The night was quiet, and for once the cold winds had settled. I stood on the edge of the freezing ocean and further along the shore I could see glowing evidence of a camp. Something caused me to look up, and for the next few minutes I was entranced by the slowly shifting colours of the Aurora.
I want to talk about Skyrim; I really want to talk about it, to tell people about it, to rave about it.
For the first hour or so I was having fun, but I wasn’t too sure. The world was pretty, and interesting, but it hadn’t immediately hooked me. I think most of that can be put down to learning a new system. Now, it has me; hook, line, sinker and other fishing clichés.
If it was just a pretty world, then I think I would have given up a while back; however the huge, well realised world, the lore, the people – it all has pulled me in, and made me invest myself in it.
There’s a huge amount to do, from crafting, through to a huge number of quests. Some of the quests are quite simple (and sometimes silly – not necessarily a bad thing), some are involved and long. Some are Epic in feel, while others just feel like mercenary work.
As I’ve said, the world is also huge. Just when I think I’ve reached the edge of a particular region, I find there’s a bit more past there to explore. There are new towns, old towns, ruins, castles, dungeons and far, far more. I’m a sucker for ruins and natural wonders; and Skyrim has these in incredible quantity. Some are important, some are barely a blip on the landscape.
And when you come across Dwemer ruins …
One thing I have to mention is the way “cut scenes” are handled. For a start, they aren’t true cut scenes but are part of the game itself. Sometimes your character is locked in position (though you can still look around), and other times you can move around freely as events happen around you. This means that there are few disconnects to the experience, and I wish more games would do this.
The skills and perks screen is also incredibly pretty – probably the best I’ve seen – looking like constellations at night. It’s also functional. Each constellation represents a skill and the lines that join the stars in the constellations show the various branches of perks. I find it makes it easy to see how things are laid out, and how one perk can lead to another.
I suspect I’ll have a lot more to say as time goes on; but those are the things that want to escape right now. Oh, and I’ve offered to buy this for a couple of friends now. I don’t think I’ve done that for any other game. I’m trapped … and loving it!