Before starting this review let me preface by saying that I am not an avid Elder Scrolls fan. Early attempts to scratch that fantasy itch in the form of Marrowind and Oblivion did little to get me in enthralled in the world of Nirn, the setting of the Elder Scrolls series. From Marrowind ‘s delivery of the main story condensed into a text windows, to the lifeless interactions in Oblivion where NPCs awkwardly exposit their dialogue, while remaining motionless in what can only be described as a case of badly programed rigor mortis.
This did little to sell me on the franchise and upon the release of Skyrim I kept a good distance from the absurd amount of praise it received, as well as gently humouring my friends discussing Skyrim’s excellence, like an impartial parent obligingly nodding as their child prates on about their Ben 10 fad.
It was only a few months after the initial wave of hype, when I started to take notice of the commentary from a few gaming news outlets, where some of the more hardened critics let down their veil of cynicism, to admit that Skyrim is actually a very good game. After deciding to play a few hours of Skyrim, all I can say is that I hope there is room for latecomer on the Elder Scrolls bandwagon, as this is game really is an impressive feat in the RPG genre.
Bethesda really went the extra mile in creating a more polished fantasy experience in Skyrim, taking up the call to arms to fix previous problems witnessed in earlier titles. This insured that the finer elements of the game satisfied the more critical of naysayers as well as opening up the game to a larger fan base.
After leaving a perfectly executed tutorial segment shaped around escaping an imperial encampment, Skyrim takes off the invisible leash, and leaves you open to play the game in any fashion you desire. There is no need to feel duty bound to complete the main quest, as there are plenty of side quests, dungeons to explore and even crafts to take up such as alchemy or the blacksmith craft, while working towards completing the game. The game itself has a vast amount of secrets, that only specific approaches to the game will unlock, lengthening its shelf life and ensuring that there is always something left for you to discover. As well as elements such as randomized chest drops and story altering differences from the choices you make, which means that overall experience will change every time you start a new game.
The skill system is also massively improved upon. At the start of Oblivion, players were originally strong-armed to pick a specific group of skills to be proficient in, which forced players to stick closely to their choices, punishing experimentation outside of this skillset with a slower learning progression. In Skyrim however, this system has had a massive overhaul, where every skill imaginable is available from the outset, without any restrictions on how long it takes for the character to learn them. You increase a certain skill level from its repeated use, which in turn also levels up your character the more you use them.
The Perks available in the game is also reimagined in the form of a Perk tree where players are allowed to try out particular abilities first, before deciding on what perks they wish to branch out on. You can also mix particular branch trees together, which can even give options of turning your character into a hybrid of various jobs classes, such as mixing a magic user with a battle hardened melee class.
The combat system also includes some newly added features as well. Players are allowed to allocate a particular magic spell or weapon to each hand which can be used with the left and right trigger buttons. This allows for more flexible playing styles made by the interchangeable use of magic abilities, weapons, or even both simultaneously.
Another noteworthy observation is that the landscapes of Skyrim are now very diverse, that not only made up of meadows and dense areas of forestry, by also includes areas that match a regional climate, such as snow-blanketed plateaus, and cold barren wastelands. A massive improvement over the previous title Oblivion, whose use of recycled countryside textures made the entire expanse look dull and uninspired.
However a game as liberating as Skyrim unfortunately gives way to some rather glaring flaws. While the game rewards creativity exponentially, this also allows for some very nasty exploits. For example it is fairly easy for the more astute player to skill up things such as one-handed skills very quickly, by hacking away at certain NPCs in the game. This is because programed scripts set for certain non-player characters restricts them from being unable to respond to stimuli outside of a script’s parameters. This allows opportunistic players to skill up a weapon or magic spell on a respective NPC with little fear of retaliation.
There is also a game breaking cheat in the game involving a particular quest that rewards you with a book that gives you a hefty amount of experience points. If intuitive enough to exploit certain game options, this book can give you an infinite amount of experience points and skill perks in a very short space of time.
Because the game has a massive open world to explore, be prepared to encounter a few glitches while traveling around Skyrim, such the odd creature or enemy NPC acting erratically, as well as how certain approaches to the game can break certain side quests. While this can be slightly irritating, this will not ruin your overall experience of Skyrim as they are not serious enough to make the game unplayable.
While Bethesda has not quite perfected the open world RPG format, Skyrim is a massive leap in the right direction, abound with various available content in-game that will keep players returning to a continually fresh gaming experience.
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