Syt's Backlog

[Syt]

I have a ridiculous backlog of unplayed or half played games. So I've started a good faith effort to try and play through some of the RPGs I never completed.

First up is Skyrim Special Edition. I have clocked only 55 hours on the original release. 30-35 were probably at original release where I barely scratched the surface, the rest was dicking around with mods.

For this playthrough I use some cosmetic and quality of life mods, but otherwise leave it vanilla. I know, playing without gameplay mods is heresy, but I wanted to go with the "original" experience, just to see how it goes and how unbalanced/broken it really is.

I'm 17 hours in. I've completed most quests in and around Whiterun (I'm ignoring the Companions). Still need to go to the Greybeards, but I want to do the Civil War first (as Imperial). However, I was whisked away to Markarth, thanks to too much drink.

I bought the house in Whiterun for storage purposes, and adopted a daughter (who adopted a fox as pet). Lydia stays home to look after her. I've dabbled in alchemy and smithing, but eventually decided that it's not worth it. I focus on Heavy Armor/Two Handed, plus archery.

Also, I lowered the difficulty of the game - I want to experience the content, not get bogged down in too much grind. There's still areas and major cities I haven't been to, not to mention countless little dungeons. 

I'm enjoying it a fair bit.

[Syt]

25 hours in and it's really starting to drag. I like the game world still, and some quests are a bit amusing, but a lot of the exploration/questing comes down to discovering a cave/ruin/temple that is completely linear and that you clear of baddies, with the design of the place often curving back from main boss to entrance. Fewer but larger and more intricate/labyrinthine dungeons would have been more interesting. Oblivion was a game I didn't really get into, but the first post-tutorial dungeon you came across (the ruins across the lake from where you emerge from the sewers) was a fun romp.

In Skyrim when I enter a dungeon I think, "I hope this doesn't go for two long." Room with enemies, passage, room with enemies, passage, room with main boss. Some places are really cool, but it doesn't take away from the fact that almost all dungeons are basically theme park rides.