I just watched a review on GameTrailers and the game looks fantastic with the exception of combat which appears to be pretty basic. I think a good way to make combat more fun would have been if you held LT to lock onto enemies and then move the right stick around to get in sort of 1:1 motion sword battles and then you push the left stick up to use your shield (with LT being used for the shield if you're not in lock on range of an enemy).

It would be fiddly on PC though. 

@Vegetable_Side_Dish said:

It would be fiddly on PC though.

This.

And how would you do dual-wielding? Use both sticks and completely remove the ability for players to move? I think you core design suggestion may work for Dead Island--a game with half the gameplay scope of Skyrim--but certainly wouldn't work when you can combine spells, shields, swords, and bows. You can also sneak, which wouldn't work with the fiddly-ness of your control scheme.

I think here's what you have to understand with TES: they're RPGs with a ton of complex systems layered on top of each other. You have to make some obvious sacrifices to make them work.

Dead Island: Skyrim edition?

I'm actually not terribly fond of lock-on mechanics. It may work well in Dead Island due to dismemberment (I've never actually used the analogue system), but in something like Skyrim it may seem a bit strange. I prefer free flowing combat if that makes any sense; being required to lock onto one specific target makes combat seem a little too focused.

I will admit that improved swordplay is a must at some point in the series. I've always hoped for a mechanic similar to Mount & Blade - that would make any Elder Scrolls game perfect.

I am totally okay with it not being like Dead Island. It took a lot of concentration and effort to do combat in that game.

I thought the analog combat system in Dead Island was dreadful. I know a lot of people liked it but I agree with @emergency:

Sounds like you should try daggerfall.

I've never seen an fps handle melee well. I think it is really a technical limitation of input and limited FOV. I don't think we can expect much from the marriage of the two until the way we manipulate FOV or inputs or both change.

I could see the series eventually become more counter-based for depth, but there really isn't much more they can do.

The games combat is a little too rigid and dull for my liking..

They should really just copy and paste the combat from Dark Messiah of Might and Magic. In fact Arkane is owned by Zenimax (who also own Beth), so I don't see why the combat dudes from Beth couldn't have just hopped over to Arkane and said "Eyyyyy show us your combat moves eh?". 

So basically like Dead Island?

The games combat is a little too rigid and dull for my liking..

Don't know quite how dual wielding and magic would work, but I think every sword game should institute the Mount&Blade style of combat. For those of you who haven't played it, it's similar to Dead Island's analogue play style.

Well, I'm probably like the only person out there that plays in third-person, so it only really makes sense for me, but they should just copy the Dark Souls combat imo. Would ofc force the game into third person, but that's not a bad thing if you ask me :P

@TheDudeOfGaming said:

@Contro said:

The games combat is a little too rigid and dull for my liking..

And yet you love a game where you simply click at the correct time to chain together combos and change fight styles -_-

I really wouldn't describe The Witcher 2's combat as feebly as you've just done, lol. I thought PC gamers only had those views before the game came out, and that they were basing such views largely on having only played the original game.

The Witcher 2's combat has ample complexity beneath the surface, it requires a great deal of skill when playing the game at the highest difficulty setting, It feels dynamic and fluid, and very tough, unlike Batman's combat which you could draw a few comparisons with.

I along with many other PC gamers, I appreciate it a great deal (after it's blocking patch that is). I certainly appreciate it more than this tired fare, as I find it far more mentally engaging.

A lock-on system with dodge rolls and parry and block, and charge and swipe and overhead attacks and an expanding combo system and a well-thought out ressource mechanic is the least what I expect out of a modern RPG melee combat system. From second hand knowledge, Skyrim does not deliver that, though it delivers so much more than just melee fights, it's worth getting past this specific shortcoming. I just hope they'll do something about it eventually in some future iteration.

Looking forward to finally getting my hands-on Skyrim.

I would have really enjoyed DI controls, it would be even better on Skyrim cause there's less enimies to deal with.

I think they should just use the Pokemon battle system. for Elder Scrolls VI: Elseware

i would like the attack button equal an attack instantly, im always accidentally shield bashing or wasting stamina on an extra swing at the space the thing i just killed was