I’ve spent 8 hours in the game so far.

At first, the lack of a local map was annoying, until I noticed the kiosks and signs and I realized this was deliberate. Bethesda wants you to explore and is basically saying, “Fuck you, figure it out on your own”. Which, knowing that, is awesome. Brings me back to navigating Balmora in Morrowind for the first time. So this no longer bothers me. It’s so fun to explore. Once you get down the cities, it’s a piece of cake.

The fast travel system is still a LITTLE annoying but not as much as before. I’m getting used to it. Same with the loading screens. What makes up for all of that is the amount of content that exists on major planets and systems, and choosing deliberately when to fast travel, and when to use your ship and go through the cuteness. I find that helps balance the immersion and annoyance factor. Overall, I still give this game an 8/10. It’s absolutely fantastic. Better than Fallout 4 but not quite as good as Skyrim.

What is so cool though is that if any of you remember, when Fallout 4 came out it was pretty much a collective agreement that the game was disappointing. Not bad, but not good. Now it’s looked upon more positively but still ranked much lower than Skyrim and Oblivion.

This fucking game though? I’ve never seen a fan base so split. Not since TLOU Part 2. You got the other half who says it’s freaking fantastic and was everything they wanted, and then the other half who says it’s fucking awful and a disappointment. I think AWFUL is a bit harsh but I can understand the disappointment. But…can we take a minute here? And take a step back?

We have a game that has made such an impact for players. That does a great job at showing what different people expect. That’s a GOOD thing. It means Bethesda got a lot right. The fact that it can split people’s opinions and put eachother at their throats. I mean, is that not insane?

You got people that fucking love the Souls games and who think they’re the greatest games of all time, and then others who just can’t stand them and find them ridiculously counter intuitive messes. (Myself, please don’t kill me). But that’s good. We SHOULD debate.

So I think we should all respect each other’s opinions ultimately, and recognize that even if you personally don’t like it, what a major influence this is creating. Even bug wise, I’ve encountered maybe 10 bugs in my 8 hour playthrough, and they’ve all been very, VERY minor for a Bethesda game. I’ve been thoroughly impressed.