Skyrim from Like/Hate

[Jarka]

For me, the only reason I enjoy Bethesda games is the sheer size of the world and amount of stuff there is to do. I've always loved single player games with huge long campaigns (side quests, exploration, etc included).

But in terms of production quality and polish? Yeah Bethesda don't deal with that shit, yo, that's for studios like Valve and Blizzard to worry about.

I'm with Greg though- in as much as I have loved every Bethesda game, I don't think they deserve the GOTY that they always seem to get. Especially in some years when games that I think are far more deserving have been released as well. Having ambition is good and all, but ambition does not a GOTY make. I really just think that the amount of fun people have playing this game is what generates the hype and the big reviews about how awesome it is. Anyone trying to critically review the game though, isn't going to sound as impressed though.

// insert long rant about how GOTY is a meaningless term because it is used way too generically. Of the three most credible awards (GDC, International Game Developers Association, and BAFTA), Bethesda has won GOTY a grand total of once (for Fallout 3 from GDC). Also, Spike VGAs needs to just change into a purely promotional show and just nix the awards (well, keep like, "HYPE AWARD" and shit like that, but they really need to stop pretending they mean anything).

Otherwise, I largely agree. I love love love Bethesda's games, and they are usually fantastically fun and amongst the best titles of the year. Never, however, have I ever been like, "THIS IS THE BEST GAME OF THE YEAR HANDS DOWN NO CONTEST" like a lot of people seem to do. I seem to have the same amount of hangups with their games as with any other good release of that year. And holy shit do they need to just spend an extra 3-6 months bugtesting before their releases. They don't need to become Valve by any means, but just a little more effort in that department, plz plz.