Why is Elderscrolls 4 Oblivion so dark and depressing?

Question

After having played Elderscrolls 3:Morrowind to death (ever character, every quest. Took me 3 years) I was overjoyed when Oblivion came out. But man! is it dark! The Gray Prince, The Hunters Run, having to kill dogs, and not nixhounds, dogs! And why do the rats die so bad! Yes, there are a couple of cool things, the horse, entering the painting and entering the dream were awesome, but why does it have to be so sad? And why did they make the Dark Brotherhood a quest? I killed Lucien the minute he stopped talking. And why did Morrowind go to hell? What was Bethesda thinking?

Whoa! These are some of the best answers I've gotten to questions ever!!! I didn't dee it that way before but now it makes sense. The player is made to feel the loss and dispair of the NPC's. I haven't started the main quest yet. I'll play the factions, misc, and free forms until I'm strong enough. But wow, thanks to all you you.

Answer 1

Hi Ms. Morrowind,

Let me tell you that I have played Elder Scrolls a lot, and although I consider it one of the best games ever, I agree with you that it can be depressing if you enter its world too intimately...


1. LONELINESS:

This is one of the themes that I noticed early on, if in Morrowind I felt a whole world to live in with "people" to interact with, the hero of Oblivion IV is very lonely in its quests: the Gates of Oblivion sequences are some kind of "Me Against The World" battle, the countryside is hostile as soon as you venture out of the main roads, and some of the long quests require that your character acts "isolated" from the lives of the others, which is quite depressing already.


2. FAIRY TAIL VS WHEELING AND DEALING:

The fairy tail aspect of Morrowind is gone, and you realize that the world of Oblivion IV is a much much more ambiguous and dark reality: You see your best friends die in agony (the Emperor Septim, Kvatch soldiers, Baurus, ...), and you have to play "Double Agent" when it benefits you (with the Dark Brotherhood, with the girl in Bruma and her boyfriend in jail who both ask you to betray the other one, ...). You even have to participate in "dark" rituals in front of evil deities to enter certain areas... creepy!

3. HORROR IS TRENDY:

Horror is very present, even gore sometimes, especially in the reality of Oblivion; Blood Grass, dismembered bodies hanging upside down, skinned bodies, dark magic, necromancy, well, Freddy Krueger can go back home, we found better with Bethesda.

4. SLOWLY SWALLOWED BY HELL:

Is in my opinion the main theme: I loved the city of Bruma with its architecture and the countess, and it got almost destroyed to bits, the green country turns red as the gates of Oblivion open, the people turn crazy and violent everywhere as the end approaches...


CONCLUSION: Just like yourself, I found that spending a lot of time in this game was actually depressing (I got actual nightmares that represented the realm of Oblivion!!).

I think Betheda definitely wanted to make a game that was some kind of heroic fantasy but with the development of a classic 40's Film Noir... with a hero that battles what he / she can in a world that falls into pieces.

This is the theme of the Pyrrhic Victory, the victory earned at way too high a cost; here we shut down the Oblivion Gates, but this can only be achieved in exchange for the near destruction of the civilization...


NEXT... Some gamers want more "Moral Freedom" in Oblivion, with the option for instance to join the evil side and fight alongside the troops of oblivion, or save the day of course.... so maybe the next episode will be even more depressing??!!

This time I'll take a pill before playing!

Answer 2

Oblivion Hunters Run

Answer 3

Oblivion is the best. Granted Morrowind is a great game and is huge Oblivion is for people who dont have lots of time to do things. I love Morrowind and wish Oblivion was like it in size as Oblivion makes it to easy to get around place to place...I really never had to run anywhere the first time I beat the game.

But to answer the bold question think of Oblivion as taking place in a depression. Their king just died portals are poping up everywhere. Why would the game be happy? Its meant to be dark and demonic...as their are demon types around.

Answer 4

i haven't played the game but i will surely love it since i like sad RPG games, the thing is i don't have and Xbox 360.