My Initial Reaction to Skyrim

            As you all may have guessed, I've been playing Skyrim for the past week and rather then write a full review on it I decided to give my reaction to it after playing for about thirty six hours.  It's just going to be a quick pros/cons sort of thing; what I like so far and what I don't like so far so don't go apeshit if I say something that offends you fanboys.  Even if you are completely wrong.  So, here they are.

            On the positive side the open world gameplay is really fun and there are an endless number of things to do.   The combat gameplay and leveling system is a massive improvement over Oblivion as it feels a bit more natural and not as stiff and clunky.  Graphic wise it's also a big improvement over the last one but I would recommend playing it either on a CPU or on an HD TV to get the full effect of it.  The various random missions are really fun but get tedious after a while, (especially when 90% of them involve some kind of Indiana Jones style caves/temples).  The guild missions have also been radically improved, seeming a bit more mature then the previous game.  The Thieves Guild for example is a criminal organization rather than the Robin Hood style band of thieves they were in Oblivion.

            On the negative side, the plot and characters are mediocre at best.  They're better then those of Oblivion but that's not really saying much.  The characters are just boring and there isn't really anything compelling about them.  The same can be said for you character.  Again, he's better than the protagonist from the first game but again that's not saying a lot.  The plot is just as uninspired.  Dragons coming back to destroy the world?  I mean come on!  It's not that the concept is bad but we’ve already heard it half a dozen times in the past five years.  This wouldn’t be so bad but the main story missions I've played are executed in such a way that it just seems like more generic high fantasy.

            Ultimately, my initial reaction is this: It's better than Oblivion, has great gameplay and the guild missions are interesting but that's where my praise of this game.  I'm of the belief that a good RPG should have a good plot and compelling characters and this game falls flat in that regard.  If you want a really good open world RPG that has these I say go for Fallout 3 or New Vegas and if you’re looking for a really good fantasy RPG go for Dragon Age: Origins or The Witcher 2 because they're all a lot better than this game in many regards.  But again, keep in mind that this is just my initial reaction to the game.  Maybe it'll gets better the deeper I get into the plot and guild missions but I doubt it.  Is it game of the year?  Well, in my humble opinion, no.  But maybe the rest of the game will change my mind in this regard.  So until next time, this is The Illusive One signing off.

The Way of Shadows

            There are some novels out in the world that are very obscure, either because promotion for said book wasn't good enough or because the book was so bad that it didn't merit wider attention.  As a result, great books can sometimes get lost in the in the mist of all the crap that is out in the world.  But sometimes when you find one of these obscure books they’re just...well, they’re not terrible but they’re not really good either.  A prime example of this is the 2008 book, The Way of Shadows by Brent Weeks.

            Before I go any further, let me just say that this is not an official review by any means.  This is just my general thoughts on the book as a whole and the impact it left on me.  If anything it's more of a rant so don't take this one too seriously.

            In a nutshell, it's about a street urchin named Azoth who becomes an apprentice to best assassin in his home city, Durzo Blint and in doing so, becomes involved in the city's politics in both the underworld and high class societies and has to do various “jobs” for people of both classes.  Sounds like a pretty cool concept doesn’t it?

            So how does one best describe this book?  Well, it starts off really good but after the first third it all goes downhill.  The characters all start out pretty cool, really interesting and three dimensional but by the time it ends, they all become....well....just the opposite.  The time span of the book was ridiculous as well.  During the first third, it takes place over a decade.  In the last two thirds it takes place over a few days.  As a result the book just isn't very well paced.  In fact, second two thirds of the book just felt like one long climax and was very annoying.  While this may sound good, it wasn’t executed very well.  It got to the point where I found myself whishing the story would end already and end this damn book.

            In the end, there were a few good surprises in it, but there are many other fantasy books I would recommend before this one.  Maybe the sequels are better and if I ever read them I'll be sure to give you my opinions on them, but until then, this books was forgettable and is a prime example as to how a story can start out really good but can go down the shitter really fast.

The Sword of Shannara Trilogy Verdict

My final take on The Sword of Shannara trilogy is one of mixed feelings.  Sword was an unforgivable ripoff of Lord of the Rings.  At the same time, however, I felt it was far more enjoyable then Lord of the Rings.  The Elfstones of Shannara was easily the strongest of the three in plot and protagonists.  Wishsong of Shannara was very close in quality as Elfstones but went back to that campy, feel good, everything’s going to be ok type ending.  At the same time it had some of the greatest characters ever put in a Shannara book.

            They all also seem to be among the founders of all the modern fantasy cliché.  These include, but are not limited, to a protagonist with royal ancestry, average Joe’s becoming heroes, and, the worst fantasy cliché ever, the protagonist getting captured.  In nearly every Shannara book this happens with little to no purpose, other than having an elaborate escape, or to introduce new supporting characters. This tradition would carry on to nearly every fantasy franchise that exists and is one of the most unforgivable things about the series.  Lord of the Rings may have been the first, but these were the books to really popularize these clichés. 

            If you're a hardcore fan of old Tolkien style fantasy then I say give these books and others by Terry Brooks a read.  If not, then skip them and go for books by Joe Abercrombie or Robert Jordan.  Until next time, this is The Illusive One saying “Thanks for Reading.”  

The Elfstones of Shannara

            Following the success of The Sword of Shannara, Terry Brooks immediately started working on a sequel to it.  And after five years we got what was, in my opinion, the greatest of the Shannara books, The Elfstones of Shannara. 

            Taking place fifty years after Sword the book starts in the Elven capital of Arborlon where it is revealed that the magical Ellcrys tree is dying, loosening the spell that bars demons from the world.  In order to restore this tree, the Druid Allanon recruits Wil Ohmsford, grandson of Shea Ohmsford to guard an Elvin girl named Amberle as she carries one of the Ellcrys' seeds to a mysterious place where it can be shaped into a powerful new force with a Demon known as the Reaper hot on their trail.

            Their isn't much to say about it other then it is a great improvement over Sword.  The characters are more real, the battles are just as epic, the villains are far better, and the chase with the Reaper was well done. 

            Wil was a much sharper protagonist then Shea and was all around more believable.  He is initially distrustful of Allanon and never looses this distrust, wary of the druid's plans.   Amberle was a great, dynamic and believable character.  She doesn’t want the responsibility of carrying this seed and I doubt many people would either.    

            The Dagda Mor was fascinating as the leader of the Demons, if a little cliched.  The Changeling kept you scanning the characters for any suspicious activity and kept the tension up away from Wil and Amberle.  The chase with the Reaper made it the best of the three as it killed anything in its path in order to kill its target.      

            Even the druid, Allanon, had improved from the first book.  The fact that the Ellcrys is dying makes him confront his own mortality, and causes him to seriously think about about a successor to his work.  He is much more involved with the story and the deceptions he uses have greater impact on the characters then they did in Sword. 

            Terry Brooks has often said that The Elfstones of Shannara is his favorite of the Shannara books and most fans, including myself, agree.  The idea of magic barring demons from the world would be used countless times after this book was released and eventually became a cliche of its own.  Unfortunately, it still has that same campy, cliched feel to it that Sword had.  The ending was heart breaking, but at the same time made you hopeful for the future of these characters and leaves you eager for more.  This is a good fantasy book and I recommend it to any fantasy reader.

All Around

8/10