Why Skyrim Made Me Appreicate Deus Ex: HR More

Skyrim is a good game. I would be pushing it if I said it was a very good game, though. It's a good game because it is interesting enough to pad out the traveling or area-skipping (from the map) stuff and keep what is essentially a time-waster game.

However, Skyrim's story is fucking tired and dull, and every character is hollow and just a role being filled out (aside from Paarthurnax, who is the only character that HAS character and is pretty unique...mostly).
_What does this have to do with Human Revolution? Not much aside from the fact that I once ranted on Deus Ex: HR believing it to be very lack luster when it came to the story and its characters.
_The story behind Deus Ex was very good bordering on GREAT (were it not for those last ten minutes, it would be great). But you know what? I'll forgive those last ten minutes in light of the fucking laziness in Skyrim's plot.

You are a hero foretold in legend out to kill Not-Lucifer after he comes back from the afterlife to destroy mankind. What revelations were had in Skyrim were totally inconsequential.
Deus Ex was a mystery. Yeah, it went a little batshit with the Illuminati, but it was a good kind of batshit. A VERY good kind.

The biggest crime of all is that, at no point in Skyrim does anyone really seem affected by the dragons. They're affected by the war, but not the ancient hellbeasts roaming the lands? I don't care if they forgot the legend of the Dovakiin (which, as is presented when you first kill a dragon, they didn't), there's FUCKING DRAGONS EATING PEOPLE ALIVE!
And then the major side-quest stories don't seem to realize you're the Dovakiin.
And then no one gives a rats ass that you killed Aldiun except a few passing guards.

There's no substance to the main plot, and worst of all there's no weight. In Deus Ex everything you do in the story, everything that happens to you, affects the world. You get the sense that big shit is going down all across the world and that you're the only one left who can stop the biggest catastrophe in history.
In Skyrim? Nope. I don't care dragons are killing us both. We need to negotiate to have a truce until the EPICLY HORRIFIC CRISIS is over with.

Skyrim is a good game to waste time with, and that's all.
Skyrim is an alright waste of time.

This should go to Video Games.

Personally, I can give a rat's ass, I liked Arkham City more than either of those two.

I am enjoying deus ex heaps.. i've just gone on a boat ride to some random location. pre-sure it's singapore. :D fun times

OP you should have posted a summary of this one, especially because this is posted in IB.

Youre comparing the substance value of a prequel and what is basically a story reboot? Good job.

I'm guessing the reason why people enjoy Skyrim is because of the free-roam nature of the game, where you could fuck shit up everywhere.

Personally, if I were to play games for their plot, storyline and such, most western made RPGs would be off my list. JapRPGs are the ones that actually pay attention to the storyline.

Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah comparing games is awesome.

I remember when just playing the game was enough.

I'm comparing stories and how they were told. I chose Deus Ex:HR because, before Skyrim, it was the biggest disappointment. After playing through Skyrim I realized Deus Ex, though it has its faults, is not actually a disappointment. What faults it has are more like admirable failures than anything else.

What does it matter if it is a prequel or reboot? It's a story that has a beginning, ending, and a well done three act structure. Seems fine to compare it to me.
Also, Deus Ex:HR is another PC/Console release and from a new studio. Skyrim is from a long running studio that's been around for quite the while. Yet, of the two games, it's Deus Ex:HR that managed to be a competent multiplatform release.
Skyrim needed patches from day 2, and still needs them. That's shameful, especially from a studio that should know how to make a game like this now.

It works on a few levels, comparing these games. However, I did say what I view Skyrim as: for a time-waster "just in it for the fun of roaming" game, it's good.
For an RPG with a story that was kept secret before launch as if it was a mystery, it falls on its ass and through the ice. Why did Bethesda keep quiet about the story when it's pretty much nothing but the bare bones Campbell's Monomyth with nothing unique added to it?


Far too painfully true. I love my JRPGs (go so far as to make my love of a certain JRPG series my web nickname/avatar). Still, I do want to give the West a chance when it comes to RPGs and stories.
So far, Deus Ex: Human Revolution is the closest I've seen to capturing what's good about RPGs. It still isn't much of an RPG, though, but it at least it's close. Mass Effect has become action schlock (after stealing its story from a hard science fiction novel series, a fact no one either knows or cares about), and Skyrim has obviously thrown away the idea of having a good story in favor for "shut up and look at the pretty backwards-flying dragons".

I'm not expecting "Tales Of" quality from non-Japanese RPGs, but they could at least fucking try to be interesting, have good characters, and/or bring new ideas to the adventure formula.

Speaking of, if you're looking for a JRPG to get into, Tales of Graces F is coming out West in March for the PS3. The trailer has the typical "friendship" thing, but knowing the tales games it will twist things around and have a unique plot. Vesperia looked generic at first, too. That is, until the protagonist started hunting villains down like a Machiavellian vigilante, going so far as to watch one suffer as they sank into quicksand.

Oh dammit my PS3 broke just a month ago.... Currently I'm catching up on visual novels throughout the past that I haven't gotten to read since I was too busy. Starting to learn japanese too, hopefully by march I'll have made enough progress to actually just buy the original... Not being a bitch, but I never liked the translated releases, the voice actors just don't bring the game out.

No, there's a difference between those kinds of people and people who prefer Japanese voices in certain Japanese material because it just seems to fit better, like a live action foreign film. Plus the Japanese script sometimes has really clever double meanings.
_While the English cast seems to be good thusfar and I'm hyped for it, I can understand, mate. I've personally never watched a Satoshi Kon film without subtitles for the same reason. Hope it goes well for you.

Sooo...you like Deus Ex but not Skyrim. Fair enough, I'll continue with Skyrim for now.

Mmh, Dragon Age and the first Mass Effect kept me going because of the awesome story they had, on top of having an awesome gameplay. But yea, considering Skyrim, it's hard to focus on making an outstanding story with an open world game such as this one.

True, but they managed it with Oblivion so that's why I'm not giving much leeway for Bethesda at all. Still, you're likely right. They probably just left the story for last in an effort to devote more time to the graphical overhaul. Wish they spent more time on the story, though.

I liked Mass Effect 1 before I knew about that thing I mentioned earlier. However, I totally agree that Dragon Age was a really good game. Everything you did had an effect on the plot, and what side quests that weren't related to the plot were simply fun. The cast of characters each had a real arc, too, if you brought them along and interacted with them, and they were more than just stereotypes. Zevran, the red head, Allister of course had a nice arc, and of course Morrigan was, to me, by far one of the most interesting characters in western RPGs not just for her backstory but her personality as well. It didn't feel like the world and the plot were two separate entities either.

I agree almost completely.... I feel like Bethesda didn't put any time in creating memorable characters... or story....
In oblivion... if you were a Breton, almost every ORC will hate your guts because your a breton, they sometimes mention it. In Skyrim, it seems like no matter what race you are, they will hate you.... Unless you a NORD. Obviously Bethesda wanted you to pick that since they didn't put any effort to any other race...
I never asked for this
(Correct me if I'm wrong please).


Typical Todd Howard "HEY VAST WORLD, INTERESTING CHARACTERS, MARRIAGE" Well... You got a vast world alright.... linear dungeons tho... Some characters had potential but very few... Uhhh Marriage yeah... *Wear amulet, GET MARRIED*

I indeed do agree one hundred percent, mate. Skyrim gets nothing from me on this one since Oblivion proved a vast world with updated graphics can have memorable characters and a good plot that actually affected the world.

Maybe that's why my Nord had no trouble mining for Ebony Ore, but my Breton and Imperial did. ...Huh.

And the marriage was something I left out since I was mainly talking about the plot, but OH is it BAD! Why is my fiery werewolf love being subservient to me? Why is my badass but talkative Nord warrior wife being subservient too? Did I marry a fucking maid? Are they my slaves or something?

Take note: No one likes the idea of marriage for more than a few seconds (or one "Meh, I'll try it" run) when the love option is dull as hell and actually strips any personality from the "character". Though the option to romance them didn't really affect the story much in Persona 4, every girl was worth romancing. Every single one had a personality and, during the romance scenes, had different ways of acting.

In Skyrim women open shops and stay at home like good pets. I'm not crying sexist, just crying fucking lazy.

Overall I believe that Bethesda put more time on the aesthetics over the overall quality of the game. The marriage deal seemed to be a last minute decision.... All personality and appeal stripped away once married...

Deus Ex had hub worlds (Cyber Punk), I can bypass the fact that everything in Deus ex was fucking Yellow but I was satisfied with overall map design. In terms of characters, some characters were brilliant, mysterious and had proper roles in the story. The gameplay seemed unbalanced when you go lethal or non lethal playthroughs but yeah... of course just shooting everyone is easier... so that's fine with me. The story was pretty good for a Deus ex game, it fitted the setting quite well and made you think of OUR future when it comes to technology.

Sorry guys... I lost the image of Hengsha from the past, present and Deus ex:HR version of hengsha... if anyone could post it... would be grateful.

You cannot believe jRPGs these days as well. Look at Hyperdimension Neptunia......

I got addicted to video games when i played Phantasy Star: End of The Millenium.

Back then jRPGs had decent story and actual pride. Now it's just all about kawaii factor bullshit like > Why have story when we have schoolgirls with short skirts.

jRPG market is dead to me *untill Phantasy Star Online 2 at least*

Both Skyrim and DeusEX are good games imo, it just boils down to which you like better : To shoot arrows or bullets.

While I do think there are far more JRPGs with better stories than Western RPGs (and there's barely any Western RPGs period, too), I will agree that when they make a game solely for the moe factor they are producing nothing but trash. You can have a moe-like character who's short and cute (Graces F and Persona 4 as proper examples), but give them real character, don't keep them around just for up-skirt shots, and don't litter the cast with generic, soulless moe stereotypes (examples not needed, really).

I heard Hyper Neptunia was supposed to be funny and ironic, though. Maybe the writers pushed the envelope too far?

I remember that scene in Vesperia, and the first thought in my mind was "the game's art-style does not fit this what-so-ever".

On topic, I love Human Revolution because of its captivating conspiracy (and I love conspiracies). I love being both called a dick for killing an inane amout of people and a hero for doing the same thing. I love the dark-dystopian feel the world had. I do hate the Combat NPCs though.

I love Skryim because how open the world is. I love just wondering the wilderness of varying colors. I love watching nature pass. I do hate the NPCs though.

But the thing is (as I have noticed), is that people who play Bethesda RPG games make their own characters with their own stories and which, most of the time, compeletely ignore the game's story. In other words, you can choose to not do the main questline and just live.

Like this:
http://www.pcgamer.com/2011/12/31/the-elder-strolls-part-4-nordrick-the-envious/

Deus Ex and other RPGs that give you a name and face, you can't really make much story out of what is being given to you. You can't just say and make that Adam Jensen became the leader of the Majestic 12 or somethng right? You are forced to do the story.

Haha~ Glad I'm not the only one. Talk about a rug-pull. Thee writer(s) of that Madoka magical show took a few notes apparently.



Wow. I never knew people went so deeply into making their Elder Scrolls characters. It's even deeper than Persona 4 protagonist fan fiction!

This does shed a lot of light on why so many gamers and fans will speak up for the game so fervently (aside from the idiots who think it's cool because they think they should think so). However, it doesn't make up for the lack of extra plot-related characters that have any personality and the utter disconnect between the plot and the world.

You're right that, in light of what you told me, Deus Ex and Skyrim can't be compared to the fullest. However, Skyrim and Oblivion can. Oblivion had an interesting plot, good-to-great VA work, some very nice characters, a villain that wasn't a one dimensional monster (the old cult leader, I mean. Not the big evil giant thing at the end), and the main storyline affected the entire world.

If the writers just wanted to write a story about civil war in Cyrodil due to very realistic political circumstances, then why put in this thing about the dragons? It's clear barely anyone cares about them and the war is the only real thing that's talked about and worried about by everyone. The Jarls don't even care about the dragons until you mention Alduin. Some people even deny the existence of dragons all together!
_Then, after ending the main plot, aside from the blades, the Grey Beards, and a few passing guards from time to time, NO ONE mentions what you've done again. Not Tullius. Not Barlguf or whatever his name was. No one!
And whereas the Oblivion Gates closed after the main plot, thus signifying the final change in the world from the main plot (aside from the damage to the capital), in Skyrim the dragons don't even stop spawning! What was the point in killing Alduin if the dragons are going to keep popping up anyway?

I can understand that asking for characterization in a blank slate is too much sometimes. It wasn't too much in Persona 4 (or 2), as that blank slate had some parts of an established persona to add to your projection, but for the Elder Scrolls games it is. I can accept that. I wish more thought was put into everything else surrounding that blank slate, though.

And yes, Skyrim is very beautiful in certain areas. Since it's the arctic it's mostly just white, though. Very dull. Those other areas are gorgeous to look at. I liked following the foxes around.