The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Synopsis: “Two hundred years have passed since the events of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, and it is now 4E 201. The High King of Skyrim has been killed, and the threat of Civil War looms over the land of Skyrim; One side wishes to secede from the weakened Third Empire, while the other wishes to remain a part of it. To make matters worse, this schism is the final event in a prophecy foretold by the Elder Scrolls that will lead to the return of the dragons under Alduin, the Nordic god of destruction.
The player starts the game on a cart heading for the chopping block after being caught with the Stormcloaks in an ambush by the Imperial Legion. As the player lays their head on the chopping block, the dragon Alduin attacks. In the midst of the chaos, Hadvar, several Stormcloaks, along with their leader and fellow prisoner, Ulfric Stormcloak, assist in the player’s escape. The player may choose between the assistance of Ralof, the Stormcloak who arrived with Ulfric, or Hadvar, the Imperial soldier tasked with reading off the names of the prisoners being sent to their execution. After assisting and gaining the favor of Jarl Balgruuf the Greater, The player later learns that they are Dovahkiin, or Dragonborn, a person charged with the duty of defeating Alduin and the dragons. Eventually, the player meets Delphine, and Esbern, two of the last remaining Blades, and becomes the pupil of the esteemed Greybeards of High Hrothgar.”
Skyrim is definitely an all time favourite game for a lot of people, myself included. I’d probably say it’s in my top 5 favourite games of all time. It’s one of the first games I remember truly loving and being completely addicted to. Even now if I decide to randomly play it for a few hours I know I’ll be addicted to it for a few weeks and then not play it again for ages. Which is exactly what I do with The Sims, but more on that game in a future post.
To this day Skyrim is still one of the buggiest games to exist but that just adds to its appeal. Who doesn’t love it when your horse hits a specific rock and then launches itself into the sky? Or when NPCs mindlessly walk into walls or other NPCs? In the words of Todd Howard (creator of Skyrim) “It just works”.
For anyone interested, my latest playthrough is a dark elf mage and I’m probably at 60 hours maybe. I haven’t actually checked and it’s been a few months since I’ve played it. I’d say this current playthrough is my favourite so far, maybe other than my first one. Playing Skyrim for the first time is a genuinely special experience. I think even if someone played it today for the first time they’d think it was incredible. It really set the bar for fantasy RPGs for a lot of people, myself included.
Something I always love to comment on with games is the voice acting because I’m a bit of a nerd when it comes to voice acting. However, I’d say Skyrim isn’t the best for voice acting, I think this is just because of how ridiculous the NPCs are (see wall walking mentioned above). Other than the incredible Laura Bailey, who voices Serana, which I didn’t know for the longest time. I haven’t done any of the Dawnguard quests in my current playthrough yet, but just know I’m excited to see Serana again.
Another area I like to comment on is the soundtrack/score. I’m also quite a nerd when it comes to game scores and Skyrim’s is brilliant. The music that plays when you’re just walking around is one of my favourites. I find it so calming and it’s one of my favourites to have in the background while I read. If I didn’t have a dog, I’d listen to it while on walks, but my dog is my top priority so he gets my full attention. I’m talking about a real dog, not a Skyrim dog. I won’t have a dog in the game because I’m too scared it’s going to die constantly.
I don’t know if this post has been great at convincing you to play Skyrim if you haven’t already as it’s basically just my scattered thoughts. Which seems to be common for these posts. There’s no structure to them whatsoever so maybe I need to think of headings to organise my thoughts a bit better.
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