The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (2011)

Despite knowing how INSANELY popular and highly praised this game was for the longest time, I was still blown away by just how densely populated the open world was. It felt like everywhere I went I was encountering a dozen new sidequests and dungeons, so much so that it took me forever to actually get around to finishing the main story because I kept getting distracted.

The skill tree & upgrade system is honestly very satisfying, and makes it feel like you really are improving at these skills rather than just randomly becoming good at them after hitting enough skeletons. I could complain about the UI but I feel like that's just a given, since the game was made with primarily consoles in mind. The visuals also hold up surprisingly well, if you can ignore some cloned npcs and awkward animations here and there.

I very much appreciated that some quests had multiple ways to resolve them, letting you choose who to side with or what actions to take. There were times I wanted to make a different choice than the ones I was presented with, though perhaps I am simply a creature of endless greed.

The finale of the main story felt a bit underwhelming, though. You're there fighting alongside people you don't really know, in a weird place you've never been, against the major villain you've only ever really seen once before. I guess I was expecting much more of a "The real Skyrim was the friends we made along the way" type of final battle, where people and groups you've helped out thus far team up to help you stop the Big Bad. There was the temporary peace negotiation between the Stormcloaks and Imperials, but that was really it.

Overall, the game is still super fun to explore and holds up well. Excited for Elder Scrolls 6, and I need an Argonian baddie in my life. That is all.

The 5th Elder Scrolls entry is one of the most iconic open-world RPGs ever released, known for its immense freedom and richly detailed world. Set in the northern province of Tamriel, the MC is called Dragonborn, a prophesied hero capable of harnessing the power of dragons. While the main story follows a battle against the return of these ancient creatures, much of the game’s appeal lies in the countless side quests, guild storylines, and emergent events that let players shape their own path.

While I highly encourage everybody to play this game as much as possible, trying to experience the side-quests on your own pace, I can safely say that if you only want to experience the main quest then you'll still have an amazing experience. It is truly one of the most unique main stories compared to any and all videogames at the time, and in the gaming history in general. Though it sometimes lacks good characters to carry them, at least in my opinion, despite having a lot of different factions and stories behind them.

The world of Skyrim is vast and diverse, filled with snowy peaks, dense forests, ancient ruins, and bustling cities, each brimming with lore and secrets to discover. Its flexible gameplay allows players to approach challenges as a warrior, mage, thief, or a blend of all three, making every playthrough feel different. Though you are not limited to traditional classes, or even races, you can use the unfun and boring regular human, or something like a Khajit, which is a cat-like race that helps with stealth-focused playstyles. Combat can sometimes feel unrefined, but the variety of spells, weapons, and stealth mechanics helps maintain engagement.

Despite technical issues and occasional bugs, Skyrim’s atmosphere, modding community, and sheer depth of exploration have kept it alive well beyond its release. I highly encourage the exploration of the modding community, which is still strong even for today's standards, creating whole games out of them, or whole different ways of playing it, so much that makes it feel like a completely different game. This is similar to something like the Fallout series modding scene, or even the STALKER one. It remains a landmark RPG that continues to draw in new players while offering veterans endless reasons to return, even if played the vanilla way.

What can I say that hasn't already been said about it? Because it's a large game, I wanted to wait till I got some time to sink my teeth into it properly. And I did. I didn't even get to finish it; but 70 hours of gameplay will still be fondly remembered.

I accidentally deleted my documents folder when trying to clean the pc because of a pesky virus. One day, I'll get back to it when my memory of it fades a bit and I can enjoy the world of Skyrim again and renew my love for one of my most adored fictional worlds on any media.

Skyrim was my first real dive into this kind of open-world RPG, and honestly, at first I was completely overwhelmed. The world, the lore, the sheer amount of stuff going on—it felt like I’d been dropped into a fantasy novel with no map. But chatting with a few friends from work helped me push through that early confusion, and I’m so glad I did.

This turned out to be one of the best games I’ve ever played. The sense of freedom is wild. Building and shaping my character, deciding who they were and how they handled the world—it’s just an experience you don’t get in many games. The levelling system, the insane amount of quests, the loot (so good when you’ve earned it), all of it just hit.

Sure, the combat feels a little creaky by today’s standards, but that didn’t take away from how visually stunning and immersive the whole thing still is. That world just pulls you in. Every mountain in the distance felt like somewhere I could go—and probably would, after getting sidetracked for three hours.

Loved every minute. Five stars, easy.

The graphics were breathtaking upon release - anyone else remember how many times screenshots from Skyrim were mistaken for photographs of real-life scenery? Obviously aged now (at least in vanilla Skyrim), but still pretty gorgeous IMO.

None of the characters are particularly deep - this isn't the game to go to if you want broad, complex character development and personalities. NPCs serve their purpose, they make the world feel relatively alive, and they're nicely varied role-wise. Personal favourites are Brynjolf the Scottish thief, J'zargo the Khajiit mage apprentice, and Farkas the hulking werewolf mercenary.

The dialogue is fine - conversation options are generally numerous enough (though more would be nice, and they tend to be questions that prompt lore exposition etc. rather than any meaningful two-way interaction). Voice acting is fine in itself, but you'll notice pretty quickly that there's a small pool of voice actors that voice almost every character you come across, not all of whom bother to put on different voices.

The plot is better than it's given credit for nowadays. I do, however, agree that the highlight of the game's writing is less the main quest and more the side quests and factions that surround it.

Combat can be a little clunky, and I've had some friends who couldn't get used to it enough to stick with the game, but if you've played other Bethesda games (or some third-person RPGs in general), especially Fallout, you'll probably get the hang of it quick. I personally find archery far more intuitive and smooth to navigate than the slower, weightier movements of melee.

Frankly, flaws and all, this is one of the best games ever released, not just on its own merit back when it first came out but for its impact on other games and on gaming culture in general.

Honourary mention goes to the famous modding community - if you want to get into Skyrim and you own a PC, it's by far the best option to play it that way.

I have played Skyrim on and off basically since its release. People absolutely LOVE this game, so I always have felt if I gave it an honest try I would also love it.

I have mixed feelings about the Bethesda formula, expansive exploration is fun at first for me but often grows dull. The quests, due to the nature of the world, don't give me the same rewarding feeling as other games where they are rushed, have a greater impact on the world, etc.

However, this year I decided I was finally going to give Skyrim a full try but picking two factions to play through, and then do the main quest. I felt this would give me a good overview, while also making clear goals so I wouldn't get overwhelmed by choice and then bored.

First, I went for the Companions. I had previously explored the beginning of their quest line and wanted to see where it went. I really liked exploring the tension between the Silver Hand and the Companions, the push-pull of their bestial background with their more noble founding. Some of the quests felt very "same-y" but overall I liked it 4/5

Then I did the Civil War quests, siding with the Stormcloaks. These quests were odd. We are told repeatedly how widely effecting this war is, but helping the Stormcloaks doesn't give any impact to how Imperial-aligned places view you. Also, all the quests are either fetch quests or assaults on forts that felt exactly the same. Disappointing as narratively this line had so much promise. I did like the assault on Whiterun, that was cool! 2/5

Finally, I then did the main quest. This quest line really dives into the lore of the world. As a fan of Morrowind I was excited to see The Blades crop up! Dragon lore is interesting and provides some tense fights. There is also a nice variety of styles of objectives here, including a really fun "infiltrate the Thalmar" mission.

However, I think some of the weight of what is happening is lacking in the ways the world reacts to you. As you do things NPCs don't really react or treat you differently. Even the factions themselves involved in the conflict don't offer you much more as you delve into the quest line.

For a quest which ties in so much ancient history, artifacts, heroes, and legends, by the end I still didn't feel any more heroic. And the item rewards for these quests are paltry. This really hurt some of the feeling of achievement upon finishing stuff for the main quest line, but I still overall felt like it was decent. 3.5/5

Overall, there is something incredibly relaxing about exploring Skyrim, hearing the amazing OST, and just gathering crafting mats while fighting bandits. I don't think the ways the quests work were as much a motivating factor in returning to the game, rather they were the rails pushing me along my path. But viewing what was around me, crafting, and exploring, was honestly pretty solid.

Until I hit a point where it began to feel repetitive, right around lvl 22, then I just focused burned through my pre-selected quest lines, and called it quits!

I get why people love this game, it offers a lot to do. However, for me, I think a lot of those experiences grow stale rapidly, and the world/quests itself lack the gravitas, reward, or weight that lets other games sink their hooks into me.

Skyrim is an timeless, epic game with a massive world, endless possibilities and a very strong replay value.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim has a relatively simple, but powerful story. Because this game is mainly focused on this story, I will spoil nothing. If you never played the game, this is something that you need to experience for yourself.

You start an empty character from various races, can customize almost every inch of their bodies and then start your adventure in the world of Skyrim. You are free to roam wherever you want, when you want, how you want, all at the very start of the game, after the tutorial. This game is the definition of “nonlinear” and freedom.

Right from the start, you get sucked into its beautiful open world, and can start leveling up your skills, picking some flowers, mine some ore, collect garbage to sell at vendors and finally murdering that bunny that you chased all the way to Riften.

Even today, I still think Skyrim looks glorious. Sure, the textures can be a little rough here and there, animations are not as “flawless” as today’s games and flowers can look like cardboard cutouts, but for its time, this was revolutionary. There is just so much detail in everything. Wildlife, flowers, sunlight, moonlight, grass, mountains, it is all just great. Every cabin, every cave and every ruin is filled with countless items, details and decorations, and you can interact with almost all of it. Sure, this is a Bethesda game, so glitching and clipping is a thing, but that is the whole charm of this game. Seeing a bucket being launched at 320 km/h because it was too close to a table is just hilarious.

Enemies are greatly designed and form a well balanced mix of beasts, monsters, bandits and supernatural beings.

Sound wise, Skyrim is a work of art. The sound effects, voice acting, and (ambient) music is just perfect. When walk around town, just wanting to buy some supplies, a calm and peaceful track plays in the background. When you get ambushed by a hungry dragon and the male orchestra voices play, you now that sh!t just got serious.

The menu’s, controls and interfaces work great and the overall mechanics of the game are pretty realistic. You can become overburdened with all the crap you carry with you, you can attract vile diseases from certain enemies like the Skeevers (giant rats), you can experience serious problems or debuffs when not sleeping enough, it just adds more fun and challenge to the game.

Combat works flawlessly and, with the right fighting style, can be intense and brutal. The beauty of the combat and learning curve, it is that you get nuked in the beginning by a Giant for example, level up your Heavy Armor skill, health and One Handed, come back to him, and shove that club of his so hard into his brown star until he finally gets the message that you are done with his sh!t.

The leveling system is also pretty unique, same as Fallout 3 for example. Instead of killing stuff and earn XP, you level all different skills by performing attacks or action in that category. Crouching past enemies undetected increases your Sneak, forging a million iron daggers improves your smithing, letting yourself get bludgeoned like a baby seal while wearing light armor increases your “Light Armor” skill etc. By leveling up your different skills, you earn general XP for your character level. With each new level, you can increase health, stamina, magika (mana) and choose a unique ability in the skill tree of one of your skills.

I especially love figuring out all the exploits the game has to level up your skills faster, try to move your horse over a 90 degrees slope, trying to get to space with the help of a giant and overall, fully explore (and exploit) everything this great game has to offer.

The best part of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is simply that there is just soooooo much to do. You got a gigantic world map with hundreds of caves, crypts, enclaves, towns, cities, outposts, ruins, tombs and bandit camps, all waiting for you to explore, conquer and plunder. There are (in my opinion) a million quests to undertake and, like many, I got so caught up in the side quests, that I actually reached level 50 and still needed to visit the Greybeards, who almost died of old age when I finally got there. You can experiment with your skills, different weapons, different play styles and overall, this game can hook you up for literal days in terms of playtime.

This is one of those games in which you actually feel really powerful when leveling up enough, and all your hard work is actually reflected through your damage output, constitution and overall feel. This sounds pretty basic, but a lot of games do not actually reward you with power or feeling of might and pride when you reach level 80 for example.

Enemies level along with you, keeping the game and experience gain for your skill balanced, but there simply comes a point that they stand no chance anymore and if you are willing to spend two hundred hours of play in a character, this time is rewarded. With Sneak and Archery leveled to 100, every arrow is a insta kill and five enemies can be killed in five seconds while you are hidden.

This is also the only small problem with Skyrim. At one point, you are so stupidly powerful (all skills maxed) that there is just no challenge and point anymore. It will takes thousands of hours for this point to be reached, but eventually, you are just too strong.

In the end, I think The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is one of the best games ever made, and although it is considered a relic in present days, it’s legacy lives on forever in forms of memes, jokes, punch lines and references. It gives you worth for your money and in my opinion, every gamer is obligated to have this piece of art in their library.

Definitely recommend this timeless classic.

If there is one thing I know I DON’T know for sure, it’s which Elder Scrolls game is my favorite. Each game has its strengths and weaknesses. I suppose, for me, a perfect Elder Scroll game would be an amalgamation of the best things from Morrowind, Oblivion and Skyrim

However, I’m here for Skyrim and it remains a great game and is probably the majority favorite among fans of the series

I’m not a devotee of the game like some others who have run through the game countless times. I played it upon it’s release and then again 4 years ago

As most people know, it’s an open world game and you can travel anywhere you want at any time. There is of course a main storyline, but the game never forces you to follow it. In fact, some of the best quests are the side quests. There are a ton of things you can do outside of the main quest

When the game first came out, part of the excitement was walking far off the beaten path and finding “hidden” things that you could do in the game. Of course, by now there a million guides which point you in the direction as to how to find these, but back in the day it was fun to accidentally come across them

The world design is wonderful and the game still looks beautiful. The melee combat remains a bit of a problem as it has in most Elder Scrolls games

The first time you have to face down a dragon is an awesome experience. However, what should remain a remarkable experience almost becomes a bit of a yawn once you’ve figured out what you need to do the take one out. Their AI is not the greatest and their attacks become a bit predictable

The music throughout the game is absolutely wonderful and definitely one of the highlights

I really enjoyed the removal of the class system as it allowed a player to experiment with different skills. You weren’t pinned down

The dungeon designs are diverse. You never feel like you’re just trouncing around in the same old dungeon again and again

The journey through Skyrim is a bit of a lonely one. Of course, you come across many great characters, but much of the time you are on your own. I guess I just prefer party-based fantasy RPG’s.

It's just a treat to travel across this world

Even if you happen to be the rare person who didn’t care for it, it’s influence cannot be denied

Having played Morrowind and Oblivion first, I liked Skyrim’s mechanics the best of them all. Not being able to fast travel around Vvardenfell certainly gave Morrowind a different kind of challenge; having to find a silt strider or boat to take you to the nearest location to a destination or just walking forever and forever. But having to physically travel everywhere in Morrowind got incredibly frustrating, especially in the latter stages of the game when I focused on progressing forward rather than exploring. With Oblivion level scaling enemies, I was doing everything possible to avoid leveling up. That kept me from treating it as a truly open world and, instead, I simply pursued the main quest. Skyrim makes both of these much easier for the player to navigate. As a result, I didn’t try to finish it with the same urgency I did the previous Elder Scrolls games I played.

Skyrim’s incredible openness also rewarded just exploring. I was playing Divinity: Original Sin at the same time and that game really punished you for exploring areas you’re not strong enough to get to yet. I found this endlessly annoying. Skyrim wasn’t like that, at all.

The greatest strength of the Elder Scrolls series, in my opinion, is the incredible depth and breadth of lore in the world that Bethesda created. Comparing it to a D&D world like Forgotten Realms, the latter has a lot of “stuff” but it all just seems randomly thrown at a wall. This mostly due to 100s of authors creating the world through their individual novels. Elder Scrolls games, on the other hand, have a lot of stuff but it all ties together. Best of all, it ties together without being about The One Big ThingTM. So the same exploration that is the game’s best selling point was often rewarded with learning some new detail about the rich world. As a longtime DM, world building and lore really matter to me.

The flip side of this vastness was the repetitive nature of creating this huge, open, and accessible world. Exploring dwemer ruins and towns in Morrowind and Oblivion never got quite so repetitive because there are not so many of them. Skyrim is like “here’s another cave network/deep dungeon where the item you need is at the deepest point” and you follow the same pattern of kill the draugr/forsworn and find the lever, kill more draugr/forsworn and find more levers. And while the lore of the world is amazing, as an RPG it didn’t draw you emotionally the way some games do. Everyone feels a bit cardboard so it sometimes seems as if interactions are nothing more than push button a to advance quest. I found that I had to play it in spurts sometimes to keep it from getting boring.

Which isn’t to say there aren’t many unique and interesting quests. The main quest has you facing dragons. The thieves guild quests require sneaking and burglary. The DLC provide some interesting storylines. It’s just that it felt like Bethesda made it bigger than previous ES games by padding it with lots of repetition. There was a great Morrowind sized game here padded with a bunch of filler. (I wrote that before I actually finished my game and it turned out I played Skyrim for about 2 hours less than Morrowind but then fast travel meant I could explore more actual content in that time). And the dialogue could get especially repetitive as you overhear the exact same conversation 1000 times, sometimes with different NPCs even saying the same thing. But then there would also many interesting moments, like meeting the different Daedra or the DLC quests that involved chasing down vampires and other Dragonborn, or getting to ride a dragon into combat. The last is something that the game under utilized in my opinion.

All in all, I enjoyed another adventure story in Tamriel. I know Bethesda has a reputation for buggy games. They must have ironed those out by the time it got to the Switch because I didn’t have any issues worth remembering. I also remain awed, just like I did with The Witcher 3, at how beautiful the game was on the least powerful platform it’s available on. Maybe I would have been even more in awe if I was playing it on a $5000 gaming rig on a 48 inch monitor but I loved it on my little screen. A few times, I intentionally walked from place to place rather than fast travel simply to enjoy the scenery.

I think I should get this out of the way first: Skyrim is easily one of the best open world RPGs that has been released. I have played it on and off since it was first released in 2011, yes that makes me feel old, but back in December I decided that I was going to play through the base game and all of the DLC. Fast forward to 25th January and I finally finished the last of the DLC content. So with my experience fresh in my mind, I thought I would share my thoughts on Skyrim.

One of Skyrim’s strongest aspects is its world and the way it encourages exploration. As I mentioned in the previous paragraph, Skyrim is a fantastic open world game. After the tutorial-like area of Helgen, you are pretty much left to your own devices. In fact, you can completely ignore the main story and instead set off on your own to discover your own destiny. It was this freedom, in fact, that resulted in me taking years to actually see the main story to its conclusion. It is clear that the land of Skyrim has been lovingly crafted. Each location seems to have its own history, even if it doesn’t have a quest tied to it; which encourages you to just delve into a cave or enter a seemingly abandoned fort. The environment is varied from the open grasslands around Whiterun to the frozen wasteland of Wintehold. In fact, each of the cities has its own look and character, my favourites were the medieval feeling Windhelm and shady Riften where everyone seems out to con you. I can easily say that each time I played skyrim, I played longer than I planned to just because I wanted to explore just one more tomb.

I should also point out that for a ten year old game, Skyrim doesn’t look that bad. Yes, it shows its age when comparing to the latest releases on PS5 and Xbox but it certainly doesn’t look as old as some other games that were released around the same time. I particularly loved the use of lighting, such as in the Bleak Falls Barrow when you reach the cavern with the word wall or the Eldergleam Sanctuary. I also loved Skyrim’s night sky, asit wasn’t just black or dark blue but instead was a bend of different colours that reminded me of the northern lights. The visual design definitely helps to encourage players to explore the land of SKyrim.

Like with the visuals, the music and use of sound is also well executed. To this day, I still think Dragonborn is one of the best pieces of menu music used in a video game. It just feels epic and will get any player excited to jump into a fantasy world. I also love the inclusion of bards in the inns, who will also perform a small selection of songs. This just helps bring the cities to life, as well as further the worldbuilding. In fact, I often listen to the soundtrack on Spotify and it is one of my favourite fantasy themed soundtracks.

So, I have talked about the environment and music, now let’s talk about the story. Your character is the Dragonborn- an individual who is able to slay dragons and absorb their souls. Your arrival to Skyrim couldn’t have been at a better time, as dragons have also returned, after centuries of absence. The dragon leader, Alduin, is determined to suppress humanity and make the dragons the dominant sp[ecies in Skyrim and it is up to you to stop him. Initially, the story is quite epic, as you will travel across the length and breadth of Skyrim as you try to find a way to stop Alduin. However, the story is let down by the final quest. I won’t spoil it here but the final battle felt a little anticlimactic after such a build up.

It is not just the main storyline that suffers from this. There are a number of factions that you can join from the Thieves Guild to the heroic Companions. I would say that the Dark Brotherhood, a group of assassins, has the best story but even that felt a little cliche; whilst the Mages College was quite boring and repetitive. The storyline that had so much potential but did not live up to my expectation was the civil war storyline. Not long into the game, you will discover that Skyrim is divided by two forces competing to rule it. You can choose to get involved in this conflict and pick a side to support. You would think that a civil war would have battles, sieges and moral dilemmas. Unfortunately, there are two ‘sieges’ and a couple of forts you will fight to take over. Again, it just feels anticlimactic. It is a shame but in some ways the story is the weakest part and it is easy to see how some players will choose to make their own stories and find their own adventure in Skyrim.

Another aspect of Skyrim is the combat. If you are going to be a melee fighter, be prepared for hours of just running around and wildly swinging your weapon in the direction of the enemy. Magic users do have a bit more complexity, as there are plenty of different spells to use but ultimately you will be holding down a couple of buttons to whittle the enemy’s health bar down. As for stealthy archers… there isn’t much combat to speak of if you hit the enemy. Admittedly combat has always been one of the weakest elements of The Elder Scrolls games but hopefully we will see an improvement in this in future releases.

Skyrim does tend to divide RPG fans with its skill trees and levelling up system. Unlike traditional RPGs, in which your character will have a class and statistics, Skyrim is much more streamlined. There are no classes- your character can be a mage wearing heavy armour or warrior that uses fire magic and summons weapons. Any character can learn and use any skill. I personally don’t mind this. It offers a lot of freedom and replayability. I also think that it is a great system for someone new to the RPG genre.

Finally, the DLC I have to be honest, the three DLCs are not that great when compared to the base game. The first DLC released was Dawnguard, which delves into a conflict between vampires and vampire hunters. It sounds interesting but soon enough you will be delving into familiar looking tombs and dwemer ruins. Then there was Dragonborn which takes you to the island of Solstheim, which mixes Nord and Dunmer culture. This was actually my favourite out of the three DLCs just because you got to explore a completely new location. It did have a strange difficulty spike, so I would advise players to leave it until after finishing the main game. Finally, there was Hearthfire, a DLC that allowed you to build three houses. Unfortunately, there was little customisation, so you were essentially building the same house three times. Oh and you could adopt two children for some reason. The best way to sum up the DLCs: the developers had some great ideas but didn’t really expand those ideas to realise their full potential.

Overall, I love Skyrim. Yes, its story is not the strongest and some of its mechanics feel simple. However, Skyrim’s strength and charm lies in the world it created. It is truly a game that offers the player a feeling of escape and wonder. In Skyrim you can feel like a hero straight from your favourite fantasy story. It is also a great entry point into the RPG genre. If you have never played Skyrim I highly recommend you do, it is an experience you won’t easily forget.

(what the hell you can scroll the review release options of this game)

trust me it gets better after you installed this mod and like 20 others trust me i played this game 50 times its not boring trust m-

you can mod this to whatever you want and still you'll be bored within 30 minutes

rayman origins, terraria, dead island, minecraft, bastion, dead space 2, la noire, the witcher 2, deus ex human revolution, infamous 2, saints row the third, PORTAL 2, skyward sword, DARK SOULS, batman arkham city... all these games came out in 2011, but they preferred to give goty to THIS SHIT

First of all, as someone who disrespects HIGLY of "fantasy", and by fantasy I mean the blatant unoriginal hacks that come mostly from western or European cultures which is western fantasy, Skyrim’s fantasy is PRETTY good because even if it is generic it manages to encapsulate the feeling and make it accessible to most, it's like the equivalent of white bread of Fantasy where most would like it.

Skyrim comes from the franchise Elder Scrolls (if you haven’t realized by the full title yet) and yes Skyrim is the EDGIER, more gritty, stylized one of the series and of course there are perhaps mixed opinions about this but my first thought is: I don't like Oblivion's tone and color that much. Skyrim is silly but if you ever go back to play Oblivion you'll realize how SILLIER it was, at least Skyrim has an okay tone. Truly Skyrim is the deserved fantasy theme that should have been from the start.

There are a lot of people who usually don’t GET Skyrim. People who prefer Morrowind which is supposedly the one with faster gameplay and is more complex (personally I’m a realist when it comes to old outdated WRPGs so of course I prefer a newer, more refined, easier with more effort product than something that could be less accessible, even if it had better writing), some don’t like it because it’s broken and some don’t like it for some odd reason such as “I’m allergic to fantasy games”.

I want to start this review saying that I for one do appreciate Skyrim... To some extent, I wouldn't waste that much time if I didn't I guess? It's a complicated and nuanced thing, I hate Skyrim, but I like it enough to tolerate it. It's not the most refined or perfect thing but you can waste your time with it. Yeah I’m basically dropping off the bat from the start here in great detail it seems. With that being said I will continue to say what’s great about Skyrim and how I was saying before, it’s theme. Well yeah, Skyrim is fantasy but it’s REALISTIC fantasy in a way? If you were to ever do immersive mods with Skyrim you'd have a lot of fun, it's like a canvas for those things. Like its troubles and systems aren’t really different from ours and perhaps it’s mostly a symbolic presentation, although the coding and themes are shallow, Skyrim tried, and anyways it is mostly a reenactment or their own take of north European folklore.

This game has been countless times about the moments such as “Are you serious?” Whenever you get a really good surprise whenever it’s an overpowered object or an insane glitch happens. Skyrim isn’t a RPG where you grind; it’s more like going to a super market with enough money to buy some vegetables from the grocery list, the catch? You can afford a lot of vegetables. Unlimited veggies.

If anything Skyrim is known for it's size. There is literally so much effort in this game (even if it is mostly cookie cutter dungeons), it’s amazing. I honestly could care less how silly the game is considered for the slow gameplay or broken glitches, cheesy dialog and weird lazy animations for most stuff seems to have some amount of appeal. Some places are beautiful, some objects are interesting, some plot is pretty great. Truly one of Skyrim’s best features is content, the number of lore, gods, characters, about everything is pretty impressive. It's weird when you see Bethesda make other games and not have as much content in them, maybe Elder Scrolls was their forte.

​The variation is quite shocking actually, it’s a game that should be said has no introduction what so ever so I really didn’t knew what to expect. Some places are huge and interesting and even though while typical dungeons are common every one of them could have a mission or a prize of some sort. The game is quite spontaneous considering anything can happen; I was teleported to the other side of a map just because I got a drink and then ended up in a steampunk ancient civilization! It’s essentially the super market equivalent of video games like I've said before.

And really the feel is the same, you know when you're in a super market, smooth jazz is playing, most is calm and you don't know if you give into your kleptomania? Same thing with the feel of Skyrim. I'm not sure where this alluding comes into the fact that: The main plot sucks, I wonder what would be the main plot of a super market? The deli? Either way yeah, the main missions are terrible and if you never beat them and like me instead just checked out a thousand mods and the amount of creativity out there, Skyrim is not a good game when you analyze all of the tiny things... But it is like the massive amount of just "ok" stuff that makes it a good game.

Bethesda has ported this game a thousand times to about everything because it's proven to be successful and a game that anyone picks up and has some little fond memories of it, Skyrim is just this perfect blend of mediocre and not that bad that you don't hate it, it may not be as good as it's predecessors in quality but it is the most accessible one of the series. Seriously, Bethesda took this game as it's formula and it's sad that sometimes they don't quite hit the perfect amount of mediocrity, for example I like Skyrim but I hate Fallout 4 because Fallout 4 doesn't have enough in amount of towns or like choices, like even Skyrim has more choices. And about everyone has played Skyrim, it's seriously infamous.

Everyone has played it and at one point become a stealthy archer because really due to how jank the overly simplified mechanics are, you just wanna be that in the end. It's also because of these minor issues that the modding community is so active, never have I seen a video game with so much tweaking than Skyrim, seriously. Bethesda has modding for their other games but it never seems to really fix the core issues of their games, that is not the case with Skyrim.

I've seen people flip this game to all sorts of directions, never have I seen a game much more tweaked to different styles than this. People put so much effort into Skyrim because it feels as if people want to save it from it's minor issues like a diamond in the rough you know? Skyrim skill stuff too unbalanced? Well just change the whole stuff. Again! No other Bethesda games with bad core mechanics have this amount of flipping.

In fact I give this game 4/5 just because of the mod experience, if it was the main game stuff it would be probably be 3/5. Most Bethesda games cannot be changed like Skyrim due to core mechanics being integral, and perhaps future Bethesda games are too casualized and Skyrim was just the perfect amount of casualization. Again Skyrim is a special kind of mediocre and the balance is so hard to achieve, which is exactly why Bethesda keeps re-releasing it, knowing it as their miracle bad game child. The amount of books I've read in this is crazy and I just wasted so much time doin about everyth- HEY YOU'RE FINALLY AWAKE