Oblivion GotYE? Or Mass Effect?

I've played and completed both games and I'm an RPG veteran. In my own humble opinion, Mass Effect was just more interesting, more challenging (without being frustrating), had the better story, the more engaging and tactical combat, and characters you actually wanted to learn about.

Oblivion didn't.

Crash.

I have both games & I can safely say that Mass Effect is more entertaining & interesting. There are so many fantasy RPG games available that if you've done them already, Oblivion just feels like more of the same. I've done: WoW, NWN 1, NWN 2, & others & it all just starts to mesh together as the same after awhile. A hard sci-fi setting like Mass Effect is very refreshing as opposed to the stale fantasy/D&D style RPG setting all the time. I don't know when/if I'll even play Oblivion, I tried it for 15 minutes & the whole thing just reminded me of the been-there/done-that for fantasy RPGs.

I would recommend Oblivion any day over Mass Effect. I am currently on my 4th time through Mass Effect, and I do enjoy the game, but I find it to be fairly repetitive. The story is very good, but after playing the game once, you already know the story, so playing through again and again to try out different classes is not all that enjoyable. And while Mass Effect has numerous environments for different planets, they are still repetitive. The gravity does not change, the textures are very repetitive, and the interior of structures on the non-mission planets all have one of maybe four layouts.

Oblivion also has its faults, and I actually enjoyed Morrowind more than Oblivion, but there is so much to do and find in the game that I will probably never see it all, and it has a lot more variety in creating a character. Oblivion also gives more incentive for random exploration, where ME marks everything except mineral deposits on your map, so exploration only grants you a minor amount of experience while taking up lots of time with very boring and tedious driving. Luckily, you should be able to complete all quests including every side quest without doing that tedious planetary exploration.

As far as game length, Oblivion is much longer! Depending on how much time you have to devote to games, that could mean that you'll only ever play through it once, or it could mean that you'll get much more game time for your money.

Both are masterpieces so you should try to get both.

But if not Oblivion is more fun, decent story, very long, and alot to do\explore

Mass Effect has an amazing story, some exploration, decent length, better graphics, better voice acting

jknight5422: If your sig is correct, it does not appear that you've played much ME either. I will agree that the Sci Fi setting of ME is very nice and fairly original, but the setting alone does not make the game great. The setting and the well-written story certainly help to make it a very enjoyable game, but it still has to have good level design and controls and everything else that makes a game fun.

I'll also mention that despite having multiple classes to choose from when creating a character for ME, it really only affects who you put on your squad through the game. The same skills will be used to get through the same places regardless of your class because, if you plan well, someone in your squad will have the abilities that you need at all times. The only real differences are the ability or inability to snipe (which is something that is nice but completely not necessary in the game) and the specialization class that you get after the lunar mission. So ultimately, the class that you choose for your character has little effect on the way that ME is played, whereas the character that you create in Oblivion can make pretty extreme changes to how you have to play.

Get Oblivion, ill lend umass effect hahahaha

both amazing. spent too much time on both

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Oblivion, on the other hand, just has so much to do. I've put hundreds of hours into the game and I still haven't done every quest there is to be done. However most of my time is spent wandering around going on random killing sprees, so yeah. Oblivion never gets boring. And it has numerous storylines which all take up plenty of game time. Also, Dark Brotherhood = Win. As does KOTN. And SI. Yeah..ethanpaige

too true, the dark brotherhood was awesome... i played something like 100 hours now still love everything. (expect the mages guild) i love the end of the dark brotherhood and also making my assassin hide outside my castle muahaha.

jknight5422: If your sig is correct, it does not appear that you've played much ME either. I will agree that the Sci Fi setting of ME is very nice and fairly original, but the setting alone does not make the game great. The setting and the well-written story certainly help to make it a very enjoyable game, but it still has to have good level design and controls and everything else that makes a game fun.

I'll also mention that despite having multiple classes to choose from when creating a character for ME, it really only affects who you put on your squad through the game. The same skills will be used to get through the same places regardless of your class because, if you plan well, someone in your squad will have the abilities that you need at all times. The only real differences are the ability or inability to snipe (which is something that is nice but completely not necessary in the game) and the specialization class that you get after the lunar mission. So ultimately, the class that you choose for your character has little effect on the way that ME is played, whereas the character that you create in Oblivion can make pretty extreme changes to how you have to play.

drgrady

I've put in about 25-30 hours. I actually travel around the planetary surfaces of each planet I visit, looking for ore, not just trying to complete the storyline in break neck speed so I can say I've completed it. In subsequent plays, if I run through it again, I will not spend as much time going through such details. I even got the downloaded expansion for it last night. The setting totally makes the game! How many times do you have to traverse dungeons and castles using swords, spells or buying things in gold pieces? I've already done this with NWN & as far as I can tell, Oblivion can't hold a candle to NWN games..let's not forget that NWN 1/2 were created or handled by Bioware as well, but too large for a console. After going through that & spending time on WoW, among other fantasy games, the Fantasy genre is played out & it's time to let it rest for awhile & try something different.

The other thing I've noticed is that the handling of the 3D in Mass Effect does not make me dizzy. If I go into first person view on Oblivion, it gives me a headache after a short while. I have to keep it in 3rd person, but then you have to look around at the floor to find objects to find stuff, you must stop to go into first person mode to look at it. The first person feel on Oblivion is absolutely horrible. The 3rd person has you looking directly behind your back so you can't even tell how you're doing in combat unless you move into first person & then I have to deal with headaches so who wants to do that? This isn't a shooter but it makes me about as dizzy as Half-Life 2. I might try the game again one day, but it's not on my todo list, due to the annoying 3rd person mode & headache-inducing first person mode. If you've never played a Fantasy game in your life, then Oblivion might be for you.

With Mass Effect, you just get sucked in & lose track of time as you go over all the details of the game. Btw, the next fantasy game I have on my slate is NWN2:MotB but it won't be until after I've had my fill of Mass Effect. I'm really looking forward to ME2 & everything they do going forward with this game. The ME universe can only get better. ME has made me believe.

[QUOTE="ethanpaige"].

Oblivion, on the other hand, just has so much to do. I've put hundreds of hours into the game and I still haven't done every quest there is to be done. However most of my time is spent wandering around going on random killing sprees, so yeah. Oblivion never gets boring. And it has numerous storylines which all take up plenty of game time. Also, Dark Brotherhood = Win. As does KOTN. And SI. Yeah..Whipperdasher

too true, the dark brotherhood was awesome... i played something like 100 hours now still love everything. (expect the mages guild) i love the end of the dark brotherhood and also making my assassin hide outside my castle muahaha.

I've put in about 25-30 hours. I actually travel around the planetary surfaces of each planet I visit, looking for ore, not just trying to complete the storyline in break neck speed so I can say I've completed it. In subsequent plays, if I run through it again, I will not spend as much time going through such details. I even got the downloaded expansion for it last night. The setting totally makes the game! How many times do you have to traverse dungeons and castles using swords, spells or buying things in gold pieces? I've already done this with NWN & as far as I can tell, Oblivion can't hold a candle to NWN games..let's not forget that NWN 1/2 were created or handled by Bioware as well, but too large for a console. After going through that & spending time on WoW, among other fantasy games, the Fantasy genre is played out & it's time to let it rest for awhile & try something different.

The other thing I've noticed is that the handling of the 3D in Mass Effect does not make me dizzy. If I go into first person view on Oblivion, it gives me a headache after a short while. I have to keep it in 3rd person, but then you have to look around at the floor to find objects to find stuff, you must stop to go into first person mode to look at it. The first person feel on Oblivion is absolutely horrible. The 3rd person has you looking directly behind your back so you can't even tell how you're doing in combat unless you move into first person & then I have to deal with headaches so who wants to do that? This isn't a shooter but it makes me about as dizzy as Half-Life 2. I might try the game again one day, but it's not on my todo list, due to the annoying 3rd person mode & headache-inducing first person mode. If you've never played a Fantasy game in your life, then Oblivion might be for you.

With Mass Effect, you just get sucked in & lose track of time as you go over all the details of the game. Btw, the next fantasy game I have on my slate is NWN2:MotB but it won't be until after I've had my fill of Mass Effect. I'm really looking forward to ME2 & everything they do going forward with this game. The ME universe can only get better. ME has made me believe.jknight5422

Yeah, I did that on my first play through of ME. And I didn't mean any disrespect or that your opinion didn't count or anything like that. It just looks like you're still about halfway through the story. If that is the case, it would be difficult for you to know some of the nuances that become apparent on a second or third time through the game. Plus, as good as the story is early in the game, it gets better.

For me, the setting is a bonus, but the story and game mechanics are what really make a game fun (which I think both ME and Oblivion do very well). Take the Call of Duty games, for instance. The move to a modern setting from WWII made very little difference to me. COD4 played almost exactly the same as the WWII COD games, but it was significantly better because they had a more engaging story. For an RPG like Oblivion, I don't care if it is magic and castles or the force and TIE fighter assembly lines or genetic/cybernetic enhancements and some random buildings on distant planets. All of these can have very similar game dynamics, but I want an engaging story with intuitive controls and the ability to interact with NPCs and the environment when it has absolutely nothing to do with the story. I want exploration and choices that change how I have to play the game.

The headache thing is something I've only experienced with Quake 4, but my brother gets headaches with vitually any game using first person view. I do like the first person view of Oblivion and Morrowind, but I understand that that can be very annoying if you do get headache and such from that.

Yeah, I did that on my first play through of ME. And I didn't mean any disrespect or that your opinion didn't count or anything like that. It just looks like you're still about halfway through the story. If that is the case, it would be difficult for you to know some of the nuances that become apparent on a second or third time through the game. Plus, as good as the story is early in the game, it gets better.

drgrady

No disrepect taken. I do own Oblivion & probably paid $40 for it, so I'd like to try & get my money's worth out of it eventually. So far, I've spent the majority of this week working on the side quests, before getting back to the main game. Sadly, I might have to put this game down for awhile as I have signed up for the Endwar Beta & feel I'll have to put in a lot of time on that game in the near future. We'll see how that goes.

For me, the setting is a bonus, but the story and game mechanics are what really make a game fun (which I think both ME and Oblivion do very well). Take the Call of Duty games, for instance. The move to a modern setting from WWII made very little difference to me. COD4 played almost exactly the same as the WWII COD games, but it was significantly better because they had a more engaging story. For an RPG like Oblivion, I don't care if it is magic and castles or the force and TIE fighter assembly lines or genetic/cybernetic enhancements and some random buildings on distant planets. All of these can have very similar game dynamics, but I want an engaging story with intuitive controls and the ability to interact with NPCs and the environment when it has absolutely nothing to do with the story. I want exploration and choices that change how I have to play the game.

drgrady

Did the COD3 game have level unlocks in multi-player for different weapons? That to me is one of the striking differences. I think the storyline for sci-fi games is stream-lined for a reason. Sci-fi RPGs are under the assumption that general technology has improved so much that it makes things easier and more efficient. If that assumption is part of your foundation in the game, then that would make it seem an easier, smoother game, and may have a feeling that there is less to do, the technology has made it easier. I'm not sure how much reading there is in Oblivion, but there is quite a bit in ME. When you read the planet descriptions, when you drop down to the planet, it actually shows details relating to the description. Eg, if it says that the magnetic tidal force of a moon causes a lot of storms, then you see stormy weather in the game. If it says pollen permeates the planet, then you see it floating around. Also, there are lot's of different alien animals roaming around.

As a feature request, they ought to let you capture these animals as you find them for study. I agree they could have expanded the depth of this game, but it might've taken another year to release it if they did that. I'm sure that with subsequent ME product coming out, Bioware will probably expand the features along with the storyline. This week I plan on sending them some info of what I'd like to see on their message boards or to the Bioware developers on things I'd like to see.

The headache thing is something I've only experienced with Quake 4, but my brother gets headaches with vitually any game using first person view. I do like the first person view of Oblivion and Morrowind, but I understand that that can be very annoying if you do get headache and such from that.

drgrady

My brain is finnicky towards first person games. I can play Halo 1, 2, & 3 without getting much irritation unless more than 3-4 hours, especially with Halo 3. COD4 I can play for several hours, provided I don't have any caffeine or sugar while playing. Half-life 2 is a lost cause & I really, wanted to play it. I've tried it on PC & 360 & all I get is a headache almost immediately. I could handle GRAW 2 just fine. I played the demo for Quake 4 & I got a little bit of a headache. Big, torturous headache for King Kong. I hope my beta with Endwar will reveal any headache issues as I'm going to raise that with the developers if I get them.

[QUOTE="drgrady"]

For me, the setting is a bonus, but the story and game mechanics are what really make a game fun (which I think both ME and Oblivion do very well). Take the Call of Duty games, for instance. The move to a modern setting from WWII made very little difference to me. COD4 played almost exactly the same as the WWII COD games, but it was significantly better because they had a more engaging story. For an RPG like Oblivion, I don't care if it is magic and castles or the force and TIE fighter assembly lines or genetic/cybernetic enhancements and some random buildings on distant planets. All of these can have very similar game dynamics, but I want an engaging story with intuitive controls and the ability to interact with NPCs and the environment when it has absolutely nothing to do with the story. I want exploration and choices that change how I have to play the game.

jknight5422

Did the COD3 game have level unlocks in multi-player for different weapons? That to me is one of the striking differences. I think the storyline for sci-fi games is stream-lined for a reason. Sci-fi RPGs are under the assumption that general technology has improved so much that it makes things easier and more efficient. If that assumption is part of your foundation in the game, then that would make it seem an easier, smoother game, and may have a feeling that there is less to do, the technology has made it easier.

I think you missed my point on COD. The RPGs in question have no multiplayer mode, so the multiplayer unlockables in COD4 are not really pertinent. For the campaign, though, you should be able to see that there were only minor changes to how the game played from previous iterations of the franchise (with a few obvious levels standing out as being pure awesome). I merely use this as an example of how two games can feel very similar while having completely different settings.

Oblivion for the 'openness' of it all. Mass Effect for the story.

Heck you should get them both!

Oblivion is boring, clunky, generic, and soulless.

Get mass effect, at least it's got a bit of creativity behind it even if it is still clunky.

I've played and completed both games and I'm an RPG veteran. In my own humble opinion, Mass Effect was just more interesting, more challenging (without being frustrating), had the better story, the more engaging and tactical combat, and characters you actually wanted to learn about.

Oblivion didn't.

Crash.

CrashlanderXL

Mass Effect has a much more involving story, much, much better voice acting that helps drag you into that story, and I found the combat system to be a good deal more fun.

What really annoys me about Oblivion is that there's at least a thousand NPC's, and ten voice actors. The captain of the guard who is under direct command of the Emperor has the same voice as the barkeep who will sell you a drink, who has the same voice as the stable boy who will sell you a horse, who happens to have the same voice as the bandit who will waylay you upon the road...

I dunno, I enjoyed Morrowind a great deal more than Oblivion, though they are both really good games.

While Oblivion has hundreds of hours of sandbox like playing value, Mass Effect is compelling enough for at least one replay, if not more... because it has a New Game + where you can take your characters, skills, money, weapons, armor, and items and play the game again on a higher difficulty in which enemies level up with you. And then the classes in the game are diverse enough to warrant another play through as a different class.

Oh, and of course, Mass Effect also has a few key dynamic choices you can make that will change the storyline... and there happens to be maybe a half dozen options for the romantic storyline, different people your character can fall in love with.

So to sum it up, I would definately suggest to you Mass Effect over Oblivion... even though I've put twice as many hours into Oblivion than Mass Effect, I found Mass Effect to be a more memorable experience.

PS. DRGrady. The class you choose in mass effect makes a difference in how YOU play the game. Certainly you are going to have all the classes available through your teamates, but you won't be playing the same way as a tech as you would as a soldier, nor as you would as an infiltrator.

As to the length of Mass Effect, I easily put about 18 hours into my first playthrough at 70% completion. My second was maybe 22 hours, and I have another playthrough at around 13 hours halfway through the game.

Oblivion is easily one of the greatest games ever made. It literally turns into an addiction and you wont be able to put the controller down and that feeling lasts for a very very long time, i put in 80 hours and thats probably 4 times longer than ive ever put in any other single player only game.

Mass Effect was short, the gunplay was tedious, the mako (sp?) is the worst vehicle in videogame history, i hate that thing, and overall i was just playing it to get to the next cut scene, i never actually wanted to do a mission. I ended up saying forget this game after 8 hours or so until my friend told me i was literally on the second to last level, so i reluctantly finished it. Mass Effect was a huge let down for me and wont be remembered.

So, go with oblivion because its amazing and just rent mass effect because you can beat it in 3-7 days depending on how much you play.

Mass Effect, no question, just the superior game in really every aspect.Andrew_Xavier

That's an opinion, buddy. Not a fact.

Anyway, in Oblivion it is like you are living another life. A life that you choose and no one can tell you how to do it. Mass Effect is grea (played it three times in a row) but you are really taken by the hand and always told what to do. The dungeons are rather generic and while the voice acting is far superior in Mass Effect, the setting is uninspired and the art design could have been taken straight from Halo.

The Elder Scrolls could go on for ever and each race has its own unique culture that you can explore the depths of through books and quests and the many undocumented treasures to be found. There are countless dungeons, people to talk to (even if they all do have similar voices) and the faction quests are brilliant. I could play the game for 1,000 hours and not become bored. I decided to scrap my plans for getting any up coming games and I am going to play Oblivion as far into the foreseeable future as possible.

I reccomend Oblivion with every ounce of my being. It is truly an amazing experience.

DRGrady. The class you choose in mass effect makes a difference in how YOU play the game. Certainly you are going to have all the classes available through your teamates, but you won't be playing the same way as a tech as you would as a soldier, nor as you would as an infiltrator.TrueProphecy22

Actually, the class I chose made no difference in how I played the game with the only exceptions being whether or not I could snipe and what my specialization was after the lunar mission. For everything else, I just went to the command wheel thing and chose the same abilities every time and used the same weapons every time. It did not matter if it was my character using an ability directly or one of the two people on my squad. The same abilities were used in the same situations pretty much every time I played the game. Oh, and I guess I should acknowledge that I did change what abilities I used only when trying to get achievements for using each individual ability in each class. When I did that, I used a lot of stuff that I would normally not use, but that was not for any strategic purpose.

For most situations, I would have the tech character use sabotage and overload, the biotic character use lift or singularity, and I tried to have at least one of the three characters using either barrier or immunity so that they could stand in front shooting. With that as the basis for pretty much any situation, I could throw some extra stuff in if I wanted to, but that basic strategy was all I needed to get through the game. The boss fights took a little more thought, but not much more. That little bit of extra thought was generally along the lines of "Should I use sabotage first, or overload?" or "Just how many grenades should I throw at him?" So even the harder battles did not change much at all from being a different character class.

The biggest problem with Oblivion is immersion. Immersion can save a game from really bad design mistakes, while a lack of it is a proverbial shotgun blast to the testicular fortitude. Take for example, Assassin's Creed. Yes, it had some bad design choices (particularly with the ending as far as I'm concerned), but go into it with the right mindset, and it'll suck you in like a thousand-dollar whore. Mass Effect has immersion out the yin-yang, while Oblivion just feels like it'd rather I stay the hell out or grind like some retarded MMO.codezer0

Heh, i'm seeing some Zero Punctuation quotes in there.

Heh, i'm seeing some Zero Punctuation quotes in there.

IISF-SniperII

The two RPGs are very different from each other, obviously. Mass Effect focuses on blended genres, a great story, and an original brand of gameplay, whereas Oblivion is a game that gives you much more freedom to do pretty much anything you want. You have these freedoms in ME, but not nearly to the same extent as Oblivion. Also, the DLC and replay value are probably a bit better for Oblivion.

I have played both; however, I only gave Mass Effect a rental try because I do not have the time to play both of these RPGs as they both take a substantial amount of time. The one thing that I found to be a negative with Mass Effect was that the story and gameplay took too long to become accustomed to - mostly because the game is so massive and it takes a while for everything to become clear (as far as control scheme, combat, races, interface, etc. were concerned). I think that if I had the time and gave this game another chance, then I would enjoy it a lot more.

This does not change my earlier statements about Oblivion. There are so many paths you can choose, and the gameplay is so seamless that you can start a game as a fighter only to decide later that you have more fun being evil. You kill your first innocent, morph into a stealth assassin, and later become a vampire shunned by the good people and the gods. It's just as enjoyable to "shed the darkness" and earn back the gods' favor. Kind of qay, but the game offers a lot of replay value. :)