Oblivion!

Sorry about saying I was back and then not posting at all for several weeks.  Oops.  Here's a new post:

      I've had Oblivion installed on my computer for a while now, but I haven't gotten around to playing it, instead opting to play Morrowind.  Last weekend I was introduced to the total conversion mod Nehrim and, I must say, it is pretty rad.  I've gotten about ten hours of playtime in so far.  The most enjoyable part of the game so far has been the tutorial.  I don't mean to disparage the rest of the game (I've really enjoyed it), it's just that I really liked the tutorial.  There's a nice cinematic, then you're dropped into a dark mine underground.  The tutorial plays a lot like a horror game.  Normally, I don't like horror that much, but I liked this a lot.  I suppose I would probably have enjoyed it a lot less if I had died more than the once or twice that I did.  It was entertaining and I was pretty absorbed in running away from the horrors, but the thing that made me think "this is awesome" was the loading screen when I exited the mine.  Roots had begun to break through the walls and there were a couple hole leading up to a dense forest.  When I opened the door to the outside, the loading screen image was of a hand blocking out the blinding light.  It's details like that that really make RPGs for me.  It makes it much more immersing.  Now, on to the rest of the game:

The Plot:
     Good.

Magicka:  Same dumb name, way better system.
     In the Elder Scrolls III, magicka didn't regenerate.  This made using magic a pain.  You had to carry around a bunch of potions if you wanted to get anything done and it was prohibitively expensive to play as a mage, especially for the early and middle game.  In Oblivion, it regenerates.  That makes it pretty neat.  It's easy to supplement your physical attacks with magical ones and to heal oneself during and after battles.  If you're fighting non-challenging monsters, you don't have to run back to base to buy more potions all the time.  Non-regenerating mana is dumb.

Combat:
     It's alright.  I like it more than most RPGs and FPSes, but I would prefer if the melee required a little bit more.  Archery and magic require aim at least, but melee just requires that you be close enough to your target.  Having an NPC accompany you makes it really easy; if the NPC aggros all the baddies, you can just pick them off.

Lockpicking:
     Dumb.  I like that it's a minigame you can get better at, but picks do not work that way.

The Environment 'n' Stuff:
     Nehrim does a really good job of creating a world.  There's not as much of the "everything is exactly the same" feeling that I get in most games, but everything is still really tiny.  I can walk across the capital of the continent in thirty seconds.  It does feel pretty epic though.

The German:
     Pretty rad.  I like listening to the characters talk while I read the subtitles.  I don't understand a lick of it and it adds some nice atmosphere to the game.

Bleh.  That wasn't a very good post, but I have to post it anyways so I can at least get something up here.