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| A legendary adventure. |
One of the most revered games in recent memory, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is a game I recall getting lots of hype and praise when it came out back in 2011. Developed by Bethesda Softworks (creators of Fallout 3), it's the fifth game in The Elder Scrolls series. I vividly recall some classmates from school were even talking about it but I was more excited for Batman: Arkham City at the time-- I wasn't interested in RPGs at the time compared to now. A decade and multiple re-releases later, and the game's still being talked about, which finally encouraged me to give it a shot. So, does The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim manages to live up to my lofty expectations?
In the cold land of Skyrim, dragons who've long thought to have been extinct have attacked the land. As the ancient dragonslayer known as "Dragonborn", you must uncover the mystery of the dragons' reappearance and defeat their leader, Alduin. Along the way, you'll meet a variety of characters that'll aid you in your quest and be making a bunch of decisions that will affect your relationship with them. The story was a good one, though lacking compared to some of the game's other quest-lines. It kind of sucks that it ended without any fanfare and everyone just went on with their lives (I kinda expected a grand celebration for saving the world, but whatever). Some of the characters you'll meet were great and among my faves were the friendly Nord Ralof, ambitious rebel Ulfric Stormcloak, cheery psycho Cicero, and the talking dragon that won't kill you, Paarthurnax. If you explore Skyrim long enough you'll learn that even common, everyday villagers have some dark secrets to hide too.
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| Get ready for a wild adventure |
Skyrim is an action-RPG where you can choose your build from a melee-focused fighter or magic based mage, or sneaky thief or a bit of all as you search for books and tutors to increase your knowledge of each skill. Melee combat felt "floaty" at times, meaning that swinging your weapons isn't always accurate when fighting enemies. You'll often target a specific enemy only to end up hitting something else entirely, a lock-on feature would've helped a lot. Being an RPG, you gain experience by actively using a skill like sneaking, lock picking, and one handed weapons, which in turn will increase your overall level and attributes (health, stamina, and magic can be increased once upon each level up) so you can gain new perks. You can even hire a companion to fight alongside you and dump all your excess items to them so you won't get over-cumbered by the many items you'll pick up.
Skyrim's open-world is a vast and mostly wintry one that's filled with many interesting sights, locales, and dungeons to explore. It's completely open from the start (though you'll quickly die from being under-levelled) and there's a multitude of quests-- most having you fetching stuff like items or killing bandits-- that reward you with decent gear and gold. The really good ones will give you rare weapons and items that'll aid in the early parts of the game. You'll come across camps, traders, and secrets caves all with neat loot to find as well as dragon holds that have you fighting a dragon. While it may look like your typical open-world, it's always enjoyable to explore the beaten path to find ominous-looking shrines, NPCs in need of help, and hidden journals that detail life in Skyrim. The aforementioned dragon encounters were fun as you get to use "shout" spells to fight them and by the end of teh game, even ride them. Granted, exploring caves got repetitive as the familiar layouts, traps, and enemies got old after a while.
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| Fight a wide range of enemies while getting some neat gear. |
While the main story was an average one, some major quest lines were far more interesting. The likes of the Companion quest where you join a warriors guild to serve the land of Skyrim was fun and you get to turn into a werewolf too. The Thieves Guild has you looting and sneaking your way into places in search of quick money while the Civil War quest had you choosing to either side with the Nords or the Empire and fighting battles. Some were pretty evil like the Dark Brotherhood and Daedric quests that have you killing and torturing innocents in exchange for some neat weapons and gold, but I'll leave the morality of that up to you. There's a lot more to do in the game like buying a home, adopting a kid, and even getting married among other things. My playthrough clocked at over 100 hours just on the main game and I still haven't touched the expansions in the Special Edition yet, so Skyrim is great if you're looking for a long adventure.
Skyrim isn't the prettiest game and it looks dated-- even when it came out-- though it boasts some fantastic-looking backgrounds. Unfortunately, Skyrim is loaded with visual glitches like NPCs being stuck and unable to move, stutters when exploring, and even instances of crashes. Still, the game did pack some catchy sceneries like the vibrant undergrounds of Blackreach and packed town of Whiterun. The voice-work was great and had many neat performances, though you'll start to notice the same voices and lines being repeated many times over the adventure. As for the soundtrack, it was awesome and nailed the game's the exciting moments like the dragon encounters. My favorite tracks were the Dragonborn theme, Whiterun's theme, the fight theme, "Age of Oppression", and "The Dragonborn Comes".
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| When not bugging-out occasionally, the game can look stunning at times. |
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim ended up being a blast and one that exceeded my expectations. The addictive gameplay, memorable quest-lines, and mostly solid production values were all among the game's strong points. I feel like I've been living under a rock all these years for missing out on an awesome game like Skyrim but I'm glad that I finally did play it. Of course it's not with shortcomings, but the grand scale of the adventure and lore here will leave RPG fans satisfied and entertained. It's easily one of those games where I can see myself revisiting in the future.
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