Alex Reviews...

Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Essentially, all my free time at the moment has been spent playing Skyrim, and I really don't feel like that time has been wasted. However, having waited eagerly for so long, I am in no rush to finish it (not that that would be an easy feat) so this isn't so much a review, but more a little description of just some of the things that I've liked so far about this game - things people may already know, but as I like to stay away from spoiler-news, a lot of this is new to me, and also, a lot of this may not be exciting at all to you.

Naming weapons

Not actually the blade I'm talking about...

So, I only just got a weapon that actually looks pretty darn badass and suits my playing style (sword and shield, never fails) and while I was mucking about trying to add some kickass enchantments to it (you can give your weapons and armour certain magical effects, such as fire damage or increasing the amount of health you have) I spied the option to 'Rename item'. What? I can rename my sword? It's a little perk, but every real fantasy lover knows that a sword just isn't a sword unless it has a name; see Aragorn's Anduril or Eddard Stark's Ice. So for people who really like to get into the whole role-playing aspect of these games, you'll appreciate the chance to ride off killing dragons with your mighty sword; Mr. Stabby! Or something else...

Bookcases

I also managed to purchase my first house in one of the towns of Skyrim, because I am an honoured guest or something. It wasn't much to begin with, but by investing some gold I was able to add some furnishings to make it seem more homely. Being a fan of the Sims franchise, I like the idea of being able to customise houses for your characters, so I set to work leaving things on tables and such, but then I saw that interacting with a bookcase allowed me to store the books that I had pilfered on my journey in a neat stack. I love that, and it actually made me more likely to pick up otherwise useless tomes to make my character seem like the well red sort. I don't even know if this was or was not an option in Oblivion, but it was a nice surprise for me.

Followers

You will either love or hate Lydia...

Having an extra sword to follow you around and carry your heavy items isn't a new thing in Bethesda games - there were options for that in Oblivion and the Fallout games, but in Skyrim you can recruit a heck of a lot more. You can only really have one follow you around at one time, but, for example, I recently became head of a certain guild (not planning on ruining anything here, don't worry) and once in this position, I could walk into the headquarters and just pick one of the warriors to come with me at the drop of a hat. I'm not sure if there are any substantial differences between the vast amount of characters you can have accompany you, but generally you will have them be the first rushing into battle to save your skin. The only aggravating thing is when they bar your way, but this is easily remedied, as there is a new 'control' function where you can directly tell your follower to do interact with a certain part of the environment, which can come in handy when you are suspicious about walking into a dark room, but not suspicious enough to not send your hapless friend in there first.

Children

To be honest, it isn't a big deal when children aren't present in these sort of games, but I really noticed it in Oblivion as there was one side-mission where a woman, who didn't seem that elderly, sent me off to rescue her daughter, who turned out to be a fully grown woman. Children in Skyrim will come up to you, spout annoying crap now and then, but generally just add to the realism of the world, sometimes commenting about how they work with their mother, or admiring the fact that you walk around with such glorious armour. One little thing that I enjoyed partaking in was when a small boy invited me to play tag with him and his friends. Why the hell not? He chased and I chased and...wow...I'm sure you wouldn't get away with that in a modern day game...

Procrastinating

The animations when crafting items is another plus to Skyrim

As I said before, I am in no rush to finish this game, I intend to enjoy it to the fullest. In this sense, Skyrim has made every effort to allow you to completely ignore quests and still do something productive. There are skills that you can pursue, such as cooking, smithery, alchemy and so on, and you might be pleasantly surprised that you can actually see your character carrying out these tasks - it isn't a simple menu-based interaction like in Fallout 3 when you wanted to repair your weapon, this time you will actually see your character crouch down to sharpen his sword at a grindstone. You can scour the land for flowers and insects to use in Alchemy, a perk which levels like most other talents in the game, to create potions and poisons. I like the idea that you, at first, don't actually know what the ingredients you've collected will do, so in order to find out their effects you have to be your own guinea-pig and consume them. You can pick up a pickaxe and mine deposits for iron ore, which you can then smelt into ingots, which then in turn can be forged into weapons and armour. This is definitely something worth putting time and effort into, as the top of the perk-tree for the Blacksmith skill is being able to create dragon armour...duh! It just adds to the character you want to create - yes he is Dragonborn and sure he probably has some major role in turn of events, but what if he wasn't? I like the idea that my character could have been a blacksmith, a cook, an alchemist, a hunter, a farmer, whatever, before he was thrown into the world of dragons. I might be alone in this,but if you like roleplaying, being able to develop your character in any way is always exciting.

Beasts and baddies

Oh god oh god oh god

The fast-travel function is back in Skyrim, which is good when you don't have much time to spare, but if you do feel like taking in the scenery, walking across the land is always good fun. Good fun, and dangerous. The beasts and bandits are all over Skyrim, some that are more an annoyance than a real threat, and others that will have you sprinting for help. What is nice is that you don't find the same old enemies everywhere you travel; while walking across the grassy plains you'll see deer grazing, and foxes scampering around, before you're set upon by wolves. But, when you traverse to the icy realms you'll start to encounter what look like walruses, and ice trolls. You'll also be bumping into groups of bandits and rogue mages, except they don't always rush in to fight you. There have  been many times where I have accidentally stumbled in on a couple of bandits who are simply sitting around eating, and although swords were immediately drawn, there was a moment of a stand-off. Instead of charging in, I was 'warned' to back away. It was only when I stubbornly strode forward towards them that they decided a fight was unavoidable and went for me; I could have easily turned and left them well alone. Again, a dimension of realism in the characters - bandits are bad sure enough, but maybe they aren't always in the mood to fight, and maybe there will be times when they'll try to avoid it because they really aren't in the mood. 

The one slightly strange thing about the beasts and such, is that there are some beasts that you will dread to walk into as, early on at least, fighting one is a real hassle. Yet, when a dragon soars down, it isn't that hard in comparison. It might just be because dragons are huge targets that don't move so fast, but I would rather take on a dragon than a troll or a bear, because despite being half my size, with no wings, and no fire-breath, a bear can kill me quite easily. I suppose since the dragons are unscripted and can just fly in on you at whatever point, it wouldn't make sense to make them too hard as it would create way too many rage-quits, it's just an oddity is all.

I'm sure my comments on this game will develop over the next month or so, so this will most likely not be the only post about my epic journey across Skyrim.