[First Impressions] The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

I'm not quite sure how this happened, but I appear to have become a Level 3 Agent in Elder Scrolls: Oblivion. I have been playing this game for far too long by this point-- far too long, far too much at once. I've never really played an Elder Scrolls game before, so that should probably be taken into consideration with the following comments.

I'm somewhat astounded by finally having a game that lets me ride a freaking horse. The fact that RPGs so rarely have horses confuses me somewhat, but Oblivion has several different types. I would like some more features, such as naming the horse. In general, with Oblivion, I would like to have the option of more interactions in general, with everyone. I spend so much of my time talking to people to get the scoop that the fact that it would be nice to have further interactions available. The ability to do something with my horse other than ride it would be appreciated. Again, though, the fact that there are actually horses is impressive in itself. (Though, the ability to have my own stable of specially bred horses would be pretty awesome, albeit a little out of the ordinary.)

Oblivion is incredibly open-ended. I've been playing for 11+ hours and haven't really done very much other than travel, explore, and complete three quests. This isn't to say that it's boring: the thing is, it's immersive. Things take a while, yet somehow are never boring. Maybe if you're expecting fast-paced action and quick progression, it is, but I'm rather enjoying exploring the world and killing slaughterfish. Okay, so no one enjoys killing slaughterfish because they're evil, but still.

I can play my favorite type of character in Oblivion, which makes me extremely happy. An archer with options of swordplay, the ability to thieve my arse off, and some handy-dandy magic skills. I've yet to find where to buy lockpicks, but I'm working on it-- I have found them in chests and one or two in stores, but I'm running out and I need a larger supply.

Graphics are usually sort of "eh," but occasionally turn to downright pretty, generally one looking at the sky at night. I wasn't super impressed with them overall, but the graphics aren't the point of this game. They could have done a little more work on the different types of people, though. In fact, I would have really appreciated that, if nothing else. There are so many different species (not races goddamn you sci fi/fantasy tropes!) that it would be interesting to see what they looked like if the graphics were good.

Some things that bug me-- people call you out for thievery if you accidentally pick up a plate when trying to talk to them. It should be, if you try to LEAVE the premises with a plate, they call you out. I also wish that the classes didn't exist, since having to be an Agent or a Warrior or whatever is a little annoying, but Skyrim seems to have done that and that's something to look forward to. Beyond that, so far, I'm pretty happy. I'll have to see whether it keeps my interest, though. It's nice to know that if you get sick of doing side quest type things, you can always fall back on the main quest. However, I would like the opportunity to do things other than quest. What if I want to retire and open a shop or something? Breed horses? (Yes, now I really want to do that in an RPG, shut up. Or dragons! Dude, I want to breed dragons! No, really. A lot. That would be so cool. ...Anyways....)

There is room for improvement! I want Elder Scrolls and Fable to mate and spawn awesome RPG babies or something. On that note, why am I missing having brothels around? Fable has them; Oblivion doesn't, I think. It's kind of a funny thing to miss. And jokes. I miss Fable's humor, which Oblivion just doesn't have even a taste of. *sigh*