Fast travel is a common feature in most open world games these days, whether its instantaneous like in a Bethesda title, or based on certain objects that will allow you to fast travel like the signs in the Witcher 3.
As I've gotten older and racked up the playthroughs in my favorite titles, I've begun to recognize that I have to play games faster or else I will never get them finished. Today, I can't stand to let the dialogue play on its own in the same games I used to set the controller down and just listen. I've heard Jarl Balgruuf lecture me on why I must heed the summoning of the Greybeards at least a dozen times now. Emperor Uriel Septim has informed me that I am, in fact, the one from his dreams twice that number.
On top of all that, there is the lingering issue of my continued aging. There is, apparently, no way to stop getting older and taking on more responsibilities. I've looked. Now, that incessant need to skip ahead to save time has affected the rare occasion when I get a new game I want to play.
In light of that, I'm trying to take things slower.
I currently have two playthroughs going: I'm playing Oblivion on my PC and Skyrim on my Series X. In both, I still have that itchy trigger finger when it comes to skipping dialogue but I have not touched fast travel once. I'm trying to slow things down, and really absorb the time I'm spending in the world of Tamriel. I want to take it all in all over again as best I can. I no doubt have many mysteries I've missed in my hundreds of hours with the titles. Add that to the fact I want to play Morrowind from start to finish, a thing I've never done (though I think I've touched at least 2/3 of the wikia articles for Morrowind in case I'm ever accosted by a lore purist whose been itching to ask me about the Heart of Lorkhan).
Its been hard, especially since I've already had to walk all the way back to Whiterun twice because I've filled both myself and the walking lootbag that is my Housecarl, Lydia, to the brim with juicy loot. As for Oblivion, well, I've been having fun in Chorrol.
With fast travel readily available, you can almost always keep the action going. Get a guest, fast travel close to quest, complete quest, turn it in, and repeat. Without fast travel, you're forced to jog all the way there. If you're playing Oblivion, you don't even get to sprint. You just walk with the occasional acrobatic roll to spice things up a bit. Even through the struggle, I'm having fun.
Taking in the vistas while Composer Jeremy Soule plays the soundtrack to my digital life is enough to make anyone reflect on their own, in Tamriel and otherwise. When Harvest Dawn plays, I know I'm safe. I can sit down in the nearest chair, rest up, maybe get the XP boost for sleeping, and wake up alright. Even typing this now makes me a bit emotional.
When Oblivion released in 2006 it was my first real open world game. I was an awkward young boy just trying to make it through school and I was doing a terrible job at it. The grades were good, but the social skills were underdeveloped. The only friend I felt like I had were the ones I made in Oblivion. Now, having turned 22, things are going good. I'm engaged, have good friends, and no longer have to worry about school. Then, the flutes start playing in Oblivion and I'm reminded of some of the best times I had growing up, holding a banged up Xbox 360 controller in the dark and fighting sewer rats to make it out of the Imperial Sewers alive. I was safe, and everything was okay.
Taking my time through this world feels like I'm having lunch with an old friend. Seeing the familiar bright color scheme in Oblivion reminds me of a time when they were the best friend I ever had, and going too fast would be an injustice. So, I go slow and steady and remember the good times in this world. Some of the frustrating too, like when I fought the Arena Champion without first helping him discover he's half-vampire and man does he kick like a mule. Then, later when I discovered he'd just stand there and let you kill him, I was sad again, and longed to go back and not tell him he was a vampire. He was such a good guy, even before the fight he just knew what had to happen. Either he died or I did, and he was at peace with that.
I also remember the first time I saw a dragon in Skyrim. The Western Watchtower was ablaze with dragon fire, two men had been eaten as they tried to run away. More cowered in the shadow of the tower. Me, Irileth, and the Whiterun boys arrived to find the scene ablaze like we had just stepped into Oblivion itself. Then came the dragon, herald of Alduin, ready to slay us all. That spectacle would eventually become normal, even annoying at times, like when I was just trying to kill some mud crabs and a frost dragon would show up and strafe me like he was trying to force the Vietcong out of the brambles.
The moments before and after those pinnacle moments might not be as exciting, but I remember them all the same. After killing the Arena Champion I went down and got my champion gear, and then pursued the market for awhile. I'd been in the underbelly of Arena for days at that point, fighting my way to the top. After, I just wanted to relax. I bought a sword with my winnings, and then went to the Elven Garden District to grab a bite to eat at the King and Queen Tavern.
After my battle with the dragon at the Watchtower I ran back to Whiterun, hearing the mighty call of the Greybeards where I then turned in my quest to Jarl Balgruuf who beckoned me to seek them atop the Throat of the World. So naturally instead I did some questing around Whiterun first and slept a couple of nights at The Bannered Mare and beat the shit out of Mikael so he'll stop harassing Carlotta who is just trying to sell her cabbages in peace. Then, Uthgerd noticed and she wanted a piece too so I gave her a whole pie and she was so impressed I dumped Lydia for her steel plate armored, two-handed sword having angry ass.
Now she had to follow me around without fast travel all day. Companions in Oblivion weren't really a thing until later in the game, but I made do with a trusty skeleton champion summon. Conjuration in Oblivion sparked my love for similar abilities in other games. A lot of things in Oblivion shaped the way I am today.
When Oblivion released in 2006, it corresponded around the time I began writing, largely as a result of my newfound love for Elder Scrolls. It has everything and more to do with the fact I so thoroughly engaged with the story of Oblivion and its writing I thought to myself "I want to do that one day." Such an epiphany might have never come if I didn't take things slow. I listened to the dialogue, read the lore books and embraced the world. It embraced me back.
I remember distinctly that I didn't know what fast travel was until after I became the Hero of Kvatch. I legged it the whole way. I also remember I discovered Kvatch by accident as I somehow circumnavigated it to Anvil first. As I was leaving Anvil, I made someone mad at the Brina Cross Inn and a passing Imperial Soldier chased me all the way to the refugee camp at Kvatch where I was just trying to, well, find refugee from the big angry still got on my tail. None of these events would have happened had I not legged it all the way to Anvil and then to Kvatch.
I'm replaying Oblivion in slow mode because its what I remember being what, to be a bit cliché, changed my life. I'm doing it as a reminder I don't always need my phone when I use the bathroom. I'm doing it because I'm impatient these days, and forget that the big things usually happen in the small moments. For example, when a young boy oblivious to what fast travel is plays his favorite game and by hoofing it everywhere discovers a world in which he is safe and inspires him to pick up a pencil and write his own.
Comments