It sometimes surprises me why RPG games are a niche category despite the fact that some of the best games of all time are RPGs. Diablo, Fallout, Elder Scrolls series have never catered to the mainstream audience but have achieved legendary status among their own cult followings. I've recently gotten into RPG games myself. After playing Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas, I wasn't sure how Bethesda could top them. And I was skeptical how an RPG game could manage to sell decently while being released within one month as Call of Duty : MW3 and Battlefield 3, but trust me, Skyrim did both.
Elder Scrolls series has been famous for sucking you in for about 200 hours and cutting you off from reality. Skyrim is no different. You start off as a prisoner about to be executed. You then get to customize your character's name, race, physical appearance and more. Just when you're about to say goodbye to this cruel cruel world, a ...hold your breath... dragon attacks and you escape. After a brisk walk through some dungeons, you're finally out in the open. And boy the world looks breathtaking!
The first thing you'll notice in this game apart from the 2 ton monster breathing fire over your head is the brilliant graphics. The environments are detailed, the jungles lush, the mountains capped with snow. Some might feel the textures are not as good as they could've been but I don't think current day consoles could've handled more. If you've got a decent gaming rig, you can always download texture packs to make it better.
Apart from the brilliant graphics, the storyline is gripping too. The word "storyline" doesn't actually do justice to the game. There are multiple quest lines apart from the main storyline. All of them are bound to keep you engaged for quite a while.
Gameplay mostly consists of exploring the vast terrain and doing quests given to you by various characters in the game. You randomly encounter various animals during your travels including wolves, trolls and of course, dragons. Speaking of dragons, Bethesda put a separate team of developers for programming the dragons and it shows. Fighting dragons with swords, axes and bows might sound crazy but it somehow works. The feeling you get after slaying a dragon is immensely satisfying. There are 5 difficulty levels allowing you to keep the game difficult enough to be challenging but not difficult enough to get frustrating. One thing, however, that sometimes does get frustrating is traveling. You might want to pull your hair out at moments when you miss the only route to a location and keep wandering all over the place. At least there are dragons and frost trolls to keep you entertained. Also, sometimes, you might get overwhelmed by the sheer volume of quests you can do in the game.
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| This is a normal day in Skyrim |
The leveling system works well. Individual traits like one handed, two handed and destruction skills get better with usage and gaining up a level allows you to choose perks and increase one of three things, stamina, magica and health.
Rating : 9.0/10
Pros : Graphics, great storyline, good soundtrack, DRAGONS!!!
Cons : Slightly frustrating traveling, occasional bugs