Oblivion and Skyrim feel like they have a similar philosophy regarding their beginnings. Whilst both games feature a blank slate protagonist without a known past, who is for some reason punished (either thrown in jail for an undisclosed crime or caught crossing the border and sentenced to death). But Oblivion starts with a cutscene of the emperor giving a bit of exposition and foreshadowing his death. Afterwards you get taunted by a mean dunmer and get to escape by following the Emperor's party through some escape tunnel. Whilst you cross paths several times, for the majority of time you are alone in a dark cave, finding your way through narrow corridors why the HUD informs you of gameplay mechanics. The Emperor crosses paths with you and talks about your birthsign, and one of his blades talks about your class, introducing these mechanics to you. The emperor dies and you get his medallion, the blades believe youand send you off to Jauffre. You carrying said medallion and the mysterious dawn assassins that ambushed the emperor creating a sense of urgency. If you're new to this kind of games you might even think that you really need to hurry, and that assassins might follow you. Skyrim on the other hand starts with the famous wagonride, an interactive cutscene where you get to look around. There's almost no exposition except informing you of Ulfric and the Stormcloaks, who I assume played a much more important role in early drafts of the game. In the final release however their whole civil war is entirely optional and doesn't really change much. After creating your character you almost get executed, but then the most convenient dragon attack in history happens, and after some running around with the stormcloaks and Hadvar you get to make what seems like a rather important decision (although it turns out it doesn't matter at all) : do you go with Hadvar the imperial, who although being with the guys who tried to kill you seems to be an honest guy, and even suspected you might not deserve death? Or should you go with Ralof the Stormcloak, who seems rather nice although everybody so far said the stormcloaks were the bad guys? The two of you then go through a dungeon, fighting either evil blue guys or evil red guys. At the end of the dungeon they accompany you to the same little village, Riverwood, as both Hadvar and Ralof have family there. They tell you that you should probably inform the Jarl about the dragon, but there isn't a big feeling of urgency. Hadvar even prioritises getting back to the army over informing the Jarl himself. Overall the two intros couldn't be more different. Oblivions intro is put into sections, and they also place loot in a way you get to experiment with it a lot. It starts with light armour and small weapons, and then continues with heavy armour and two handed weapons, so if you're the person who always equips what has the best numbers you'll naturally try both. Bows, magic and stealth are mentioned specifically, and introduced in a good place to try them. Race, birthsign, and class creation are split deliberately, so you can see what works for you before you pick everything. And at the end of the sewers you get the chance to change your character in case the test run made you change your mind on your build. The entire section is meant to give you an overview on how the game works, so you can make a good decision for your first build. The main quest is served with a degree of (false) urgency. In this game you're an everyman who eventually becomes a hero by being at a certain place at a certain time Skyrim's intro is short and to the point. Classes are gone and birthsigns have been replaced by stones you can find and activate, so race is the only big decision at the start. All the skills progress by using them, so instead of the intro serving as a testing area to decide on your playstyle it is just a slightly more cinematic dungeon to give you some starting gear. Even the less urgent main quest is a design choice, you are meant to explore the world and stumble into quest at your own pace. This is YOUR story and YOUR adventure. You are the chosen one, and your destiny will eventually lead you back to the main quest. Whilst the hero of Kvatch was some ordinary person that got involved into extraordinary circumstances, the dragonborn was born to be a hero. Even the strongest warrior of Tamriel would have no chance against Alduin without some dragonblood in their veins
Oblivion and Skyrim feel like they have a similar philosophy regarding their beginnings. Whilst both games feature a blank slate protagonist without a known past, who is for some reason punished (either thrown in jail for an undisclosed crime or caught crossing the border and sentenced to death). But Oblivion starts with a cutscene of the emperor giving a bit of exposition and foreshadowing his death. Afterwards you get taunted by a mean dunmer and get to escape by following the Emperor's party through some escape tunnel. Whilst you cross paths several times, for the majority of time you are alone in a dark cave, finding your way through narrow corridors why the HUD informs you of gameplay mechanics. The Emperor crosses paths with you and talks about your birthsign, and one of his blades talks about your class, introducing these mechanics to you. The emperor dies and you get his medallion, the blades believe youand send you off to Jauffre. You carrying said medallion and the mysterious dawn assassins that ambushed the emperor creating a sense of urgency. If you're new to this kind of games you might even think that you really need to hurry, and that assassins might follow you.
Skyrim on the other hand starts with the famous wagonride, an interactive cutscene where you get to look around. There's almost no exposition except informing you of Ulfric and the Stormcloaks, who I assume played a much more important role in early drafts of the game. In the final release however their whole civil war is entirely optional and doesn't really change much. After creating your character you almost get executed, but then the most convenient dragon attack in history happens, and after some running around with the stormcloaks and Hadvar you get to make what seems like a rather important decision (although it turns out it doesn't matter at all) : do you go with Hadvar the imperial, who although being with the guys who tried to kill you seems to be an honest guy, and even suspected you might not deserve death? Or should you go with Ralof the Stormcloak, who seems rather nice although everybody so far said the stormcloaks were the bad guys? The two of you then go through a dungeon, fighting either evil blue guys or evil red guys. At the end of the dungeon they accompany you to the same little village, Riverwood, as both Hadvar and Ralof have family there. They tell you that you should probably inform the Jarl about the dragon, but there isn't a big feeling of urgency. Hadvar even prioritises getting back to the army over informing the Jarl himself.
Overall the two intros couldn't be more different. Oblivions intro is put into sections, and they also place loot in a way you get to experiment with it a lot. It starts with light armour and small weapons, and then continues with heavy armour and two handed weapons, so if you're the person who always equips what has the best numbers you'll naturally try both. Bows, magic and stealth are mentioned specifically, and introduced in a good place to try them. Race, birthsign, and class creation are split deliberately, so you can see what works for you before you pick everything. And at the end of the sewers you get the chance to change your character in case the test run made you change your mind on your build. The entire section is meant to give you an overview on how the game works, so you can make a good decision for your first build. The main quest is served with a degree of (false) urgency. In this game you're an everyman who eventually becomes a hero by being at a certain place at a certain time
Skyrim's intro is short and to the point. Classes are gone and birthsigns have been replaced by stones you can find and activate, so race is the only big decision at the start. All the skills progress by using them, so instead of the intro serving as a testing area to decide on your playstyle it is just a slightly more cinematic dungeon to give you some starting gear. Even the less urgent main quest is a design choice, you are meant to explore the world and stumble into quest at your own pace. This is YOUR story and YOUR adventure. You are the chosen one, and your destiny will eventually lead you back to the main quest. Whilst the hero of Kvatch was some ordinary person that got involved into extraordinary circumstances, the dragonborn was born to be a hero. Even the strongest warrior of Tamriel would have no chance against Alduin without some dragonblood in their veins