You probably haven't heard of this game. It's a little known indie game that was quietly released back in 2011 and which I've only just discovered and begun playing. I have absolutely no idea why anyone hasn't discussed this game before, and after sinking more time than it would take to write the first draft of a novel into this - I thought it was finally time to talk about it.
Why talk about Skyrim? Because I've only just got into it, and I've somehow managed to spend a worryingly large amount of time playing it. So I may as well discuss it in a desperate attempt to justify spending all my free time running around in a mask stabbing people in the back.
I meant in the game, obviously. Not in real life. Please don't arrest me.
The only other Elder Scrolls game I've played before was Morrowind, which I hated. People complain about Skyrim over-simplifying things, but if any series needs dumbing down it's this one. No matter who I chose to play as in Morrowind, I would be dumped down in some swamp only to be knawed to death by a slug. Steam informs me I've spend over 4 hours on the game, and I have yet to get past the starter area. The interface is dreadful, the map screen tells me nothing, and it just feels so lifeless and uninvolving.
I meant in the game, obviously. Not in real life. Please don't arrest me.
The only other Elder Scrolls game I've played before was Morrowind, which I hated. People complain about Skyrim over-simplifying things, but if any series needs dumbing down it's this one. No matter who I chose to play as in Morrowind, I would be dumped down in some swamp only to be knawed to death by a slug. Steam informs me I've spend over 4 hours on the game, and I have yet to get past the starter area. The interface is dreadful, the map screen tells me nothing, and it just feels so lifeless and uninvolving.
So I actually went into Skyrim with very low expectations. My journey began as I had to fiddle around with the sound settings because this is one of those annoying games that had the sound effects and music cranked up high but keeps the dialogue to a mumbly whisper. I then was asked to create my character, and so I chose a female Wood Elf because I liked the idea of a bow-weilding thief - and I can't think of any hooded rouge characters in literature that weren't male so I decided to create my own.
I immediately regretted trying to play a character, because it's clear by the fact you stand around and frown whilst everyone else sorts the worlds problems out that you're supposed to project your own personality into the game. Oh, silly Max trying to roleplay in a roleplaying game!
The plot is that you're about to be executed for attempting to cross the border, but suddenly a dragon attacks and you're forced to run away. Later it turns out you're the only person in the world who can slay dragons and absorb their souls; giving you cool powers such as force push - which is extremely useful for when people get in your way whilst trying to navigate a narrow corridoor. But this all gets pushed out of the way as before you've even left the starter area you're assaulted from all sides by side-quests and distractions. Some offer an entire storyline whilst others are just fetch-quests. Either way, prepare to never, ever have an empty journal.
I immediately regretted trying to play a character, because it's clear by the fact you stand around and frown whilst everyone else sorts the worlds problems out that you're supposed to project your own personality into the game. Oh, silly Max trying to roleplay in a roleplaying game!
The plot is that you're about to be executed for attempting to cross the border, but suddenly a dragon attacks and you're forced to run away. Later it turns out you're the only person in the world who can slay dragons and absorb their souls; giving you cool powers such as force push - which is extremely useful for when people get in your way whilst trying to navigate a narrow corridoor. But this all gets pushed out of the way as before you've even left the starter area you're assaulted from all sides by side-quests and distractions. Some offer an entire storyline whilst others are just fetch-quests. Either way, prepare to never, ever have an empty journal.
I found that getting sidetracked from the main questline was actually a really bad idea, since it meant that when I finally decided to go and speak to the person who'd been waiting for days in the middle of a field for me - I was usually like an elder god. Well, for the most part. I like how often enemies are levelled, so early on in the game you'll never get confronted by a monster double your skill and later on fights won't be insultingly easy. However this backfires somewhat in areas that have a cluster of fixed, low-level enemies but one or two levelled enemies; meaning five will go down with a light tap but four will require all my resources to defeat. I really wish there was some kind of indicator like in World Of Warcraft that at least tells me if I should use my best arrows or if flicking a twig will do just fine.
This annoyance made me stop raiding dungeons...although I also stopped because all the dungeons gave me was ridiculous amounts of loot which I would lug all the way back to a merchant only to find s/he doesn't have enough money to buy it all off me. I rejoyced when I found out you can buy your own house and buy all the decorations because up until that point I had no reason to spend any of my money. I also, once I'd completed the main quest, the expansions, and the civil war storyline, didn't really have much of a reason to keep playing. But then I found out that I could buy a house, adopt those homeless children in the street, get married, and suddenly another 30 hours had gone by.
A point where I considered giving up the game was early on when I came across the god of death who gave me a mace that absorbs souls. At first it felt like I'd completely broken the game, but then I discovered how some enemies levelled and I breathed a sigh of relief. I thought this would be like Ultima VII all over again, where if you sidequest enough you can find The Black Sword - a weapon that kills anyone instantly, including plot-critical characters, and thus making the game shockingly easy.
But the biggest flaw here is that the story just isn't good. It's the same "you are the chosen one" plot we've seen a million times before. Granted, the story does take a few twists and turns. I really like how you're forced to either kill Paathunax and fufil your duty or betray all you stand for, plus the ending when you return to the top of the mountain really feels like you've just achieved something world-changing. Yet ultimately the game claims to have infinite choice despite the fact you're forced to save the world even if you don't want to.
It made even less sense considering I was playing a thief. People hailed me as the great dragonborn of legends whilst I picked their pockets and broke into their houses just because of the adrenaline rush. I also got into a bad habit of stabbing anyone who talked about arrows to the knee, but then I found the best mod in the world which strikes any NPC who says that line with a bolt of lightning. Not only does this purge Skyrim of stupid guards but also: free loot! Yeah, I still don't know why the game thinks I'm a hero.
This annoyance made me stop raiding dungeons...although I also stopped because all the dungeons gave me was ridiculous amounts of loot which I would lug all the way back to a merchant only to find s/he doesn't have enough money to buy it all off me. I rejoyced when I found out you can buy your own house and buy all the decorations because up until that point I had no reason to spend any of my money. I also, once I'd completed the main quest, the expansions, and the civil war storyline, didn't really have much of a reason to keep playing. But then I found out that I could buy a house, adopt those homeless children in the street, get married, and suddenly another 30 hours had gone by.
A point where I considered giving up the game was early on when I came across the god of death who gave me a mace that absorbs souls. At first it felt like I'd completely broken the game, but then I discovered how some enemies levelled and I breathed a sigh of relief. I thought this would be like Ultima VII all over again, where if you sidequest enough you can find The Black Sword - a weapon that kills anyone instantly, including plot-critical characters, and thus making the game shockingly easy.
But the biggest flaw here is that the story just isn't good. It's the same "you are the chosen one" plot we've seen a million times before. Granted, the story does take a few twists and turns. I really like how you're forced to either kill Paathunax and fufil your duty or betray all you stand for, plus the ending when you return to the top of the mountain really feels like you've just achieved something world-changing. Yet ultimately the game claims to have infinite choice despite the fact you're forced to save the world even if you don't want to.
It made even less sense considering I was playing a thief. People hailed me as the great dragonborn of legends whilst I picked their pockets and broke into their houses just because of the adrenaline rush. I also got into a bad habit of stabbing anyone who talked about arrows to the knee, but then I found the best mod in the world which strikes any NPC who says that line with a bolt of lightning. Not only does this purge Skyrim of stupid guards but also: free loot! Yeah, I still don't know why the game thinks I'm a hero.
The cruel irony of the game is that I found many of the sidequests far more interesting than the main storyline. The Dark Brotherhood questline, for example, is really fun. It actually feels like you're joining a deliciously twisted family, and there's a really well done surprise that actually got to me. The missions themselves reminded me of the Hitman games in that you're given a target within a living, breathing enviroment and how you dispatch the target is entirely up to you. You can rush up and absorb his/her soul, or you can be more cunning and use an arrow from a distance. Or you can cast 'fury' and let the whole town kill your target for you. Or you can be downright devilish and slip a deadly poison into his/her pocket before grabbing some popcorn.
The Thieves Guild isn't as noteworthy, but the missions are fun simply because they're exactly like the Thief games in that your objective isn't to kill but steal everything you see before leaving undetected. Similarly, the guild base is also crawling with individuals just oozing personality - which is a rare thing to see in this game considering how everyone else feels copied and pasted.
Stealth and magic really are the best ways to go here, mostly because the stealth system works surprisingly well. Usually games that try to combine full-out combat and sneaking don't work because there's no clear indication of whether you're visible or not. Wolfenstein: The New Order has this problem, as does the Bioshock games, and even my beloved Deus Ex was lacking in this regard. Here, there's a helpful but completely non-intrusive indicator that tells you exactly how visible/invisible you are. Well...when it doesn't bug out.
Stealth and magic are the only mechanics that actually feel thought-out. The rest of the gameplay feels empty. Melee combat is nothing more than mashing buttons, and eventually I became bored of being tactical with magic and just spammed fire until everyone was dead. Turning into a werewolf is really dissapointing, as is being a vampire - with neither offering a distinct advantage. If you choose to be a werewolf then you're just given a magic spell that turns you into one for a short time before turning you back again. You don't have to watch out for the full moon or anything like that. Also, if you're a vampire then the game is just made more sucky. You can't regenerate your stats whilst in sunlight and you're even more vulreable to fire than before. Also you have to keep sucking everyones blood otherwise guards will attack you on sight.
It's bad enough that once you finish the main quest you get attacked by dragons almost every time you fast-travel - and I'm surprised there still isn't a mod that's fixed this annoyance. Even then, the vast majority of mods I've downloaded refuse to work. This isn't helped by the Steam Workshop being almost as buggy as the game itself, which is why I'm still amazed that Valve and Bethesda tried to introduce paid mods.
In fact, what makes it more annoying is that Skyrim is clearly intended for mods to completely re-vamp the game. Towns and cities feel lifeless unless you get the mods that add more set-dressings and more people. The music is nice, but a game this large needs at least twice as many tracks - so I had to find music mods. You'll keep breaking quests unless you pick up the mod that makes quests actually work properly, and you'll routinely select the wrong dialogue option because Bethesda don't give a rats arse. I'm seriously tempted to boycott Fallout 4 because I know they're going to pull the same thing again, and will try to find another way to earn money from other peoples work.
Skyrim is generic, shallow, and completely addictive. It's not in my favourite games list, but any game that I throw this much time into must have its merits. Oddly though, this game has made me want to re-play the Thief games...
Stealth and magic really are the best ways to go here, mostly because the stealth system works surprisingly well. Usually games that try to combine full-out combat and sneaking don't work because there's no clear indication of whether you're visible or not. Wolfenstein: The New Order has this problem, as does the Bioshock games, and even my beloved Deus Ex was lacking in this regard. Here, there's a helpful but completely non-intrusive indicator that tells you exactly how visible/invisible you are. Well...when it doesn't bug out.
Stealth and magic are the only mechanics that actually feel thought-out. The rest of the gameplay feels empty. Melee combat is nothing more than mashing buttons, and eventually I became bored of being tactical with magic and just spammed fire until everyone was dead. Turning into a werewolf is really dissapointing, as is being a vampire - with neither offering a distinct advantage. If you choose to be a werewolf then you're just given a magic spell that turns you into one for a short time before turning you back again. You don't have to watch out for the full moon or anything like that. Also, if you're a vampire then the game is just made more sucky. You can't regenerate your stats whilst in sunlight and you're even more vulreable to fire than before. Also you have to keep sucking everyones blood otherwise guards will attack you on sight.
It's bad enough that once you finish the main quest you get attacked by dragons almost every time you fast-travel - and I'm surprised there still isn't a mod that's fixed this annoyance. Even then, the vast majority of mods I've downloaded refuse to work. This isn't helped by the Steam Workshop being almost as buggy as the game itself, which is why I'm still amazed that Valve and Bethesda tried to introduce paid mods.
In fact, what makes it more annoying is that Skyrim is clearly intended for mods to completely re-vamp the game. Towns and cities feel lifeless unless you get the mods that add more set-dressings and more people. The music is nice, but a game this large needs at least twice as many tracks - so I had to find music mods. You'll keep breaking quests unless you pick up the mod that makes quests actually work properly, and you'll routinely select the wrong dialogue option because Bethesda don't give a rats arse. I'm seriously tempted to boycott Fallout 4 because I know they're going to pull the same thing again, and will try to find another way to earn money from other peoples work.
Skyrim is generic, shallow, and completely addictive. It's not in my favourite games list, but any game that I throw this much time into must have its merits. Oddly though, this game has made me want to re-play the Thief games...
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| Wherever I went, I would leave a trail of naked corpses. Again: I'm supposed to be the hero... |
