Oblivion: Trying to Salvage the Wreckage

Better late than never as they say...
I only recently picked up the GOTY version of Oblivion because it was fairly inexpensive, and I always swore I would not buy the game until it was on the sale racks (well that and actually having the machine to run it... ).
Having read so many opinions here at Game Banshee from people I respect I had a fairly sound sense of what I would encounter, but I'm not sure I was prepared for the extremes.
First of all, I did not realise the dumbing down of game-play would be *that* bad. I was disgusted by the continual pop-ups instructing me to perform the obvious while engaged with a quest, or the pop-ups that inanely announced I had "successfully harvested" a herb. Presumably these pop-ups were there just in case players have no common sense at all, or they are under the impression players are deaf and can't hear the sound confirming that they've picked a flower..
And it's not just that, Bethsoft seems to think players are directionally challenged and thus a compass and map markers always guide the way... completely destroying any sense of immersion and taking the magic out of exploration.
Even better, Bethsoft allows players to fast travel to completely unknown cities as soon as they arrive in the game proper.

And all of this says nothing of the oversimplification present in weapon categorization (please...axes are *not* blunt and small swords/daggers have vastly different requirements to long swords/two-handed swords) or the excessive streamlining where skills are concerned.

Returning to the more obvious dumbing down though.. granted, Morrowind could sometimes be frustrating in terms of finding things, but I found this level of handholding well over the top.
One word... "mods" Really, thank God for player made plug-ins that remove all of the above irritations.

Once I had installed mods that eliminated most of the excessive handholding, the game underneath began to shine through... and I realised that somewhere...somewhere there was actually a game worth playing.

As I stepped out into the world without actually knowing where to head I admired the admittedly pretty scenery, and upon finding civilisation I began to complete quests. The first thing that struck me was that most quests, despite the more limited dialogue options of NPCs, had much more depth than those in Morrowind. For example, one quest requires the player to enter an NPC's dream, and complete a series of puzzles; I found that to be highly original and interesting. Thus, my initial reaction to the game began to change a bit.

Encouraged, I began to explore further, and that was when my reaction took a turn downwards again. Unlike in Morrowind, I discovered a terrain that was depressingly similar from one end of the continent to the other. Certainly, there were minor variations here and there, but overall it was grass, grass and yet more grass. *sigh* I also began to find that the bland sameness of the land was reflected in the people inhabiting it. No matter the race, they all possessed the same round features and buggy eyes... They seriously looked like a bunch of mentally challenged, inbred chipmunks, no really!
Yet again, I found hope in mods, and by the time I was finished I was actually able to tell the races apart. There is also a series of mods in development that distinguish the landscapes from one another. I've heard they can be somewhat buggy, though, so for now I have not installed any.

Once the NPCs had been dealt with, I undertook more quests, this time with the guilds. Again, a mixed experience awaited me. For the most part (the Mage's Guild excepted) I found the guild quests to be far more interesting and in depth than those in Morrowind. This is especially true of the Thieve's Guild and Dark Brotherhood. Both are extremely well written, and both have a nicely done background narrative. I was impressed. Moreover, the miscellaneous quests in Oblivion are very well done and much more diverse than their Morrowind counterparts.
But... there are far fewer joinable factions in Oblivion than there are in Morrowind. OK, obviously you can't have Great Houses or the Temple in Cyrodiil, I understand that, but where are the Imperial Cult and the Imperial Legion for crying out loud! Unless I'm somehow mistaken, are we not in the Imperial province?
Speaking of quests.. The main quest in Oblivion pales in comparison to that in Morrowind, in my view... Honestly, "bland" doesn't even come close to describing the monotony of Oblivion's MQ. *sigh*

I was, therefore, more than ready for the diversity presented by the Shivering Isles. I have not yet completed the isles, but all I can say is that I truly wish Bethsoft had made the entire game as interesting.

Alright, I'm done pontificating for the moment