I've visited all but two of the main cities now (the fact that I've still got 2 to go after what must be 20-30 hours gameplay is amazing when all I've been doing so far is intentionally trekking to the cities to see what they're like (though I have of course been getting distracted along the way)) and they're all distinctly different. Each has its own architecture and character and mood. Just like in Morrowind ^___^
They've really recaptured that sense of mystery and weirdness that Oblivion lost. And they've combined that with that graphical wonder that Oblivion had, that sense of awe when you breach a hilltop and see the view beyond.
Now spoilers. This first one isn't very spoilery, I just express delight about the manner in which one gets inducted into one of the factions:
The way you get inducted into the Dark Brotherhood is... wow :|
This one is a bit spoilery concerning the above (I describe it in full and outline my dilema):
Ok so after you kill the nasty orphanage lady for the kid, the next time you sleep you wake up in an abandoned shack and a lady called Astrid is there. She tells you that you stole a kill from the DB and must make amends. There are three prisoners in the shack with you, all on their knees, wrists bound behind their backs and sacks over their heads. You have to question them and choose which one to kill.
Ok, so, one of them is clearly nasty, one is kinda neutral and the other one is basically innocent. I could kill the nasty one without too many qualms but... I don't like the Dark Brotherhood. I mean, I enjoyed their quests in Oblivion but ... they are horrible. I loved the Morag Tong in Morrowind and in my mind the Dark Brotherhood are still my mortal enemies.
But! I could kill Astrid. And then the quest changes from 'join the dark brotherhood' (or whatever) to 'destroy the dark brotherhood. So Ok, that's more up my street. BUT... it's an extremely tough fight (I cheated to test whether it's possible before wasting what will inevitably be hours actually doing it). I'm not even sure it's possible with my character. And... even though I detest the DB, their quests do tend to be good. Will I be missing out if I don't do them? Ok so I'm now going to go spend several hours seeing if I can kill this lady.
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