Oblivion vs. Mass Effect - Is it even a contest?

Oblivion is one of the greatest video games ever made. It is a completely open world with so many non-scripted events going on. You can literally do almost anything you want to in the game. It has great AI, so many great side-quests, really cool guilds, great graphics, very good realtime combat, etc etc etc. Didn't it take like 4 years to make Oblivion? The game is just incredible!

Now I haven't played Mass Effect, but I have seen reviews and trailers. It does look good, but isn't it basically a linear sci-fi RPG with a lot of cinematics and good graphics? I don't see how it can even be compared to the greatness of Oblivion.

Opinions?

Morrowind>Mass Effect>>>oblivion.

Mass Effect is a totally different type of RPG. It is not and open world RPG like Oblivion. Both are great games, but Oblivion gave me more for my money than ME did.

Curse you. You've started what will inevitably be yet another Oblivion bashing thread.

Mass Effect is more linear, and a bit less in scope, but it makes up for these things with awesome production values, a unique style, a great story, and uniquely fun gameplay. I wouldn't say that one is better than the other, actually. They're both great RPGS, but they're so different that comparing them seems pointless.

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Morrowind =>Mass Effect>>>oblivion.

mass effect crushes oblivion in everything. It has a better story, better character development(2 things oblivion lacks, and is vital for a good RPG), hell it even has a better leveling system then oblivion. However Oblivion is very impressive, but I do not think it is the best RPG ever. FACT morrowwind >>>>>> oblivion. Oblivion is very overrated. I mean mass effect has good voice acting and good dailogue, what did oblivion have? like 9 voice actors for all the npcs in the game. Mass effect wins, no doubt about that.

Although Mass Effect has better production values than Oblivion, I have poured far more hours into Oblivion than I have Mass Effect so take that as you will.

Oblivion is one of the greatest video games ever made. It is a completely open world with so many non-scripted events going on. You can literally do almost anything you want to in the game. It has great AI, so many great side-quests, really cool guilds, great graphics, very good realtime combat, etc etc etc. Didn't it take like 4 years to make Oblivion? The game is just incredible!

Now I haven't played Mass Effect, but I have seen reviews and trailers. It does look good, but isn't it basically a linear sci-fi RPG with a lot of cinematics and good graphics? I don't see how it can even be compared to the greatness of Oblivion.

Opinions?

Timberwolf5578

I consider Oblivion average at best. I consider Mass Effect my favorite game ever. There are leagues apart IMO. Oblivion has horrible AI IMO. I also hate how for no reaosn given you can commit a crime in one place and evry single guard the whole world wide knows. I also hate how there is very little choice. In Mass Effect I get to make decisions that effect my game, most of Oblivion is linear. Oblivion also had horrible audio and took way more horse power to run than it should of. In Mass Effect I have actual dialogue options, in oblivion I say what my character was going to say anyway. In Mass Effect I have freedom, in Oblivion I have chains around my wrist as I go where the game tells me.

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biggest_loser

He never dissapoints me :lol:

Opinions?Timberwolf5578

Mass Effect is overall the better game in my opinion (better roleplaying elements, character development, storyline and combat.) That said, both games were pretty disappointing.

Fallout 3 restored a bit of my lost faith in Bethesda (a good game, even if it isn't a "proper" Fallout game), and I'm hoping Dragon Age will do the same for my lost faith in "Neo-BioWare."

I consider Oblivion average at best. I consider Mass Effect my favorite game ever. There are leagues apart IMO. Oblivion has horrible AI IMO. I also hate how for no reaosn given you can commit a crime in one place and evry single guard the whole world wide knows. I also hate how there is very little choice. In Mass Effect I get to make decisions that effect my game, most of Oblivion is linear. Oblivion also had horrible audio and took way more horse power to run than it should of. In Mass Effect I have actual dialogue options, in oblivion I say what my character was going to say anyway. In Mass Effect I have freedom, in Oblivion I have chains around my wrist as I go where the game tells me.

PublicNuisance

Seriously...

WHAT?

Sure, Oblivion dialogue and AI are ridiculous, but saying it's linear is like saying Mass Effect is a medieval game, it makes very little sense.

Also, you seem so focused on Mass Effect's dialogues&decisions, but they were pretty bad structured aswell. If you can use Charm/Intimidate (one makes the other a waste of points, so it's your call which one to use), use it, or else you'll be in some way ashamed or end up shooting the one you're talking to, only a few more options appear somewhere that by the way didn't have any meaningful effect in the long run...

To me, both games are mediocre. Mass Effect was surely more enjoyable for the few hours it lasted, but Oblivion lasts MUCH longer.

It all comes down to tastes in the end.

Meh I liked both of them. If anything I liked Oblivion more because It had more stuff to do.

Mass Effect is so overrated. For something of Bioware quality I look at it as an incomplete game. If you can get it for free or for cheap then ya go for it, but it's not something memorable. Maybe if they had not made it a trilogy but made an ending for the game it would be a masterpiece, but they didn't. That being said, vanilla Oblivion is unplayable for me. I still haven't really played it cause I'll just go back to Morrowind or right now Fallout 3 because I've already got all the mods set up and Morrowind is like a practically never-ending game with great lore.

Morrowind = Fallout 3 > Oblivion > Mass Effect

Seriously...

WHAT?

Sure, Oblivion dialogue and AI are ridiculous, but saying it's linear is like saying Mass Effect is a medieval game, it makes very little sense.

Also, you seem so focused on Mass Effect's dialogues&decisions, but they were pretty bad structured aswell. If you can use Charm/Intimidate (one makes the other a waste of points, so it's your call which one to use), use it, or else you'll be in some way ashamed or end up shooting the one you're talking to, only a few more options appear somewhere that by the way didn't have any meaningful effect in the long run...

To me, both games are mediocre. Mass Effect was surely more enjoyable for the few hours it lasted, but Oblivion lasts MUCH longer.

It all comes down to tastes in the end.

Mograine

I played Oblivion for 64 hours and Mass Effect for 17. I will take 17 quality hours over 64 hours that by the end of it I sold it to my friend to be rid of it.

Is this forum bizarro world or something? You all can't be serious when you criticize Oblivion so much. Oblivion is considered to be one of the best RPGs ever made. Sure it's not PERFECT, but no game is. But Oblivion is EXTREMELY well made. I have a very hard time believing Mass Effect is even 50% as good as Oblivion, let alone better. I think it's common knowledge in the gaming community that Mass Effect is not even close to the greatness of Oblivion.

Oblivion >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Mass Effect

I vote Oblivion, should've made it a poll. I bet mass effect would win though.

Oblivion is one of the greatest video games ever made. It is a completely open world with so many non-scripted events going on. You can literally do almost anything you want to in the game. It has great AI, so many great side-quests, really cool guilds, great graphics, very good realtime combat, etc etc etc. Didn't it take like 4 years to make Oblivion? The game is just incredible!

Now I haven't played Mass Effect, but I have seen reviews and trailers. It does look good, but isn't it basically a linear sci-fi RPG with a lot of cinematics and good graphics? I don't see how it can even be compared to the greatness of Oblivion.

Opinions?

Timberwolf5578

For me, it all boils down to one's particular preference. I for one found ME more enjoyable, but that is not to say I found Oblivion not enjoyable at all.

For me, ME had better dialogue and combat. On top of that it was more dramatic and was better at drawing me into the story and the universe of ME. In Oblivion, your character was something I could never become attached too and most of the NPCs were so robotic at times and hilarious. Combat was also so-so for me.

However, I really loved exploring the world of Oblivion and running into things that were completely unexpected and downright surprising. Looking out to the horizon and saying, "Hey, I think I'll go to that weird rock way out there" and actually being able to ride my horse there was absolutely great.

To be honest, both games were lacking certain things that could have made each game a lot better, but in the end, for me it was a matter of w/c game provided more genuine enjoyment and I got that from ME. The game was just more alive compared to Oblivion. I found myself just finishing Oblivion just to get it over with. In ME, there were times I just didn't want it to end.

Oblivion is considered to be one of the best RPGs ever madeTimberwolf5578

Perhaps by those who haven't played many RPGs.

The story is pretty lame, the side-quests and world characters are largely uninteresting (with a couple exceptions..most notably: quests/characters tied to The Dark Brotherhood) ..sure, the game is "open-ended" in that you can explore any part of the expansive yet bland world, but it still feels confined as there's only one main "path" in the game. What few choices you are given are ultimately meaningless, which is in direct opposition to what makes a (specifically western) RPG. Furthermore, the game's sense of persistence and that "epic hero" feeling is completely ruined by the level scaling mechanic, which is probably the most common issue people have with Oblivion.

As I've said before: Oblivion is a good game (with mods, anyway) ..but it falls short as an RPG imo.

Oblivion is a safe value game, you are lying to yourself if you think this is the most fun you had while playing an rpg and the reason is that oblivion is a shallow game in every aspects. The story, dialogues, the characters, the levelling system, the combat, the quests, the level design, everything is shallow. The only strength it has is that it comes with a toolset and the game is an open world game where you go where you want, when you want and do what you want (still limited by the number of things you can do). It's a decent game that will bring you a load of gameplay hours but never will be anything that blow you away unless it really is one of the first rpg you played. Open world is fun but usually comes with one gigantic major flaw being shallow generic content.

Mass effect while it had it's grips is a much shorter ''that was awesome'' game. It delivers in story, characters, combat and dialogues but is pretty linear and you won't really invest 300 hours in the game unlike Oblivion. Unless you consider shallow generic open world content more fun than engaging content, Mass effect is a better game but Oblivion is a better value.

Is this forum bizarro world or something? You all can't be serious when you criticize Oblivion so much. Oblivion is considered to be one of the best RPGs ever made.

Timberwolf5578

By people who have been gaming for only a few years and by those who simply haven't played many RPGs perhaps. If you played Morrowind, chances are you were let down by Oblivion.

Neither game is all that great,but since oblivion has mods it tips the balance in its favour.

oblivion was let down badly by its main quest, closing down the gates was little more than navigating through a series of what were almost identical looking mazes to get to the stones you had to collect to shut them down.

if the main quest was done as well as the guild quests (the last thieves guild mission stands out in particular), then it could have been something really special and perhaps people may have been more willing to overlook its (many) faults.

despite all that i clocked in well over 100 hours in it which is a testament to its quality.

Is this forum bizarro world or something? You all can't be serious when you criticize Oblivion so much. Oblivion is considered to be one of the best RPGs ever made. Sure it's not PERFECT, but no game is. But Oblivion is EXTREMELY well made. I have a very hard time believing Mass Effect is even 50% as good as Oblivion, let alone better. I think it's common knowledge in the gaming community that Mass Effect is not even close to the greatness of Oblivion.

Oblivion >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Mass Effect

Timberwolf5578

Play Mass Effect and find out. You already stated you haven't played it so how would you know ? As for Oblivion being considered one of the best all I can say is not by me and that's what really counts to each of us: our personal opinion.

Perhaps by those who haven't played many RPGs.

Velocitas8

Exactly. Oblivion was the first RPG I ever played and I loved it at the time. But as I started to play more RPGs I relized just how average it was.

I wouldnt call oblivion real RPG , there is no role playing . its just go into dungeon kill everyone and go to another. no npc character development . and the only thing is similar to rpg is skill points. oblivion , fallout 3 doesnt have anything new . so i would say that compare mass effect to oblivion isnt possible, coz its "insult" to bioware.

I thought Mass Effect was a great game, but Oblivion gave me a lot more for my money. One of my big problems with Mass Effect were the side quests -- almost entirely half-assed. There weren't enough developed planets and almost all of the ships you found looked exactly the same, which caused a lot of the side quests to FEEL exactly the same. I just feel like BioWare got a little TOO ambitious... hopefully they'll iron out these problems in the sequel.

That being said, Morrowind was 100x the game Oblivion is... except for Morrowind's garbage fatigue system and extremely dated appearance.

Is this forum bizarro world or something? You all can't be serious when you criticize Oblivion so much. Oblivion is considered to be one of the best RPGs ever made. Sure it's not PERFECT, but no game is. But Oblivion is EXTREMELY well made. I have a very hard time believing Mass Effect is even 50% as good as Oblivion, let alone better. I think it's common knowledge in the gaming community that Mass Effect is not even close to the greatness of Oblivion.

Oblivion >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Mass Effect

Timberwolf5578

Hmm, lets see, Oblivion, boring character development, leveled creatures and loot, not an RPG, great outside world, horrible caves/mines etc., characters who have a deep desire to burn a whole in your soul my staring the whole conversation, and worst of all, I did not even feel like my character, where was my choice? Games that say they are RPG's have to have meaningful choices, that's why thery're called Role Playing Games.

With mods that game is better but still retains much of these issues, I will say that when I played Oblivion before Morrowind and I loved Oblivion. Then I bought Morrowind which is still one of my favorite games ever, Oblivion is like the one child Morrowind did not want to have.

Im not going to go in why Mass Effect is better, I already discussed that in the other fourm, but I will say, it has been one of the better RPG's of the past few years.

Just because oblivion is less of an RPG does not make it a bad game. All you idiots need to accept that. It's still fun for what it is, not modded I and some people I know poured more than 150 hours into it, modded you can get much, much, more. And the game was terribly optimized back when people had geforce 6 series cards. If you have anything above a 7600GT you can max it out at high resolutions. Personally I found ME really boring, it was like Kotor, but not nearly as fun, long, or deep in story/character progression. I did like the combat system though I liked Oblivion's as well.

Just because oblivion is less of an RPG does not make it a bad game. All you idiots need to accept that. It's still fun for what it is, not modded I and some people I know poured more than 150 hours into it, modded you can get much, much, more. And the game was terribly optimized back when people had geforce 6 series cards. If you have anything above a 7600GT you can max it out at high resolutions. Personally I found ME really boring, it was like Kotor, but not nearly as fun, long, or deep in story/character progression. I did like the combat system though I liked Oblivion's as well.

shakmaster13

If oblivion isnt RPG so why compare them ? do you compare hl and nfs series ?

I think i liked the equally. I put over 150 hours into Oblivion, but got 5 playthroughs of Mass Effect (still going through a 6th at the moment). As of right now i would rather play ME just because i've put so much time into Oblivion that doing anything in it feels like i've been there done that, but that fellings hasn't traveled over to Mass Effect yet so its still good.

I wouldn't say there one is better than the other, because it just depends on if you like shooters or not.

[QUOTE="shakmaster13"]

Just because oblivion is less of an RPG does not make it a bad game. All you idiots need to accept that. It's still fun for what it is, not modded I and some people I know poured more than 150 hours into it, modded you can get much, much, more. And the game was terribly optimized back when people had geforce 6 series cards. If you have anything above a 7600GT you can max it out at high resolutions. Personally I found ME really boring, it was like Kotor, but not nearly as fun, long, or deep in story/character progression. I did like the combat system though I liked Oblivion's as well.

kazakauskas

If oblivion isnt RPG so why compare them ? do you compare hl and nfs series ?

That's the thing there is no point in comparing them when they are so different.

i have a solution for all this argument:

get the witcher instead

who agrees??

Oblivion: more playtime, more sandbox. Mass Effect: better gameplay, better conversations, better PC performance, better music.Muxika

No. Jeremy Soule's music is far better than the best techno-trance loop.

[QUOTE="Muxika"]Oblivion: more playtime, more sandbox. Mass Effect: better gameplay, better conversations, better PC performance, better music.dos4gw82

No. Jeremy Soule's music is far better than the best techno-trance loop.

Oblivion: more playtime, more sandbox. Mass Effect: better gameplay, better conversations, better PC performance, better music.Muxika

No. Jeremy Soule's music is far better than the best techno-trance loop.

i have a solution for all this argument:

get the witcher instead

who agrees??

jpph

I agree that I would take the Witcher over Oblivion any day of the week. I still like Mass effect more but Witcher is very good.

[QUOTE="jpph"]

i have a solution for all this argument:

get the witcher instead

who agrees??

I agree that I would take the Witcher over Oblivion any day of the week. I still like Mass effect more but Witcher is very good.

i have a solution for all this argument:

get the witcher instead

who agrees??

jpph

Agreed!

[QUOTE="Timberwolf5578"]Oblivion is considered to be one of the best RPGs ever madeVelocitas8

Perhaps by those who haven't played many RPGs.

The story is pretty lame, the side-quests and world characters are largely uninteresting (with a couple exceptions..most notably: quests/characters tied to The Dark Brotherhood) ..sure, the game is "open-ended" in that you can explore any part of the expansive yet bland world, but it still feels confined as there's only one main "path" in the game. What few choices you are given are ultimately meaningless, which is in direct opposition to what makes a (specifically western) RPG. Furthermore, the game's sense of persistence and that "epic hero" feeling is completely ruined by the level scaling mechanic, which is probably the most common issue people have with Oblivion.

As I've said before: Oblivion is a good game (with mods, anyway) ..but it falls short as an RPG imo.

I thought Mass Effect was the better game of the two. It was merely average whereas Oblivion was insufferable. I don't think either are particularly good examples of role-playing games.