The week I fell in love with Skyrim

Skyrim makes you stop and enjoy the view

So, I forgot to finish or post this at the time I wrote it, about a week after Skyrim's release in November. I wrote a bit about Skyrim in my "videogames of 2011" post buut, I realised when writing it I kinda forgot some of the things I loved when I first started playing it so.. I wanted to post this even though it's late and record the fun I had (or have had so far) with Skyrim! Some of it touches on things I wrote in my other post but whatev'! I included screenshots from my own games :)

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I hadn't been playing videogames hugely for a while, but on Friday 11/11/11, for some reason I remembered that Bethesda Studios' open-world epic RPG Skyrim was coming out. I blame my boyfriend for assuring me that I'd done enough hard work around the house and that it would be okay if I got the game.

He may not have realised what a mistake that would be at the time, considering how addicted I've been to it since last Friday. XD As you may know (duh), I love videogames, but especially RPGs, and most of all those that allow depth of character customisation (because that's what roleplaying is all about, right?). As much as I used to love the Final Fantasy series, since playing RPGs that allow you to do so much more than follow a generally fairly linear path playing a spikey haired emo teenager (sorry FF), I don't think I could go back.

My first taste of the Elder Scrolls

Okay so horse armor might have been my favourite thing in Oblivion *cough*

Shortly after getting my Xbox last year and whilst researching RPGs to try out I found Oblivion, the fourth Elder Scrolls game. My boyfriend was familiar with the Elder Scrolls games as well as some friends I play Dungeons & Dragons with, so I decided to give it a try. I was *quite* hooked on it for a while, but I got tired of it quicker than I would have liked. I liked the open-world, my first taste of archery in a videogame (Me - "this comment surely must be wrong, but maybe archery in 3D? XD"), and the dungeons, but there never really seemed to be the sort of rewards worth playing for. The dungeons got too samey, the townspeople got annoying, the "enemies levelling up with you" was PRETTY annoying, and I didn't like the way the main quest and side quests interacted, made it feel like you had to be "careful" which order you did things in as they effected the world so much.

I don't want to set the world on fire (much)

Someone said I look like Batman.

After getting bored of Oblivion, I looked into another RPG, Fallout 3. I'd never actually heard of an RPG with guns before, RPG always meant swords and magic to me. I was also rather used to playing games with "blue skies". So I was unsure I'd like it but had heard really good things about it (and found out that Bethesda, who developed Oblivion, developed it) so I picked it up.

Well, that game surprised me. After initial thoughts of "this is like Oblivion in a wasteland", it quickly began to feel like an entirely different game and I felt it was stronger than Oblivion. I felt more attached to my character, I feel like the game lead you through both main quests and side quests in a good way, and there was always loads to do but it didn't get "samey". It felt like there was always a purpose for exploring and collecting things and loads to do in terms of weapons - finding, repairing and building your own. The atmosphere always had me sucked in too. After 80 odd hours I completed the main game and the majority of sidequests as well as played some of the expansion sets, so I decided it was time for a break.

Then came dragons

I don't have any screenshots of dragons so here's a horse.

Don't get me wrong, I didn't entirely stop playing games after Fallout 3. :P I played some of Borderlands on the Xbox, which was enjoyable, but then I got a bit of a "hack and slash" urge and played Deathspank from XBLA. That's a really fun game I might talk about another time, but anyway what with moving house and packing the Xbox away, I hadn't played anything in a little while..

So yeah, SKYRIM. It's strange for me because this might be the first time I ever bought a game on release date. (or at least one of very few that I don't even remember). The problem with when I played Fallout 3 was, I was talking about everything I loved about the game, but noone else was really talking about it much anymore, since it had been out so long. Well, I guess that wasn't a problem as such, but the nice thing about Skyrim has been seeing everyone else's thoughts at the same time, watching other gamers uncovering the game and knowing you're not the only one completely taken in by this world.

I mean, I've kinda been talking about it to anyone else who would listen anyway but still, it's nice to find other people who appreciate the art, music, love, and work that goes into a videogame, (or a great deal of them anyway ;) Hurray for the internet I guess :)

Things I love so far

I love wandering around doing silly things like this.

I won't go into loadsa detail in case of spoilers I guess (Me - "unlikely now.."). But..

The massive world
It looks even more beautiful than Oblivion did, tall snowy mountains, trees and plants, wildlife (rabbits and stags, as well as mammoths which are pretty awesome). It's an icy fantasy world (suiting for the time of year too :) and there's just so much to explore.

Character options
Skyrim introduces perks, similar to those in Fallout, but more of a Diablo-ish skill tree really, and this gives you a lot more options than Oblivion did for how to shape your character. I feel like I have reasons to want to level up my character, for example aiming to get shield skills. At the same time whatever skills you use will level up so you get rewarded for playing however you want to, which is cool.

Dungeons
The dungeons so far are varied and interesting providing various fun scenarios for sneak attacking bad guys :)

Little extra things to do
Apart from following a main quest, side quests and fighting, I love when RPGs give you the chance to do more, well, "mundane" things. Those little things in real life that can be satisfying, like cooking, picking flowers, fishing and decorating a house.

The score
Skyrim has a beautiful, atmospheric soundtrack - I'm still waiting for my CD to be delivered :(

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Well, that's all I wrote, but to summarise - I think Skyrim was a massive improvement on Oblivion, and I would like to get back to it after I finish Fallout: New Vegas, I think, because I *do* need to finish the main quest! Though I still think playing Skyrim properly requires quitting your job, and not doing anything else ever, it's so massive! But that's not a bad thing, and I think Skyrim did something great for videogames last year - showing how popular a SINGLE-PLAYER game played with a normal controller by people sitting in their armchairs can be (yes I'm looking at you kinect, and to an extent wii), and that a videogame CAN be as popular as a movie too.

I also think Skyrim has something to give everyone, whatever type of character you want to play, how much time you want to spend, what kinda things you want to do in a game. So yeah, if you haven't given it a chance, you should ;) It's a wonderful fantasy world to become a part of, and to me, it's really redefined the level of detail, quality and depth I expect from all games now.

Looking at my screenshots has made me miss Skyrim - I look forward to getting back there!