The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

 PC
User Score
8.4

Generally favorable reviews- based on 12985 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 10,547 out of 12985
  2. Mixed: 1,375 out of 12985
  3. Negative: 1,063 out of 12985
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  1. PhoneyFree
    Apr 28, 2015
    7
    After the resolution of the "paid mods" debacle I can now endorse this game again.

    Solid enjoyable game, greatly enhanced by mods. With mods it's a 10.
  2. Synplasm
    Feb 13, 2012
    6
    A game of two halves. The first of which is enjoyable, interesting, engrossing and fun, the second of which is disappointing, tedious, annoying and dull. The second half arrives at an unspecifed time but believe me if you play this game long enough it will make itself known to you. I got my money's worth for sure, but I ended up with negative thoughts about this game which is the mainA game of two halves. The first of which is enjoyable, interesting, engrossing and fun, the second of which is disappointing, tedious, annoying and dull. The second half arrives at an unspecifed time but believe me if you play this game long enough it will make itself known to you. I got my money's worth for sure, but I ended up with negative thoughts about this game which is the main reason for the 6. Who came up with computer generated quests? Who? I cannot think of a better way to make quests mind-numbingly dull. I really can't. Sorry but you can stick your shill job where the sun doesn't shine, buster. Perks. By the time that I was eligible for a lot of these they were completely useless to me. Besides, some of them are useless anyway and others replicated by items that you can get. The banality of almost all NPCs starts to get to you after a while too. How many times did I hear the same conversation in the Palace of Kings? 'He's either with us or against us'. How droll. The main mage's questline is extremely poor, the civil war affair not much better. They need some new writers. Try harder next time Bethesda and make a full game, not one that runs out of stamina half way through.… Expand
  3. MasterKuni
    Nov 11, 2011
    7
    Fallout 3 with swords. Don't let it's marginally improved looks fool you, this is the same game Bethesda have been remaking for the past 6+ years, but this time with dragons and swords. Voice acting is homogeneously unimpressive and even maxed out, the graphics are thoroughly unimpressive, especially when compared with the likes of Witcher 2. The melee combat is almost identical toFallout 3 with swords. Don't let it's marginally improved looks fool you, this is the same game Bethesda have been remaking for the past 6+ years, but this time with dragons and swords. Voice acting is homogeneously unimpressive and even maxed out, the graphics are thoroughly unimpressive, especially when compared with the likes of Witcher 2. The melee combat is almost identical to Oblivion, with no real substance or skill behind the formulaic block-slash-repeat. One of my biggest issues: The control scheme, particularly in the menus on the PC are AWFUL AWFUL AWFUL. Completely nonsensical arbitrary keys for archaically navigating menus that were clearly designed with the console in mind. The mouse works on about half the menus, and on the other half, ONLY the arrow keys work, with Tab being the "back button" and Enter being the select button. However, good luck figuring out which menus let you use your mouse, as only trial and error will unveil the answer. This game has potential, but is evidently hampered by what is clearly a bad case of console-itis. Save your money and buy Witcher 2 if you want a truly polished RPG experience where PC users aren't served second-class citizen control schemes.… Expand
  4. Kelu
    Dec 25, 2011
    5
    Tremendous fun at first, but the game's charm wears off quickly. Each subsequent installment of TES series removes more of the RPG elements, and Skyrim is pretty much just a FPP hack'n'slash. The main plot is a cookie-cutter sub-par heroic fantasy dragon slaying "adventure" and side quests are rather disappointing too - kill, exterminate, assassinate, murder and fetch. Playing a warriorTremendous fun at first, but the game's charm wears off quickly. Each subsequent installment of TES series removes more of the RPG elements, and Skyrim is pretty much just a FPP hack'n'slash. The main plot is a cookie-cutter sub-par heroic fantasy dragon slaying "adventure" and side quests are rather disappointing too - kill, exterminate, assassinate, murder and fetch. Playing a warrior archetype will get you bored to death, sneaky rogues and mage might fare better though. The world is big, but compared to, for example, Morrowind, it's bland, default north of the default fantasy setting. Exploration isn't really worth the effort, random dungeons litter the landscape, filled with random baddies to murder, bearing random, level-scaled loot. There's barely anyone to talk to outside of main cities - not saying that's a bad thing, since the dialogues are quite badly written and uninteresting, voiced by about 10 actors at that. Not to mention the interface, which was designed for consoles and is agonizingly annoying to use on the PC, and the outdated graphics. This game jest needs mods to be decent, and without them it's a solid 4/10. Skyrim made me look more favourably on Oblivion.… Expand
  5. TappedOut
    Nov 28, 2011
    6
    For the casual or new gamer, this game is the pinnacle of single player RPGs and is without rival. For experienced players to the Elder Scrolls series, many of the balance issues that plagued Oblivion are present. While leveling and monster scaling is no longer an issue, the crafting skills in the game make the hardest difficulty so easy that they are nothing short of broken. Without usingFor the casual or new gamer, this game is the pinnacle of single player RPGs and is without rival. For experienced players to the Elder Scrolls series, many of the balance issues that plagued Oblivion are present. While leveling and monster scaling is no longer an issue, the crafting skills in the game make the hardest difficulty so easy that they are nothing short of broken. Without using exploits, this game is devoid of limitations to prevent players from becoming overpowered if they so wish, removing the challenge from the game. This can largely be circumvented by avoiding smithing and enchanting.

    That aside, the graphics are gorgeous and spectacular with the proper hardware. The open world map does away with much of the copy paste terrain of its predecessor, and sets a new standard for adventure games. The volume of quests is somewhat overwhelming and some of the real gems can be difficult to pull out of the masses, but they are there and they do deliver.    … Expand
  6. SittinginBasket
    Oct 23, 2012
    6
    A decent attempted at rebooting the Elder Scrolls series, but just that. Visuals and audio leave something to be desired, cities and towns feel extremely small and uninteresting compared to the series' past cities and towns, melee combat is unsatisfying and sloppy while magic is fairly well done. The engine's physics still suffer in realism, and putting a potato into a bowl is the game'sA decent attempted at rebooting the Elder Scrolls series, but just that. Visuals and audio leave something to be desired, cities and towns feel extremely small and uninteresting compared to the series' past cities and towns, melee combat is unsatisfying and sloppy while magic is fairly well done. The engine's physics still suffer in realism, and putting a potato into a bowl is the game's most difficult feat. The game lacks much depth and immersion, feeling like a simple video game instead of an immersible world. Quests are extremely shallow and mostly consist of fetch-quests where your only true objective is to go into a dungeon, get to the end, and get back out, with no real story or anything interesting. Certain features such as the horse carriages are rendered useless after the first use by fast-travel and merchants will only ever be used to sell items to and buy potions, arrows, and ingots, as every other item will be inferior to what you currently have. The game redeems itself in it's openness to modding. Without mods, the game is just another mediocre RPG. It is highly recommended to install mods before going into the game, as the vanilla experience is extremely lacking.… Expand
  7. Although
    Feb 10, 2012
    7
    Guys. I would like to give a new review , sad to tell but i get bored this game after two weeks, guess my mistake i thought skyrim give me freedom and true rpg experiences together. But unfortunatelly it doesnt give. This game was made for stupid american kids mainly. And so my mistake when i was thinking of Skyrim give me similar rpg experiences than Witcher 2. The story not bad but itsGuys. I would like to give a new review , sad to tell but i get bored this game after two weeks, guess my mistake i thought skyrim give me freedom and true rpg experiences together. But unfortunatelly it doesnt give. This game was made for stupid american kids mainly. And so my mistake when i was thinking of Skyrim give me similar rpg experiences than Witcher 2. The story not bad but its like to a once watch american movie simple and easy. I really hope Bethesda will make a perfect addon but... frankly i dont believe they will...So summary it is a nice game with lot of new part compare to Oblivion but it never will compete with Witcher 2 or Dragon Age 2!!! I have to say DA2 is better rpg than Skyrim. its my opinion. sad really sad.… Expand
  8. Bas92
    Nov 19, 2011
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Skyrim is a game that looks absolutely great from the outside. The quality could be a lot better though.
    The game starts in a village and as I looked around, everyone was either a Nord or an Imperial. The character creation is incredibly simple, all you have to do is select a race. It's purely cosmetic anyway because any race can be an equally skilled mage/thief/warrior. The game starts quite promising with a dragon who attacks the village, but sadly this is the only instance in the entire game where a dragon actually destroys something. There's no character progression in the entire game so you can already imagine what the ending of the main quest will be. You're the dragonborn after all, whether you like it or not. Personally I'd rather have a main quest like in Fallout New Vegas, with the Stormcloaks and Imperials as the two major factions. Currently you're just the boring "chosen one" and there are no choices or different outcomes in the MQ. The MQ is also quite short, it took me only 10 hours to beat it.
    But hey, you don't buy TES just for the MQ. By far the best part of this game are the dungeons and the world. The world is, as we've come to expect from Bethesda, huge. It feels bigger than Cyrodiil because it has more mountains. There are more unique places and the cities look a whole lot better than the cities in TESIV:Oblivion. The dungeons are linear but brilliant. They all look unique, most dungeons have a story to them and they're full of surprises. I've had the most fun in this game by randomly exploring dungeons.
    Sadly the game suffers from many other problems. The user interface was made for the consoles and is absolutely terrible. You do get used to it but I think it's quite an achievement from Bethesda that I'd rather get Oblivion's UI back.
    The graphics are a major improvement but not up to today's standards. Many textures, especially rocks, are very outdated and would even look bad in TESIV:Oblivion. Games like The Witcher 2 and Two Worlds 2 look much better than Skyrim.
    The combat hasn't changed much since Oblivion. There's dual-wielding now (and dualcasting) and killing moves. The first-person killing moves are pretty cool, the 3rd person ones are annoying and can't be turned off. Melee combat is still simple hit&block where you're hitting air. If you're an archer, expect a lot of fights against a bandit with an arrow sticking out of his head.
    The dragons are a wasted potential. They look great but they're pathetically weak at lower levels. It shouldn't be possible to even kill a dragon at level 5-10 imo. They get better at level 20+ but they're still not that hard to kill, especially when they land so you can easily reach them. As I said, there's no destruction model in this game, so the dragons never feel as terrifying as they should. The guild quests and side quests are a mix of good and mediocre quests. Most are poorly written and almost all quests are simple fetch or kill quests. Don't expect any meaningful choices or different outcomes. The quests are mostly an excuse to explore the dungeons in this game and fight enemies.
    While the world itself is huge, it looks more like Oblivion than Morrowind. You won't find any big mushrooms here or other unique fantasy stuff. The Nordic theme is pretty good but there are so few elven/animal NPC's in this game that it's almost sad. I feel like I'm playing in the medieval era instead of a fantasy universe. Some people might like that but it's a big change from Morrowind. To sum it all up: Skyrim is a pretty good action game. If you liked Oblivion, you'll love this game. You can easily spent hundreds of hours playing this game. Just don't expect any good RPG elements, a memorable main quest, meaningful choices, well written quests, epic dragon encounters or a great combat system.    … Expand
  9. Yoshiwol
    Nov 14, 2011
    6
    Overall this game has a great story and engrossing and believable fantasy world that looks and feels great, but the gameplay is lacking and unless you can take enjoyment at exploring just the world and meeting the people, there is little difference to this title than there is to Oblivion. Why people liked Oblivion so much is beyond me, it was a minor improvement over Morrowind - in fact IOverall this game has a great story and engrossing and believable fantasy world that looks and feels great, but the gameplay is lacking and unless you can take enjoyment at exploring just the world and meeting the people, there is little difference to this title than there is to Oblivion. Why people liked Oblivion so much is beyond me, it was a minor improvement over Morrowind - in fact I enjoyed Morrowind more. The combat by now should be far better than what it is, and so should the stealth. The fact that it has been 8 or so years since Morrowind was released and the combat still feels the same really lets this game down, alongside the A.I being poorly pathed and difficulty settings poorly scripted, it makes the game feel more like a highly interactable novel, but not a great novel that you enjoy reading and recommend to friends, more a novel you might hear about in reviews and buy if you saw it in a charity shop.

    This game is hardly due of the attention it currently receives and I think it's mostly due to the mindset of the people wishing to review. Most hardy gamers, who throw themselves at fantastical franchises get too engrossed in the fact that it is as close as they can come to a living breathing fantasy world that they can explore, engage in and conquer. What they seem to forget, is the "as close as" part. While the game does draw out an epic fantasy adventure that feels unscripted and organic, where every small action seems to have consequence to larger actions and where the depth of the world is at times mesmerising there are many flaws. And the reason these shouldn't be overlooked - is that the same flaws were present in Oblivion as are present here.

    When I see this game getting so many 100 reviews it almost makes me sick that such a game is garnering such attention when so many of these flaws have existed for almost 6 years. Floating NPC's and objects STILL in the game since Oblivion. Poor A.I pathing, STILL in the game since Oblivion - including the very annoying friendly units getting in the way. The clunky and shallow combat system STILL in the game since MORROWIND. Melee combat is still shallow and lives a bitter taste in the mouth, it is tiresome and dull and the reason for this is its not exactly easy, but at the same time provides no satisfaction. The difficult settings in the game STILL shallow, they do nothing but bunk up stats for the enemies and for the most part makes fighting them near impossible. Taking 5 hits to die against an opponent on adept? Them taking 10 to fel? Stick it up to Master and watch as they kill you in 1 or 2 hits while they take possibly 50 sword strikes to take down. That's not an exaggeration either. The A.I don't get smarter, they just get more stats, which makes the already tedious combat more lengthy than it should be. Alongside that, if you ever get companions, they seem to believe themselves the hero - and will always block your shot with spell or arrow, or your swing with sword, axe or mace.

    Instead of engaging in combat that is natural, you feel like you are part of an unrehearsed college drama, swinging plastic swords at each other while you all forget at which point you are to act dead.

    HINT BETHESDA - Why not use certain animations and gameplay mechanics that other stealth games use, like Splinter Cell or Metal Gear or Assassins Creed, or even GTA IV that have all copied ideas from each other and other mainstream titles like Gears of War. Make combat more fluid and natural, and more with the times, take ideas again from games like Assassins Creed, where swords can actually clash, and the strength of enemies felt to a degree

    With all those points aside though, it has made improvements on Oblivion - I would have given Oblivion a 3, a 4 at best, but this definitely deserves a 6. It has potential, the story is much better this time around and it is much easier to get engrossed in the world and really enjoy the depth of everything to explore and do. There are certainly many hours to enjoy, whether you play them is up to you, and many of them are not really hours of fun but instead follow the grindy nature of RPG games - such as collecting ingredients, or deciding what you should and shouldn't loot from dungeons (which can be painfully lengthy due to the menu systems).

    The game is clearly not designed at all for PC, the mouse has different sensitivities based on x or y, and the menu system is very uninformative and difficult to manoeuvre. I play using a USB xbox360 controller I bought for racing games and it feels odd but it is far less odd than the mouse and keyboard. The game also suffers greatly from consolitis, some of the graphics are stellar, and really evoking, while others remind me of the PSX and even the SNES.

    Conclusion is at the top.    … Expand
  10. obro
    Nov 11, 2011
    6
    OK so Skyrim... I will keep it simple.

    Good stuff: spellcasting immersion (streams carry you if you try to swim, beetles in forests that you can catch, night sky) atmosphere looks (not graphics LOOKS as in it aesthetically it looks great but it's still a DX9 game in **** 2011) character models (much better than in Oblivion) character faces (again much better than Oblivion) dungeons traps    OK so Skyrim... I will keep it simple.

    Good stuff:

    spellcasting immersion (streams carry you if you try to swim, beetles in forests that you can catch, night sky)
    atmosphere
    looks (not graphics LOOKS as in it aesthetically it looks great but it's still a DX9 game in **** 2011)
    character models (much better than in Oblivion)
    character faces (again much better than Oblivion)
    dungeons traps soundtrack

    Bad stuff:

    User Interface is pure consolitis designed for controller not M+K
    melee and combat in general (melee sucks the most it's like they didn't improve one bit from oblivion hell they made it even worse now you cant even backpedal and thus cant evade **** the melee is nothing but a button masher at best
    controls - I mean ...there are some things that are just puzzling. For example you cant jump from sprinting. Why? It makes no sense what so ever.
    inconsistency (something looks great and then you notice the wall behind it with 420x200 textures or some **** like that)


    Bugs

    A lot of them. And some really REALLY annoying ones like chickens and horses report you for stealing/murdering. Yep. You heard it right. **** chickens and horses are witnesses.


    That all said it's a good game IMO. Can and will be improved with mods. Pity if you're a console users you wont experience them. So yeah not a perfect game but it's good stuff.

    Oh yeah and a big **** YOU to Todd Bull**** Howard for lying to us PC users that we are getting a User Interface made FOR m+k and not just a port from consoles. I am really disappoint. That and I am also very disappointed when they in a recent interview said that "it's hard to program for PC and there is a lot of piracy"

    Console version was leaked 2 weeks before the launch and nobody said anything. And to think that a company that owes it's existence to PC market says something like that.... just disgusting.    … Expand
  11. CorporateGreed
    Nov 11, 2011
    5
    Terrible controls for the PC. Remapping buttons causes some features to simply not work at all such as stealing books or crafting. Gotta admit it does run stable, but really doesn't look much better than oblivion did 5 years ago. The mouse Y sensitivity is somehow controlled by the frame rate, so you'll never have the controls exactly as you want them. The good thing is I have had noTerrible controls for the PC. Remapping buttons causes some features to simply not work at all such as stealing books or crafting. Gotta admit it does run stable, but really doesn't look much better than oblivion did 5 years ago. The mouse Y sensitivity is somehow controlled by the frame rate, so you'll never have the controls exactly as you want them. The good thing is I have had no stability issues or crashes of any kind, which makes sense since it's basically Oblivion with a worse UI and menu system. Looks a bit better, but nothing like the screenshots from Bethesda on any settings. Would rent only, and then use a console as the PC version is an afterthough.… Expand
  12. zugu
    Nov 12, 2011
    6
    Fallout 3 with dragons and swords. This is what this game is. I simply cannot understand the hype around this game.

    Level designers worked their asses off, because everything in the game is detailed, and each zone, and each house have a story to tell. But graphics are horrible. Everything has that bland, monochrome Fallout 3 look. Facial animations look like something from 2005, and the    Fallout 3 with dragons and swords. This is what this game is. I simply cannot understand the hype around this game.

    Level designers worked their asses off, because everything in the game is detailed, and each zone, and each house have a story to tell. But graphics are horrible. Everything has that bland, monochrome Fallout 3 look. Facial animations look like something from 2005, and the entire game feels like it was built on some game engine from the same era, that Bethesda continuously iterated upon until Skyrim. (Oh, wait, that actually happened. Bethesda could have learned something from Valve's Source engine, because that's what good iteration looks like.) The facial animations are so bad and ugly that, at times, I can't even understand what character is actually speaking.

    Voice acting is terrible, I was expecting much more from Skyrim. The UI is nothing to write home about.

    All these shortcomings, yet people rave about this game like it's the second coming of baby Jesus. What is this world coming to?    … Expand
  13. Demonbox
    Nov 12, 2011
    5
    Ok my first review was a 7 and after 2 hours of gameplay
    now after about 10 have to drop it to 5, like someone else already mentioned
    why are my weapons invincible? and why do i regenerate health so quick? fights are already pretty easy , this way you're a demi-god... Lore is nice, but yes have to agree take Morrowind make it a bit more classic fantasy and remove some of the weird    Ok my first review was a 7 and after 2 hours of gameplay
    now after about 10 have to drop it to 5, like someone else already mentioned
    why are my weapons invincible? and why do i regenerate health so quick?
    fights are already pretty easy , this way you're a demi-god...
    Lore is nice, but yes have to agree take Morrowind make it a bit more classic fantasy and remove some of the weird interesting stuff (Silt stride -> dude on a cart)
    After a few hours menus became a bit more easy to use, but they still are console menus, and yes the fights look horrible, especially when you manage to start a "finishing move", which , don't ask me why happens 80% of times, making fights even more easy.
    A bit of a delusion , was expecting something more, even if i was aware Bethesda is not my kind of RPG game developer.    … Expand
  14. Ythumb
    Nov 11, 2011
    5
    Holy ****
    This is TRULY A TERRIBLE GAME.
    DO NOT BUY THIS CRAP!
    Please save yourselves the time and dont support devs that make terrible games like this!
  15. Fuz
    Mar 6, 2014
    5
    Fire the guy who designed the interface. Just. Fire. Him. It's the worst interface I've ever seen. We have a mouse, non a gamepad. Apart from that, is the same game we already knew from Oblivion. Lots of bugs, pleasant graphics (but you can do better IF you don't do a straight from console porting) et cetera. If you liked Oblivion you will like this. If you couldn't stand all the littleFire the guy who designed the interface. Just. Fire. Him. It's the worst interface I've ever seen. We have a mouse, non a gamepad. Apart from that, is the same game we already knew from Oblivion. Lots of bugs, pleasant graphics (but you can do better IF you don't do a straight from console porting) et cetera. If you liked Oblivion you will like this. If you couldn't stand all the little problems and annoyances like the unresponsive combat (no feedback on hits? seriously?) and the TERRIBLE enemies scaling you wouldn't like this game. I'm still waiting for a Daggerfall 2. Or a Daggerfall remake. And by the way: FIRE the guy who designed the interface. Also, the guy who approved it.… Expand
  16. Hudson
    Nov 11, 2011
    5
    Save your headaches get the console version. The PC version is a terrible console port and once again requires massive tweaks just to make the game playable. Console version was put and play and looks great. Skip the PC version until developers learn to take their time, make a statement with the one you buy and get the 360 or PS3 version.
  17. Armotekma
    Jun 26, 2014
    7
    In a word? Overrated. They really messed up the major point of even playing an Elder Scrolls game - the story. Not just the main quest, but all of the side quests and especially the guilds. It is fun, but inferior to Oblivion and Morrowind and not a good sign of to-be Elder Scrolls games.
  18. Lakamahakataka
    Aug 22, 2013
    6
    There you have it, the modern RPG. Spending over 200 hours with it, I can't even remember why I did it. The world becomes hollow, once you've been there long enough. The fast-travel system that Oblivion invented, helps to ignore most of the open world, by simply traveling right to the front door. The fighting system is still mostly a simple 1-click annoyance. The story is great, that savesThere you have it, the modern RPG. Spending over 200 hours with it, I can't even remember why I did it. The world becomes hollow, once you've been there long enough. The fast-travel system that Oblivion invented, helps to ignore most of the open world, by simply traveling right to the front door. The fighting system is still mostly a simple 1-click annoyance. The story is great, that saves a lot. I understand that dragons are fascinating and big enough to give birth to one of the greatest hypes, but the rest of the game is dull. At a certain level, you run around and just wait for another dragon to show up. It's even more simple than older TES games. Your actions have no real outcome, no matter if good or bad. You cannot kill important people, the game babysitts you through until you have enough bad-ass equipment to bore yourself to death, while spending 24 hours in armor that looks like it was designed by 15 year olds, neither looking comfortable nor practical, but just "stylish". With the real world becoming more and more a catwalk for one-day celebrities, bred from boring normal people, becoming a dragon slayer in a dull world is just another step on the arc of the uninspired youth. When a company thats doing RPGs runs out of ideas, it might just as well put dragons onto the table.
    Here are some reasons why this world is so dull IMO:
    1. dwemer ruins.... traps and machines still intact after hundreds of years. Unexplored while being 10 minutes away from civilization.
    2. civilization... standing still for thousands of years. Rumors tell of a thing named "crossbow", to be developed soon. The people in this world are lazier as the average gamer.
    3. dragons... scary as they should be, have a companion with you who just cannot die until you kill him yourself and the fights become meaningless. The companion is like your babysitter, someone from Bethesda, accompanying you through the game so that the bad boys won't hurt you.
    4. the system... is downgraded with each TES game. No more weapons ready to swap with a single key. No sir, we develop games for consoles now, and since the average gamer becomes younger and younger, we have to make it so damn easy, even a 10 year old could feel like a dragon slayer.    … Expand
  19. Soplet
    Jun 24, 2014
    5
    I should say that I really have enjoyed it a lot at first. I loved all the choice I could make and blah blah blah... then I realized that combat balance was so poor that even the best and most well known balancing overhaul mod could not fix it.
    The main story line is way too short, too. Civil war was boring series of small battles that were not even epic at all. It is more epic to fight a    I should say that I really have enjoyed it a lot at first. I loved all the choice I could make and blah blah blah... then I realized that combat balance was so poor that even the best and most well known balancing overhaul mod could not fix it.
    The main story line is way too short, too. Civil war was boring series of small battles that were not even epic at all. It is more epic to fight a giant on low level and steel set without spamming potions. In addition no matter what you do, the side you chose will win the war. You can't even low the battle. So you just start a siege and hide. Dovahkiin's power is not necessary to win the war. besides, Alduin was sooooooo weak while he was the last and the supposed to be most vicious end boss from your very nightmare. Even the main theme is about the Dovahkiin save the world from Alduin, the world eater! World eater my ass. I literally ATE him! With a mod, yes, he can be a true nightmare but still... his pattern is same as any dragon flying around Skyrim. I saved the battle with Alduin for the last and shouting "For the Nords!" at the beginning of the fight. Then I was so disappointed that I started rampage on Sovngarde for those 'heroes' who couldn't do anything about that weakling.
    Final and the worst aspect of the game is bug. Seriously, in my first playthrough, when I only had appearance mod (face, hair, body for player character) for the sake of enjoying original game play, I had rare and critical bugs that made me impossible to follow main story lines. I had to create my own solution with console to proceed. For the heavy mod users.. I can't say much since mods that involving scripts and so forth have higher chance to cause bugs.
    Graphics...that was same as Mass Effect 1. It was not really that good but still ok. Basic modelings were ugly as hell but ok. PC version can offer them free plastic surgery with appearance mods.
    Most these negative aspect of the games can be fixed with mod for some extend. Mods, however, can cause bugs since scripts in the game was already unstable as hell.
    Of course I recognize it as very successful game but still I don't understand why it was so popular and console version was sold more than PC version. I don't think the game is a junk. Developers were just lazy. Even though they had intention to give some space for mods they neglected their responsibility to build a good and reasonable length of storytelling and corresponding game play. The game story involves series of unavoidable battles. The civil war cannot be negotiated through the talking, Alduin? He will eat you if you try to talk to him. Most of players agree that civil war story is boring. What they should have done is that making a 'real' epic main story line with a good balance.
    Then what the developers did? they didn't even care about game balance. AI were poor. Melee attackers charge at you blindfolded, NPCs can't see you under the sun when you crouch if you have high sneak level. Sneaking? Child play. You can sneak while wearing heavy armors making loud clinging sound. Sneak level is everything. You shot a arrow while sneak? An NPC gets a headshot but thinks it was not an attack but his mind playing with him. Monster's strength does not correspond with the story. Dragons can be easily beaten by guards. Mammoth and giants are much more stronger than dragons. Dragons always lose in 1:1 fight with them. Then why there was a specialized dragon hunter group, the Blades? I guess the Blades started in paleolithic period. Then still Dragon set is second most powerful in the game. what...? I don't think it can even protect the user from iron arrows. Magic is not balanced either. Magician enemies will make a barbecue out of you but your fireball is like a firefly to your enemy later in the game. Pure magicians will have some hard time in the later game. Skill perks are not efficient and too simple. What's the point of lockpicking? I can pick master locks with 10 lockpicks. If I get lucky, I can do that with only 3 lockpicks. Speech? You don't need to get a discount with speech perks. Gold is the last problem in this game. There is overpower trinity, though. Alchemy, Enchanting, Smithing. With all three you can be a heavy armored magician wielding most powerfully enchanted weapons with a potion addiction. Daedric items.. some of them are useless. Only few Daedric Lords will give you something useful items. Don't worry there is no penalty, either. It's just have unique look and names that's all.
    It seems like the developers rather rely on CK tool and those 'free' offering mods to fix their own problem! In addition mods can cause problems. It is not official add-ons or DLCs so it is less stable in average. What happened to those many big epic balancing mods? many of them ended with introducing bugs to the game play, or no longer be supported.
    In conclusion it was a game that couldn't reach it's full potential.    … Expand
  20. MooMooMilkCrava
    Nov 23, 2013
    7
    For a game, it certainly has a lot of content. The downside of this, is that most of it is actually pretty boring after some hours into it. The only way I managed to even get to over 100 hours clocked on this game was to install a bunch of mods for it. But these mods people make for this game are amazingly good. This game probably has some of the best mods I've seen in a game yet, andFor a game, it certainly has a lot of content. The downside of this, is that most of it is actually pretty boring after some hours into it. The only way I managed to even get to over 100 hours clocked on this game was to install a bunch of mods for it. But these mods people make for this game are amazingly good. This game probably has some of the best mods I've seen in a game yet, and that's basically why I was able to play so much of this game. The story is pretty average at best, the could of done a few things to make that better. It does do one thing good that The Elder Scrolls series has always excelled at; allowing you to play the game the way you want to. It does have a couple of bugs here and there, but that's to be expected in a big game like this.

    In short, if it wasn't for the large database of mods available for download, I'd probably give this game a 5 or 6. It just likes to keep throwing the same stuff at you a lot and the only way to really avoid this is by either ignoring it or installing mods.    … Expand
  21. eymrich
    Nov 27, 2013
    7
    If you come there from morrowind and then oblivion hoping to see a redemption of brethsa... well that's not it. This game feel like a dumbed version of oblivion. It's better, seriously, but it's dumbed down. The rpg aspect is limited to say the least. Gone are the days when you could make your own spells and weapons enchant AS you liked. And gone too are a lot of funny/stupid things thatIf you come there from morrowind and then oblivion hoping to see a redemption of brethsa... well that's not it. This game feel like a dumbed version of oblivion. It's better, seriously, but it's dumbed down. The rpg aspect is limited to say the least. Gone are the days when you could make your own spells and weapons enchant AS you liked. And gone too are a lot of funny/stupid things that you could do with the others TES game.

    But, if you can play it without comparing it with daggerfall and morrowind then you have decent game. The graphic(especially with mods) is great. The animations, sounds and music are quite nice. It's a fully immersive game. I have only one big complain, aiming to full immersion the choice of pause the game every damn time you interact with the quickbar it's silly... I mean you are in front of a HUGE dragon, hit q and... the game pause. It breaks totally the joy for me.
    There are mods yes, but again if you come from morrowind dont expect to see stuff like that. There are mods VERY good, that actually make this game more an rpg than a graphic adventure but still, it's skyrim. And with skyrim i have to say dumb... so yeah, it's a dumb rpg.

    Still, in the end i can't say it's a bad game. Graphic, sound, playability are all greats, it just lacks of difficulty other than "More hp/damage on monster" and there are only a handfull ways to beat it at top difficulty(the old TES had a LOT of "cheaty ways" so they felt easier but it was fun experimenting all of them). In the pletora of useless games around it's still worthless games around it's good to try it out, especially if you will be using mods it's a good investment. If there are any good discount buy it eyes close     … Expand
  22. painterkilla
    Aug 20, 2013
    7
    Skyrim has made significant improvements over the past games, those being replacing the class system with a perk system, allowing for greater specialization: now improving a one-handed skill doesn't mean practicing with a sword makes with better at swinging a mace. Customization options are really good and the characters don't look like potatoes. The game world is really beautiful, varied,Skyrim has made significant improvements over the past games, those being replacing the class system with a perk system, allowing for greater specialization: now improving a one-handed skill doesn't mean practicing with a sword makes with better at swinging a mace. Customization options are really good and the characters don't look like potatoes. The game world is really beautiful, varied, with some degree of verticality due to the mountains and filled with little stories here and there in the form of notes and journals. However, the game feels largely unfinished and empty. The guild questlines are incredibly short and still allow for a character with no skill to become guild leader, especially the College of Winterhold and the Companions, though the Dark Brotherhood one is well done. The Civil War could have been much more, but it limits itself to changing the guard outfits, the dragons all have the same behavior: land at ~35% health and the player can head-on charge, spamming attacks left and right. The combat feels largely like Oblivion: hit the enemy sponges until they die. Blocking has no benefits, you still get damage and stamina is useless outside of sprinting: enchant your weapon with stamina drain and get power attacks all day long. Despite being very nicely handcrafted, the towns are incredibly small, even Solitude, which is supposed to be capital of Skyrim, only feels different in size due to its tall buildings you (most of the time) won't be able to enter. Almost all dungeons are corridors with the back entrance either being inaccessible due a combo of high terrain and invisible walls or are just stupid 'key required' locks. The loot is very poor, even a master locked chest has no more than one or two mildly priced items, forcing the player to use a lockpick perk to suddenly find daedric items everywhere, much like the speech perk tree is required for you to sell all the items you want. Lastly, this is the first game since Daggerfall where the player character can utter complete sentences all the time, unlike Morrowind and Oblivion, but the dialogue is very simplistic: Speech checks are rare and useless: a step back from Bethesda's own Fallout 3, where you could completely bypass a quest with a simple check. They also force the character to be a dumb warrior/wizard/thief/whatever simply due to the lack of skill checks like in New Vegas: Your character, the Dragonborn, blessed by Akatosh with a soul of a dragon, is nothing more than a dumb chap who needs everyone to tell him what happened for the last years because apparently he/she was living under a cave or something.

    Bottom line: the game is enjoyable, but not exactly GOTY material, not with these issues, not with the bugs and definitely not with the interface on PC.    … Expand
  23. Zaqq
    Mar 31, 2012
    7
    To start with Skyrim is a nice game. Nice, but not 'great' or a 'masterpiece'. It has a big open world, lots of quests and characters. But the overall plot is too short and uninteresting. 99% of quests are less interesting than in TES4: Oblivion or Fallout 3/New Vegas; for example, Dark Brotherhood (guild of assassins) quests are only "go there and kill that man", no surprises at all, andTo start with Skyrim is a nice game. Nice, but not 'great' or a 'masterpiece'. It has a big open world, lots of quests and characters. But the overall plot is too short and uninteresting. 99% of quests are less interesting than in TES4: Oblivion or Fallout 3/New Vegas; for example, Dark Brotherhood (guild of assassins) quests are only "go there and kill that man", no surprises at all, and victims even don't pay attention when you approach them. RPG-system has downgraded a lot comparing to Oblivion. It is cool to find new items and upgrade old ones, but there are less types of items than in previous part. Combat is too easy, most of enemies are too easy to defeat. Overall, Skyrim is a step back in TES series; Fallout: New Vegas has more new features comparing to Fallout 3 (and no downgrades!), than Skyrim comparing to Oblivion.… Expand
  24. Nucleon
    Aug 17, 2013
    5
    10s? And so much of them?

    How come is that? Did the professional critics ever played one Bethesda game before Skyrim? How come they didn't notice the character-less followers, the horrendous interface, the predictible dungeon's ending patterns, and, most of all, the fact that the player has even less options regarding their character's attributes, birthsigns, skills, magic and    10s? And so much of them?

    How come is that? Did the professional critics ever played one Bethesda game before Skyrim? How come they didn't notice the character-less followers, the horrendous interface, the predictible dungeon's ending patterns, and, most of all, the fact that the player has even less options regarding their character's attributes, birthsigns, skills, magic and equipment?

    All are throating off about the graphics and the immersion, the shouts and the dragons. Yes, they're quite fine, thank you. But they are also normal it is expected that the next TES will be even better in this domain. They always did that since Morrowind, putting all the work on superficiality as a substitute for imagination and the option they didn't give back to players.

    This game is played like Zelda; It is obliously made with the young console user in mind, the kinda guy that buys (or rather his parents) like 3 games a month. It has little re-playability value, since a sole character can pretty much do all aspects of this thin game. Bethesda's first public, puristic roleplayers that enjoyed a rich, open world and character elaboration, are slowly being forgotten. It is a game made for children. Check this out at this rate, I'm sure Bethesda will do away with the third-person view altogether, soon. All you will see about your character will be a pair of arms.

    I read the professional critics here before buying the pricey game. That should teach me to never do that again. And as a result, playing Skyrim just makes me want to return to the Fallouts, Oblivions and Morrowinds. Shame on this guy for the promotion they did of the game, at the expense of the players. Shame on you, Metacritic. Oh, and you owe me 60 bucks.    … Expand
  25. Capzero007
    Apr 16, 2013
    5
    This is an excellent sandbox RPG with wonderful visuals but the game ends there. If you enjoy the real time combat and the crafting you will likely love this game. The story is disjointed and poor but I believe it is necessary to support the sandbox approach. You can wander around all you like and explore many many places. The graphics are enticing so if that is all you need to have funThis is an excellent sandbox RPG with wonderful visuals but the game ends there. If you enjoy the real time combat and the crafting you will likely love this game. The story is disjointed and poor but I believe it is necessary to support the sandbox approach. You can wander around all you like and explore many many places. The graphics are enticing so if that is all you need to have fun then you probably rate this game much higher than me. Personally I am not a fan of the combat system where you need to fire and aim each swing/spell/arrow. I also do not like the leveling system that requires you to advance as many skills as possible. Quest lines force you into crossing moral lines you might not want to cross but there is no alternate path. In general a fun fool around RPG but nothing serious. Bethesda is making the right move to stop this IP.… Expand
  26. devenlg
    Dec 10, 2013
    7
    The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, is an improvement to the last. But yet it still lacks some things, and is annoying in some aspects. One of them is the dialogue. The voices are recycled quite a bit, as well as the things they say. But the great things counter-act that. Cave and ruin exploring, fighting dragons, tons of side-quests, and so much more. Even better, there are no huge glitches orThe Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, is an improvement to the last. But yet it still lacks some things, and is annoying in some aspects. One of them is the dialogue. The voices are recycled quite a bit, as well as the things they say. But the great things counter-act that. Cave and ruin exploring, fighting dragons, tons of side-quests, and so much more. Even better, there are no huge glitches or bugs that make the game entirely unplayable. The only major bug I found was about 7-8 hours into the game, and a simple reload could fix it. I indeed suggest this game, but if you do, buy the PC version, as the console version fall a bit short.… Expand
  27. ArrowToTheHead
    Jan 13, 2014
    5
    vanilla skyrim is a pain:
    the usual elder scrolls:
    non existant balancing, huge world filled with lame, childish stories/characters(maybe except the speaking dog...lol, the irony of that) better, but still sub-par combat chars now talk and you can respond, thats a plus, little to no choice/consequence/decisions, let alone ones you think twice about no personalisation(every player is    vanilla skyrim is a pain:
    the usual elder scrolls:
    non existant balancing,
    huge world filled with lame, childish stories/characters(maybe except the speaking dog...lol, the irony of that)
    better, but still sub-par combat
    chars now talk and you can respond, thats a plus,
    little to no choice/consequence/decisions, let alone ones you think twice about
    no personalisation(every player is the highmage, fighter/thief guild boss, dark brotherhood assasin AND follower of EVERY daedra-lord, owner of every estate and richer than anyone ever... come onnnnn.

    graphics style was cool, however graphics quality for the pc, was a bad joke(or so i hope)
    why dont they put a little extra effort for the pc version in it?
    this applies for all games using this engine(fallouts, elder scrolls...)
    i didnt have the best hardware, but for all them games i used fanmods, that made the game not only run smoother, but actually looking BETTER! is it magic?
    no, its lazy devs and ppl not careing about quality.

    also: what should be first and foremost in any rpg is:
    the story/writing. in skyrim its the same old **** as in the other elders...
    but maybe i dont understand it right: getting more stuff u cant/wont/neednt use anyway, hoard more money than youll ever need(or is re:alistic in any way), buying houses and furniture you hardly ever need(except for hoarding moar)+ being always the cheesiest of all possible protagonists, the chosen halfgodesque uber slayer of everything that moves.
    not cool
    theres more issues but thats enough for now

    FIVE

    id give more,with mods, but this game is a waste of resources, skill and creativity.
    if you mod it its quite enjoyable(if you dont expect too much rpg), but this actually speaks against it

    good riddance there wont be another elder scrolls of that kind anytime soon.    … Expand
  28. whitepawn
    Jul 1, 2014
    7
    A solid "offline" game, if you have a good audiobook playing or need to catch up on podcasts. In all fairness, I've never finished it, I get bored not enough story or dialogue-ing companions to drive the story (is there a story?) forward. Combat is fine.

    PRO: -graphics -open world -open leveling system -dragons -a cryptic story involving said dragons -MODS, which can save this    A solid "offline" game, if you have a good audiobook playing or need to catch up on podcasts. In all fairness, I've never finished it, I get bored not enough story or dialogue-ing companions to drive the story (is there a story?) forward. Combat is fine.

    PRO:
    -graphics
    -open world
    -open leveling system
    -dragons
    -a cryptic story involving said dragons
    -MODS, which can save this game
    -neat, interactive environment

    CONS:
    -mobs level with you until L35, then they stop...but you keep on going to L88 making for a boring single arrow to the knee killing everything in your path...even the dragons (well, 2 arrows for dragons, but still...)
    -no real story
    -open, quiet, lonely and often boring world, like an MMORPG left empty and offline.
    -sometimes random dragons show up IN TOWN and kill off your questgivers
    -companions are boring, even if you marry them
    -neat interactive environment gets old when you realize you're looting the same shelf with the same iron pot, cheeses, and wheat in the same places over and over again
    -gets old, no motivation to finish.
    -THE INVENTORY INTERFACE IS TERRIBLE...be prepared to scroll through hundreds of items to find anything
    -no ability to hotkey, the favorites menu items don't make up for this...it's the 2010s, get it together already    … Expand
  29. GOFUCURSELF
    Feb 5, 2017
    5
    This game is boring and drab, with a few exceptions every single quest can be described in one sentence. (Example, raiders stole my food, I'll pay you to kill them.) Every single quest is an excuse to make you go through a process that goes like this, explore, kill things, loot, return to get bounty. Rinse and Repeat. Gameplay is awesome but story and the RPG is non-existent. Which is whatThis game is boring and drab, with a few exceptions every single quest can be described in one sentence. (Example, raiders stole my food, I'll pay you to kill them.) Every single quest is an excuse to make you go through a process that goes like this, explore, kill things, loot, return to get bounty. Rinse and Repeat. Gameplay is awesome but story and the RPG is non-existent. Which is what I expect from an Elder Scrolls title.… Expand
  30. Circe
    Aug 15, 2018
    7
    While lacking in depth and RPG mechanics and quest design, a beautiful world that demands exploration.
  31. tayfuntuna
    Jun 5, 2014
    5
    Yes, it's a good game. I'll just write what's not good in this title.

    It's like a HUGE TOTAL CONVERSATION MOD for Oblivion. The inventory system is a joke, hard to find items, makes you lose a lot of time.

    And I played it for a good 10 hours. It's fun, but nothing more, not good enough to make me want to finish it.
  32. Zaknife
    Aug 25, 2013
    6
    In my case the game was real fun only for first 30-40 hours after this time I just got bored with landscapes and the open world of Skyrim. Unfortunately this game lacks a decent storyline, I've tried to play it after completing The Witcher 2 and I was struck with the simplicity of plot. Besides at some point it's easier to kill a dragon than couple of Nordic zombies. However the game isIn my case the game was real fun only for first 30-40 hours after this time I just got bored with landscapes and the open world of Skyrim. Unfortunately this game lacks a decent storyline, I've tried to play it after completing The Witcher 2 and I was struck with the simplicity of plot. Besides at some point it's easier to kill a dragon than couple of Nordic zombies. However the game is worth to give it a shot … Expand
  33. Kopter
    Oct 23, 2015
    5
    Lo he intentado jugar demasiadas veces como para decir que no me engancha lo más mínimo. No sé porque... Sé que para la gente que le guste este estilo de juego es bestial, pero a mi no me llega y es algo que en realidad me duele, porque sé que no me está llegando un juego que seguramente sea una obra maestra.
  34. Kuririn
    Dec 2, 2016
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Скайрим ежжи. Игрушка дьявола ежжи.! Сюжет ну так себе, да ну 6 с половиной из 10, Геймплей ежжи ну 7 из 10, саундрет или саундтрек называйте как хотите, ну 8 из 10 поставлю. Драться вообще не очень приятно, отвра НУ ВОТ ЧЕ СРЕДИ НИХ? Игру слишком переоценивают… Expand
  35. KFA
    Jan 7, 2017
    5
    This game is not all it's hyped up to be.
    The quests quickly get repetitive and left no lasting impact on me.

    There is loads of content, but the world is just too gray and gloomy for me to care about exploring.
  36. Gor1945
    Apr 8, 2017
    5
    Дальнейшая деградация великой серии - все недостатки Обливиона никуда не делись - банальный сюжет, дальнейшее упрощение и вырезание - тех же магических школ, к ним добавились новые - если в Обливион были шикарные побочные квесты и квесты линеек гильдии и очень неплохая на момент выхода графика - то здесь из побочных квестов и вспомнить нечего, а графон (все тот-же движок от Морровинда -Дальнейшая деградация великой серии - все недостатки Обливиона никуда не делись - банальный сюжет, дальнейшее упрощение и вырезание - тех же магических школ, к ним добавились новые - если в Обливион были шикарные побочные квесты и квесты линеек гильдии и очень неплохая на момент выхода графика - то здесь из побочных квестов и вспомнить нечего, а графон (все тот-же движок от Морровинда - допиленный) выглядит просто убого для 2011 года.… Expand
  37. yar
    Dec 9, 2013
    7
    Great concept and fun to play. However, don't let the high meta score fool you. The game is not polished enough to deserve such a score. Bad AI that you can take massive advantage of (they get stuck, won't climb up objects, can't jump, etc)... the same environment everywhere you go, the same enemies everywhere you go, and in general the same routine everywhere you go. The inventoryGreat concept and fun to play. However, don't let the high meta score fool you. The game is not polished enough to deserve such a score. Bad AI that you can take massive advantage of (they get stuck, won't climb up objects, can't jump, etc)... the same environment everywhere you go, the same enemies everywhere you go, and in general the same routine everywhere you go. The inventory system is anything but seamless and the game has numerous bugs that can be found starting day 1. It has no profile system on pc, so playing with multiple people becomes a hassle trying to find your last save.

    The game is fun though, has a creative leveling system, and constantly urges you on to discover something new. The pace of the game is slow at times and the dialogue scenes can be tedious. despite all of the above, and if it were a bit more polished I would give it a great score. Good Fun Game, worth the money I got it on steam sale at 14.99) but not "all that"    … Expand
  38. Teaser38
    Dec 8, 2011
    7
    Incremental improvement on Oblivion. I've had no game killing bugs, but a few crashes which is better than any other Bethesda game I've played. Grind, grind, grind is the name of the game. Flat main quest line that offers little in the way of re-playability. Addicting, yes. Engaging, no.
  39. Ghostrider
    May 8, 2012
    5
    Some of the game is excellent, some is ok, some is quite bad.

    The good: World design. The world is huge, detailed (it even has ants) and beautiful. It is well worth the effort to walk the world of Skyrim from end to end in every direction. This is where the game really shines. Lots of places to exlore. There are hundreds of locations in the game. Most with their own small story.    Some of the game is excellent, some is ok, some is quite bad.

    The good: World design. The world is huge, detailed (it even has ants) and beautiful. It is well worth the effort to walk the world of Skyrim from end to end in every direction. This is where the game really shines. Lots of places to exlore. There are hundreds of locations in the game. Most with their own small story.

    Sadly this is where the good ends...
    The OK:
    While the story is not too horrible, it is not great either. It didn't engage me. It doesn't stand any comparison with Witcher series. But overall main, side quests make sense.

    The bad:
    Skill system. Bad, bad, bad. The idea behind Elder Scrolls series is an original one compared to your average RPG (quests->XP->level up->skills). In Skyrim you level up by using your skills. Completing quests doesn't earn any XP. Skills level very slowly. After 80 hours of playing I only have one of the skills maxed out to 100. Overall leveling a skill is long, boring and tedious work that involves a lot of grinding and/or using exploits (that are abundant in the game). Good news is that you donâ    … Expand
  40. RatingnHating
    Jul 23, 2012
    6
    I figured I'd take the time to write an actually decent review since most of them seem to be love/hate reviews, so I figured I'd do a simple pro/con list.
    Pro
    - great graphics - perk system is amazing - player customization is unparalleled - the world is awesome - Epic enemies Cons - Leveling system is restrictive in the sense that once you have all the skills you want, you can't    I figured I'd take the time to write an actually decent review since most of them seem to be love/hate reviews, so I figured I'd do a simple pro/con list.
    Pro
    - great graphics
    - perk system is amazing
    - player customization is unparalleled - the world is awesome
    - Epic enemies
    Cons
    - Leveling system is restrictive in the sense that once you have all the skills you want, you can't really level anymore
    - Not a lot of depth, not many choices other than empire/ stormcloacks, and nothing you do matters. No-where near the depth of a game like Fallout: New Vegas
    - Some areas just destroy your tactics (like stealth characters are screwed in dragon fights) almost like those deus ex human revolution boss fights.

    All in all I'd say skyrim is a pretty good game, as you can see my review says the pros outweigh the cons as saying it was a bad game would be a less than 5 score. Some of the flaws can be rather aggravating, but ultimately it is a good game. Also if you think I am saying it is a bad game by giving it that score think of my numbering this way, greater than 5 is good, less than is bad.    … Expand
  41. jacksparr0
    May 2, 2012
    5
    I feel that this game is average. Nothing outstanding or exceptional. Bethesda created an action game rather than a roleplaying game. There's absolutely no element of roleplaying in this game. Sure, you can create and customise your character, wear what you want, be a mage, thief, warrior, or anything in between, but what it doesn't have is the choice element of games like Mass Effect.I feel that this game is average. Nothing outstanding or exceptional. Bethesda created an action game rather than a roleplaying game. There's absolutely no element of roleplaying in this game. Sure, you can create and customise your character, wear what you want, be a mage, thief, warrior, or anything in between, but what it doesn't have is the choice element of games like Mass Effect. There's no way to define your character by the actions you make. No huge differences in the story occur due to the choices you make. The thing that bugged me was that I felt too rushed to complete the game that I had no "spare time" to do any side quests. Any roleplaying choice is quashed by the fact that the start of the game is the same everytime, dropping you into an urgent situation where you're kind of forced to follow the story rather than do what you want (which is what I thought the elder scrolls series was about). As a roleplayer, the actions I choose are the same every time because I'm given no choice as to how I follow the story. Of course some might not care about this fact if you're not so inclined to roleplaying like myself. The world is pretty dead. NPCs don't do much. The voice acting is alright. There's a lot of side quests, but your reputation has no bearing on peoples' reactions to you. The guards in all towns make idiotic comments about you being dragonborn as you walk past them. How does word travel so fast? How do they know it's me? Why do they sound like Arnold Schwarzenegger in the film Hercules in New York? Anyway, the game is fine if you want an action game. The controls are fine, but definitely meant for a controller rather than a mouse and keyboard. However if you're using a controller you can only have two favourite spells/weapons which means CONSTANT searching through your favourite spells. You'll likely end up putting every spell on your favourite list because it's quicker than opening the menu. Using a keyboard and mouse isn't much better due to the fact you can only have about 8 quick slots. Seriously, there's so many spells and abilities in this game that more are definitely needed. Mods are the only thing going for this game, but to say only mods can fix the game seems like a shameful failure on Bethesda's part. This is what happened with Oblivion. 5/10 simply because it's okay, but not good.… Expand
  42. 23dutch45man
    May 26, 2012
    5
    After playing this game for 100+ hours and having Oblivion played more than 300 hours, i am disappointed about this game. Sure, the first 10, 30, 50 or even 100 hours feel good when playing the game, but as soon that feeling begins to fade, the flaws in this game will influence how you feel about it and you will mods to cover the flaws and to add some extra hours of gameplay.

    If I should    After playing this game for 100+ hours and having Oblivion played more than 300 hours, i am disappointed about this game. Sure, the first 10, 30, 50 or even 100 hours feel good when playing the game, but as soon that feeling begins to fade, the flaws in this game will influence how you feel about it and you will mods to cover the flaws and to add some extra hours of gameplay.

    If I should compare the previous game in the Elder Scrolls series, Oblivion with Skyrim, My conclusion will be this:
    Skyrim has better graphics, better music, more enemy diversity, a slightly better main quest, the almost same clunky combat system and animations still look a bit stiff. The game has some decent characters, but mostly you will meet many uninspired characters. And many characters don't spread rumours. And you can't control the behavior of your followers and know at which skills they are good and at which they don't.
    But Skyrim is robbed of any feeling of accomplishment towards completing quest series,depth when it comes to character creation and leveling and the battle between the Stormcloaks and Imperials, which could have been an interesting quest series, is watered down towards hack&slash quests with a slight flavour of fetch questing.

    Quest Series
    For example when ending the Companions serie, you become the leader. But you don't get a little extra or the feeling that you have some degree of control and confirmation that you are truly the Companions leader, because you can't make any control over the faction which you are supposed to lead.

    Character creation
    They reduced the number of attributes from 8 to 3, the birthsigns are no longer permanent and the skill perk trees have many perks like improving damage with 20% or to reduce the casting Magicka from certain class spells of 1 of the 5 spell school by a half. There are interesting perks, but before you being able to pick them, you need to invest in perks which you may not need at all.

    I hope they will take The Elder Scrolls VI more complex with more detailed characters.
    The reason why i gave it a 5 is because the game will certainly entertain for some time, but it has many flaws


    Note: I am not a native speaker of the English language    … Expand
  43. Blackhamer
    Jun 6, 2013
    6
    After playing 160 hours of Skyrim I can say one thing for certain about it: "As wide as an ocean, but as deep as puddle". The game world is fully open and contains many many caves, dungeons, cities, creatures, treasures and quests. Within 160 hours of game time over 4 diffrent characters I've burned through no more than 75 of game's vast content (and without the newst DLC There is totalAfter playing 160 hours of Skyrim I can say one thing for certain about it: "As wide as an ocean, but as deep as puddle". The game world is fully open and contains many many caves, dungeons, cities, creatures, treasures and quests. Within 160 hours of game time over 4 diffrent characters I've burned through no more than 75 of game's vast content (and without the newst DLC There is total freedom and you can murder whoever you want, steal whatever you want .This abundance of stuff to do comes with a price though the game is EXTREMELY UNPOLISHED. Quantity over quality is Skyrim's official motto: Dialogues are very poor, quests are short and they are often uninteresting fetch-quests. Bugs are EVERYWHERE. I have the latest steam version AND newest modders community's patch. These are annoying, for example characters firing dialogue at wrong moments, NPCs dissapearing or freezing, terrible balance (i.e dragons killed by shopkeepers), awkward clipping of weapons...there is no end to those little bugs. And there are also major bugs, preventing you from completing quests. All of this really breaks immersion, yes imagination helps to explain the game's broken content but it's not enough for me.
    Combat system is quite meh, every few sword-swing you have to get into menu to drink a health potion or select a diffrent spell (there are hotkeys but too few). Character development is somewhat unique to this game, kinda too simplified but not really a major flaw. The graphics are bearable especially if you use mods.
    Mods are great in this game, they add tons of new content. With mods I'd give this game 7/10 but without it's barely a 6/10 for me. It's time to finally stop playing this game hoping that around the corner there is higher-quality content. After 160 hours trust me there is none.    … Expand
  44. Omnius
    Dec 23, 2011
    7
    An overall solid game that unfortunately still suffers from many of the problems of its immediate predecessor. Skyrim is executed with a reasonable degree of competency, but a few issues in particular stick out after just a few hours of gameplay. The first being the all-too-small voicecast for such an expansive digital world. Nothing breaks immersion quite like talking to a shopkeeper,An overall solid game that unfortunately still suffers from many of the problems of its immediate predecessor. Skyrim is executed with a reasonable degree of competency, but a few issues in particular stick out after just a few hours of gameplay. The first being the all-too-small voicecast for such an expansive digital world. Nothing breaks immersion quite like talking to a shopkeeper, walking out the door, and hearing the EXACT same voice come from another NPC not 10 feet away. While most of the dialogue is delivered well, the repetition of voices really begins to grate before long. The other main complaint would be the repetition of environments, especially the infamous "dark and mossy cave" over and over again. While the game's named side-quests generally do a good job of mixing up locations every now and then, the "radiant" quests became a repetitive and copy-pasted chore after only a few runthroughs. Despite these complaints, however, I find Skyrim to be a vast improvement over Oblivion, both in terms of graphical quality and overall gameplay. In the end, Bethesda has yet to reattain the lofty heights of game design that it once visited in Morrowind, but Skyrim does show that they are trying their best to get on the right track. It's not perfect, but Skyrim is definitely worth at least a glance if you find yourself wanting for a new single-player RPG experience to fill your time.… Expand
  45. Kataholic
    Jul 22, 2012
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This review is coming from a major fan of Bethesda games, including the Elder Scrolls series. Let's get to the point: this game is just not as compelling as previous titles in the series. The visuals and the techno-candy are impressive, but the fun begins to fade after about 15 or so hours. The main problem is the storyline. You're just not drawn into it like you are in, say, Oblivion or Fallout. The side quests become overwhelmingly repetitive, and after a while you just don't care about the characters, including your own. We all know that to a certain extent RPGs will always based on quest formats that require obtaining items to complete goals. In the case of Skyrim, it takes this time-honored formula almost to the point of ludicrousness. After a while I completely avoided engaging in any dialog with town citizens, for fear that it might add yet another pointless "obtain item x" to my miscellaneous quest list. It's also a lot more difficult to develop a themed character, since you are certain to be bombarded with quests that don't fit your character type: you''ll be asked to join the Thieves' Guild, The Companions, The Legion (Empire), The Stormcloaks (Rebellion), the Mages' Guild, etc etc whether or not they fit your gameplay style. It's then up to you to ignore these tasks in your ever-growing encyclopedia of quests if they don't apply to your character. In sum, Skyrim is one massive hodgepodge of item-seeking errands that might be great for someone with OCD, but for those of us who like RPGs and actual character development, it's too one-dimensional. C'mon Bethesda, hire some writers to add that richness and depth that characterizes your other games. 50 hours in, I just don't care why the dragons have come back, and this is the crux of the entire game. Consequently, this is the first Bethesda game that I probably won't finish. I really wanted to love this game, and it looked like it might deliver, but an irreversible boredom has set in.… Expand
  46. FatherOfTreason
    Dec 21, 2011
    7
    An impressive game whose strength lies in its sweeping, detailed world, the exploration of which, can consume hour upon hour of your time without you even knowing. There is always some new jaw-dropping vista to discover, some new silhouette in the distance, enticing you through a driving blizzard or some errand to take you out to some far-flung reach of the map. The world itself is worthAn impressive game whose strength lies in its sweeping, detailed world, the exploration of which, can consume hour upon hour of your time without you even knowing. There is always some new jaw-dropping vista to discover, some new silhouette in the distance, enticing you through a driving blizzard or some errand to take you out to some far-flung reach of the map. The world itself is worth the price of admission. However, the game still leaves much to be desired.

    Skyrim is simply chock full of bugs, broken quests and poorly implemented design. But I suppose poorly implemented might be preferable to simply not implemented at all, which as how many aspects of the game feel. Going through some of the lowlights:

    The UI is abysmal. The menu system seems designed to confound rather than assist you. This is probably sue to it being created for a controller rather than a mouse and keyboard, so everything you do with it feels like it's taking three extra steps whereas one would have sufficed. Equipping gear is a chore since you are limited to just eight hotkeys, which is very little for the number of spells, weapons, shouts, potions and scrolls you might need available at a moment's notice. Often times, you will find the need to pause the game and go hunting though the menus to find what you need. Poisons are a good example of this. Since poison on a weapon usually will only last for a single hit, characters who rely on them will find themselves pausing several time every fight to reapply it. This serves to really pull the player out of the game since the action is stopped continuously.

    Companions are pretty dumb. This is hardly unexpected and is a common complaint for any game that actually includes AI controlled companions. Skyrim is no exception. The pathfinding is awful and you will spend much of your time trying to find alternate routes to get to where you want to go because your companion will get stuck on an ankle high piece of scenery and get left behind, you will drop down off a knee-high elevatin change and they will be unable to follow. On the other hand, sometimes they will. This forces you to babysit them across all uneven terrain (there is a lot of it in Skyrim) by always watching behind you to ensure they are following. You can also elect to just leave them behind and hope they will catch up with you later. Sometimes they do. Other times they just disappear. Fast traveling can be used to "pull" a wayward companion with you, but sometimes when they get lost, they also get dead, and no amount of fast traveling will remedy it.

    Another problem with companions is that you have little control over their development, have no way of knowing what skills they are best at (without looking up the entry on the Wiki) and sometimes, can only suggest what armor and weapons they should equip. Sometimes they just wear what the want, no matter how inexplicable it is. Just give them what you want them to have and cross your fingers. The bright spot about companions is that they do make good mules for carrying around the masses of loot your are bound to find.

    Mounts have barely been implemented at all. Yes, you can buy and ride horses, even having several at one time. Unfortunately, the speed increase they give you is marginal, you can't use them for additional storage in the field, you can fight from the saddle, your companions can't ride at all so if you bring a friend along with you, you'll often leave them behind due to differences in travel speed, and finally, horses love to jump into combat with you. Although that may sound like a bonus, it's not, since they also tend to die horrible deaths rather quickly. With a 1000g price tag each time you need to replace one, you will soon learn that they are not something you want to bring with you on the road, which pretty much makes them absolutely useless in all respects.

    Game textures are pretty low-grade as well. At a distance, it's not something you notice, but once you get up close to the scenery, the stripped down console-based textures become horribly apparent. Luckily, these are easy to mod up to snuff for PC users. This includes new textures for everything from running water to character appearance, which really needed some work. Bethesda, it appears, decided that all characters, particularly female, would be better received by gamers if they were as ugly and unattractive as possible. The community begged to differ and, at the time of this writing, the most popular mod on Skyrim Nexus (among hundreds of truly excellent ones), is a mod to beautify the women of Skyrim. It may seem trite to some, but those ladies desperately needed a major league makeover.

    And despite these complaints, I still have to give Skyrim high marks. The bugs will be fixed, the textures will be improved and the mechanics will be overhauled. But most importantly, Skyrim is a world you can easily lose yourself in.    … Expand
  47. Zerasad
    Jul 7, 2012
    6
    I think this game went for quantity over quality and it really hurt it. I'm not really an Elder Scrolls fan I've always liked the Fallout series better, but I have to say that Skyrim was the first Elder Scrolls title I cared to play through. My experience is varied. The graphics are better than what we've seen before from Bethesda, but nothing special. The sound quality was pretty good andI think this game went for quantity over quality and it really hurt it. I'm not really an Elder Scrolls fan I've always liked the Fallout series better, but I have to say that Skyrim was the first Elder Scrolls title I cared to play through. My experience is varied. The graphics are better than what we've seen before from Bethesda, but nothing special. The sound quality was pretty good and the music was the same. The story line was avarage, nothing too big. But now let's go to the things, that I didn't like. The side quests for example. There were a lot of side quests in these game I can give it that, but aside from a couple they didn't really feel intresting. The same goes with companions. There were like a million of them, but they didn't have the slightest bit of character. I'd much rather have 7 unique companions with backstories and own quest lines like in Fallout, than 10 million of them that only differ in looks, and will eventually end up as moving chests that carry your stuff around. The armors and weapons are not balanced whatsoever. The spells get really weak later on, and if u don't dual wield you're basically not playing the game right. I can't count the times I got killed by a bandit wearing leather armor and an iron knife, while I had my Dragon armor, and ebony hammer on. Just because I wasn't dual wielding. The "skill trees" in this game are pretty dumb too. Some of them has no use. For instance lockpicking is pretty useless, since it just makes it easier to open locks, but you don't really need it since it's not really hard anyways, and you can open the lock after 2 or 3 triest most of the time. Blacksmithing is ridiclously imbalanced on the other hand. First of all since every item you craft increases your skill by the same amount to get it to max you'll end up making thousands of Iron Daggers. The gear you can make with blacksmithing is also often two or three times stronger than the one you can find. Dragons are pretty intresting, but after killing 3 or 4 them you'll have enough dragon bones and scale, so meeting them will be an annoyance instead of a cool thing. The interface is a buggy pile of steaming poop. Even if you point at the right thing you'll often end up clicking on something else. The inventory screen is a complete disaster. The gane was obviously made with consoles in mind. All in all this game wanted too much, and ended up as shallow non-polished disappointment.… Expand
  48. aleyas
    May 25, 2012
    6
    Extremely inconvinient new interface, especially inventory, vast territories wih nice landscapes but nothing else (I've spent 20! real time minutes walking to a new destination with NOTHING in a way), poor story, dull quests and NPC's, lots of bugs, etc, etc.... - all in all its boring - the worst game in TES series, IMO. However there is not much choice what to play if you are doneExtremely inconvinient new interface, especially inventory, vast territories wih nice landscapes but nothing else (I've spent 20! real time minutes walking to a new destination with NOTHING in a way), poor story, dull quests and NPC's, lots of bugs, etc, etc.... - all in all its boring - the worst game in TES series, IMO. However there is not much choice what to play if you are done with The Witcher. So I would not advise against buying the game, just do not expect much and you will not be disappointed as I was:-)… Expand
  49. ZetignaGaming
    May 9, 2012
    7
    This is one beautiful game. Its hard to argue that the graphics are dull or uninspiring, because you would be lying. However, even though The Elder Scrolls series are hard to beat and even harder to come by on epicness, I will say that this one disappointed. Clearly, they spent a lot of time trying to make a beautiful game, but its depth is about a deep as a puddle of water. If I am thisThis is one beautiful game. Its hard to argue that the graphics are dull or uninspiring, because you would be lying. However, even though The Elder Scrolls series are hard to beat and even harder to come by on epicness, I will say that this one disappointed. Clearly, they spent a lot of time trying to make a beautiful game, but its depth is about a deep as a puddle of water. If I am this all powerful, god like warrior, I should be treated like one. You will find that you will complete missions, save an entire town or city from complete doom and your reward is that you get to buy a house in the town. Hell if I didn't save it you wouldn't have one. I should be KING! The scale in which your importance in this world feels just wrong. You spend most of the time taking on much of the world by yourself and doing what most armies can't. The rewards for being so amazing are something that should have more meaning. Being a puppet when I could clearly kill the quest giver is none to pleasing. Best example I can give is also a spoiler. If you help the stormcloaks win the war and take over Skyrim all you get is a cheap sword that does Nothing! Nuff said....… Expand
  50. DogFacedGod
    Mar 16, 2013
    7
    The series improved the melee combat system but retained lots of the flaws from oblivion. Using magic is no fun in this game, the main story isnt just that interesting, stealth feels broken because of dumb npc's, your actions dont have that much influence in the game world. Interface is an insult to PC gamers. Every dungeon looks the same and many more flaws.

    It still is a fun    The series improved the melee combat system but retained lots of the flaws from oblivion. Using magic is no fun in this game, the main story isnt just that interesting, stealth feels broken because of dumb npc's, your actions dont have that much influence in the game world. Interface is an insult to PC gamers. Every dungeon looks the same and many more flaws.

    It still is a fun sandbox-RPG world to explore with splendid visuals, and a more raw, realistic feeling environment. And the mod support is incredible.    … Expand
  51. Ramanujan
    Feb 19, 2012
    6
    Pretty much the first thing I did after getting to Riverwood was the Bleak Falls Barrow quest. I did it all in one go and, very sadly, it was by far the most entertaining dungeon I did in the whole game. I had to scavenge for healing potions, I had to use my special power quite a lot (Redguard) , had to kill a few Draugr by leading them through traps and had to reload the final fight inPretty much the first thing I did after getting to Riverwood was the Bleak Falls Barrow quest. I did it all in one go and, very sadly, it was by far the most entertaining dungeon I did in the whole game. I had to scavenge for healing potions, I had to use my special power quite a lot (Redguard) , had to kill a few Draugr by leading them through traps and had to reload the final fight in there a couple of times. Good stuff. Then I got into crafting (good) and alchemy (same old thing but more boring) . Did a few quests which I would describe as moderately hard. After that it was all too easy. Still, there were plenty of places to visit and people to see or were they the same 6 people? The same 6 that had just quaffed a very potent elixir of drain personality? Eventually it felt like Bethesda had forced a potion of damage motivation on me. Why should I keep going? To spend hours in a huge dark cavern looking for plants? No thanks. To scour repetitive dungeons and houses looking for unusual gems. I'll give it a miss. To do virtually the same quests over and over again? NO. Wait, I can get some better alchemy equipment. No. Better gear? No, you're level 35 and you won't find any better stuff. I can rise through the ranks of the theives' guild and steal some outrageous things. Errr.......no. Maybe I could have an amusing chance encounter? Maybe not. Maybe the giants have some other purpose rather than to get my armour skill up and I can find out what it is? Don't think so. Well, there's that high level perk for such and such skill that will really help me when I want to do such and such. Yes, and that would be which one exactly?
    Seriously I have never played a game that left me so bereft of motivation in such a short space of time. The final battle of the main quest was over before it began and afterwards I swapped from two-handed and heavy armour to one-handed and light armour. Even then, with no perks in either, I still could take out the toughest enemies without any trouble. Just took a bit longer and I chugged a couple of healing potions in the process. Right, I've even become demotivated writing about this game. It delivers on a few superficial levels, but deep down it's very shallow indeed. I'm left wondering if it is even possible to make the whole Elder Scrolls experience more bland and anodyne than this. Let's hope not.    … Expand
  52. Baenlynn
    Feb 28, 2012
    6
    You can look but you can't touch...

    I will get this out of the way right now: Skyrim is an awesome game with a breathtaking scope and an ambitious storyline with a few foreshadowing elements in its main plot (perhaps Bethesda is working up to throwing ITS lit match at WoW?) However in many respects, Skyrim doesn't actually understand that it is a GAME, or even that it is telling a story.    You can look but you can't touch...

    I will get this out of the way right now: Skyrim is an awesome game with a breathtaking scope and an ambitious storyline with a few foreshadowing elements in its main plot (perhaps Bethesda is working up to throwing ITS lit match at WoW?)

    However in many respects, Skyrim doesn't actually understand that it is a GAME, or even that it is telling a story. To be fair however, Bethesda have always suffered from this disease to varying degrees but this is possibly the most-jarring instance of it that I've seen from them.

    To clarify what I'm talking about: in your average game (and 99% of the memorable, engaging stories in the world) there is a sense of arc, of progression, as the plot unfolds. Characters evolve, personalities and relationships change, and at the end of the story, the state of things is changed (however subtle). With Skyrim however one gets the sense that the world is simply a matte painting into which the plot elements are tacked on. The dynamism of that place is completely invulnerable to our presence as the protagonist which makes all those positives about plot and characters and depth ring hollow. One gets the sense that the game doesn't need us and that robs even the supposedly most engaging moments of the game of any sense of reality. For example: The main side-quest in Markarth.

    After a while, when the shine has worn off the game, that's all Skyrim has left to offer: An uncomfortable sense that it is tolerating your presence even though it feels you are sullying its pristine vision of Tamriel.    … Expand
  53. HappyWolfie
    Dec 15, 2011
    5
    Skyrim is not really an RPG game. It is adventure-quest game. RPG system is so simplified event retarded children can master it. When i played the game, character race were mentioned only once or twice, and had absolutely no effect on gameplay. Story is nice but most quests very linear and lack choices.
  54. mikhaila
    Dec 18, 2011
    6
    I enjoyed the game and completed a lot of quests but it just lost that great feeling after about 3 hours. I will still play it and enjoy it for many weeks to come but it's just not the same anymore and seems to be worse then Fallout 3. I think Fallout 3 was better.
  55. PrincessSunny
    Dec 26, 2011
    6
    As somebody who didn't really play Oblivion, this game started out as very impressive. However, after having put a lot of time into the game, the flaws start to build up. The graphics are indeed very impressive and detailed. Facial expressions are somewhat limited but this is more than made up by the beautiful scenery. Voice acting is relatively high quality though not in abundance - itsAs somebody who didn't really play Oblivion, this game started out as very impressive. However, after having put a lot of time into the game, the flaws start to build up. The graphics are indeed very impressive and detailed. Facial expressions are somewhat limited but this is more than made up by the beautiful scenery. Voice acting is relatively high quality though not in abundance - its kind of annoying talking to someone with the exact same voice as somebody in the last town. Combat is fun though it doesn't have much depth. I enjoyed it as far as hack-and-slack goes but due to the 2-ability only gameplay, and the clunky way to change your active abilities, I found that spells and strategy became a bit pointless. Additionally, the game is relatively easy and no strategy other than 'hit them hard' was really needed. In any of the more difficult fights you simply paused the game and spammed healing potions... While the game was immersive graphically-wise and the storyline is fine in most places, the quests are typically boring. I found the thieves guild extremely fun, but otherwise I found that you just went somewhere to kill someone or get an item from the back of a cannon-fodder filled cave (with exceptions of course). I did not find the atmosphere or characters to be deep, comparing it with games like Dragon Age, the characters were often very NPC-like with little back story or personality. While big cities were usually fine the smaller ones lacked characters and for example, there is virtually no one in the smaller inns except a bard and an innkeeper. Lastly, there are, as stated often, quite a few bugs with the game. Throughout my whole playthrough I found myself without a companion because my first one had bugged and nobody else would join me because the game seemed to think I still had my first one. Not that most games are without their bugs, all of these issues seem to ring loudly because of how over-hyped the game has been. While this review does seem critical, the game is definately fairly good and gave me a lot of hours of gameplay.… Expand
  56. Pootah
    Jun 26, 2012
    7
    Certainly a step up from a Oblivion; Skyrim fixes a lot of the problems of its predecessor. Menus and other UI elements have been streamlined; stats have been removed and replaced with perks, allowing for greater control over your character's progression. Level scaling has been reduced to be more like Fallout 3's, so levelling up is actually useful, where in Oblivion it only made the gameCertainly a step up from a Oblivion; Skyrim fixes a lot of the problems of its predecessor. Menus and other UI elements have been streamlined; stats have been removed and replaced with perks, allowing for greater control over your character's progression. Level scaling has been reduced to be more like Fallout 3's, so levelling up is actually useful, where in Oblivion it only made the game harder. Graphics are inevitably superior, although remain mediocre comparative to other games of recent years. As with every Bethesda game, Skyrim can be lot of fun so long as you don't think about it too hard; after a while you start wondering those niggling little questions like "how are these torches still burning when this dungeon has apparently remained untouched for thousands of years?" Or "how can I make a 30-pound suit of armour out of 5 1-pound metal ingots?" or "How the hell did so many bugs slip past QA? Seriously, there's a pile of rubble just floating 2 feet off the floor there." Skyrim's map is also slightly larger than Oblivion's, but it suffers from exactly the same problems: while the scale of the game may be impressive, quality is more important than quantity. I don't care about having virtually infinite quests to complete spread across more dungeons than you can count when nearly all of them are boring fetch quests or similar and every dungeon is just copy+paste of one of four other dungeons. Having dozens of towns sounds impressive, up until you realise that the alleged capital of Skyrim literally only has 9 houses in it. The most disappointing failure of scale is the characters: there must be thousands of them, but there's not one personality between them (and only maybe 20 VAs as well). The main narrative is unimaginably bland; centreing around a civil war in the eponymous province. Predictably, the player can choose which faction to join, but joining either side results in identical quests with the names switched round. Combat is similarly broken: since increasing your magic skill only reduces the amount of mana used (and you can't make your own spells any more), fights consist of either one-shotting enemies with sneak attacks with a bow or mashing the attack button in melee until the red bar is empty (the block skill is even more worthless than it was in Oblivion). As previously mentioned, even after a slew of official patches, bugs are a constant feature, whether it's quests failing to activate or merely items falling through the shelves they've been placed on, leaving modders to actually complete the game.… Expand
  57. Nikkistix686
    Mar 17, 2012
    6
    The game looks great, plays amazing. But we've already done all these same things before. I wanted to get a new RPG that played like something completely new, not just Oblivion with new maps, I just expected much more things to be added in. Mounted combat ect... Other hand, If you want a new game to spam mods for this might be for you.
  58. AlfaCorax
    Jun 15, 2012
    5
    I will describe Skyrim as "a world full of nothing".
    I love the landscape and I like the artistic direction of the "game", but it kind of stops there.
    After many many hours in the world of Skyrim I have given up. I have realized that it will not get more meaningful further on. Everything I do in the game feels pointless and effects the world almost nothing. That the game shipped as a    I will describe Skyrim as "a world full of nothing".
    I love the landscape and I like the artistic direction of the "game", but it kind of stops there.
    After many many hours in the world of Skyrim I have given up. I have realized that it will not get more meaningful further on. Everything I do in the game feels pointless and effects the world almost nothing. That the game shipped as a console port with all the limitations that brings is one thing that have been made better with mods, but even that cannot change the empty feeling I get from this extremely shallow game.    … Expand
  59. iansarmy1
    Jul 8, 2014
    6
    Skyrim is a great game that I have spent countless hours in. Bethesda succeeded in crafting the most beautiful and vibrant open world ever, with rich and varied settings and a deep lore. However they took 2 steps forward and one back compared to Oblivion and Fallout 3/New Vegas. Quest lines are linear, offer absolutely no choices and involve mostly talking to NPC A, going to dungeon B,Skyrim is a great game that I have spent countless hours in. Bethesda succeeded in crafting the most beautiful and vibrant open world ever, with rich and varied settings and a deep lore. However they took 2 steps forward and one back compared to Oblivion and Fallout 3/New Vegas. Quest lines are linear, offer absolutely no choices and involve mostly talking to NPC A, going to dungeon B, killing everything inside, retrieving item C and then going back to NPC A. The game is also littered with bland and static characters who are never influenced by or acknowledge your actions. Most are only good for one of two lines of dialogue. There are very few if any memorable characters, just legions of AI controlled cut outs going about there business. The story falls flat because you never feel connected to the world or that anything is particular at stake. Its a shame because technically Skyrim far outshines its predecessors, and its story and character problems could have been easily solved with some additional writing and voice acting.… Expand
  60. foresterLV
    Jan 1, 2012
    5
    They said combat system will be imroved but it is still years behind games like WoW. It is very unpolished and retarded, especially if you try using magic and dual-weild. You need to constantly open equipment or favirotes menu to switch between weapons and spells because hotkeys are FUBAR. Stupid blocking animations (adding delays to weapon switching etc) make situation even worse.

    I was    They said combat system will be imroved but it is still years behind games like WoW. It is very unpolished and retarded, especially if you try using magic and dual-weild. You need to constantly open equipment or favirotes menu to switch between weapons and spells because hotkeys are FUBAR. Stupid blocking animations (adding delays to weapon switching etc) make situation even worse.

    I was not able to get good feeling of Nords (there are MMO games with better atmosphere and music), random dungeons are still copy & paste (and waste of time, don't do dungeons!), quests seems to be weak and flat (nothing like New Vegas), and why they introduced random or repeatable quests in single player game is beyond my understanding! Like someone will do stupid repeatable quests in single player game for the pure sake of 700 gold, LOL! I would recommend New Vegas much more then this.    … Expand
  61. Rennn
    Jun 26, 2013
    7
    It's very hard for me to review this game. I loved Oblivion, which makes this all the more painful.
    Skyrim is just as good as Oblivion. There. I said it.
    Skyrim is EXACTLY as good as Oblivion. I get the feeling that most of Skyrim's raving fans have never played a previous Elder Scrolls game. There's very little progress for the series. Graphics have barely improved, gameplay is    It's very hard for me to review this game. I loved Oblivion, which makes this all the more painful.
    Skyrim is just as good as Oblivion. There. I said it.
    Skyrim is EXACTLY as good as Oblivion.
    I get the feeling that most of Skyrim's raving fans have never played a previous Elder Scrolls game.

    There's very little progress for the series. Graphics have barely improved, gameplay is identical, and quests are no more creative than they were in 2006.

    For everything Bethesda added in Skyrim, they removed something else. To add more unique spells, they removed spellcrafting. To add dynamic shadows, they removed most of the HDR lighting quality. To add NPCs with more personality, they removed many of the total NPCs, leaving Skyrim barren. To add horse combat, they removed the first person horse camera. Etc. It just continues like this. Every time Bethesda adds something to a sequel, they take away something else. Essentially, Skyrim is the same game I played in 2006, and although I loved Oblivion then, it's not okay to sell the same game year after year.

    Morrowind defined the genre in 2002, and 10 years later, Skyrim still hasn't significantly improved. It kills me to do this to a series I still like, but at most, Skyrim deserves an average review. Mods on the PC version are the only reason to buy this game instead of literally any other generic RPG to release in the last 10 years.    … Expand
  62. Chubzdoomer
    Jan 14, 2012
    7
    Skyrim is a classic example of a game with all the potential in the world but that falls victim to repetition and uninspired characters and quests. The main storyline is interesting enough to keep you glued to your seat. The game kicks off with you, a prisoner sentenced to death, escaping a city called Helgen amidst a surprise dragon attack and going on to discover that you're a rareSkyrim is a classic example of a game with all the potential in the world but that falls victim to repetition and uninspired characters and quests. The main storyline is interesting enough to keep you glued to your seat. The game kicks off with you, a prisoner sentenced to death, escaping a city called Helgen amidst a surprise dragon attack and going on to discover that you're a rare individual known as a "Dragonborn." Dragon encounters and epic trips up gigantic, treacherous mountains follow as you learn more about who you are and what you can do to cleanse the world of evil and make things right again. Then come the side quests. Thieves Guild and Dark Brotherhood quests aside, Skyrim is absolutely filled to the brim with some of the most pathetic, repetitive quests I've ever undertaken in an open world role-playing game. Nine times out of ten, it's "Go collect this, then return to me!" or "Go kill so-and-so, then return to me!" There is no originality to be found and by the time you've fetched the 50th item for the 50th uninteresting character, you'll be ready to tear your hair out and call it a day. The dungeons in which you'll be doing most of your fetching and killing are largely repetitive affairs, too, with copy-and-paste layouts and repetitive puzzles that make each one feel exactly like the last. These gripes aside, not all is bad in the world of Skyrim. The world is large, the graphics are much improved over Oblivion, and the soundtrack is mesmerizing and memorable. The lockpicking system brought over from Fallout 3 is an excellent replacement for Oblivion's annoying one, too, and even the leveling system has been improved. Overall, Skyrim is a great game hampered by quests with no soul and uninteresting characters. Had it featured more interesting characters and a greater variety of quests and things to do - I missed the arenas from Oblivion, for example - I would've played until my eyes had rotted inside my skull. As it stands, however, Skyrim features a huge, gorgeous world to explore but offers little to do in the way of interesting activities once the story reaches a conclusion and you've assisted both the Thieves Guild and Dark Brotherhood. Had there been more to do, this would've easily received a perfect score from me. Perhaps upcoming downloadable content will provide this game the interesting content it desperately needs.… Expand
  63. SlickRick
    Mar 6, 2012
    5
    The game is visually great in my opinion. But the game has suffered greatly due to consolization because bethesda just wants more money from console kids... Truly a shame. The dungeons are just awful. YES, they are visually diverse and pretty. YES they all have a cool story to tell. BUT, you enter the dungeon, find books, dead bodies with stories etc... Then you continue down the linearThe game is visually great in my opinion. But the game has suffered greatly due to consolization because bethesda just wants more money from console kids... Truly a shame. The dungeons are just awful. YES, they are visually diverse and pretty. YES they all have a cool story to tell. BUT, you enter the dungeon, find books, dead bodies with stories etc... Then you continue down the linear corridor of the dungeon, find a treasure chest, kill some enemies, then you get to a 'boss' who is as easy as every other NPC but takes longer to kill and does something like electric bolts or a shout, then you kill him. Loot him and a treasure chest or something, and RIGHT THERE is the exit to the dungeon. 100% linear. This game is so casual it hurts… Expand
  64. Seryin
    Mar 10, 2013
    7
    Every TES game from Bethesda SHOULD have been a 10. However the size of the game is NOT an excuse. These game are LOADED with bugs and glitches. It is inexcusable by Bethesda. If you have the manpower to make the large games you do, than you have the manpower to clean it up right before you release it. It is a shame that TES has the potential to be a legend among games but can never seemEvery TES game from Bethesda SHOULD have been a 10. However the size of the game is NOT an excuse. These game are LOADED with bugs and glitches. It is inexcusable by Bethesda. If you have the manpower to make the large games you do, than you have the manpower to clean it up right before you release it. It is a shame that TES has the potential to be a legend among games but can never seem to do anything but scratch the surface because of its bugs. Bethesda should be embarrassed that they can't properly polish up the games they push so much praise into.
    The game could have been a 10, but the army of bugs and glitches always seem to bring your character to his knees before any Dragon can.    … Expand
  65. Larwick
    Nov 1, 2013
    6
    Skyrim never really lived up to its expectations for me. The hype was exciting, considering the games apparent vastness and depth. However in truth the game in many aspects pulls the player away from believing in its world and the developers hype was mere illusion. NPC's have 1 body type and little facial variation, all children have exactly the same face and the game won't stop makingSkyrim never really lived up to its expectations for me. The hype was exciting, considering the games apparent vastness and depth. However in truth the game in many aspects pulls the player away from believing in its world and the developers hype was mere illusion. NPC's have 1 body type and little facial variation, all children have exactly the same face and the game won't stop making this apparent. Dungeon designs are repeated and enemy types are too few for a world so large. Armor and weaponry is absolutely linear, removing all illusion of choice. Civilians repeat the same phrases over and over again as you pass them with different voice actors repeating the exact same written phrase as another. Junk items litter the game world that serve absolutely no purpose mechanically (other than filler). We were told that arrows would be hard to find to balance the fact bows were so good, but in reality it's impossible to run out and using a bow in melee combat is exploitable. The AI is quite poor, especially in stealth situations, and does not convey an illusion of a living world. The game was and still is littered with bugs and issues. It certainly wasn't a terrible game, but it was no where near as good as people seem to believe. My opinion is certainly in the minority, but hype is a powerful thing.… Expand
  66. turlocs
    Nov 5, 2013
    7
    This game really did dissapoint me i know this is many people's game of the year but i cant help but think this whole game was nothing but a dissapointment half of the people that have played other elderscrolls games knows what im talking about oblivion was alot alot alot alot better in every respect and was ahead of its time my heaps but this is just hack and slash with crysis graphicsThis game really did dissapoint me i know this is many people's game of the year but i cant help but think this whole game was nothing but a dissapointment half of the people that have played other elderscrolls games knows what im talking about oblivion was alot alot alot alot better in every respect and was ahead of its time my heaps but this is just hack and slash with crysis graphics everything about it just made me think why am i playing this its done better in oblivion id honestly say this was my biggest dissapointment of the year i was so hiped up for this game hanging on to every peice of gameplay and trailer bethesda gave us and i was just givin bugs popins hack and slash with no good story or any effect on the world no matter what you do 7/10 good game im not saying its bad its just really not as good as it schould have been… Expand
  67. PuppetMazter
    Jul 11, 2014
    7
    A bit overrated in my opinion, but still a solid game that gave me 50 hours of fun. The graphics are impressive, but not as glorious as everyone says they are. They are about the same as the first Assassin's Creed, which came out in 2007, 4 years before Skyrim. The combat system was really disappointing and got old fast. The dungeons also got old quick. They all seemed exactly alike to meA bit overrated in my opinion, but still a solid game that gave me 50 hours of fun. The graphics are impressive, but not as glorious as everyone says they are. They are about the same as the first Assassin's Creed, which came out in 2007, 4 years before Skyrim. The combat system was really disappointing and got old fast. The dungeons also got old quick. They all seemed exactly alike to me and were fun at first but just got boring after doing a few. But the story was great and I enjoyed it very much, and the DLC was great as well. The characters could have used a lot of work, and just seemed bland and boring and made Skyrim a slightly depressing and lonely place because of it. Overall I give it a 7/10… Expand
  68. carloscmbh
    Feb 1, 2012
    6
    Man, you orctowngrot said every thing. This game start amazing, became great, then very good, then good, then ok, then mediocre, and finaly get boring. There's no challenge after you reach level 40. I'm level 46 and just kill everything without effort; dragons, bandits, trolls, falmers, elves, orcs, nords, mages. The quests get boring. The gameplay it's repetitive. In the end, you justMan, you orctowngrot said every thing. This game start amazing, became great, then very good, then good, then ok, then mediocre, and finaly get boring. There's no challenge after you reach level 40. I'm level 46 and just kill everything without effort; dragons, bandits, trolls, falmers, elves, orcs, nords, mages. The quests get boring. The gameplay it's repetitive. In the end, you just don't want play it anymore. Just get tired.… Expand
  69. liho1eye
    Dec 30, 2011
    5
    Another vast sandbox game. I sunk about 250 hours in it, which should tell you something about value for the buck. Still it has plenty of issues, which is to be expected from a Gamebryo game. Interface (as Critical Miss cleverly noted) is made by and for the crab people. Camera control is bad. Physics are bad. AI isn't even bad, it is borderline malicious. Quest and other scripted eventsAnother vast sandbox game. I sunk about 250 hours in it, which should tell you something about value for the buck. Still it has plenty of issues, which is to be expected from a Gamebryo game. Interface (as Critical Miss cleverly noted) is made by and for the crab people. Camera control is bad. Physics are bad. AI isn't even bad, it is borderline malicious. Quest and other scripted events often break and wont progress without manual intervention via console. Game challenge scales very poorly with level and crafting skills make it worse. Does the content make up for it? Possibly. Still the game could've bee 10 times better if only Bethesda moved on to a game engine that isn't 10+ years old.… Expand
  70. euu
    Mar 8, 2012
    5
    Even though Skyrim is by no means terrible, it is by far the worst Elder Scrolls game. If Bethesda continues to dumb down this series it will soon turn into GTA with swords and magic. The attribute system has been removed, now when you level up you spend one point in either health, magicka or stamina, there are no more classes and this greatly affects replayability, the enchanting has beenEven though Skyrim is by no means terrible, it is by far the worst Elder Scrolls game. If Bethesda continues to dumb down this series it will soon turn into GTA with swords and magic. The attribute system has been removed, now when you level up you spend one point in either health, magicka or stamina, there are no more classes and this greatly affects replayability, the enchanting has been dumbed down and the spellmaking has been completely removed. The story and the quests are not that good either. I don't know how you make a story more generic than that of Oblivion, but apparently Bethesda did it. There is nothing more cliche in fantasy games than dragons and Skyrim made them the main focus of the story. That's a shame, because the side plot about the civil war had a lot more potential for an interesting narrative. The UI for the PC is very bad and there are also some bugs( even though not as many as there were in Oblivion).There have been some nice additions, like the ability to wear a weapon in one hand and a spell in the other, the smithing skill is also pretty cool, but these things are not enough to compensate for everything that has been removed.… Expand
  71. jerrypatel_07
    Oct 17, 2012
    7
    This is nowhere near a quality rpg like Planescape: Torment. Average plot, Bland NPcs,sluggish combat. It is only a decent game because of its visual design and quality world and dragons........
  72. Clams_n_Roses
    Nov 23, 2011
    7
    Beneath Bethesda's usual sloppy laziness lies the makings of a fantastic game. The world, the lore, the culture, and the atmosphere of the game are very rich, but the many flaws and bugs hold it back. The textures are extremely poor, the animations are pretty awful (good luck shooting things with magic or arrows, since the enemy models tend to float around quickly, independent of anyBeneath Bethesda's usual sloppy laziness lies the makings of a fantastic game. The world, the lore, the culture, and the atmosphere of the game are very rich, but the many flaws and bugs hold it back. The textures are extremely poor, the animations are pretty awful (good luck shooting things with magic or arrows, since the enemy models tend to float around quickly, independent of any realistic or predictable movements), and while the combat is far less "floaty" than in FO3 or Oblivion, and generally feels quite satisfying with a sword and board, the floatiness is still present when using magic, bows, spell and sword etc. The lack of any blocking mechanism with most of the combat options, ease and speed of floating around in circles, and high amount of damage required to defeat a lot of enemies, mean a lot of fights will revolve around the you and your adversary floating in circles around each other mashing the attack button. The AI is still dreadful too, and you can happily shoot someone in the face with an arrow from a few feet away, only to hear them loudly exclaim "WHO'S THERE", shrug their shoulders, and return to what they were doing.

    I've heard a lot of people argue that mods will fix the huge amount of bugs in the game (almost constant crashing, giant purple crystal looking trees/objects/characters loading up, etc), as well as the many other problems, however Bethesda's recent actions suggest they will do everything in their power to stop this- for those of you who don't know, for some bizarre reason, Skyrim is capped to use only 2GB of RAM (about as much as a basic laptop has), resulting in constant stuttering, framerate drop, and crashes. Some helpful fellow made a fix to bypass this; allowing the game to run without so many hiccups, but Bethesda patched the game to add more DRM (which of course only affected those that had already bought the game anyway) which broke this fix. A new fix has been made by someone, but it begs the question of why Bethesda not only didn't fix this themselves, but then prevented others from fixing it.    … Expand
  73. Cavissi
    Dec 25, 2011
    6
    A pretty decent game, ruined by level and item scaling. Had I reviewed this game when I first started playing, it would be a solid 8 out of 10. While the quests and writing all seemed rather lazy, adventuring and crafting was keeping me really entertained. However, because of item and level scaling, all of the dungeons start to feel the same. Even some treasure equivalent to Fallout 3'sA pretty decent game, ruined by level and item scaling. Had I reviewed this game when I first started playing, it would be a solid 8 out of 10. While the quests and writing all seemed rather lazy, adventuring and crafting was keeping me really entertained. However, because of item and level scaling, all of the dungeons start to feel the same. Even some treasure equivalent to Fallout 3's bobble heads would have made it worth exploring but when every dungeon is full of the same enemies and weapons, the game quickly loses its flare. While most complaints can be fixed by mods, I cannot count that as part of the rating.… Expand
  74. Stewartale
    Dec 26, 2011
    5
    Oh, where to begin... Well, I'm a long-standing Elder Scrolls fan, who fell absolutely in love with Morrowind, and spent hundreds and hundreds of hours on Oblivion,also. I found both games had amazing replay value, for me at least, and I know neither of those games met some criteria for some people, but most of those were fans of other genres. If you like fantasy/RPG games, you playOh, where to begin... Well, I'm a long-standing Elder Scrolls fan, who fell absolutely in love with Morrowind, and spent hundreds and hundreds of hours on Oblivion,also. I found both games had amazing replay value, for me at least, and I know neither of those games met some criteria for some people, but most of those were fans of other genres. If you like fantasy/RPG games, you play fantasy/RPG games, right? Well, simply put, with all of the attention Skyrim was getting, I was expecting it to be absolutely amazing. Full of lore, adventure, replay value, sophisticated puzzles, warring factions in which you chose a side, but no. Sadly, they decided to make it one faction warring with another unplayable one, that you can join, play through to the end, and gave absolutely no choice in what you did. To say the least, I was disappointed. Now, that is forgivable, especially since Oblivion was the same, but that was still a great game, right? Ah, well... I played through, did most of the main quest lines, and then... became very bored. Who wants to do dungeons you've seen a thousand times before? It gets quite boring, I assure you. And that's actually all there is to do. Sure there's side quests, but they almost always involve going through dungeons. Even the Daedric Shrine quests follow that pattern, in general. The puzzles are meek, the game is almost entirely hack and slash, which is good in some games, but in those games you generally have a specific skill set for whatever class you have, and in this, if you're any form of melee, it's the same thing over and over again. A child could play this game quite easily. Oh, and the game-breaking bugs... I won't bore you with the details, but I've had to restart three times now. I'm sure there's plenty of people complaining about that. Basically, my main annoyance is the lack of replay value. It's slim to none. Once you've done the quest lines, you're through. I'm disappointed in this game, mostly for not living up to it's predecessors. Hopefully next time they'll revive the Elder Scrolls for what it was originally.… Expand
  75. firstevil87
    Mar 16, 2012
    6
    Skyrim, a game so loved by many that people forgot to have social life or a normal life as well. I played the game trying to understand what the fuss is about but... I got bored pretty fast. At first I was astonished by the environments, the possibilities but then I realized something was missing: reward over time. It' very easy to say that you played this game for 200 hours where half theSkyrim, a game so loved by many that people forgot to have social life or a normal life as well. I played the game trying to understand what the fuss is about but... I got bored pretty fast. At first I was astonished by the environments, the possibilities but then I realized something was missing: reward over time. It' very easy to say that you played this game for 200 hours where half the time you just follow the mark on the map and walk. And walk. And walk. Minutes upon minutes of walking when nothing happens except the occasional wolf or the big monster that kills you in one shot and force you to start all over again. This superfluous padding could have been bearable if the combat system was interesting but the user-unfriendly interface made even combat annoying. If you like this kind of games here you will find great customization, a big open world to explore, lots of thing to do. Every time I try this kind of game I end up disappointed because freedom is useless if you don't have a compelling narrative or a purpose.… Expand
  76. horseloverfat
    Dec 31, 2011
    6
    The sense of wonder when the intro starts is unparalleled. In 2012 we gotta get our fix fast and often, so there's no time to waste on making a game a new experience for the sod that shells out and buys it at console prices. Morrowind was metaphorically Daggerfall with breath of life and imagination on the order of Myst. Oblivion was essentially Morrowind with more atmosphere and lessThe sense of wonder when the intro starts is unparalleled. In 2012 we gotta get our fix fast and often, so there's no time to waste on making a game a new experience for the sod that shells out and buys it at console prices. Morrowind was metaphorically Daggerfall with breath of life and imagination on the order of Myst. Oblivion was essentially Morrowind with more atmosphere and less wonder. Skyrim is literally Oblivion with dragons. I tried both sides and several classes, but you'll know what you bought by the time the intro finishes. You bought stock that won't pay dividends unless creativity prevails over greed.… Expand
  77. Ageoffan
    Jul 31, 2012
    5
    The game at face value is an 8. A fairly good story, and a very vast and explorable world, when they said "if you see that mountain, you can scale it" they meant it. The addition of mods to the game also continue to add new life to it. However, this game whens played for about 1hr + becomes very boring. This game is just a hack n slash, granted all elder scrolls games are, but it is doneThe game at face value is an 8. A fairly good story, and a very vast and explorable world, when they said "if you see that mountain, you can scale it" they meant it. The addition of mods to the game also continue to add new life to it. However, this game whens played for about 1hr + becomes very boring. This game is just a hack n slash, granted all elder scrolls games are, but it is done in such a boring fashion that it is just sad, not to mention that after you are done with the main quest, it is hard to force yourself to reroll another toon. The character development, imho, could have been more developed (maybe adding a voice to him would be nice) it honestly feels as though everything you have done is pointless, and although the marriage option is nice, it feels like it was a last minute addition. Great, i can get married, anything else other than a cash source? nope.

    So if you really like exploring and finding random stuff, this game could be for you, but if you want a game with good replay value/ or a feeling that your character is actually changing as you go, do not touch this game. Combat sucks, visuals are nice, character progression is pathetic, alot of your choices or thing that happen to you (ex: becoming a vampire) is no where near as eventful as it was in previous games.    … Expand
  78. Otakkun
    Feb 8, 2012
    5
    Oblivion with a bland leveling system and awe inspiring graphics. Plagued with bugs as well (at least they are patching them up).
    The world is beautiful without a doubt, but is the game fun after 10 hours? Do you get any sense of accomplishment from leveling/molding your avatar? Nope. How this game got a 10/10 just about everywhere is just beyond me. There must be something about dragons    Oblivion with a bland leveling system and awe inspiring graphics. Plagued with bugs as well (at least they are patching them up).
    The world is beautiful without a doubt, but is the game fun after 10 hours? Do you get any sense of accomplishment from leveling/molding your avatar? Nope. How this game got a 10/10 just about everywhere is just beyond me. There must be something about dragons and putting buckets over npc heads that makes critics go nuts with glee.    … Expand
  79. Crimsonking58
    Dec 26, 2011
    5
    Ah Skyrim. Outside of the CoD series, I have never heard so many people going insane over a game before it's launch. Sadly, if you ever played Oblivion, you've already played this game. There are literally only 4 changes; Graphics (slight improvement), UI (Which I loved but for some reason the majority of the PC community despises), Dragons (Which are interesting enough but not gameAh Skyrim. Outside of the CoD series, I have never heard so many people going insane over a game before it's launch. Sadly, if you ever played Oblivion, you've already played this game. There are literally only 4 changes; Graphics (slight improvement), UI (Which I loved but for some reason the majority of the PC community despises), Dragons (Which are interesting enough but not game making), and the leveling system. Oh the leveling system... The use of perks is the most game-breaking aspect in my opinion. In Oblivion, if you maxed out every single skill, every single skill was at its maximum ability. In this game, however, only the 3-4 choice skills that you decide to put your perks into are actually worth a damn at the end of the game. I couldn't just toss on some robes, ready some spells, and deal massive damage even with 100 skill like I could in Oblivion, because all of my perks were in melee skills. But, if you don't put perks into a few choice skills, you're stuck with a bunch of mediocre abilities. This kept me from playing once I reached level 50 (when leveling slows drastically). At that point, I stopped caring about my character, felt no compulsion to complete the sea of mostly identical quests, and just wrapped up the main plot and never touched it again. But what about the experience of getting to 50 in the first place? As I said, if you've played Oblivion, you've played this. There really is nothing different here except dragons, and in the end the whole game just feels like a collection of mods for Oblivion. In the end, I liked the UI, and the game was fun while it lasted, but in the long term it doesn't hold up as well as Oblivion did, especially if you've already put 100+ hours into Oblivion. If it's your first Elder Scrolls experience, however, I'm sure you'll have a blast for the time being. It just didn't hold up for me.… Expand
  80. LebtNurEinTraum
    Jan 28, 2012
    6
    I don't really understand all this fuss about Skyrim. Sure, it's not a bad game, its world is very large, you get a lot of choices, but that's about all. Almost all the quest and dungeons are quite average and repetitive. There are BUGS, loads of them, even ones that brake the main quest. Graphics? Meh. Some textures look downright ugly. The inventory is ridiculous. And the "care" forI don't really understand all this fuss about Skyrim. Sure, it's not a bad game, its world is very large, you get a lot of choices, but that's about all. Almost all the quest and dungeons are quite average and repetitive. There are BUGS, loads of them, even ones that brake the main quest. Graphics? Meh. Some textures look downright ugly. The inventory is ridiculous. And the "care" for paying customers of Bethesda is really "wonderful". I just don't know how anyone can say that Skyrim is the best game of all time and stuff like that. TES series is unique for its huge open world concept, but the amount of bugs and mistakes should not be overlooked anyway.… Expand
  81. jerf
    Apr 17, 2012
    6
    For me Skyrim was more of a disappointment. I completed the College's line, but got bored already before that. Granted, the vast landscapes are amazing (though, truly so only after downloading tons of unofficial graphics mods), but the story is not really captivating, and characters are rather bland. I didn't remember their names the day after I stopped playing, which shows that theyFor me Skyrim was more of a disappointment. I completed the College's line, but got bored already before that. Granted, the vast landscapes are amazing (though, truly so only after downloading tons of unofficial graphics mods), but the story is not really captivating, and characters are rather bland. I didn't remember their names the day after I stopped playing, which shows that they didn't really touch me.
    So, in my opinion Skyrim is more of a fantasy tourism game than a real role playing one.    … Expand
  82. Tyrannis1964
    May 8, 2012
    6
    the game was fun for the first 30 hours or so but unfortunately after you began to become aware of how the game feels a bit uninspired and lackluster
  83. kirov13
    Jul 18, 2012
    5
    With all the hype and the great experience with Fallout 3, I was expecting a lot more from this title. It is not a bad game, but rather has many flaws that keep it from being a great game. As mentioned by others, the menu system was obviously designed for console games, making it tedious to navigate with a mouse. Also, even when your mouse is over the menu item you want, it oftenWith all the hype and the great experience with Fallout 3, I was expecting a lot more from this title. It is not a bad game, but rather has many flaws that keep it from being a great game. As mentioned by others, the menu system was obviously designed for console games, making it tedious to navigate with a mouse. Also, even when your mouse is over the menu item you want, it often selects the one above or below it, or even the last item selected. So be prepared to hear the same dialogue again from an NPC after the game misinterprets your mouse click (you can skip, but still annoying).

    There are some common bugs, such hearing NPCs talk who have since left the room...seeing a mamoth flying 200 feet up into the sky...some animals falling through the map.

    I also do not feel the leveling up really makes your character any stronger...there are many skills to spend your level up points in, but I feel there are too many and you can never really develop many of them... Magic feels week no matter how high you level up and where are the shortcut keys to switch weapons and spells? Very tiring to go back to the menu each time you want to change weapons or spells.

    That being said, it is a wide open world with decent graphics and interesting life. Wait for it to drop to $20 or below.

    While the crafting of items in fallout 3 was largely ancillary to the overall game play (as you can get through the game without too much difficulty without making much), I feel it is more of a requirement in Skyrim. This is a pain the the rear, as I feel the need to constantly be looking for crap in the world for crafting, rather than

    The number of items for use in crafting, especially for potions is numerous, nearing obsuridty    … Expand
  84. Theguyoffire
    Jun 6, 2012
    5
    Mediocre.
  85. TheTelePlus
    Mar 7, 2012
    5
    Skyrim: mediocrity incarnate. After giving in to the hype and paying the above average RRP at launch I was left feeling ripped-off. Bold claims had been made about Skyrim prior to its launch and it was safe to assume in the five years Bethesda had off after TES IV to make Skyrim significant improvements would have been made, as well as most if not all of the issues addressed. Needless toSkyrim: mediocrity incarnate. After giving in to the hype and paying the above average RRP at launch I was left feeling ripped-off. Bold claims had been made about Skyrim prior to its launch and it was safe to assume in the five years Bethesda had off after TES IV to make Skyrim significant improvements would have been made, as well as most if not all of the issues addressed. Needless to say that is NOT what happened, what did happen however is Bethesda made the combat both slightly more enjoyable and slightly more annoying with constant unskippable death-cam esque finishing moves and also added smithing which granted is fairly addictive. Other than that however Skyrim still has nearly all of the flaws present in its predecessors as well as a lackluster main story quest, and although the sidequests certainly aren't bad and offer more variety than their Oblivion and Morrowind counterparts the simple fact is they're not quite as well executed and as a result I often found myself lacking motivation to see most of them through. All in all I feel much of my dissatisfaction with Skyrim comes from the intensely hyperbolic promotional content released pre-release, ultimately Skyrim is enjoyble but certainly not as amazing as most of the mainstream press would have you believe. In it's current state I can't recommend Skyrim at full price, I'd say wait for the inevitable GOTY edition.… Expand
  86. Hyomoto
    Apr 30, 2012
    5
    Iâ
  87. Gothic90
    Aug 9, 2013
    7
    Skyrim, imo, is highly overrated.

    It is by no means a bad game. It offers tons of content. I played 100+ hours into it. It got a huge open world, interesting lore and background, and all the things you can do. But the quality of the massive amount of content is not very high. In most questlines, other than civil war and maybe Daedra quests, you don't have meaningful choices. Maybe if    Skyrim, imo, is highly overrated.

    It is by no means a bad game. It offers tons of content. I played 100+ hours into it. It got a huge open world, interesting lore and background, and all the things you can do.

    But the quality of the massive amount of content is not very high. In most questlines, other than civil war and maybe Daedra quests, you don't have meaningful choices. Maybe if you count DLCs, then Dawnguard would count as well. For example, you can never fight against thieves' guild; the best you can do is to avoid that quest.

    The skill system also encourages grinding, which is boring.

    Its DLCs, imo, are also overpriced.

    Moddability on the other hand is a very important part of this game, and that is why I still give it a 7.    … Expand
  88. neroSieben
    Aug 9, 2012
    6
    I can't say that i didn't enjoy this game as i played it more than 100 hours, yet i have to say that it didnt live up to my expectations. first of all i liked about this game, that you can go anywhere and there is alot to explore and steal from houses ( ;) ), just like every other TES part, and apart from average textures it still has good looks that create a good vibe when exploring
    the    I can't say that i didn't enjoy this game as i played it more than 100 hours, yet i have to say that it didnt live up to my expectations. first of all i liked about this game, that you can go anywhere and there is alot to explore and steal from houses ( ;) ), just like every other TES part, and apart from average textures it still has good looks that create a good vibe when exploring
    the dungeons are fun at first but they grow old after you have seen a few of the same type (especially ancient nord ruins!). when you figured them out you don't feel the urge to enter unless you have to, alltough sometimes they have somethings special (a story of failed expedition, a quest to seek someone upon entering, a unique spot and boss other than another random named dead guy etc) which can be refreshing. as a result i would say they did an average to good job on them regarding that there are so many and i visited alot of them until it became annoying, but i wished they used more kinds of different dungeon types.
    the combat system is great at first as you can have 2 one handed weapons, a shield and a one handed weapon, a bow, a spell and a one handed weapon, two different spells, twice the same spell for more power or a two handed weapon. especially the magic system is something different and i liked it. after some alltough time it annoyed me to change weapons (if you will) to cast. i realy had to put shield and weapon away to cast a spell, with a menu that was clearly designed for a console, and re-equip them to continue fighting. as a pc gamer this realy pissed me off because there was no effort put in to make this work on pc (the same applies for the item menu, which is just dumb for pc). this is the first thing that realy annoyed me, because as an honest pc customer and fan of tes since morrowind i feel cheated. also: items were ok, after somepoint you just had the best and there could have been more variety or special items but its ok all in all.
    this takes me right to the guilds, which have a mixed quality in my opinion. the good guilds in my opinion were the dark brotherhood and the thiefs guild. i enjoyed the questlines far more than the main questline! they were realy well done in my opinion. the mage guild was just ok, nothing special and i missed more locations as there were in tes3 and 4. its almost all about that stupid sphere you find in the first quest, there are some side quests (old orc says get my books ;) ) but not that many, and its realy not that surprising: find sphere, learn its dangerous and powerful, elves steal it, you kill elves + misterious yet meaningless psijic guys who dont have any use more than taking it away in the end. i missed that there was nothing special they taught you or invited you to join (as the nightingales for example) they just appeared and were gone. end of story. in my opinion a lot potential was wasted here, but the quest themselves were fun and so all in all as said the guild is ok. now the companions: the questline was short, it had one nice twist in it with the werewolf thing and its nice you could choose how it would contine. in my opinion also a lot wasted here: do 1-2 quests and they just make you a werewolf. why not make you discover the dark secret? it could have been better, all in all just ok, yet as said too short in my opinion. the civil war factions and questline were the worst in my opinion. it was no fun at all just a big pain in the ass. the quests were dull and repetitive and the result was: no matter what its all the same in red or blue. the worst thing was it werent real factions to begin with and they only matttered in very few things and only for this short war period after which nothing you did seemed to matter at all...this was realy disappointing as it was well introduced in the beginning of the story. also all in all the guild master status didn't realy matter. i tried one quest and after that i never returned, as i also couldnt realy do anything else. further more i missed how every city had a fighters or whatever guild house and different quests for different status in the guild.
    the sidequestlines also had mixed quality but all in all they did a great job keeping the game fun, especially the daedric ones as they were realy unique! also some quests to become thane turned out to be fun. the rest realy had mixed quality as there were investigations in cities that were fun or the usual get something out of a dungeon, which wasnt that great most of the time. the main quest was not too bad but as said two guild questlines outshined it and it didnt feel all that important as it could have.
    further i missed the arena from oblivion the magnitude you had in morrowind/oblivion but i also had alot of fun being the explorakhin in this world. for me it is a 6/10 regarding especially the poor pc version, the civil war, a lack of an average guild in cities, the dungeons for people who love playing the game for a long long time.    … Expand
  89. crimsondoor
    Dec 4, 2013
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This is the first time I wrote a review since I never like to write in my second language, but I want to express my opinions on this (sorry) overrated game.

    This game has a great open world. Such a big open world means that there are many many quests to do, to the point that it is overwhelming and you would say "no more at the moment please, I've got to do this one first". HOWEVER, most quests are largely the same which makes the game somehow repetitive.

    The best part of the game is the landscape obviously, you can meditate or look out over the mountain without doing anything for hours. Making every hold and capital city look different is no easy feat as well. Architecture of the Dwemer ruins and the automatons are one of the best thought-out elements in the game, in my opinion probably because I am very interested in ancient civilisations. The best part is not only Dwemer ruins made a return from Morrowind, this time they added the tragic backstory of the Falmer as well. But when it comes to the best-designed dungeon, nothing can beat the chaotic, otherworldly and twisted Apocrypha from the Dragonborn add-on. You might even forget you are playing Skyrim when you are in the Apocrypha! The designers definitely deserve to be praised.

    Another great element of the game is music. This game would not be complete without it. Composed by my favourite composer Jeremy Soule, many of the music are beautiful and calming, just like the landscape. He contributed so much to the atmosphere of the series. I like the little palette music (not included in the OST) you can hear when exploring in the wild as well.

    Now let's talk about the flaws of this game no one can ignore. The first is, of course, bugs. I cannot count how many bugs I've encountered. It is actually the sole reason I waited until Legendary Edition was released so there would be less bugs by the time I start playing, but the number of bugs is still unacceptable. It has a HORRIBLE UI for PC as well. Fortunately the problem is gone after installing the SkyUI mod. The game feels like a half-polished port at best, forcing players to install unofficial patches to avoid bugs and fix the UI. It's pathetic that college programmers can do better job than Bethesda. Perhaps I should have expected it- it's Bethesda afterall.

    Secondly, it has one of the worst plot I've seen in a bestselling RPG game. Not only the main questline (lame plot involving dragon bosses), but the College of Winterhold (kill a Thalmor and you become Arch-Mage) and Dark Brotherhood questline as well (kill someone, kill Astrid, kill the Emperor, and the story ended there. I was like "what?").

    Choices are non-existent. One great example of the lack of choice is that you are asked by the Blades to kill Paarthurnax and you cannot decline their request, which is absurd considering the position of the Blades and the Dragonborn. You "can decide" to join the Stormcloaks or the Empire, but you can't remain neutral, and if you joined them, the outcome doesn't affect the story that much anyway. The disproportion of the scale of the world/landscape and the writing is almost laughable to me.
    I have a minor complaint but many people might agree with me the lack of depth in NPCs. Most NPCs can be categorized into quest-givers, merchants, enemies and followers. For followers, you can only ask them to follow you, do something for you, or go home. Most of the NPCs/followers don't have backstory. You don't feel a bond with the followers, perhaps except for Serana. This is probably unavoidable because of the lack of VAs and large amount of NPCs, but it's a shame that you can't have more interaction with your favourite characters or to know more about their backstories.
    Even marriage is quite pointless, they just move into your house without any more interaction other than to cook you food or share the shop's profit. To be honest I don't even understand why Bethesda included the option to marry a NPC if you can't do anything with them.

    Combat is one of the weaknesses of the game, although not as bad as the plot. Melee combat is boring and most of the time it's just pure button mashing. Fighting dragons can be exciting at first, but after a while it gets dull. Still, I like the idea of Shout from a gameplay viewpoint. Even though it is unavoidable that they had to make dragons a main factor in the storyline, they should have written a better story.

    Overall, I think this game is enjoyable by everyone regardless of age (ironically which stems from its shallowness), unlike DA:O, which I consider its counterpart but can be quite intimidating at first. However, DAO is better executed and has more depth. I fear Bethesda is running out of ideas for its games since Oblivion. Maybe it's time for Bethesda to make their game maturer or darker, involving romance or even sex in its main plot? There is also a more important task left for its programmers: "Back to Basics- Learn How To Debug Games".    … Expand
  90. bosh_cod
    Jul 3, 2014
    6
    Skyrim is a hard game to review. It's not a very good game, lacking any meaningful story, branching consequences for your actions, weak and dumbed down combat system, game is dull, uninteresting and cant hold your attention for more than 10 minutes. It's a game deserving a 4 at most. Now, install some 20-30 mods (Requiem and Frostfall most importantly) and it becomes playable, evenSkyrim is a hard game to review. It's not a very good game, lacking any meaningful story, branching consequences for your actions, weak and dumbed down combat system, game is dull, uninteresting and cant hold your attention for more than 10 minutes. It's a game deserving a 4 at most. Now, install some 20-30 mods (Requiem and Frostfall most importantly) and it becomes playable, even ocasionaly fun, earning a solid 7 (since no mod can ever fix a bland and meaningless story).

    So vanilla Skyrim gets a 5.

    Skyrim with at least Requiem gets an 8.    … Expand
  91. moifoi
    Dec 21, 2011
    5
    They built a huge world with great voice acting and tons to do yet once again forgot about the gameplay which sucked hard. The combat is just so basic and sluggish it has not evolved since the first ones.
    The main story was also horrible, this same company keeps making games with horrible main storys, some of the side quests were better then the main one.
  92. krasnyoktya
    Jan 1, 2012
    7
    As many reviewers have stated, this game starts out great and you want to give it a 10. What the red reviewers are saying is true; the quests get boring, the dungeons are cookie cutter, the NCP characters are annoyingly repetitive and the physics are poor (not to mention that I've gotten stuck a number of times). That being said, the game is still visually impressive and inspiring. ThereAs many reviewers have stated, this game starts out great and you want to give it a 10. What the red reviewers are saying is true; the quests get boring, the dungeons are cookie cutter, the NCP characters are annoyingly repetitive and the physics are poor (not to mention that I've gotten stuck a number of times). That being said, the game is still visually impressive and inspiring. There are a number of different regions with different wildlife and different harvest-able ingredients, as well as different environments and climates. The races are very well incorporated into the storyline, and it is easy to pick sides based on how your character would feel in the situation. There were times when I wanted to go out and kill certain groups of NCPs. What people are saying about not being able to specialize is false. If you want to be a mage, you can hold a shield charm in one hand and a destruction spell in the other. The perk trees have been fun to explore, although there have been times when none seemed worth the work. The leveling system is not perfect, but it could be much worse. All in all, you will have a great time playing this game on the PC, but having the quests in the ESC menu instead of the TAB menu really rubs me the wrong way.… Expand
  93. akalla21
    Mar 8, 2012
    7
    Skyrim is a beautiful game with so much potential that is only half realized. Having played Oblivion (I missed Morrowind when it came out, and I just can't get into it now), I knew what I wanted out of Skyrim. I wanted a great story, freedom to go anywhere, realistic NPCs, and tons of customization for my character. Skyrim, in my opinion, accomplished none of these. The main story isSkyrim is a beautiful game with so much potential that is only half realized. Having played Oblivion (I missed Morrowind when it came out, and I just can't get into it now), I knew what I wanted out of Skyrim. I wanted a great story, freedom to go anywhere, realistic NPCs, and tons of customization for my character. Skyrim, in my opinion, accomplished none of these. The main story is mediocre at best; it starts strong, and for a while I thought it was going to be incredible, but after a bit, it starts losing steam. By the end of the main quest, I just wanted it over; it was not nearly as engaging as the main story in Oblivion, which, admittedly, wasn't the greatest main story ever. As far as freedom goes, Skyrim does a decent job of giving one the illusion of freedom, but still falls short of its potential. This is because Skyrim's player movement system is the same as it was for Morrowind and Oblivion before it: run, jump awkwardly, and can't climb anything. If complete freedom was Bethesda's goal, it was only partly realized. Give me the ability to go wherever I want, however I want. If I encounter a cliff I want to scale, give me a grappling hook to climb it. The next item is the one that irks me the most about Skyrim: NPC stupidity. Again, during the opening scenes of the game, I was wowed by the dialogue and interactions of the NPCs. However, once you reach Riverwood, the experience starts to go downhill. NPCs repeat themselves ad nauseum: how many times do I need to hear Lydia complain about how she's sworn to carry my burdens? This is a simple fix: after they say their lines, NPCs should shut up. Don't speak again unless I speak to you. And when we work together to take down a dragon, please don't walk away immediately after the dragon dies like nothing happened. And if a townie NPC dies for some reason, his corpse should not just lie in the middle of the street forever for people to step over and ignore. Guards should carry him to the house of the dead; what's the point of those places if they aren't used? The worst offense, however, are hostile NPCs. If a person is shot with an arrow in the head, they should NEVER stop looking for who shot it, no matter how sneaky that person is. Multiple times I had to sigh in frustration when a bandit had an arrow sticking out of his eye only to call off the search for me stating "I swear I heard something." Yes, it was your brain being punctured. This kind of robotic character action is unforgivable. Lastly, the character customization was, at best, average. In a giant world filled with so many different races and cultures and people, it seems laughable that there are only seven or eight types of weapons and armor. Maybe I'm asking too much, but it is hard to suspend my disbelief when everyone wears the same stuff and wields the same weapons. Not every steel sword should look identical; how about some variation? The beauty of Skyrim is in its modding community, where many of the issues plaguing the original release are being addressed. In fact, I had originally purchased the PS3 version (stupidly), and I ended up selling that on eBay and purchasing the PC version on Steam so I could use mods. They add simple fixes to many of Skyrim's most crippling problems, and make it a better game overall.
    Overall, Skyrim is a good game. Not incredible, not ground-breaking, not revolutionary, but certainly worth your time if you enjoyed Oblivion and Fallout 3. Just do yourself a favor and get the PC version so you can download the mods of your choice to enhance your experience. Enjoy!    … Expand
  94. Dream_Creeper
    Nov 20, 2011
    7
    Spell casting is OK (quite fun), Difficulty settings suck hard time (either way to easy, or u need like 15 fireballs to kill a dog >_> , in expert or master dif.). Melee Combat is blunt, boring sounds of melee combat despite what weapon you are using are so cheap, blocking is boring. Horse riding is dead compared to oblivion (nice horses thought as graffics). NPC AI, can be really awful,Spell casting is OK (quite fun), Difficulty settings suck hard time (either way to easy, or u need like 15 fireballs to kill a dog >_> , in expert or master dif.). Melee Combat is blunt, boring sounds of melee combat despite what weapon you are using are so cheap, blocking is boring. Horse riding is dead compared to oblivion (nice horses thought as graffics). NPC AI, can be really awful, and totally stupid, specially the summoned minions without ranged attacks, stuck everywhere. There are good elements though in stories, quests, environments, loved the dungeons, loved the undead mobs, some sound effects are of cinematic quality. RPG elements are few to none, there are like 1/5 of quests that have moral choices. Dragons are great, but they are too often seen, i encounter more often dragons than wolves. Overall Skyrim is a good really good game, could be a great game, but there are some really bad flaws ruining the entire Elder Scrolls Experience.… Expand
  95. Fr33T
    Dec 16, 2011
    6
    This game has amazing graphics. Although the game engine and combat system is really frustrating. If you hit an unarmed woman with your sword, she will keep on attacking you with her bare hand like nothing at all. They meant to do this I know, but still it gets really annoying.
  96. kamryu
    Dec 23, 2011
    7
    3 out of 3 for story the number of quests and extra's will keep you going for a long time
    2 out of 3 for graphics one or two issues even on ultra such
    2 out of 3 gameplay the variety of weapons and spells saves this basic point and click 0 out of 1 for replay value the differences between quests which will alter storyline are so minor ultimately you know going stormcloak or leagion its    3 out of 3 for story the number of quests and extra's will keep you going for a long time
    2 out of 3 for graphics one or two issues even on ultra such
    2 out of 3 gameplay the variety of weapons and spells saves this basic point and click
    0 out of 1 for replay value the differences between quests which will alter storyline are so minor ultimately you know going stormcloak or leagion its going to be the same story only your attacking the other guy now instead this being said if your doing everything you ll get well over 100 hours plus in a single play through so replay not a big deal.

    The shere scale of Skyrim is its biggest quality you ve got so many sub quests and storylines to follow you ll be very easily distracted I mean it is possible to complete the "main" story in a few hours but honestly anyone doing that is completely missing the point of the elder scrolls franchise. Bethesda has not made a game with a story they have made a country with inhabitants who need help and thats exactly what it feels like its not just a do this quest game you will find yourself at times very easily distracted between what quest to do next if like myself you might even spend forever trying to collect an entire book series (god I spent so long tracking down the wolf queen volume 6, I refused to google its location) and decorating your house, Diciding what way your going to play your character also is a nice feature at the start you decide your race and image thats it you don't go ohh I am going ot be a melee specialist oh I am going to be an archer and so on no no you decide that once your playing you want to be an archer pick up a bow and start using it you want to be a melee then pick up a sword and shield. The characters spreadsheet for leveling and so on is a lot more simplified than its predecessor Oblivion some might feel this a step back some might feel it an improvement, its down to personal choice. The biggest thing with skyrim as I stated is its scale you are in Skyrim the country your not just following a story that has always been the elder scrolls advantage the storylines might not be of the best quality when you break them down but the shere number of them you have more than makes up for it.    … Expand
  97. CHIHWAHLI
    Feb 15, 2013
    7
    This game looks huge, is huge, looks good. The world and characters are very good looking. The weather effects are nice. Overall it's joyful and fun to play, but there are a few things that could have been much better. The main quest is really short. There is no feel of something grand going on. It's just you against the bad guys. Yes you can bring a companion with you, and from time toThis game looks huge, is huge, looks good. The world and characters are very good looking. The weather effects are nice. Overall it's joyful and fun to play, but there are a few things that could have been much better. The main quest is really short. There is no feel of something grand going on. It's just you against the bad guys. Yes you can bring a companion with you, and from time to time you escort someone to safety, but it still feels empty and lonely. From time to time you get jumped by a thief who asks for your purse, or same bandits roaming certain places. You can almost tell which one will have bandits. The side quests are usually boring. Fetch this, get that at X then go back. They should have attached more quests to the main story instead of having a 'billion' side quests.

    Fighting style is limited to certain combinations, the skill list is big but alas they forced the player to choose certain style combo. That's a shame. The UI is not good enough I think. AS a caster I have to switch really fast between spells, or I must pause and then choose. As a caster it's difficult to play. Arrows will kill you instantly when the archers start getting much better arrows and bows. Throw a few melee enemies and you can't do much as a caster then keep distance and behind cover, otherwise it's death. Spells to slow targets or keep them away are limited. Talking about spells... you will keep using the same spells for a long time. The expert and master spells are only available at 90 and 100 for master. 100 points is max for any magic skill level, which means you have to train and grind till 90! by that time you are over lvl 30 and played many hours with the same spells. At level 90 summoning skill and lvl 35 character I could buy my Summon ice pet, before that I had to use my weak wolf. And my fire elemental that has fireballs. The idea of an RPG is to get new spells and rewards from time to time, but that is soo limited.

    Another thing that annoys me, and shows that it's a bit unfinished or rushed: you get a certain title archmage very quickly as if you earned it by doing a few quests. It's just not realistic.... or immersive.

    Skyrim is fun, but could have been much better. It fee;s like they focused a lot on the visuals, then created a quick and short main quests and start selling the game. In the meanwhile create extra DLC to earn more, to fill the gaps that the main quest should have. After looking at the start of the game I expected a lot. But alas the start is great, but the ending is not always shiny.

    So I understand why so many people voted mixed or negative. Thanks to the modding world and skyrim Nexus mod program, the game is worth more....but this should not be the way to create games....
    Without mods it should be a blast to play.... and not what it;s now...    … Expand
  98. ReBootEd
    Feb 29, 2012
    6
    A vast improvement over Oblivion, however still plagued with bugs, from the immersion-breaking to the game-breaking, and there's upcoming DLC.
    Graphics are decent, but washed out, desaturated and dirty brown.
    Gameplay is better, but has been simplified for the mass sheep.
  99. dprkforum
    Mar 3, 2012
    6
    I did not play the previous versions of the game series, but decided to give this game a try based on the overwhelmingly positive response this particular title received. When I first loaded the game after spending a whopping $59.99, I was not disappointed with a eye-popping eye candy. Craggy rocks, very realistic flowing water, ultra-detailed characters, and the list goes on. AfterI did not play the previous versions of the game series, but decided to give this game a try based on the overwhelmingly positive response this particular title received. When I first loaded the game after spending a whopping $59.99, I was not disappointed with a eye-popping eye candy. Craggy rocks, very realistic flowing water, ultra-detailed characters, and the list goes on. After playing this for a while, I noticed the game is little more than a bunch of "fight this", "fetch that" sequence of missions scattered all over a very large map. Not that I mind that, but the story lines are thin and haphazard. More challenging puzzles in caverns, keeps and the like would have made this game a lot better as well. Overall, this game is very nice, but it certainly is not the best by any means at all. What really brought down my score is the sheer number of bugs in the game. Broken quests, buggy caves and wonky character interactions.… Expand
  100. newtee2
    Mar 6, 2012
    7
    After playing well over 100 hours in the game as a warrior, a mage, and a ranger, I must say that this game has many great ideas and quite a few flaws. The world is amazing; Skyrim is a living and breathing place and you get the sense of that just by walking through the towns or running through the tundra and seeing giants and mammoths roam. Combat can be really fun, especially when youAfter playing well over 100 hours in the game as a warrior, a mage, and a ranger, I must say that this game has many great ideas and quite a few flaws. The world is amazing; Skyrim is a living and breathing place and you get the sense of that just by walking through the towns or running through the tundra and seeing giants and mammoths roam. Combat can be really fun, especially when you toss in dragons to spice things up. Dragon fights are probably the most fun fights but can get boring and easy later on. The main quest line is the only quest line that really stands out in the whole game, immersion in the world can easily be broken by the creation engine's limitations, actual RPG elements like chopping wood and cooking are nice but there aren't nearly enough and it feels half done, and combat can get dull pretty quickly due to combat limitations. Props to Bethesda for using the Steam Workshop, finally releasing the CK, and giving us a free HR DLC. Even though the game can be lame at times, and even though there is no DX11, it's still pretty solid.… Expand
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Awards & Rankings

2
#2 Best PC Game of 2011
1
#1 Most Discussed PC Game of 2011
2
#2 Most Shared PC Game of 2011

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
94

Universal acclaim - based on 32 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 32 out of 32
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 32
  3. Negative: 0 out of 32
  1. PC Master (Greece)
    Feb 29, 2012
    90
    Unfortunately, Skyrim trips and falls on its own (most probably, to make the cool-sounding deadline of 11-11-11) and just before it reaches perfection as the ultimate specimen of its genre, it self-destructs in a crucial aspect of game design: the interface and the peripheral components (inventory, journal, map, etc)... but that is not to say that Skyrim is anything but a truly majestic, epic RPG that will suck you right in its cosmos.
    Read full review
  2. Armchair Empire
    Feb 14, 2012
    100
    Skyrim is definitely one of the best games of 2011, but if the DLC holds out, it might just be one of the best games of 2012 as well.
    Read full review
  3. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Jan 19, 2012
    90
    Skyrim is the best open world RPG you can get. A true evolution of genre is not flawless but still it is the game you love to live in. [Christmas 2011]
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