Oblivion's Dark Brotherhood questline actually has better pacing than Skyrim's

[EbonyWarrior]

been replaying Oblivion after years of Skyrim and man, the DB questline hits different. not saying Skyrim's is bad - Astrid's intro is iconic and the whole "you're trapped" vibe works - but Oblivion's progression just feels tighter. you're constantly getting these weird assassination contracts that escalate naturally. the Emperor one actually feels earned by the time you get there instead of just... happening because you joined the guild.

Skyrim's problem is you do like five contracts and suddenly you're killing the literal Emperor and then it's over. Oblivion stretched it out in a way that made each target feel personal, like you were actually climbing ranks instead of just doing jobs. plus Cicero is great but he's also kind of carrying the whole questline on his back. Oblivion had that spread across multiple characters.

idk, maybe I'm just nostalgic but the Dark Brotherhood in Oblivion felt like an actual organization with structure. Skyrim made it spookier but less... guild-like? anyone else feel this way or am I misremembering how good it actually was

 

[ScrollsOfTamriel]

I think you're onto something about the structure, though I'd push back a bit on the pacing complaint. Skyrim's DB questline is definitely shorter - you're right that it moves fast - but I'd argue that's kind of the point? The Brotherhood is broken when you join. You're not climbing a functioning hierarchy, you're rebuilding from like five people hiding in a abandoned sanctuary. That's a different story than Oblivion's, where you're joining an established, thriving organization.

That said, yeah, Oblivion gave you way more variety in targets and contracts. The Whodunit quest alone - the one where you're trapped in that mansion - is something Skyrim never really matched. You got personal jobs, weird escalations, actual consequences that fed into the story. Skyrim compressed all that into the Forsworn Conspiracy and Boethiah's Calling, which are good but nowhere near as elaborate.

The character thing is fair too. Cicero does carry a lot of the personality weight, and honestly he works better as comic relief than as the face of the whole guild. But I'd say the real issue is that Skyrim's DB questline is just short, not necessarily worse paced. You sprint through it in like an hour if you're not doing side stuff. Oblivion let you marinate in it longer, which made it feel more substantial even if the actual quest design wasn't always deeper.

Not nostalgia though - Oblivion's DB was genuinely more fleshed out. Skyrim sacrificed that for a tighter, weirder story about a dying cult. Different strengths.