[itsibitzi]

One thing that drove me mad about Oblivion was the level scaling of items which meant it sometimes made sense to be strategic about when you completed a quest in order to best optimise/metagame the mechanic.

I really love it when a game is completely happy to allow you to innocently wonder into a zone far above your level and let you get completely squashed by the monsters you find there.

[veave]

One of my playthroughs of Oblivion I did at level 1 without levelling. It made everything much easier (oh, and Umbra's sword). Unfortunately it also meant that you there was much less monster diversity since some monsters only appeared at higher levels. https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Oblivion:Under_Leveling

Still something interesting to try.

[kqr]

I actually preferred that because the low-level creatures seemed more appropriate for most of the Cyrodiilic environments. I'd imagine the imperial presence would quickly drive out most of the tough beasts in most areas of the countryside and the less special dungeons.

I guess lore-wise Cyrodiil was supposed to be larger and then tough creatures would make more sense, but in-game, most of it felt like the back yard of the imperial city.

[account42]

It's not just the beasts that are out of place - common bandits wearing glass armor at high player levels is pretty ridiculous.

[lapetitejort]

Dark Souls (released the same year as Skyrim) famously lets the player walk into high level zones mere seconds from the starting area. It's easier to find the cemetery than the path up to the proper first area.

[faangsticle]

Oh, that explains why i abandoned the game. Terrible design. It doesn't even tell you what's going on.

[Alekhine]

Part of the fun is figuring it out yourself. It can feel oppressive at times, but I personally really enjoyed it.

[faangsticle]

I didn't even realize there was an alternate path, but heard about people say the game was intentionally difficult. Banged my head on the graveyard for a few hours, then gave up.

[chlorion]

F:NV was a lot better about this IMO.

Right after leaving the docs place you can head to the strip in a straight line, and it will take you through a route with some of the most powerful creatures, like giant radscorpions and cazadors, and if you somehow manage to get past them there is a mining site filled with deathclaws!

There are in game warning signs telling you to not take the route but you are totally free to ignore them.

[StrangeATractor]

or save scum it to get the loot. I got umbra gear not too long after getting out of the sewers in Oblivion by opportune saving.