User blog comment:Draevan13/Why the Elder Scrolls ISN'T being dumbed down...much./@comment-173.189.226.12-20130407044132/@comment-1600847-20130407132658

Honestly, I have no idea what happened to magic in Skyrim. There's fewer spells, for one, Mysticism is gone, as is spellmaking (which is why I still haven't made a pure Mage character yet). One the other hand, you can't use magic while using a Two-Handed weapon like you could in Oblivion, which bugs me. In Oblivion it was "swing swing -cast- swing swing -cast- swing" but in Skyim it's "swing swing -pause, open menu, open magic, equip spell, cast, pause, open menu, open items, equip weapon- swing swing." It breaks the flow of combat, but only if you're using a Two-Handed weapon. Dual wielding for spells and weapons is a good new feature, I just wish it didn't have to be at the cost of fewer spells and spell types.

And spellmaking. I hate that Bethesda removed this because of how it restricts the Mage. Rather than make your own spells, the only option you have is to buy them from vendors. For example, there are only five ranged Fire spells. In Oblivion, there were INFINITE spells. You could make one of 30 damage in 100ft for 10 seconds. You could make a single spell of 100 damage of Fire, 100  Frost and 100 Shock and devastate any battlefield. But not in Skyrim, it's severely restricted. Magic might not be dumbed down, but at the very least it's worse than in Oblivion. Dual casting doesn't make up for it.