My opinion is cumulatively based off of Bethesda's track record since Oblivion. Writing was always poor, dialogue options were usually limited, choices carry little to no consequence, most quests end up in the "status quo is god" bin, player characters are always garunteed to be a "Chosen One," perks are skill boosts rather than dynamic adjustments to player interactions, they implement gimmicks rather than improve core aspects of their games, and the biggest thing of all, Todd Howard is a hack who believes that RPGs benefit from simplicity. Voiced dialogue in an RPG is at best a minor detriment on Role Playing mechanics, but it can be done right in good hands. When we're talking Bethesda, we'd be seeing the equivalent of a blind man violently swinging his oak shelalie. Take a dynamic dialogue tree in Fallout: New Vegas, such as attempting to recruit Arcade Gannon. There are 5 different checks when asking him to join, all of which is voided depending on faction reputation. One of the options is made apparent right off the bat, being the 75 speech check. One involves building a high reputation with The Followers, another requires extremely low intelligence, another requires the completion of a specific quest, and the last one requires a specific perk. A few of which must have specific character builds, and would need dynamic voice actors to fit the bill. One voice actor for each gender won't do at all for such a thing, let alone dialogue from a laid-back man in his thirties, with slight variations between chill and angry.
Go play Pillars of Eternity or Fallout 1 if you hate Bethesda so much, and let the people who like Fallout's made by Bethesda enjoy this thread.
5+ ways to play the game and you think it isn't dynamic. You need a reality check on what games can and can't do. Witcher has even fewer options and that franchise is amazing. You want infinite options that matter, go play in traffic.
I played the shit out of skyrim ever since it came out (can't really go back to it now, only because I played it so much before.) It's way better than oblivion. I mean, bethesda games never really focus on combat, but oblivions combat compared to skyrims is crap. Another thing that I loved about skyrim was the freedom to create weird classes. I feel like Skyrim's "no class" class system is the most customizable I've ever seen in a game. Let's just say that I liked both games, but skyrim made so many improvements that I can't really go back to oblivion. Oblivon was a great game, but skyrim's improved combat, graphics, and classes make it way better.
