Oblivion PSP: less tromp, more romp
by James Ransom-Wiley 
{ Oct 6th 2006 at 6:30PM }
OPM's got the scoop on PSP's Oblivion. Sounds like Bethesda will strip out the open world, focusing on dungeon romps. Did you really believe they'd do otherwise?We'll still get create-a-character and have access to 18 of the 21 skills featured in the original Oblivion, but no word on cross-link features between the PSP version and the PS3 edition. And no word on load times either ... ... ... But the developers do cite Metroid Prime as a source of inspiration. Well then, how about throwin' in a morph ball ability?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Uberplum @ Oct 6th 2006 6:43PM
It's gonna suck. Period.
NorCal05 @ Oct 6th 2006 6:48PM
Which 3 skills will they strip out? hmm...speechcraft, mercantile and...
MusashiX2 @ Oct 6th 2006 6:50PM
"It's gonna suck. Period."
funny... as i was clicking the word "Comments" i was thinking to myself, i bet this 1 post is just gonna say that it will suck. either i am now pyschic, or there is way too much ignorance and close-mindedness (and i guess especially for the psp).
msdarnell @ Oct 6th 2006 6:56PM
No, it'll suck because the Elder Scrolls series is about exploring. Without the wide open spaces, it becomes a very boring hack-and-slash with boring dungeons.
chiax @ Oct 6th 2006 7:05PM
no matter, it will still be better than staring at horribly pixelated 3D zombies like resident evil for DS.
Player1 @ Oct 6th 2006 7:06PM
"No, it'll suck because the Elder Scrolls series is about exploring."
So you can't explore a dungeon? A lot of the missions in Oblivion are in dungeons and are pretty fun.
Drew @ Oct 6th 2006 7:13PM
It actually sounds like a more tactical version of the game. Well suitable for portable systems. If you want "wide open spaces" play it on a high-def TV dumbnut. So do either of you two idiots even own a PSP?
Dakara @ Oct 6th 2006 7:28PM
If they are able to do this on PSP...where's the Wii version? (I know is completley different, just why not?)
Lekko @ Oct 6th 2006 7:34PM
I have to admit, if they did a cross-over system with a PS3/PSP combo, that could be pretty sweet. Especially if the PSP game were just basically a scaled down expansion of Oblivion proper. You could play the whole Oblivion PS3 game, then port your character into the PSP world and level up further, get some more cool stuff, then port it back to PS3 when you get home and keep going. I highly doubt that they'll do that though, but...
I see that as more likely on a FF title, seeing as that will be built from the ground-up on a Sony system. Besides, they've ventured into the handheld/console arena before with crystal chronicles, hopefully there is more of that this generation with Sony.
Blink @ Oct 6th 2006 8:11PM
I'm with Dakara. Ever since I heard about the new system of controls for Oblivion when it first came out on the PC, I said "oh, wow. First person sword slasher, yeah, that better come out on the [Wii]" (it was still the Revo at the time). I didn't buy this for the 360 cause I thought I'd wait until I bought a real tower PC (current system: Sucky Laptop) so I could mod and whatnot...but if it made it to Wii, I would have a change of heart very, very fast.
Pixel D @ Oct 6th 2006 8:28PM
Wait so this one is being titled TES Travels : Oblivion but from the sound of it you will be "warping" everywhere. So where is the travel part of the title come in?
pixelator @ Oct 6th 2006 8:59PM
And yet again, Joystiq puts a negative slant on a potentially great PSP game. 'Load times... ... ...' and 'stripped out open world' comments because everything here is written by and for Sony-hating Nintendo fanboys.
Period.
Why do I even read this tripe? Even the FANBOY sites aren't written as fanboyishly as Joystiq.
The ZeroCorpse @ Oct 6th 2006 8:34PM
I eagerly look forward to not enjoying the 7-minute load time to start a game!
thecactusman17 @ Oct 6th 2006 9:38PM
I could only see an Oblivion PSP game making it if it were essentially a Diablo clone that sacrificed all the3 pretty graphics and significantly changed the control scheme. Stripping content out of a game that's all about free-form exploration isn't a smart idea.
And to the guy who said that "you can't explore a dungeon?" I'd have to say that you're either being sarrcastic or haven't played Oblivion or Morrowind. The dungeons are rarely as good as the open world they're located in.
As for skills, definately speechcraft, mercantile, and security, exchanging the last for the lockpicking minigame (or a simplified version of it) from Oblivion.
Fish @ Oct 6th 2006 9:13PM
But, but, it IS stripped out!
The fun of Oblivion is roaming around a HUGE landscape and discovering camps, fortresses and dungeons. The dungeons themselves are lackluster, they're repetive and recycled. I'm not saying that it's a total bad thing, given the number of them.
it's just, the sense of discovery is gone. If I could only play TES:O dungeons and not have access to the overworld, well, I wouldn't own it.. and I'm sure most people wouldn't either.
Patrick @ Oct 6th 2006 11:23PM
Well, I loved Metroid Prime on the DS, I hope they can successfully port this to the PSP. It'd be great, especially if I'll be able to copy my character from PS3 Oblivion to PSP Oblivion.
Then, I would LOVE if they could make an Oblivion for the Wii AND DS! Damn. Bethesda please love ALL consoles!
Bethesda aren't dumb developers so I'm sure they wont do anyting really stupid with the PSP Oblivion. Let's cross our fingers and pray.
Player1 @ Oct 7th 2006 12:17AM
Actually I own Oblivion and I tend to warp instead of riding my horse around the open world all the time.
Pince @ Oct 7th 2006 2:46AM
Dungeon-crawler-only does sort of take away some of the great epic RPGness of the Morrowind games. Then again, so does playing on a handheld screen. I just don't think games like oblivion work well for handheld gaming.
Call me old fashioned but the best handheld genres are 2D platformer/action games, zelda-style rpgs, shooters (gradius/r-type style), and puzzle - all things that can be played in 10 minute spurts but are also fun for long waits in the doctor's office, and plane or road trips.
However, PSP is more like a PS2 jammed into a handheld, they tend to do away with such tried-and-true conventions, so maybe Oblivion will work for them.
Uberplum @ Oct 7th 2006 6:27AM
"3. "It's gonna suck. Period."
funny... as i was clicking the word "Comments" i was thinking to myself, i bet this 1 post is just gonna say that it will suck. either i am now pyschic, or there is way too much ignorance and close-mindedness (and i guess especially for the psp)."
The reason I said that, is because, as another wise poster pointed out, Is that Elder Scroll games are about exploring new worlds, immersive worlds, ones of constant discovery and quest. I'm afraid, I don't think that thiss will be a true Elder Scroll experience.
Mabui @ Oct 7th 2006 9:42AM
It would be cool if they made it way to level up your characters on PS3, other than that, It'll be interesting to see what they manage to do with the game, and how you progress through the dungeons..and move along to the next dungeon (Some sort of map system, maybe?)
Eddie @ Oct 7th 2006 9:37AM
I actually thought the game might not be all that bad. Guess I was wrong. As others have said, if you strip out the exploration (the outside world) to a Elder Scrolls game you essentially kills what makes a Elder Scrolls game, exploration. Yeah as someone else said you can explore in a dungeon but considering the dungeons are less than even 5% of the real game that's a pretty paltry port.
Patrick @ Oct 7th 2006 9:55AM
people would be amazed what a handheld can do.
@Prince:
I actually prefer playing my DS like a regular console machine. I'll play it hours on end, I've done that with Castlevania, Metroid Prime AND Super Mario 64 DS, I plan to continue doing that when Contact and FFIII come out. When I'm out and waiting somewhere, I have Tetris DS to entertain me. hehe.
Back to my point. I think they'll be successful to port Oblivion to the PSP, I mean, barely any info was even released about this game, I don't think it should be written off so quick.
John Chamard @ Oct 7th 2006 5:44PM
I can't see how the psp could support an Elder Scrolls game. I have a vision of having to have a 10 gig memory stick and 4 UMD's to load the game. Ugh.
But Elder Scrolls for the wii would be amazing. The controller would be ideal.
Brad Lee @ Oct 7th 2006 8:33PM
"it's just, the sense of discovery is gone. If I could only play TES:O dungeons and not have access to the overworld, well, I wouldn't own it.. and I'm sure most people wouldn't either." Fish
I know I wouldn't. The most amusing aspect of Oblivion was discovering things. Hell, most of the time I didn't even bother exploring the dungeons, it was more enjoyable to just add more places on my map.
Lets face it, the combat in the Elder Scrolls series has not been spectacular. Combat in Oblivion (for me at least), consists of mindlessly hacking away weak enemies, while exploiting AI flaws against big enemies or hordes. Or, even better (because I'm lazy) just summoning a powerful monster over and over again to slaughter my foes.
In fact, with one of the characters I played made, all I did was summon a powerful creature with my ridiculously high conjure skill, then walk up behind foes and punch them in the back until they died. It works for about %95 of battles.
Combat in the Elder Scrolls games is fun in its own way, but if that is all the game was, I would get bored in a couple of hours and probably never play the game again. If Bethesda wants to make the PSP game GOOD, they'll have to tweak the combat to be more entertaining and add some strategic elements to replace the wandering fun of Oblivion.
I'm not in the least bit optimistic they will pull it off, not because they can't but because they won't. This project just seems like a lazy port, the same way EA ports horrible versions of Need For Speed on the DS and GBA.
Retrojunkie @ Oct 8th 2006 3:03PM
@pixelator
oh, so saying anything negative and truthful about the psp is fanboyism?
What world are you living it?
OF COURSE there is going to be load times
OF COURSE its going to be stripped down..
What? you would much rather them Deny that? or not mention ANYTHING?
Dear god its like watching a little kid cover his ears and go "LALALA LA LA I CAN'T HEAAAR YOU LALALALA"
Gabii @ Nov 6th 2006 11:09PM
If they're making this game for the PSP, then I see no reason why Bastheda(or whatever they're called.)cannot make this game for the Wii. They said they wanted everybody to enjoy Oblivion no matter on what console. So what about Wii?