@zombie007: I agree.

Patrick, your articles are like Obsidian games, well written and often well thought out, but riddled with so many technical errors (typos that often completely change what you're talking about) that it gets silly. You really need to give these a once over or something.

To be fair, I played FFVIII on a PS2, so maybe you have something there.

I'm not a huge fantasy fan, in fact Lord of the Rings and its various imitators piss me off. Elder Scrolls has usually felt a bit different, more about smaller stories (as long as you avoid the main story line) and endlessly addicting discovery and exploration. Its less about being hit in the face with fantasy, and more just playing forever.

Final Fantasy VIII is shit, and it's not a Playstation 2 game. Also shouldn't this be a blog entry, not a news story? What on earth is going on 'ere.

Personally speaking, i'm not the biggest fan of fantasy. More specifically, I'm not a fan of playing fantasy-based games. I like watching fantasy; I really like Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones. But, for some reason, I just can't get into playing games of that style. It just bores me. That said, I'd quite like to play Skyrim. I played Oblivion and I enjoyed it. Although, I didn't finish the main campaign; wasn't even close. I just really enjoyed the incredibly open-worldness of the game.

And yes FFVIII is awesome.

I agree. FF 8. Word. Except for one stupid-ass story thing, it's always been my favorite.

Klepek needs to get over this and play some Oblivion prior to Skyrim's release.

FFVIII, also known as the best of the PlayStation 2 Final Fantasy games. Haters of the Junction system can take a hike, thank ya.

You're dead to me, Klepek. DEAD.

@onan said:

@WileyS said:

My question is if you loved fallout so much, why did you not want to go back and play Oblivion?

I'm in the exact same boat. I had no interest in Fantasy but picked up Oblivion when it came out because it was the biggest, most impressive thing being released on 360 at the time and heard so many good things, but ultimately after I got out of the first dungeon and made it to the first town, I got impossibly bored with it. There really was no real reason to move forward because of all the freedom they gave you.

I tried Fallout 3 and couldn't believe it was made by the same people.It had really interesting sidequests, great dynamic combat, the works. Also, it was genuinely funny, something that Fantasy (including much of what I played of Oblivion) lacks desperately. I put over 150 hours into Fallout 3 before I finished the main quest, and I'm still savoring and working my way through the DLC.

And there-in lies one of the reasons developers continue to make simplified games. Not that Oblivion is that complex mind you. You're telling me that if the game held your hand and gave you a clear route to the finish line, you would have enjoyed it more? No point in moving on due to the freedom they give you? Um, if anything it's the exact opposite. With more "freedom," comes more gameplay options and longevity. I love how they plop you into the world and let you tackle it how you see fit. (to a certain extent) I've played maybe 200 hours of Oblivion with multiple play-throughs and I have yet to finish the main story line. I always go off and do my own thing.

Are you knocking Oblivion for not having interesting side quests? How would you know if you've barely played the game? The Dark Brotherhood story line is easily one of the best in video game history. In fact, as stated above all I did in Oblivion was side quests and what not.

People! Stop telling him to play Oblivion! I loved Oblivion, but Skyrim will be better, and Fallout 3 made significant jumps in quality that brought in a lot of fans. I can see some of those people, like Patrick, being put off by Oblivion's aged qualities, and that'd be a shame, because I am confident that Skyrim will bring home what I liked so much about Oblivion and Morrowind to all those people that liked Fallout 3.

I will never understand why people have to insult someone before stating their different opinions, it's come along the lines of "dat man iz stoopid and im not!"

Back to the topic, The Elder Scrolls series and Bethesda open world title are very accessible once the game gets rolling but can be overwhelming right at the start. When I first played Oblivion it blew my mind and I put the game down, but about a month or two later i picked it up and ended up clocking over 300 hours. If Skyrim meets up to any of my expectations, it may turn out to be my favorite game of all time.

This pretty much describes how I feel about it.

I don't know why video game developers (usually right after losing the D&D license) decide to create a unique fantasy world by filling it with elves who love nature/are high-and-mighty and dwarves who live underground/are down-to-earth, plus the occasional dragon.

The thing is, science fiction games usually do the exact same thing, only they pull from Star Trek and Star Wars. There's klingons and twi'leks, blaster rifles and Federations, transporters and the Force. Look at Mass Effect. BioWare somehow even included klingons in Dragon Age.

I'm still buying the shit out of Skyrim. Hopefully there's an option to run around as a Conan/Red Sonja rip-off.

What's this even supposed to be? It certainly is not news, that's for sure, already from the 21 instances he referenced to himself in this article. I assume he's trying to be more like Rock Paper Shotgun or some other media outlets who present actual news in a more personal fashion but this is just silly.

Patrik getting married? Hopefully your fiancee will keep your hair shiney for you!

@Knite said:

What's this even supposed to be? It certainly is not news, that's for sure, already from the 21 instances he referenced to himself in this article. I assume he's trying to be more like Rock Paper Shotgun or some other media outlets who present actual news in a more personal fashion but this is just silly.

Lots of people were asking for an explanation of how he could dislike fantasy but still look forward to Skyrim. It's not like he just up and went "GIANT BOMB IS NOW ALL KLEPEK ALL THE TIME".

This is the coolest of stories.



Bro.

@teh_destroyer said:

Patrik getting married? Hopefully your fiancee will keep your hair shiney for you!

This means I can stop paying? Woo!

Man, nice write up Patrick! I honestly have never had a problem with open world games, infact even in linear games i find myself never getting anything done because i'm too busy exploring and going the wrong way. I was one of those people that spent hours upon hours in Oblivion and Fallout and literally never got anything done.

My problem is that i'll play a sitting with one character then the next i'll be far too engrossed in the idea of "Oh man i really wanna know what it'd be like to use this bow i just found!" or "Wow that's an awesome way to so this quest, but i'm not speced that way.", so i always end up making a character a day getting too caught up in what i could have done instead of what i can do. It's always great to see new opinions on this kind of thing!

I think you posted this in the wrong section, Patrick. This is the area for news and not blog posts. :P

It works the other way around to. I love most things "Orcs and Elves" but am not interested in Skyrim at all.

First Majora's Mask andd now you declare FF8 to be your favourite Final Fantasy? Patrick you've just become my favourite GB crew member!

is patrick implying that you can burn down trees in this game? because that would be awesome

@patrickklepek: If you dig Game of Thrones "hard fantasy" setting, you might wanna check out the Witcher. I know Vinny just beat it, but the two remind me of one another quite a bit. A lot of the dynamics of the fantasy tropes are turned on their head.

Solong as the mechanis are solid i've never had that sense of "oh shit, what the hell do I do next". But I feel Bethesda know better than most how to nudge you but not force you in the right direction.

..And to be honest, i'm not a fan of high fantasy either but I loved GoT, the Witcher & I recently played through Dark Messiah of Might and Magic and that wast too bad either. If each game/movie/whatever have their own tone and way of easily distinguishing one from the other i'm always willing to give them a chance. But if they're like, say.. Rift for example: an unapologetic clone of an already generic universe then yeah, fuck it, i've got better things to do.

@krabboss said:

I can't help but feel many people will be underwhelmed by Skyrim. It is being put on way too high a pedestal.

Oh and FF8 isn't as good as 9.

Agreed with both points. I still don't understand what all the fuss over Skyrim is about. It looks really great. So do most of the other games coming out at the end of this year.

FF7 > FF8 Eff you and your junction system Klepek!

@Chop: Oh yeah. I only listen to 'em twice, so I sometimes forget a detail or two.

Patrick I love you but I'd rather not have your blog posts show up in my news feed.

GiantBlog at it again. woot

You never fail me Pat. And Knowing you use to work at MTV. Makes perfect sense.

I'm not a fantasy guy either but I picked up Dragon Age because of my love of Mass Effect and I loved the characters in that. That in turn got me to watch Game of Thrones and then now I have gone back to Oblivion because I loved Fallout 3 and New Vegas. Its funny how having a good track record in one genre can make a player try another one with a games studio they feel comfortable with.

Some ppl. real bitter patrick doesn't stay in his box..wierd. I experieced the same thing with FO3. I wish I could get into Skyrim, if for nothing else it will look better than how FO- new los vegas finally ended for me..enviroment flattened out to ugly. But fantasy/magic and such just doesn't appeal to me, thus my almost contradictory enjoyement of Mass effect 2

FINAL FANTASY IS THE BEST FINAL FANTASY *slams fist on table*. I also don't like fantasy, except for Game of Thrones, so I'll be interested in trying out Skyrim, even though I hated Oblivion.

Fantasy is silly? And the premise of Fallout 3, Mass Effect, or Dead Space wasn't silly? You can imagine that happening? Really? Puhleeeze.

@XXL_Bomb: dont you know by now!?!?!? Blogs= News!!!! Pat said so!.........

D'ya know what really cogs my gears? Sci-fi that're just fantasy in space. It's where you have the "race that are just like humans only they are all stubborn and/or violent" and the "race that are just like humans only they're all mellow minded and intelligent" i.e. analoges similar to the dwarfs and elves of fantasy. There are some other similarities, all of which has put me off that specific branch of sci-fi.

Strangely enough it doesn't bother me as much, if at all, in more traditional fantasy settings. Perhaps concepts such as bloodlines and prophecies just seem more plausible in a less enlighened, more mystical world.

Anyhow, looking forward to Skyrim, even though I'm not sure I'll be able to pick it up this year what with Dark Souls and Zelda being higher priorities. I always liked the Fallout 3 chatter on the podcast though so there's atleast that.

@XXL_Bomb said:

How is this news?

Why even make an article on it either? It's just simply being interested in a game through hype built up on it. No need for overly dramatic stories about walking through a tutorial. etc

News?

At least within a science fiction context you're albe to imagine humanity evolving into that direction one day.

Navel gazing and spelling mistakes. The twin scourges of Klepak.

I'm definitely in the same boat, I despise fantasy. But the Elder Scrolls series, since Morrowind, has been the only thing in the fantasy genre I actually enjoy (although Game of Thrones has become a member of this club the past year).

I think the appeal for me is how immersive the worlds have been, and how the fantasy-ass fantasy elements in Bethesda games are not super in your face all the time (much like Game of Thrones).

I can relate to Patrick, I also think the fantasy setting is a complete snore, except for the sexy dragons. Fantasy stories tend to have so different worlds to where we live in, with a ton of fictional history, that I find it hard to lose myself into it. Often fantasy books and games bombard these concepts in such a rapid succession at the beginning that my brain just stops listening. Then there's also the typical fantasy races like elves, orcs and dwarfs, with their own stereotypical agendas and rivalries with other races, that all fantasy just starts to seem very similar. It's like having the same races of aliens in every sci-fi show, with the same problems.

But yeah, Skyrim seems cool, just wish I wouldn't need to kill those awesome dragons, Bethesda should rather let us marry one, because that's what we're here for. Right?

great article, I honestly don't have a setting that I despise or dislike, making this an even more intriguing read.

I kind of dislike fantasy too, but somehow the universe and lore of Elder Scrolls has always been fascinating to me.

I'm sorry, but you lost all credibility when you called FFVIII the best of the PS1 FF's.

dammit now I have to complete final fantasy 8 again

@aceofspudz said:

At least within a science fiction context you're albe to imagine humanity evolving into that direction one day.

Navel gazing and spelling mistakes. The twin scourges of Klepak.

Incomplete sentences and spelling mistakes: the twin scourges of aceofspudz

Game of Thrones is fucking AWESOME!! Someone needs to make an open world RPG based in that world.

This is pretty much exactly the way I feel about Skyrim. The minute castles and guys with sword show up I pretty much lose all interest. The same goes for Space Opera. Transposing those elements onto an alien world doesn't make them any less uninteresting. The Witcher 2, which has been previously mentioned, also managed to conquer my distaste for fantasy.

Fantasy is awesome. Sorry your taste in genres is so bad, duder!

I'm sorry, Patrick, but Final Fantasy IX was the best PS1 Final Fantasy game. I'm glad we've cleared this up.