Have you ever wanted to get lost in an imaginary world, where you could do anything from slay a mighty dragon to simply spending hours gazing at amazing snow covered vistas? Then come with us fair friends, to a tundra filled country on the continent of Tamriel. Come with us as we explore The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.
Gamers who are familiar with The Elder Scrolls series, or even Fallout 3 know what to expect going into a new title from Bethesda. There’s going to be a large open world to explore, numerous quests to partake in, and hundreds of colorful characters to meet along the way. But to talk about the simple nuts and bolts of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim does the game a tremendous disservice, as it is something that can only be experienced to be truly understood. But we’ll try anyway…
It’s been two hundred years since the events in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. We started off as a captive bound in the back of a wagon belonging to the Imperial Army after being caught trying to cross the border. Unfortunately as the game begins we’ve been mistaken for a different kind of criminal and have already been sentenced to death. It turns out that there is a civil war enveloping Skyrim and the other captives are all members of the Stormcloak Rebellion, who’s leader Ulfric Storkcloak has killed the High King of Skyrim and attempted to have the entire country secede from the Empire. Luckily for us, a dragon attacks at the most opportune of times and allows us to escape and then venture off into the large new world before us.
Skyrim is about as beautiful as a game can get.
And what a world it is! Skyrim is an absolutely beautiful place, with high peaks covered in snow, vast tundras filled with wonder, and natural formations that leave us in wonder. Our favorite visuals in the game are the Aurora Borialis that can be found in the night sky in the northern part of Skyrim, and our first look at the city of Solitude in the distance, sitting high upon a natural rock formation that forms a giant arch high above the river below. Around every corner is another stunning visual, as the team at Bethesda has truly done an outstanding job making Skyrim a place we’d want to see.
Also around every corner is a new quest. Players can choose to follow the game’s main quest line, or veer off the path and discover the world for themselves. At every town, there’s a number of quests available to the player, whether it be the local Jarl offering up a bounty on a dragon that menaces the nearby countryside, or it be the barmaid who needs you to go fetch her some more wine for her cellar, Skyrim does not lack for things to do.
There are also a number of factions that the player can choose to join. Returning from Oblivion are the Thieves Guild and Dark Brotherhood. Replacing the Fighter’s Guild is “The Companions,” and replacing the Mage’s Guild is the “Mage’s College.” Players can join any, or all of these factions and complete not only their main faction quests, but various side quests related to each faction as well. Players may also choose a side in the civil war enveloping Skyrim, and fight to either free Skyrim from Imperial Rule, or to crush the rebellion beneath their heel.
Dragon: It's what's for dinner.
Should the player decide to partake in the game’s main quest, eventually they’ll be forced to fight a dragon. Once the first dragon is defeated, more dragons start appearing randomly all around Skyrim. Dragons are challenging, but defeating them reaps the player a number of rewards. There’s the obligatory gold as well as dragon bones to sell, dragon scales to smith with, and whatever else the mighty wyrm may have eaten.
But most importantly, the player will learn that they are a Dragonborn, and can steal the souls of any dragon they slay. Combined with words of power that can be learned in various ways throughout the game (most notably they are hidden away at the depths of the many ruins that scatter Skyrim), players can learn to Shout, which in effect gives the player a number of dragon-like breath weapons that they can use. These shouts can do any number of things, such as allow the player to calm vicious animals, give the player a burst of speed, or simply toss fire breath at a hoard of skeletons.
Why wait for the next Cabela's game to go hunting?
Like the other games in the Elder Scrolls series, players can create a character that suits their play style and taste. There are a number of races to choose from, including four types of humans, three types of elves, the lizard-like Argonians, and the cat-like Kajit. For the purposes of our playthrough, we chose to play as a Dark Elf. Unlike Oblivion however, players do not “chose” a character class. All skills are now tied to character level, so now whatever skills the player uses will lead to their character gaining levels.
At each new level, players will be able to choose to boost either their Health, Magic or Stamina. Players will also be given a new perk to unlock at each level. Perks allow for deeper customization of each character as players can choose from any number of things, such as lowering the Magic cost of their Restoration Spells, getting automatic discounts at local shops, or making their sneak attacks even more deadly. This system plays out by using a new take on the traditional skill trees found in many RPGs, where each tree is based on it’s own constellation in the night’s sky. This approach is both aesthetically beautiful and easy to understand, which makes the leveling up process a joy (aside from the normal indecision about what awesome thing to take next). Our character turned out to be a bit of a battle mage, as we’ve taken quite a liking to both duel casting destruction spells and the enchanting of weapons and armor.
Just imagine what it looks like on the inside.
One of our favorite new features is the new “Favorites” screen, that allows players to select any or all of their items to be placed in a scrolling menu that can be accessed at the bottom of the screen at anytime by pushing up on the d-pad. This allows for a quick change of weapons, the selection of a spell, or a quick quaff of a potion without having to peruse all of the menu screens to find what we were looking for. We did find however, that if we weren’t careful we could clutter the area up, so we found that it’s often best to save this feature for the things that we really do use and switch back and forth from a lot.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is a massive game. We’ve put in over fifty hours so far and feel like we’ve barely scratched the surface of what can be done in this game. That is a testament to the hard work and dedication of the talented team at Bethesda. While we’ve noticed a few bugs and glitches here and there (Bethesda is already working on a patch), it’s hardly enough to detract from the overall experience, which is so deep and immersive that we often found ourselves losing track of time altogether. We haven’t felt this much wonder and awe about a game in a long time. We could laud this game with superlatives all day long, but we’d rather go back to playing it. If you like RPGs, or video games in general, this game should be on the very top your holiday wish list.
Overall Score: 10/10
