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POLL Your favourite tutorial level

  • Paul
    • 773 posts
     
    February 1, 2018 6:15 AM EST

    I was looking through my account on the poll building site (we use something called Easypolls) and found that I've actually made over 300 polls. Yikes! Now granted that quite a few were things like 'Deathmatches' (for those who recall those back in the day), but still - we've had a LOT of weekly / monthly polls...

    So it follows that its quite hard to find brand new topics that we haven't had before. But this month I think I have one, in fact I know for a fact we've never had this poll before.

    Which is your favourite and most engaging tutorial level?

    Yes. we all probably know those sewers or prison levels like the back of our hand. They do a job in introducing the game to new people - for the rest of us we possibly blast through as quick as possilbe! Personally I really enjoy the tutorials.

    But which is YOUR own personal favourite level to play and enjoy. Vote in the poll and tell us which and why...

  • Caladran
    • 44 posts
     
    February 1, 2018 6:21 AM EST

    I must say ESO - Escape from Coldharbour is my favourite since it has the looming threat feeling and it's a dark place. It also introduces a few NPCs that we meet later on, too.

     

    But, I love old Morrowind's tutorial because... of Jiub!


    This post was edited by Caladran at February 1, 2018 6:23 AM EST
  • Bonelord
    • 104 posts
     
    February 1, 2018 6:40 AM EST

    So far in ES games my favourite is Oblivion, a prisoner meeting the emperor who saw you in his dreams, watching the two Blades dispatching the Mythic Dawn assassins, then being handed the Amulet of Kings, nothing you can do to save the Emperors life, I got the feeling of great trust after speaking to Baurus, I felt I had no option but to head to Weynon Priory and hand it over.

  • Paul
    • 773 posts
     
    February 1, 2018 7:14 AM EST

    Caladran said:

    But, I love old Morrowind's tutorial because... of Jiub!

     

    Interesting.

    I considered - and decided against - including Morrowind in the poll. The encounter with Jiub is cool, but is it a 'tutorial'? Barely, I would suggest. I still recall the text pop up after you walk out of the Census Office... 'Your on your own now'. And not knowing what the hell to do next...

    It was the days before tutorials, really....

  • Overhate
    • 288 posts
     
    February 1, 2018 7:14 AM EST

    From the listed ones - ESO.

    From all of ES - Arena. It's the only tutorial level where you can actually die a lot and has a learning curve of its own.

  • Paul
    • 773 posts
     
    February 1, 2018 7:16 AM EST

    Overhate said:

    From all of ES - Arena. It's the only tutorial level where you can actually die a lot and has a learning curve of its own.

    Ah, that's one I haven't played. What happens to make it memorable?

  • Overhate
    • 288 posts
     
    February 1, 2018 7:21 AM EST

    Well, it's just hard. You start in a cell in a maze-like dungeon which is different every time as it's random generated. There are lots of rats and goblins waiting for you and, as the game is first person only, most times you can't see them coming from behind until they actually hit you. Which in turn makes you spin around every other second in a paranoid fashion. You need to sleep in niches to recover HP and only if there are no enemies nearby. All of this accompanied by eerie music and screeching/clanking dungeon sounds.

    Getting through this tutorial is a game on its own.

  • Tenebrous
    • 261 posts
     
    February 1, 2018 9:57 AM EST

    Ho boy. I guess the Coldharbour escape from ESO, though the tutorials of both Skyrim and Oblivion were damn good too. Never liked Arena's tutorial, though I respect it (along with Daggerfall). And there's something to be said about Morrowind's non-tutorial; it really helps immersion, IMO.

  • Mr.
    • 763 posts
     
    February 1, 2018 10:50 AM EST

    Of the ones listed (and that I've played) I think that my favorite is Oblivion, which is the one I voted for. I just love prison breaks, and I found that those sewers provided a very good atmosphere and a nice contrast between the inside and the outside.

    However, I think that maybe my favorite tutorial has to be Fallout 3. It was the first Fallout game I played and introduced me to my favorite RPG series. Growing up in Vault 101 was amazing. Bethesda had a mission: to introduce Fallout to its Elder Scrolls fanbase, and it did a very good job at that. Fallout 3 remains my favorite Bethesda Fallout.

    I really like Fallout 4's tutorial too. For all my gripes with that game, I must admit that seeing America before the war was a very pleasant experience (though I wish it was longer). Then, when you wake up, the game does a good job giving you the feeling of being lost in time and being thrown in a different reality, with you encountering a radroach for the first time and reading through all those terminals.

    I was going to mention Fallout: New Vegas too, as that remains my favorite Fallout game to date. However, I don't think it has a proper tutorial: you talk with the Doc and then you're free to do whatever you want. Of course, you can follow the path the game intends you to (to the local bar, which, after being shot in the head, doesn't sound like a bad idea at all!), but unlike the other games mentioned, you're not exactly forced to do the tutorial.

    Bonus mention for most frustrating tutorial: Fallout 1. As my first experience with an old, isometric RPG, getting through those freaking radscorpions was an absolute nightmare.

     

  • Xenla
    • 14 posts
     
    February 1, 2018 8:51 PM EST

    I'll admit-I've only played the tutorial of 3 of the games on this list. But honestly, I found Skyrim's tutorial far more engaging than FO4's and Oblivion's because it actually created a sense of urgency for what was happening. Sure, we were all fired up to save Shaun and the Emperor was about to be assassinated, but we were never really pushed to do anything in the tutorials, just to get out into the world. In Skyrim, however, we had to escape into the keep because if not, we'd be eaten by a fire-breathing dragon! 

    Anyway, that's why I think Skyrim's tutorial is my favorite!

  • SpookyBorn2021
    • 1467 posts
     
    February 2, 2018 1:54 AM EST

    Morrowind...I mean, sure Oblivion's was probably the best from a story perspective (though I didn't mind ESO's for plot, just hated the actual tutorial) but by not having a tutorial Morrowind wins it for me in the end. I'm a big fan of games just not having tutorials, or throwing you into the deep end. Enjoy skipping it in The Witcher 3 because you've still got the starting area as a bit of a Tutorial (ish). 

  • Ebonslayer
    • 275 posts
     
    February 3, 2018 2:53 PM EST

    I'd have to say Oblivion. It's possibly the only tutorial I never wanted to skip because it's just infinitely better than the others in every way possible. Helgen sucks ass, any Skyrim player will attest to that, the Wailing Prison was right to come with a "skip tutorial" button after beating it once because it feels stupid since you can just run past everything, and TES III Morrowind didn't even have a real 'tutorial', it was basically just walking off a ship.

    Oblivion beats the others in every way. In terms of plot it progresses better than the others. It teaches you everything you need to know about the game, leaving nothing to chance (well, except maybe power attacks, but in Skyrim you don't learn how to use magic or powers and in ESO doesn't teach you a lot of stuff either... don't get me started on Morrowind). It rewards you if you look around instead of running through with all the chests (well, ESO does too but that's a grind and all the stuff you get there can be gotten by crafting in half the time). There's more but I just woke up and I'm tired. I'll add more later.

  • Legion
    • 700 posts
     
    February 3, 2018 3:11 PM EST

    New Vegas, because it's exactly as long as it needs to be, and Fallout 3, because it's both unique and does an excellent job at setting the tone of the game. 

  • Chris H.
    • 168 posts
     
    February 3, 2018 9:25 PM EST

    I don't really care much for any of the tutorials, but I guess Fallout 3 would be my choice.

    I also played a little bit of Daggerfall, that games tutorial was not nice, there's an enemy in there that's immune to iron stuff you start the game with, just have to frantically run past >.> unless you happen to have the ebony dagger.

    Also Arena's 'tutorial' is hardly a tutorial, its more of a maze, good luck getting out of there.

     

    I kinda dislike Oblivion's tutorial solely because I'm helplessly frozen in place as the Emperor is assinated, even if you stand in the way of the assassin's path you cannot save him, plus the assassin's just a regular mythic dawn mook. Like.. why

  • Mook
    • 11 posts
     
    February 4, 2018 4:14 PM EST

    I have only experienced the last three Elder Scrolls and a casual encounter in New Vagas which I can't remember.  I have just done two replays of the Skyrim start, read countless fanfics, and it still imerses me with the cinematics and story line. Do I remember being killed by a goblin in Oblivion?

    Initiating the main quest, Morrowind wins, hands down for me. For once there is a main quest subtle enough not to panic me to follow it or inflict me with guilt when I don't. Only most antisocial or anti-Nord of my PC's can escape it in Skyrim.

  • Gollum
    • 558 posts
     
    February 5, 2018 4:30 PM EST
    Oblivion for me. Going through the tunnels was always fun, plus the Dark Elf across the hall had something to say for whatever race you were. Arena's was actually difficult and was probably did the best job for teaching you what to do and expect later on. I don't even know how to get through Daggerfall's. Morrowind didn't really have a tutorial. Skyrim's got old due to my bad case of restartitis.
  • Paws
    • 1595 posts
     
    February 26, 2018 4:00 AM EST

    Hard one to vote for. If Mass Effect were on that list I'd go with that. It was just an info-dump of epic proportions after a character creation system that took hours to get comfortable with. I remember making my first Shep, picking a background and alignment, then being pretty much overwhelmed. The first five minutes had me making a moral call on matters I wasn't quite comfortable making a decision on, yet Shep made me believe what I said was right. Next thing I know, I'm asking questions about the Terminus Systems and long-dead civilisations. It was a weird mix of discomfort and badassary, with repeated jumps to a narrated codex to keep track of all the info the gamme threw at me. Abolutely loved it, and was hooked pretty much as soon as I heard the music.