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Tales of Oblivion
August 10, 2008

So, I’m at this point of the game where, to raise some allies, you have to go around closing a load of Oblivion gates that have popped up right outside some of the major towns. It’s optional for the most part and Oblivion gates are, by far, the dullest points of the game, but I’m trying to do everything so I can write a 20k review when I’m done.

Going into a gate is the same thing over and over. You storm through some Deadra. Some are hackers and slashers, some are mages and some exist in between. You have big lizards, spider demons and golems. The landscape is always the same and it’s always a mini-maze dash to get to the big tower in the middle of the map to nick a stone and close the gate. Yawn.

One tries to be different in that there are already seven people inside: some group of amateur knights with illusions of grander. But, it just so happens, that the leader of this knights is the son of the town’s Count. So, before he’ll agree to help you, you need to go in and rescue the little punk or bring back proof of his death. No problem easy. In fact, because the beasties inside spawn to the level of the knights that entered before me, it’s even easier still as I’m now overpowered like crazy.

So, in I go, and see my first dead knight. As I progress through. I see the landscape stained with blood and I find corpses dotted around the place. I enter one stand-alone tower and find one poor guy spread-eagled on the floor, topless, and surrounded by cackling demons. Who I slew. It’s a great change of pace from the same old trips into Oblivion that I’ve had to endure a dozen times so far into the game.

I finally make my way to the bridge leading to the last tower and find the last remaining knights waiting at the mouth. They’re bloodied, surrounded by the corpses of lesser demons and one of their number lies slain just before them. The leader approaches me, full of bravado and demands I help him finish his noble mission. The second knight gives a more realistic appraisal of the situation, but we all agree to press on. I can do this on my own, easy, but the help will make a nice change. We storm the bridge.

Halfway in, there stands a rock elemental, which is basically just a big golem. I charge in and whack it with my mace because a/ my nerd brain still thinks “It’s made of stone: what’s a sword going to do!", despite the sword doing just as much damage as the mace and b/ because I’ve over-maxed my sword skills and am training up my blunt. It falls with ease, and I watch my two knight chums rush past me to tackle a Deadra. The Deadra takes a few blows, then stumbles back, falls over the lip of the bridge and into the sea of lava below.

I turn towards the now unguarded door. The knights promptly jump off the bridge after him.

I roll my eyes and peek over the lip, watching all three spasm in pain before dying. A little task window pops up telling me that the guy I needed to protect is dead and that I need to take proof of his demise back to his father, the Count, The proof I needed was his signet ring. Which he was still wearing. In the middle of a sea of fire.

Which is exactly why Oblivion’s quick save and save anywhere features are downright vital. There’s a reason you and you alone are tasked with saving the entire world: this reason is because everyone else in the region is a bloody retard.

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dementedhut dementedhut - August 10, 2008 (06:35 PM)
Going through the gates is my least favorite thing to do in that game. On my very first playthrough of the game, I think I only went through two gates, and just decided to ignore them afterwards. Unfortunately, going through and finishing the first gate triggered this event where gates are randomly placed all over the game's world, so I can't move two feet without walking in front of a gate. It got so annoying that it made me start a new game.
viridian_moon viridian_moon - August 10, 2008 (06:39 PM)
Yeah, the AI is horrible. That quest annoyed the hell out of me because those stupid guys kept getting killed. Luckily I'm a caster, so I was able to heal them, but they kept getting in the way of my spells!

But yeah, Oblivion gates get old after a while. I did them all too, but it was pretty boring. They get samey after a while. The first couple are really neat, though; the atmosphere is awesome.
Lewis Lewis - August 12, 2008 (06:29 AM)
An enormous disappointment, for me, after the wonderfulness of Morrowind. Oblivion fixes all the little bits that Morrowind faltered over, but what it failed to realise is that those bits didn't matter in the context of such a deep, atmospheric game. Oblivion does away with the important bits to focus on the smaller details, and as such ends up merely 'very good'.

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