Sat 21 Feb 2009
When playing Fallout 3, I felt that it wasn’t as strong of a game as Elder Scrolls IV:Oblivion. Going back now and playing the Oblivion expansion pack Shivering Isles, I think I realize why.
In Fallout 3, much of the richness of the story is in how they tailor the story around the choices you make inside the game. If you play one way, you get a very different storyline, with different characters and goals (at least in the side quests). This is less true in Oblivion, where it is more of a singular story experience.
Thus when playing Oblivion you get a much larger story, as you play a larger percent of the content that the game story creators actually made. With Fallout 3 you only get to see one side of the story unless you replay the game with a different style of play, which I find tedious.
So while Fallout3 creates an experience that is more specific to your gameplay, it ends up feeling like a much smaller world — even though they had to put in a lot more effort!! On the other hand, Oblivion feels a lot more epic because you get more exposure to all of the story telling effort that the creators poured into it.
In conclusion, Shivering Isles is pretty awesome.
February 21st, 2009 at 4:19pm
Yarr! Shiver me Isles!
I’ve been wanting to say that for the last week.
February 21st, 2009 at 4:46pm
I really should actually play Shivering Isles. Too many games…
I like the game system better in Fallout 3, though you are right that the story in Oblivion was more interesting. Plus, there was just generally more variation in Oblivion.
February 21st, 2009 at 4:51pm
Shivering Isles is more like an extensive Mod than an expansion pack. It really has little to do with the rest of the game storyline or world at all.
I started a fresh character and am playing entirely within the realm of Shivering Isles and never going back to the mainland. So far this has worked pretty good, though you lose some of the benefits like guilds etc.