While we were conjuring up this review of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, we often forgot that we had a life outside this game. Mesmerized is the word that most superlatively describes what effect this game has on a player. Throughout our quests across the outwardly unending world of Skyrim, we scaled extensive mountains, butchered beautiful dragons, watched dusk turn into dawn, and much more. But what’s more important is that, each time when we jumped out of the Skyrim delusion, we valued the magnanimous proportions of hard work Bethesda has put into the extravagant title, which is evident through each and every second of this offering. To put it modestly, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is not just a game. It is an experience that deserves to be felt by every gamer, at least once in their life.
Unlike its predecessor, this title kicks in rather diffident character selection options that focus more on abilities rather than looks. Ten races are available to choose from, each with their own set of unique abilities which certainly prove to be vital at some point of the game or the other. While the feline race called Khajit possesses more stealth skills, the reptilian race named Argonian holds slightly more lock picking skills than others. And then there are the other races which are bound to have you spoilt for choice at the beginning of the game. As you wander around the quaint universe of Skyrim, you meet as many people as there would have been if a place like this were to ever exist in reality. They can all be interacted with, and what’s more is that their responses vary with every action you perform. Take for example that you’ve just entered a village after slaying a gargantuan dragon. The village folk would want to talk you about it. You can ask them relevant questions, pickpocket them, insult them or even convince them to accompany you on your quests.
This game’s narrative transpires 200 years after the events in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. Skyrim has been hit by a civil war after the assassination of its king. Now as the Stormcloaks and the Imperial Army fight intense battles to gain control of territories, dragons, that were herebefore heard of only in tales by the noble folks of Skyrim, have unleashed mayhem upon the empire. It’s after killing one such creature that the player is revealed to be Dragonborn, who has an even higher purpose of halting Alduin, the Nordic Dragon-god of destruction from feeding his wicked intentions. The fact that you’re Dargonborn gives you powers called ‘shouts,’ that prove to be crucial at every point in the game. In fact, everything in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim has some purpose or the other. Though a limited quantity on inventory can be carried at a time, the enormous amounts of available items, can get you out of severe situations in a breeze. From cheese wheels to mushrooms, from butterfly wings to wolf pelts to even fireflies, every little thing that makes its way into this game can be made use of, somehow or the other.
Talking about the Skyrim universe, climbing mountains, getting lost in the wilderness or swimming underwater was never so much fun in any other game we’ve played till date. The environments are so vivid and beautiful that the game could have done without its fast travel options, as these milieus are just asking for you to tread upon them. And they are so huge and interactive that there are high chances of you yourself starting to pant while your character climbs to the top of the peaks. Repetitive is one word that doesn’t even reach anywhere close to these environs. The diverse locations are filled to the brim with a multitude of animals like wolves, mud crabs, dogs, horses, slaughterfish, rabbits, giant spiders, wooly mammoths and more. Some will try to kill you and some will mind their own business, but what’s significant about them is the fact that each one of them has been designed with extreme details and has also been endowed with considerable AI.
The creatures which grabbed most of our attention during the game are the intricately modeled dragons that fly over Skyrim in their entire unimpeachable aura. They are perhaps, some of the best renditions of the mythical creatures ever to have been created. As a dragon looks at you after falling to the ground and is just about to die, you’ll be faced with a double mind as to whether or not to kill such an exquisite piece of art. And then there’s this game’s sounds which offer pure listening pleasure to all those who get lost in this title. Even the simplest of details haven’t been missed by the developer. Everything in Skyrim has been brought to life partly by the game’s audio. Its soundtrack makes you feel as if a whole symphony has been arranged especially for you by the wise folks at Bethesda. It is evident that the developer has spent hours and hours of hard work just to craft the right audio for this title. Coming to its gameplay, the title delivered extravagance as expected, given the enormous nature of its predecessors. But The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim has even crossed these expectations by miles.
A solid inventory system, a hefty level up scheme, large varieties of enemies and weapons, immense number of quests and pretty much everything that you can expect from a perfect RPG have been crammed into this game. You can either choose to play in first person or see yourself gait across Skyrim’s colossal surroundings in third person, all with just the push of a button. The out of control size of this game regularly delivers unexpected situations. You can explore the world of Skyrim for months on a trot and you’ll still have the feeling that you haven’t seen it all. The much touted hundred plus hours of gameplay is commendable, as not even a single quest has been put into the game just for the sake of it. Everything has a meaning and correlates to all that is taking place around the character. But this enormity certainly comes with a price, which the game pays in the form of its numerous glitches. Every now and then, the creatures disappear, or once in a while the characters overlap their dialogues, or even worse, at times the game altogether crashes. However, we like to take these malfunctions in good spirit and be grateful to Bethesda for bequeathing us with such an awesome experience in the first place.
Final Word: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is the kind of game that still stays with you even after you stop playing it. The endless environments, interactive characters, spectacular sounds and everything else work in tandem to create an illusion that you’re actually there in Skyrim. That’s how good a game this is. We recommend it to every player out there, even if they haven’t yet indulged in other Elder Scrolls titles.
Graphics: 9/10
Sounds: 10/10
Environments: 10/10
Gameplay: 9.5/10
Replay Value: 10/10
Overall (not an average): 10/10