“GROOOAROOORRRRRRRR!!!!” Thump…Dirt scatters around as you look behind. There lays a huge reptile-like beast of pure white, breathing out whirlwinds of ice and frost. You quickly dive behind a rock, staring up at the sky as the gigantic beast takes off and flies above you. Taking out your bow and arrow, you shoot an array of arrows at the beast, only scratching its skin. It lands again, this time right in front of you, its jaws snapping. Brandishing your sword you manage to injure it, drawing blood. But the battle isn’t over yet. As your health drains you have only one resource left. And then it comes, “FUS RO DAH!!!!”  The dragon above you crash lands, dying from the Thu’um you’ve just shouted. You walk near its corpse and its body starts to burn away as you take in its soul.      

       This is The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, the fifth in the Elder Scrolls Series which is an open-world exploration, role-playing game made by Bethesda Studios, a company that has made many award RPGs. The main questline of the game starts with you being captured, heading for an execution in a village called Helgen. As you stare at the sky waiting for your beheading, a dragon swoops from the sky, attacking the village and destroying Helgen in an array of flames, unintentionally saving you. You soon find out that you’re Dragonborn or Dovahkinn, the prophesied hero that will save the world called Tamriel from the dragon named Alduin the World-Eater. As Dragonborn, you are born with the soul of a dragon, being able to absorb dragon souls to unlock shouts, called Thu’ums. But even after you defeat the main boss of the game, it isn’t over. There are side quests and factions to join such as groups specializing in murder and thievery, and taking part in the civil war between Stormcloaks who’re rebels and Imperials who stay loyal.

Skyrim is an immersive world in which you can do anything and explore everything.  See a mountain in the distance? That’s not a simple image to tease you. You can run for miles and miles, and with no invisible wall to stop you in your tracks, Skyrim emboldens exploration. Each dungeon, ancient ruin, mountain shrine, or bandit camp holds loot which you can sell, keep, or convert to something else, like armour. Each item in the game has a reason for existing. Eating a strawberry will have magical effects, collecting animal pelts and metal ingots in the world can be used to craft armour and weapons, becoming a werewolf or vampire will cause people to be suspicious of you, and wearing enchanted apparel with give you benefits. Each action you do in the game will affect how people treat you and might lead to consequences in the future. Joined a thieves or murders’ group? No assassin or thief will trouble you now. This is a reactive world you dwell in, which makes it more down-to-earth.

       The graphics of Skyrim are very well done for its time, which was in 2011. The smooth feel of the landscape is amazing, such as the sky which is beautiful in the night with an Aurora Borealis. The mountains have vivid details like cliffs, jagged edges, and frosty snow. I like the character creation in the beginning where you can customize every single detail of your character, like facial textures and races. The new perk system in Skyrim adds to the leveling up of your character. There are 18 different skills with perks for each skill. The more you use it, the more it levels up, and the more perks you can gain each level. Each time you level up you can choose to add to 3 basic attributes which are magicka, health, and stamina. This system balances out the amount of perks and skills you gain so that you can’t be overpowered or underpowered.  The controls are typical. Holding down an attack will cause a power attack or kill animation. Weapons will swing slower than others and deal more damage, balancing the structure of combat. This formula keeps in check that each weapon can’t be an overpowered one, so that each weapon has a place in the game. The only negative thing in Skyrim is the famous glitches from Bethesda Game Studio’s engine that has been known to have bugs for years. Annoying or funny, sometimes they can prove to be a problem.  Such as when doing a quest, a certain door couldn’t open. Other than glitches, the mechanics in this game are 10 out of 10.

 The lore in Skyrim only adds to the details of the game. It creates more interest as it pulls you into the story. Every quest can lead to more answers to the storyline of the game, making each quest more than just a task to kill enemies or find objects. The DLC or downloadable content makes it even more interesting, such as the Dragonborn DLC, which answers the Dragonborn’s origins. Even the books in Skyrim have an interesting story behind them. A book called The Cabin in the Woods tells of a ghostly woman in the woods with an axe. Or the band of warriors called the Companions will lead you to learn more about the werewolves’ origins. The lore is endless and without it, this game would be a hollow shell with only places to run around and quests that have no purpose. 

Skyrim won a series of awards, like the VGX Award for Best RPG, VGX Award for Studio of the Year, Satellite Award for Outstanding Role-Playing Game, Kerrang! Award for Best Video Game, Overall Game of the Year and RPG of the Year from Spike TV, IGN, X-Play, GameSpot, Game Revolution, GameSpy, and Interactive Achievement Awards. It was also voted #1 in Good Game’s Top 100 Video Games of All Time and #1 in PC Gamer’s, “The 100 Greatest PC Games of All Time.”

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is an amazing game that will transport you into its world and leave you star-struck. The creativity that its world gives and the freedom of exploration leading to something surprising just breaks the chains between you and reality. The first time I ever picked on Skyrim was about a year after its release. I couldn’t stop myself because of the intriguing story behind each quest, and of course because there were dragons, my 9 year old self went crazy over them. This is a game that should be listed in the legendary games over the decades section. Skyrim is available for PlayStation, Xbox, PC, Mac, and Linux on Steam for $20.00. And Skyrim with the Legendary Edition that includes all 3 DLCs is $39.99 on Steam. It’s a world that you’ll want to escape into.