wish to simply cut his product in half, however, feeling that would have been a tacky and pandering resolution to his problem.

Thus, he reached a decision to split the book by location - A Feast with Crows would contain mainly the stories of the characters located in the South. The characters in the North and across the sea would have to wait with A Dance with Dragons.This decision was a controversial one, and has resulted in Feast being the lowest rated of all of the books on amazon.com - undoubtedly due to the fact that Feast with Crows contained mostly the perspectives of new, unfamiliar characters, or characters that simply did not resonate as well as previous ones did.

Well, all the characters that we missed from Feast are back in full force, and they're just where we left them (almost 10 years ago now). Martin's style remains strong; while the novel is not Harry Potter in that you can not read everything at breakneck speed, if you take the time to sit down and absorb the details and appreciate just how much care Martin has put into his words, you'll get that much more out of the experience.

One thing to note: it looks like that the timelines eventually do catch up in the middle of A Dance with Dragons, not at the end. There are certain characters' chapters that appear towards the end of the novel, who also appeared in Feast. I will say that this particular point irks me a little. Why bother separating the books the way he did, if Feast characters are going to appear in Dance? A bit arbitrary, methinks.

I am enjoying the novel so far. Expect a full review towards the end of next week.

Spotlight: Coming Soon to a Media Outlet Near You - July 2011

We're already halfway through 2011 folks ( can you believe it? ) but there doesn't seem to be any shortage of cool new media to entertain yourselves with - at least not in July. We list a few reasons to be look forward to enjoying life this month, after the jump.

On a side note, did you like the blog's background image for June? If so, I've included a 1920 x 1080 wallpaper below - just click on the image and you should get a full-resolution version. I really liked this background because it suggested a lot of action, but still had enough open space so that it wasn't distracting. Find more wallpapers like this one at www.dizorb.com.

Preview: Futurama "Law & Oracle" 7/7/2011

In tonight's episode, Futurama spoofs TRON.

Last week's "Ghost in the Machines" was definitely a step back towards the Futurama we all know and remember. Let's hope today's episode will continue that!

Futurama

Preview: Tonight's Futurama

It looks like tonight's Futurama will feature Bender "dying" ... and no doubt the wacky hijinks that will ensue in order to return him to robot life.

I have to say I wasn't exactly impressed with the first two episodes of the series last week. Hermes and LaBarbara are fine characters, but to have the season premiere focus be on these two (not that there was much focus at all), is still a little questionable.

There is also a decidedly tangible feeling that the show is trying too hard to be Family Guy - plots are not as tightly written as they were in the series' first run, and depend on too much randomness to move along. This was something that the first half of Season 6 suffered from as well though, at least in the first few episode.s Here's to hoping that the season will pick up!

Check out a preview below. I am debating about whether or not to review individual episodes, or to review entire seasons as I did with Game of Thrones. Whatever I decide ... I'm sure you'll figure out when I post the review. Heh.

Futurama

What to Watch Out For: Kingdoms of Amalur - Reckoning

E3 has been abuzz with this eye-catching new title from Big Huge Games with storyworld designed by R.A. Salvatore. If you read or watch any of the previews of the game, it seems as if BHG is trying to combine the real time action combat of Fable with the open world and character development system of the Elder Scrolls series. We haven't been treated to much of the story yet, though we do know you'll be able to customize a character from a variety of races. You begin the game having just been resurrected from death with your memory wiped clean; one of the goals you'll pursue besides monster-slaying is finding out who killed you and why.

So far the story doesn't seem to be taking too many risks. The open-ended character development system and the action combat seem very promising though; You're never locked into one "class," but rather choose various talents and specialities as you level up, mixing and matching as you please. Warrior-Mage and Rogue-Mage Hybrids seem to be the popular choice among the video demos seen at E3.

I'm just looking forward to dual-wielding chakrams. Any game that lets you channel your inner Xena gets a plus in my book (See them in action at about 0:34 below, courtesy of gametrailers.com).

Tags: GameTrailers.com, Future Visions Trailer, PC Games, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360

See the E3 Debut Trailer below. Kingdoms of Amalur - Reckoning is slated for a Q1 2012 release.


Kingdoms Of Amalur: Debut Trailer - Watch more Game Trailers