Sword & Sorcery: "An earthier sort of fantasy" discussion

I started last night back through my Skyrim game, and ended up playing till 5:30 in the morning. This is definitely my favorite Sword and Sorcery type of game. It's so open-ended and you can explore just about anywhere. Any other Skyrim fans out there?

Shoot, whenever I allow myself to play it's at least an 8-hour fest/trance. I can't quit, even when I know I haven't moved in hours and I have to get up and head out the door soon.

That's why I don't allow myself to play very often. I'm only level 42 so far.

Jason, absolutely. I played till 4 last night. I made it to level 70 at one point but I started over a few day sago and am just up to level 8 at present

:) A friend at work has played it twice through to level 81 and completed the overall quest. He's also bought and done all 3 expansions. And now he just started a new character using one of the cat-people to challenge himself.

I tell him some of us have lives...yet I'm green with envy ;)

Love this game.... I managed to beat the main quest at only level 48... but I spend more time just looking at the scenery than actually playing... the graphics are so good.

I know. I've had a lot of fun just doing the smithing stuff and alchemy

This is one of my favorite games of all time. Even though I've played through most of the quests/sidequests, I still find time to play it and just exlore the world.

I'm the same way, Paul. That's one of the things I really love, the openness of the game and exploring around. Red Dead Redemption has some of these elements but is not nearly as large.

I was about 3/4 the way through it on my first go around, then the computer died. I've since re-started, but I'm only around level 20. Great game.

I play it on an X-Box myself.

I haven't quite been able to get into any of the Elder Scrolls games yet -- usually, I prefer something with a little more structure, like Dragon Age or the Witcher. But I'm currently playing through Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, which I think is kind of a training-wheels open-world game, so I may have to revisit Elder Scrolls once I have more of a taste for it.

Having said that, I love all of the Elder Scrolls soundtracks, all of which I think are now available on iTunes.

Joseph, the music of Skyrim is quite cool indeed. I enjoy the exploration elements of the open game. I recently played through the game Rage, and found it very frustrating that although there was a gorgeous world in the background, you couldn't actually get to it. Everything was too directed. My wife, an ex-Dungeon master said it was very much of a dungeon type game, just with guns.

I love the open play concept... I really enjoy just exploring, and end up having more fun after the main quest is finished, and I'm not scared of doing something that could potentially mess it up

J. W., yep, a lot of times that is true.

I actually think Morrowind had the most interesting world just because it was something other than the standard Western elf/dwarf/orc fantasy tropes. But I spent most of my 8-10 hours in Morrowind hitting mudcrabs with sticks. I should revisit it at some point because I know there's a whole lot more to the world.

My other thing (and this is entirely me) is that I don't really like first-person melee combat, especially when they're trying to be "realistic" with the swinging & blocking. I think that's one of the reasons I like Amalur -- it's third-person, with kind of fast-paced action combat.

Joseph wrote: "I actually think Morrowind had the most interesting world just because it was something other than the standard Western elf/dwarf/orc fantasy tropes. But I spent most of my 8-10 hours in Morrowind..."

I really like Skyrim but Kingdoms of Amular:Reckoning is by far my favorite.

Haven't played Morrowind. I've still got a lot more Skyrim to explore before I look for another game. I'll keep Kingdoms of Amular in mind.

I've wished for a Morrowind remake for a long time. Love the world too, but the gameplay was rough.

I wholeheartedly agree with the mentions of Red Dead Redemption and the Witcher series. Great games as well.

I'll have to check out Witcher.

If you played the game, you'll almost certainly appreciate this link from you tube. One of the funniest things I've ever seen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQWEJe...

Here's the link to the clean version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3ynhS...

I loved Morrowind... I was a little disappointed in Oblivion though... best part of it was the "shimmering Isles" add on

Never played Oblivion

I kind-of, started gaming again because of Skyrim and was fortunate to purchase the Special Edition. I prefer story and immersion more than combat & challenge, which is what the Elder Scrolls series does best. I've only played Daggerfall and Oblivion briefly though...

Charles, as I'm currently playing the more horror-oriented expansion of Skyrim, "Dawnguard", I couldn't help reading your recently published short story, "A Whisper in Ashes", partly as an homage to Skyrim:

"Tell your Jarl I have come from the black tarn beyond the pass and would speak to him of a strange thing. If he will not see me, I will be on my way tomorrow.”
“Granted,” the man called down, though he seemed reluctant. “Fresh coin is always welcome. But draw no weapon while in our city.”"

Periklis, I was in fact playing quite a bit of Skyrim when I was writing that story so it certainly was some of the inspiration.

Skyrim is an amazing game. I played the hell out of that when it first came out; also on the Xbox360. I am a big fan of open world games too. I never played any of the previous Elder Scrolls games except Redguard on the PC a million years ago. I never got any of the DLC for the game, and I've been thinking about picking it up and getting back into it. I'm just leery of it taking up all my time when I'm trying to be more productive!

I've put quite a bit of time into Skyrim lately, but that was after finishing a big project, the fourth in the Talera series of novels. But this week I've got to get back to real work so am going to cut way back on Skyrim.

Exactly! I'm refining a final draft and getting all my notes in order for a new book in November plus trying to commission cover art. I don't have time for a video game to take over my life. :P