Do you like dragons? How about massive open worlds and consuming the souls of your enemies? Great! Then the elder scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition may be for you!  Skyrim Special Edition (or SkySE for short) isn’t anything new but, there are quite a few key differences in SkySE, such as some graphical edits and different mod support. Unfortunately though though not much has been done to fix any of the bugs that plagued the first game. Despite this though  SkySE's positives outweighs the negative.

Although SkySE has a lot of positives, it has it’s fair share of flaws. SkySE is a considerable improvement over the graphics of the base game. But, like most games from the time many mods to the base game, have already done the work of the developers, even making the game look better then the remastered edition in some cases. The base game Skyrim has been modified quite a bit since it  was first released in 2010. Many of these ‘mods’ have extremely boosted the graphics of the game, even further than the special edition, which brings us to the first major flaw of the game: the lack of mod support. Although SkySE has fantastic built in support, it doesn’t even  have a quarter the library of mods compared to the base game . At the time of this review being published, SkySE only has 4,017 files on nexusmods. Even though that’s no small number, it pales in comparison to base Skyrim’s 50,393 files. This of course is not an issue if someone, for example, preferred to play the game vanilla  or unmodified.  Then SkySE would be recommended.

However,  there is one other thing that people should know before they choose whether to buy Skyrim Special Edition versus just the base game: the price. Currently Skyrim Special Edition sits at about $39.99, which isn’t bad for what is essentially the complete addition. Although buying all of the D.L.C for the base game skyrim isn’t  cheaper.  If you were to buy it at full price not bundled, it would be a  whopping $64.96, but if you where to buy the complete bundle (all of the D.L.C plus the base game), it would only cost 39.68, a few cents cheaper for the original. So,is it worth the slightly outdated graphics and less integrated modding potential? It all depends on the way you want to play the game; less hardcore modders may prefer the  Special Edition because it makes it easier and may be appealing to people looking to start modding their games. SkySE was pretty clearly designed to be as user friendly as possible. Nothing showcases this more then the most downplayed feature, built in mod support!
The fantastic mod support,  which has been extremely downplayed (on PC at least), is the fantastic way they could have handled mods. Before SkySE, in order to change the mod load order of your game, you would have to restart skyrim, go to the launcher and spam click the up and down buttons to get it to eventually work. Or worse, you would have to download a program like L00t or B0ss which sets up your mods automatically for you. But now, Instead of going through that ordeal, you can edit the mod order directly in the game. Another fantastic addition to the mod potential  is the fact that it’s possible to add modifications from directly in game! That’s right, no more going to shady forums to pick up questionable mods; now it’s possible to do it straight from the menu screen. Even though SkySE is severely understocked as of right now, modders are continuously adding to the fantastic bethesda mod workshop.  All you need is a bethesda account and you have access to Thousands of mods straight from the menu!

Another thing, although shown in a negative light in the beginning of this review, it’s time to revisit the graphical upgrade of skySE, the most important part. Although somewhat lackluster compared to certain E.N.B and other graphical enhancement packages, the solid graphics and texture  improvements can’t be ignored completely. One of the main complaints about the textures and graphics of base game skyrim was how bleak and colorless the base game looks. Even though the devs of the game were obviously trying to make Skyrim feel like a bleak nordic country, many areas of the game are still very green because of plant life and other things related. This is a major issue! The areas without snow are supposed to convey the greener and happier areas of the country, they still feel extremely dull.  SkySE does a fantastic job making the game feel alive, considerably brightening and creating contrast to the snowy landscape. They even added more plants! If you couple this with the realistic nights mod you can find on the Bethesda forums then you will have one beautiful game! 

This and many other things is why you should buy Skyrim Special Edition over TES Skyrim. Although it still needs some work, SkySE could totally change the face of Skyrim modding forever. I will say though, I would not recommend purchasing skyrim  special edition for PC if you already have base game skyrim or are interested in heavily modding the game but I would totally recommend buying it if you don’t have skyrim yet and either  aren’t that interested in modifying the game new to this whole modding thing. All things Discussed I would give this game a solid 7.9 out of 10.