Oblivion (non-GOTY edition)

[heatemyfather]

This game still captures my imagination and holds attention, even two years on.

The GOTY edition on PS3 was buggy and I had a lot of freezing problems with it, I eventually sold it and bought the non-GOTY edition, never looked back. It does freeze very occasionally, but it is far less often than GOTY.

Fallout 3 is small by comparison, and doesn't look as pretty in my opinion. The number of different ways there are to play the game is the key to it's longevity, as although the missions are the same the different character classes each play differently, so the missions still can feel fresh and exciting.

Just playing through this now as a High Elf, heavily dependant on magic but can still fight with sword and arrow.

Few games have such a lasting appeal for me; GTA 3 kept me coming back, Mercenaries 2 and a handful of others too.

I have just got Fallout 3 GOTY for the extra content so, touch wood, hopefully the reported bugs won't interfere with my game too much.

[somersethedge]

yep I agree... Oblivion is still on my PC... lost count of the number of times I have played through the game. At the moment I am playing a Nord... just have to finish the magic users guild (2 more quests to do).

Plus with all the download add ons the game can indeed be never ending

[heatemyfather]

yep I agree... Oblivion is still on my PC... lost count of the number of times I have played through the game. At the moment I am playing a Nord... just have to finish the magic users guild (2 more quests to do).

Plus with all the download add ons the game can indeed be never ending

The normal PS3 version comes with Knights of the Nine which is one of the best quests in the game in my opinion. Shame PS3 owners didn't get the other official download content (except Shivering Isles in GOTY).

[somersethedge]

cant say I was over impressed with shivering isles... the knights was/is good tho.

the one good thing with the PC version is there are 1,000's of mods for it... admitedly not all of them are good, but there are some I wouldn't play without.....

Did you ever play morrowind

[heatemyfather]

Never really got into Morrowind, I'm more of a console gamer and couldn't be bothered sitting at my computer to play it. I'll happily sit for hours playing Command & Conquer style games on the computer though! Strange, that.

It's annoying that the PS3 version is so closed, if they'd even just left in the console it would make the game a lot more versatile as it would mean the possibility to circumvent various game bugs and also to perhaps adjust the game for added fun or challenge.

I saw a mod on YouTube which allowed the player to throw sleeping potions at NPCs, knocking them out instantly. Very handy! Although rather cheaty as it removes much of the challenge, like being 100% chameleon.

[somersethedge]

the only cheaty mod I use are a leveled cave mod just outside the imperial city which regens evey 3 game days... it really is a hack and slash type but it does pass the time during those "come back tomorrow" quests and a house again not far from the imperial city that has an enchant and spell maker and a fair bit of storage space.... but the only three encharntments I ever make is a ring of +10 strength, a ring of night-eye and a ring of water breath... none of which are mega items... and spell wise it tends to be healing spells between low heal and mid heal for when my characters are at level 5-10 with not much in the way of spell points...
oh and I do ware a 20% chameleon glass helm and that with a high sneek and marksman means I dont need to get my swords out too often.

and as soon as I can I invest in stores I head for the best defence shop in the imperial city so I can sell upto (I think it's) 1500 gp of stuff (the only problem is at 35+ level you tend to get a lot of stuff valued at 3000+ gp


maybe you should get the PC version... it's not that much to buy these days and comes with the two add ons... plus you can download the fan mods.... invest in a pair of headphones as well as the stero sound helps find the "baddies"

[somersethedge]

I have just remembered the other encharnted item I make is a "Bow Of Souls"

get a decent bow, a decent soul crystal with a decent soul, and the soul trap spell... enchant the bow....

make sure you carry empty soul crystals and hey presto a constent supply of charged soul crystals to recharge any item that needs recharging....

I used a grand crystal with a grand soul and have a bow with 533 charges... when need be I can use the soul crystals I have made to recharge it (not offten ) and I can recharge any sword etc when needed.

as my sneek and markmanship is good I get x3 damage which kills most things without them even knowing I am there.

[heatemyfather]

I have just remembered the other encharnted item I make is a "Bow Of Souls"

get a decent bow, a decent soul crystal with a decent soul, and the soul trap spell... enchant the bow....

Been there, done that.

Currently I have a similar bow, although it's also enchanted with weakness to frost and frost damage, so if I am sneaking I get the x3 plus the frost damage and a few seconds of soul trap (in case I poison the arrow and it's enough to kill them a few seconds later). To be honest it's not that useful past level 20 as I'm not great at Marksman, having all of my major skills as magic stuff. When I was playing as a Wood Elf I could kill almost anything in one shot with a bow.

I carry Azura's Star which is a re-usable grand soul container.

Staves are my saviour, they can kill bad guys like there's no tomorrow! Quaffing Restore Magica potions while casting high level flame or frost spells is also pretty nasty for the bad guys, with the area-effect spells coming in very handy for taking out groups.

[somersethedge]

my only "complaint" with the game is once you get so far into the game you have more GP's than you know what to do with.... I dont even bother looting these days unless they have spell scrolls, potions or potion ingredients, lockpicks or repair hammers.