Action please. Not a lot of experience with traditional or (J)RPGs. I have no objection to party-based combat like Dragon Age 1 and the more stylized setpiece battles in Lost Odyssey, FFXIII-2 and Last Remnant. If you care about the characters it's quite enjoyable and there's more incentive to find just the right gear or spell.
What I like most about WRPGs though is the size of the sandbox or world and going to a game that seemingly punishes me for exploring with an endless series of random battles was tough to get used to. Also playing as a fixed character is less enjoyable than building one from scratch and seeing how your choices affect the gameplay.
There is a lot of genre blurring right now. I hope I might get a game with the production values, story and polish of the best JRPGs but with more choices and an open, interactive setting.
I assume Kupomogli's comments on ESIV are concerning the potential imbalances later in the game. I always point out there was actually a difficulty slider if things got out of hand. I had the Wizard's Tower dlc (otherwise you had to join the Mage's Guild.) and found building weapons with enchantments like this was a big equalizer.
12 pts Cold Damage, 48 pts Weakness to Cold, 4 pts Absorb Health, Soul Trap 2 secs.
Values and element may vary obviously.
Something like this paired with Azura's Star or adequate gems made for a sustained damage and health system. Or you could just save before getting a Sigil Stone and replay till you got the attribute you want. Sorry, very old news but I really feel some people's objection to Oblivion's levelling were overstated. Skryim by comparison you need to be lvl 100 just to apply a second enchantment. A step back IMHO.
