Skyrim or Fallout 3: Which is the Better RPG?

Following the Twinfinite Staff’s last discussion about the best Final Fantasy game, we decided to get out our metaphorical boxing gloves and debate it out once more. This time we talk about two open-world monsters by Bethesda. It’s about to go down!

The Question

Skyrim vs Fallout 3 – If you could only play one of them ever again which one would it be?

Discuss!

Chris Jecks: For me it’s all about Fallout 3. The post-apocalyptic world just provided so much more weird shit to explore and a much greater variety of areas. Some of the weapons in the game were just downright awesome too! Not to mention I generally found the story to be more engaging! The soundtrack was the icing on the cake! Oh and one more thing! Stealth-planting frags in people’s pockets and then bailing made me feel like a ninja badass..

Ishmael Romero: Skyrim. Dragons are better than mutants and aliens. Magic is boss. And killing people by yelling is the funniest thing to ever be allowed in a game. Yeah Mortal Kombat did it before, but Skyrim took it to the next level. Also, I prefer all the radiant quests, map system, and compass.

Chris Jecks: Ahh yeah but Fallout 3 had the VAT system which kinda allowed for more tactical combat or just allowed you to take a slight step back and see what you had to blow the crap out of. Combine the slow-mo kills and using the fat man to launch a mini-nuke into a Super mutant behemoth’s head provided one of the most satisfying kills I’ve ever made in a video game. You have got me with that Fus-Ro-Dah though; watching some guy flail off the edge of a cliff from shouting at him provides some mega lols.

Ishmael Romero: I really enjoy the VAT system and was surprised they didn’t work it into The Elder Scrolls (although they still can in later games), but dead worlds don’t do it for me lol. I like life, crowds, VICTIMS!!! Haha. The distance between fun bits kind of killed it for me. I know it’s part of Fallout‘s charm, but I’m hoping the next installment steps up the excitement factor (even if it’s just in exploration).

Sharon Coone:  I only played Skyrim, so Skyrim.

Sharon Coone: I respect Skyrim immensely for what they accomplished. I still play it eagerly to this day.

Mike Geib: Skyrim was a game I avoided for years, as an avid JRPG fan. But it sucked me in so incredibly with its world. Fallout 3 hasn’t done that yet, and I still sort of resent the transition from the style of the original games.

Sharon Coone: Funny thing about Skyrim, when I heard about it I did not want it at all. My dad came home with it as a surprise and I was secretly “ugh”ing. Then it was one of the best things I’ve touched.

Ishmael Romero: No game has ever taken up as much of my time as Skyrim, and that’s me playing on a PS3. Imagine if I had access to mods, I don’t think I would’ve ever purchased another game.

Chris Jecks: Well…. looks like I’m all on my lonesome. Maybe it’s just me and my love for the post-apocalyptic world but I found Fallout 3 sucked me into its world a lot faster than Skyrim ever managed to. Oh yeah Ish, as a guy who’s just scratched the surface of Skyrim mods you’d be reaching the 1000s of hours playing it. Quests against giant octopus are insane…

Yamilia Avendaño: I actually finished Fallout 3 and never finished Skyrim but Skyrim doesn’t have spooky monsters but Fallout 3 doesn’t overwhelm with existential dread but Skyrim has dragons but Fallout 3 has Dogmeat but Skyrim sounds like a super cool name or at least a dirty joke but Fallout 3 reminds me of Fall Out Boy and The Simpsons is an amazing show but Skyrim has voice shouting and I love to shout but Fallout 3 has Nuka Cola and I love cola but Skyrim has that opening with the dragon calamity but Fallout 3 has the emerging from the vault opening but Skyrim but Fallout 3 but…

Stan Guderski: Every RPG has dragons, trolls, and magic. How many RPGs let you blow up a city with a nuke, punch a dude’s head off his body with a mechanical fist in slow motion, and barter with bottle caps while listening to 50s music from a device attached to your wrist? And also eat people. Fallout 3 also had fuckhuge bugs, a mini nuke launcher, vampires, aliens, a talking tree… Don’t get me wrong, Skyrim was great but it’s kind of basic when you compare it to just how bizarre and wonderful Fallout‘s universe is.

Ishmael Romero:  I found Fallout 3 to be the most boring thing I’d ever come across. Yes fantasy has been done, but so has sci-fi… to death. Killing all those things was kind of cool, but the level of interaction, and the questlines of Skyrim just felt better. Also the world was alive. I need life. How can I kill everyone if they’re all so far? Lol.

Chris Samson: I love Fallout 3, but I’m heavily biased because I love post-apocalyptic media / games to the point of obsession. I loved how weird it was, and I get to scavenge around in DC metro area where I live and work

Thom Peart: I think you just broke Yami. I’d have to go with Skyrim. Fallout 3 is a great game and I had a lot of fun with it but Skyrim has probably taken more of my time than any other game. I’ve easily spent 200 hours in total and the different play styles give it a huge amount of replayability. It’s like loads of fantasy games in one. Playing as a sword-wielding warrior was cool but playing as a super stealthy assassin who kills an enemy with one arrow was amazing. Then there was my wizard playthrough… don’t even get me started on my wizard playthrough.

Justin Carter: I like the bleak outlook that Fallout 3 provides me as I look for my father alone and get constantly gangbanged by crabs, giant flies, or some dickheads who looked at me funny after I stole their can of beans. The VATS aiming was pretty fun just for watching someone’s legs get blown off in glorious slow-mo.

Ishmael Romero: I killed every person I came across in Fallout 3 and New Vegas, and it always felt like there were too few. and While VATS was super dope it got kinda annoying after a while, to me at least. I’m all for being different, but be damn good if you’re gonna be different. and like Mike said, original Fallouts were borderline perfection.

Stan Guderski: I also found it fascinating that Fallout 3 takes place in a universe that shares a lot of the same history as ours, except they took a different turn somewhere along the way. Alternate history tickles my fancy.

Justin Carter: For some reason, Skyrim just felt a bit TOO fantasy in its environments, if that makes any sense. Snow area, forest area, a cave, a castle, etc. Fallout may have empty subways and ruined cities, but there’s something that feels almost refreshing about it thanks to the switchable radio stations and its rather dark sense of humor.

Ishmael Romero: But it didn’t let me kill that child… for research.

Mike Geib: Wait, seriously? I haven’t tried it, but are kids off limits in Skyrim?

Ishmael Romero: I just like to experiment with the boundaries in my games. If kids are there, I want to know if I can kill them. Not that I want to, but it’s interesting to see if it’s allowed. Like how far were the devs willing to go? For a long time games didn’t let you attack random NPCs, now you can kill almost all in most games.

Chris Jecks: That’s what I love about Bethesda regardless of which game we’re talking about now. They’re always trying to push some boundaries, be it killing every NPC in sight or creating one of the most dense and beautiful worlds to date. With the advancements in hardware that the PS4 and Xbox One bring over from the previous generation of consoles, I’m incredibly excited to see what they bring to the table with Fallout 4 and Elder Scrolls VI.

Did Stan just come up with the best Bethesda game idea ever?

Stan Guderski: Imagine a crossover game, where Oblivion-style gates start opening up in Tamriel but they lead you to Fallout‘s America? And you can start in either universe and cross over to the other.

Chris Jecks: Stan go work for Bethesda…now.

Ishmael Romero: Stan that would be dope. Like some sort of rift in time and space allows for traversal between the two, and you can mix and match weapons and skills from both universes. I would play that forever.

Stan Guderski: Yeah and the enemy types start crossing over. Like seeing  a FUCKING DRAGON descend on the White House, or stop a renegade robot from attacking a village.

Ishmael Romero: Oh man, they’ll need new types of arrows lmfao. Stan you may have just thought of the best game EVER.

We came up with the idea first Bethesda… just sayin!