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. 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
  2. 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.
  3. 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
  4. Dziver
    Mar 6, 2012
    7
    Not as good as Oblivion or Morrowind, everything has been simplified, the game is too easy, there isn't as much content and movement is restricted by mountains and invisible walls. However Skyrim is much easier to get into than these two games and this must also be the reason for all there positive reviews.
  5. Zzgashi
    Nov 16, 2011
    7
    Skyrim is a huge step forward from Oblivion. A great soundtrack, beautiful landscapes, improved animation (most of the time, still a few weird spots), better faces, and more choices. Unfortunately this beauty is only skin deep, as Bethesda continues to move away from RPG mechanics where you really live in a world trying find different solutions to problems by applying your character'sSkyrim is a huge step forward from Oblivion. A great soundtrack, beautiful landscapes, improved animation (most of the time, still a few weird spots), better faces, and more choices. Unfortunately this beauty is only skin deep, as Bethesda continues to move away from RPG mechanics where you really live in a world trying find different solutions to problems by applying your character's skills, but instead focuses on hack-n-slash loot-fest mechanics. Worse still is that the game uses a script to generate what items you find based on your character's level, ensuring that you never find anything remarkable. The fact that every dungeon ends with a large box full of more of the same, and a shortcut back to the entrance doesn't help the immersion either. In the end all I felt like I accomplished was improving my DPS.… Expand
  6. Gratson
    Mar 4, 2013
    7
    Unfortunately I was pretty disappointed eventually with this one, as with most open-world games. Granted Skyrim is probably one of the best open-world RPGs ever made, but it still feels like a fake world with simple-minded scripted bots. The skill system is also pretty meh, I preferred the skill system of some of their previous titles. Too many skills that do nothing and the interface isUnfortunately I was pretty disappointed eventually with this one, as with most open-world games. Granted Skyrim is probably one of the best open-world RPGs ever made, but it still feels like a fake world with simple-minded scripted bots. The skill system is also pretty meh, I preferred the skill system of some of their previous titles. Too many skills that do nothing and the interface is quite horrible.

    The menus are very bad, mods do help but they still are often unresponsive and annoying.
    The graphics are awesome, and so are many of the mods you can download with it. It's probably one of the most modded games in history. However even with mods it's still pretty unsatisfying, NPCs still say immersion breaking things, completnig major quest lines have very little impact on the world and the "people" there are pretty bland with very little to say or do. It certainly doesn't feel very immersive.

    Once we have better AI and are able to properly communicate with the NPCs of their world, I think we'll start getting incredible "Open World Sandbox" games. But for now, we're stuck with games like this, which excel in certain areas but are ultimately not that immersive and offer very limited interaction with the NPCs.

    Another thing that annoyed me is how unattractive the factions are. I didn't feel an urge to help either the Stormcloaks or the Imperials, both were pretty unappealing factions to me. Even the Blades and the Greybeards were flawed.

    But I'm still giving this a 7 because it excels at certain things like graphics, amount of things to do (huge amount of content) and the lore tends to be good. If you enjoy open world type of games in a fantasy world, you'll almost certainly like this one.    … Expand
  7. spinspock
    Dec 14, 2011
    7
    It's a good game but it could have used another 6 months of QA and bug fixing. The combat is incredibly simple and really could use some work. Most of the characters are forgettable and the story fairly boring.
  8. MustisTheCat
    Aug 25, 2015
    7
    Yeah maybe the game is huge but what else...not much. Boring, really. One can play through a game like Oblivion only so many times. Skyrim is very similar, only the story is even worse. As a gamer I expect the devs to treat me with respect that dictates them trying a bit harder than just adjusting and changing 10% of the recent game and release it as new title. I expect new story, I expectYeah maybe the game is huge but what else...not much. Boring, really. One can play through a game like Oblivion only so many times. Skyrim is very similar, only the story is even worse. As a gamer I expect the devs to treat me with respect that dictates them trying a bit harder than just adjusting and changing 10% of the recent game and release it as new title. I expect new story, I expect to be immersed, I expect great, interesting quests and characters. Nothing besides the music is above average in Skyrim plus I had to deal with the horrid console interface. What a joke.
    You can mod this game to hell and back and then it gains some color but vanilla Skyrim is a pale experience. Rating it based on mods would be giving credit to Bethesda instead where it is really due - the mod community. I feel that Skyrim brought me mediocre entertainment and in that term it is no better than Risen 2, yet it presents slighly higher production values, for example music and larger world.

    Story
    I hoped it would be something different, a lot better than Oblivion but I was dissapointed. The same jailed cutscene I can understand, that is TES franchise trademark so to say. But everything other besides that featured in the game. The Dovakhiin hero role playing is a lot worse than any TES earlier games. I literally had to force myself to sit through this and I consider the time lost forever.

    Graphics/Gameplay
    Dated on premiere day. Same console bull_____. Bad user interface ensures a pc player has trouble with smooth, fast action gameplay. The inventory is all over the place. Really a pain.
    Gaining skills and abilities has been changed for far far worse than in TES : Oblivion. It makes developing the character a chore and a needless, uninteresting grindfest. Few quests are good, hundreds do not deserve to take any self-respecting gamers` time.
    Actor models are horrific, bland robots. They did nothing to even help me submerge in the game`s world. They act in an incredibly scripted way, they are pathetic in showing any emotions at all, even the actor conversations are terrible.
    Maps/locations are huge and pretty, I give it that. But I haven`t come into anything remotely different than with any other rpg title. The same caves, same jail buildings, same castles, same tunnels I went through countless times before. The only thing that caught my attention are the open grounds like say waterfalls and some awesome sightseeing spots in the mountains.
    In the above locations are the same enemy types, all uncreative. I never came to meet an enemy I wouldn`t be able to characterise (strenght/health/magic etc.) at the plain first sight. Same ole spiders/zombies/thieves/monks/trolls/lions etc. What a waste of development time.

    Music
    Beautiful music, easily the strongest feature of Skyrim. Goes well with all character scenes. I caught myself exploring only due to the orchestra of different quite epic tunes.    … Expand
  9. Circe
    Aug 15, 2018
    7
    While lacking in depth and RPG mechanics and quest design, a beautiful world that demands exploration.
  10. obscurus166
    Dec 4, 2011
    7
    Having clocked up around 80 hours on Skyrim now, I feel just about qualified to write a review. It is fair to say that Skyrim is a very good action RPG, but is rather too shallow to offer a truly great roleplaying experience.

    By doing away with the standard base statistics (strength, agility, personality, etc) in the name of simplification, Bethesda has actually cheapened the gamer's    Having clocked up around 80 hours on Skyrim now, I feel just about qualified to write a review. It is fair to say that Skyrim is a very good action RPG, but is rather too shallow to offer a truly great roleplaying experience.

    By doing away with the standard base statistics (strength, agility, personality, etc) in the name of simplification, Bethesda has actually cheapened the gamer's experience significantly. Fallout: New Vegas offered a great insight as to how those statistics could affect the player's choices in a game, from different dialogue options with real consequences to being able to solve certain tasks for certain NPCs. Without those differing routes to the same conversational goal, interactions with NPCs feel flat, bland and pointless.

    Of further frustration is that NPCs fail to recognise the player's achievements in the realm, though they comment freely on abilities of which they ought to know nothing. "Hands to yourself, sneak thief," a Whiterun guard might tell me, though I've never been spotted thieving in Whiterun (or anywhere near it). I am, however, a thegn of Whiterun and, despite the Jarl's promise to let all and sundry know my new rank, I am never addressed as thegn by anyone save my huscarl (who, I am sure, does it only to humour me). The addition of companions is tiresome in the sense that it adds nothing to the game, save a beast of burden. Most are pretty poor combatants and the dungeoneer will find most of his time protecting the person whom he has hired to protect him. Followers offer no unique interactions or personalised side quests and, in that respect, compare unfavourably with Fallout: New Vegas and the Mass Effect series. They feel like an entirely wasted opportunity to add some roleplay value to the game.

    There are a large number of quests to complete, ranging from the benign (advise lovers for the Temple of Mara) to the downright evil (lure priests to their death for demented gods). There are some real moral choices to be made. However, there don't tend to be particularly profound consequences for those moral choices, which is rather disappointing.

    The raidiant quest system works well as a means of getting the player to explore the whole map. While the radiant quests themselves are necessarily simplistic, that is entirely forgiveable in the circumstances. Far more frustrating are the scripted side-quests, the College of Winterhold plot being particular source of dissatisfaction at its short and shallow scope. When I arrived, I was learning to cast ward spells. Three hours later, I was the Archmage, thanks to an infuriatingly simplistic deus ex machina plot device, and without being a noticeably better spellcaster. Morrowind required me to do tasks for various mages and to master several magical disciplines. Winterhold obviously sets a lower premium on actually being any good at magic. There are, of course, things Skyrim does brilliantly. It's a very handsome game to look at, even on medium graphics settings. The dungeon design has improved immensely since Oblivion (even if the inevitable secret door back to the beginning seems like something of a cop-out). The dual wielding system, while not perfect, is an interesting development and a welcome addition to the game. Even in snowy Skryim, there are a variety of terrains and architectural styles which gave the game a real feeling of size. The underlying plot dynamics are interesting: the Nords portray themselves as valiantly fighting for their homeland against the elven oppressors and the weak imperium, but themselves oppress Skyrim's native folk in the west. But the game feels unfinished, even hasty in places and, after 80 hours play, leaves me with the distinct impression that it could have been so much more.    … Expand
  11. 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
  12. Bitter_Boy
    Dec 6, 2011
    7
    It's a nice upgrade to Oblivion, but it's not groundbreaking. If you liked Oblivion you'll like this. It's immersive and pretty and the voice acting is well done. It's been entertaining me for about 2 hours every night ever since I got it a few weeks ago. There is so much to do and I feel like I'm barely making a dent into the content, and I know the modding community will add a ton ofIt's a nice upgrade to Oblivion, but it's not groundbreaking. If you liked Oblivion you'll like this. It's immersive and pretty and the voice acting is well done. It's been entertaining me for about 2 hours every night ever since I got it a few weeks ago. There is so much to do and I feel like I'm barely making a dent into the content, and I know the modding community will add a ton of replay value in the coming months. So why is it only a 7? Subtract 1 point for being unoriginal in many ways. Same guilds, same dungeons, same enemies, same boring inhabitants as Oblivion. Oh, and the same bug ridden engine, which brings us to the next problem. Subtract another point for the myriad of annoyances. NPCs chit-chat with you incessisantly, repeating useless dialogue over and over. Followers don't level correctly and become useless after a few level ups. Player mages are UP while player warriors are OP. Dragon spam ruins immersion. The list goes on. And finally, subtract another point for the serious bugs - broken quests, #rimlag on the PS3, and releasing patch 1.2 which broke more than it fixed. Please publishers, stop, stop, stop shipping beta versions of games. I know a lot of reviewers dropped the ball in properly reporting these bugs, but the game publisher is still ultimately responsible.… Expand
  13. JLF
    Nov 13, 2011
    7
    The game has exceeded my expectations. However, my expectations were extremely low after the steaming pile of feces that was oblivion, so this doesn't say much by itself. The game is good, big, has a lot of content and NPCs finally don't look like frogs. I was pleasantly surprised that dungeons aren't rehashed one after another and are indeed hand crafted. Nevertheless, here's a list ofThe game has exceeded my expectations. However, my expectations were extremely low after the steaming pile of feces that was oblivion, so this doesn't say much by itself. The game is good, big, has a lot of content and NPCs finally don't look like frogs. I was pleasantly surprised that dungeons aren't rehashed one after another and are indeed hand crafted. Nevertheless, here's a list of things that need to be worked on :
    - Horrible UI
    - Some quests are bugged
    - Occasional CTD
    - Completely stupid AI
    - Obvious emphasis on consoles
    - Lack of RPG elements
    But I guess mods will fix everything, like always    … Expand
  14. LD9000
    Apr 26, 2014
    7
    Huge game with bad RPG system.

    This game is enormous and detailed. Apart from other elder scrolls and Fallout 3 series, I think this is the only game that allowed me to interact with the game world at such level of detail. I can pick up a mug in a tavern or enter some random NPC's house and steal everything. The world is living and breathing, with NPCs striking random dialogues with    Huge game with bad RPG system.

    This game is enormous and detailed. Apart from other elder scrolls and Fallout 3 series, I think this is the only game that allowed me to interact with the game world at such level of detail. I can pick up a mug in a tavern or enter some random NPC's house and steal everything. The world is living and breathing, with NPCs striking random dialogues with each other, bandits grumbling about the hardships of bandit life, etc .

    Voice acting, visuals are all top notch. There's basic physics.

    Sure, there is lot's to do, and after 3 playthroughs, I don't think I ever finished the dragonborn or civil war plotlines.

    And here comes my biggest gripe with the game - the bad RPG system. I played just about every western RPG since 1998, and Skyrim is just bad. Having only health, stamina and magicka along with armor means that just about every melee or ranged character feels the same. Dodge-block-hit, thousands of time throughout the game create a very dull feeling of combat.

    Without the 10 primary skill system from Oblivion, the character levels up too fast, where a single dungeon may mean 1-2 level ups. This means that a lot of content, like goblins (do they exist)? or Skeevers is just gone. Very quickly all dungeons are populated with bandits with elven weaponry, then Adept necromancers, then vampires in ebony armor. The entire world levels up just because I have sold some items to a vendor and levelled up my speech skill.

    With no way to degrade or lose armor, the player quickly acquires the best pieces of armor and weaponry available, which creates a dungeon crawling experience where I don't care about the loot. There's nothing in this dungeon that can come even close to my own crafted/enchanted/improved armor and weapons. Everything is vendor trash, and apart from the trainers there aren't really that many money sinks in this game for me to spend end game gold.

    Very soon my character becomes godlike in it's ability to slay everything that stands in its way. Sure, I can bump the difficulty all the way up to legendary, but this only makes combat feels worse. Instead of killing an enemy with 3 hits, I can dance around it for 2 minutes, slowly chipping away at it's health. Not really that fun.    … Expand
  15. Fortune
    Nov 15, 2011
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Pretty good game, if you like hack 'n slash or dungeon crawlers but don't like in-depth character customization or RPG elements. The storyline is good, the combat is great, and everything is simple.

    Unfortunately, the game is really easy (even on master, I hit a wall around level 20-25, but once I got past that I haven't found anything really challenging and can solo named dragons without trouble).

    *spoiler*The guild quests are way too simple and streamlined. One "entry" quest that takes 5 minutes to do and requires little to no effort, then you're in and everyone trusts you.The mage college quest was literally two quest lines, then you're the arch-mage.*/spoiler*

    If you're looking for a fun action-RPG with a decent storyline, this is the game for you. If you want an in-depth RPG with a lot of customization and great side-quests, hundreds of hours of play, etc., you may want to look elsewhere.

    All in all, Skyrim is to Oblivion what Oblivion was to Morrowind. Streamlined, features taken out, nothing really added except a new storyline, and turned easy. Still very fun for what it is, but don't buy it thinking that it's something else.    … Expand
  16. jediwolf
    Nov 11, 2011
    7
    Yo Bethesda idiots!! Why I cant block using dual wield??? Morons!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  17. 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
  18. ThinkSamich
    Feb 1, 2015
    7
    .mis ming pileesnot ai ofs ming pileesnot as ming pileesnot as ming pileesnot as ming pileesnot as ming pileesnot as ming pileesnot as ming pileesnot as ming pileesnot as ming pileesnot a
  19. 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
  20. evilhippo
    Nov 16, 2011
    7
    This is a good game and in some ways, a great game: sweeping vistas, epic music and sound-scape, coherent storyline and the scope of the game, the sheer immersion and *size* of it all, is truly staggering. Items that are eye candy clutter in other games... cooking pots, whetstones, mills, smelters, furnaces, are actually functional in Skyrim! This represents a significant advance overThis is a good game and in some ways, a great game: sweeping vistas, epic music and sound-scape, coherent storyline and the scope of the game, the sheer immersion and *size* of it all, is truly staggering. Items that are eye candy clutter in other games... cooking pots, whetstones, mills, smelters, furnaces, are actually functional in Skyrim! This represents a significant advance over other Bethesda games like the earlier Eldar Scrolls series or ever the sprawling Fallout 3 and Fallout New Vegas. Kudos for that.......

    ...The gameplay is very good. Not great, but I can live with very good. Combat in The Witcher 2, for example, is far more sophisticated and visceral whereas Skyrim's combat mechanics are a bit ordinary. Not bad, just ordinary......

    ...However there is one aspect which is a major step back: companions in Skyrim are characterless cyphers. little more that cannon fodder for carrying your stuff around, whose names you will have difficulty remembering. Unlike Fallout 3 or New Vegas, there are no real character quests, nothing more that generic personality and, most inexplicable, more clunky controls than the character wheel used by Bethesda in Fallout New Vegas. Oh the the AI is *horrible*... they run in front of you when you take a bow shot, they are hard to push out of the way when they trap you in a corner or block a doorway and the accursed dog 'companion' pushes against you constantly and nudged me off a cliff once. I am sure mod makes will make *vastly* better companions than the vanilla ones but in such a detailed, immersion intensive game, this trivialisation of NPC companions is a strange design decision.......

    ...So I like this game and, yes, it *is* buggy, but with anything this big that is inevitable. Bethesda will fix it eventually and compared to Fallout 3/NV, it seems a bit less bug riddled. That said, I suddenly CTD with no error message at least once an hour. Oh well.......

    ...7/10... would be 8/10 is companions were not so completely uninteresting.    … Expand
  21. 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
  22. MikeyMo
    Nov 18, 2011
    7
    The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is a great game in some aspects, but only a good game in others. I will start by saying that I'm not sure you can call this an RPG - or at least - a classical RPG. I believe TES V is among a new breed of 'modern' RPG games. I am perfectly fine with this. It is just not my preference, that is all. I say this for a number of reasons. For example, there aren'tThe Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is a great game in some aspects, but only a good game in others. I will start by saying that I'm not sure you can call this an RPG - or at least - a classical RPG. I believe TES V is among a new breed of 'modern' RPG games. I am perfectly fine with this. It is just not my preference, that is all. I say this for a number of reasons. For example, there aren't stats. To level up a skill such as 'Two-Handed Weapons', you have to constantly use that ability. For every bit of leveling up in a skill, it will contribute to an overall level where in a traditional RPG you would boots stats here, but in TES V, you gain a perk beneficial to a particular skill. Also, there are no stat boosts to weapons or armour based on character stats. It is things like these that make TES V very very shallow compared to other RPG games such as Dark Souls. The UI could be better. I do not like that you cannot compare stats of your items, there is only a triangle showing your best item. This brings me to another complaint. There are only three aspects to an item. A weapon for example: Damage, Weight, and Value. Again VERY shallow for an RPG. The combat is very dated, this goes for both melee and magic, the archery is actually fairly good. To compare again to Dark Souls or The Witcher 2, both have perfect combat, which includes melee, magic and archery. Then to play TES V where there is regenerating health, many breaks in gameplay to pause and take potions and simply spamming destruction spells is a let down. ONTO WHAT IS GOOD. The world is very large. Often large scale games can get lazy. Skyrim is not lazy. Bethesda knew they wanted a very wilderness heavy, Nordic stylized game. Then achieved this. It is not my favourite style, but the fact they accomplished that detail exactly the way they wanted it is simply incredible. There is also many unique combat areas in the game. There are apparently 200 plus unique dungeons/caves. I have found some to be similar but no two the same so far. With that being said, I still have yet to find one Inn or Mill that looks any different from another. There are MANY MANY quests. So many you don't have to even touch the main storyline from the get go. I personally am twelve hours in and haven't played the main story past the tutorial. The voice acting is very good, but there is a problem that has nothing to do with the actors talent, but the frequency of the voices. The same actor can voice up to I estimate over 15 characters. I begins to get bothersome very early on. If you can look past this then you shouldn't be too annoyed. All in all, there is A LOT to do in TES V: Skyrim, but if you are looking for a traditional RPG this isn't it. HOWEVER, if you like to explore a seemingly never ending beautiful wilderness discovering something new to do almost every few minutes, then Skyrim is your game. I GIVE A 7.5/10. A GOOD/GREAT GAME.… Expand
  23. OliverGrau
    Dec 12, 2011
    7
    This is my 3rd rewiev, and I started at the score 0. I've been playing for about 25 hours now.

    Positive: graphics is great, even on my HP laptop. Gameplay is fun and addictive. Big world, with a lot of quests. Great cities, compared to Oblivion, Fallout 3, etc. Almost unending gameplay. The world feels a live with all these critters running around. Negative: Dialogues is weak, you can    This is my 3rd rewiev, and I started at the score 0. I've been playing for about 25 hours now.

    Positive: graphics is great, even on my HP laptop. Gameplay is fun and addictive. Big world, with a lot of quests. Great cities, compared to Oblivion, Fallout 3, etc. Almost unending gameplay. The world feels a live with all these critters running around. Negative: Dialogues is weak, you can ALMOST say everything to some guy, and it still has same effect. Bugs is really bad, I am reinstalling Skyrim right now, because I can't fast travel, dragons is flying the wrong way which causes big laggs, a lot of quests is just really boring(there is some good ones too, don't get it the wrong way) and dragons are sometimes invincble.

    I think the game is pretty good, but it could get A LOT better. I would reccomend it to everyone, because we all need to make an effort, to safe the lands of Skyrim!    … Expand
  24. Puzzola
    Feb 1, 2012
    7
    Well, I'll start from the worst traits of this good RPG. First of all: enemies adapt their level to your own. Well, for newcomers of RPG it sounds great, but it's really disappointing for those seeking a REAL RPG. You can finish the game at level 67 (as I did) or you can at 17. Let's go on. Perks ! These are the new way Bethesda choose to align TES new chapter to all other MMORPGS outtaWell, I'll start from the worst traits of this good RPG. First of all: enemies adapt their level to your own. Well, for newcomers of RPG it sounds great, but it's really disappointing for those seeking a REAL RPG. You can finish the game at level 67 (as I did) or you can at 17. Let's go on. Perks ! These are the new way Bethesda choose to align TES new chapter to all other MMORPGS outta there. But why they did such a bad work? Some traits are useless. Some traits at 100 points are overridden by enchanted items, irritating to discover when you can't reassign perks in any way ! Oh, there's another thing about traits. You'll need only about 20-30 of them to become nearly unstoppable. Last chapter: crafting. Crafting is good, but in TES: Skyrim it is so overpowered that you'll never need anything more than what you can craft with materials bought from merchants. So it's frustrating to put your own hands on a Daedric artifact and discovering that it's far from being even nearly comparable to your crafted and enchanted sword. Dragon Shouts: well, they give the game the right folklore. But in real game you'll use only 3-4 of them. The others are there only to feed your hungry for hoarding items/skills/Dragon shouts.
    So Skyrim is a bad game? Isn't it worth the bucks spent? Well, I say that it's a good game. But while I played it for 183 hours at first It was nearly impossible for me to hit the ESC-key and return to the desktop. At the end it was too easy to do. The story becomes so confused if you are to follow every dumb request of side-quests that NPC's give you. And in the end the main plot isn't that good you would expect from a single-player RPG.
    I give this game a 7 because it is OVER ALL a good game. You'll enjoy roaming in Skyrim, hunting beasts, backstabbing enemies, incinerate enemies and fight dragons. In the end probably you'll find a dragon attack as something boring at most or a quick-fight just to allow you to quick-travel to your destination.
    I hope the expansion will fix some of these problems. And I hope that Bethesda will CHANGE PERKS to give player a REAL interest in climbing the tree to the top perk. Near the end of the game I shifted my mage in assassin just with 6 perks...    … Expand
  25. starsh3ro
    Nov 12, 2011
    7
    i wanted to call it game of the year,
    what i like is that the game difficulty is not set too low and that the enivorment is very detailed, the sounds and the music are nice as well all together a impressive atmosphere. its very small, the download only has a size of 5,8GB.
    on the other hand, the graphics engine itself is looks very old, when you get closer to anything, all you see is    i wanted to call it game of the year,
    what i like is that the game difficulty is not set too low and that the enivorment is very detailed, the sounds and the music are nice as well all together a impressive atmosphere. its very small, the download only has a size of 5,8GB.

    on the other hand, the graphics engine itself is looks very old, when you get closer to anything, all you see is edges, little texture bugs... reminds me on RAGE; same problem.
    the controls of the game are a disaster. SERIOUSLY.

    the npc/ai players block your way , the enemy ai gets stuck at random objects.

    the mainquest is done very fast, (lvl 11 was enough to finish it) i think i took double the time for oblivion, at the end its just, travel - fight dragon - travel - fight dragon again. AND again... uuuh so creative.
    the secondary quests are fun, also its fun to just ride arround with the horse and let it fall down from high mountains.

    its not worth the 49â    … Expand
  26. RiskyBinjuice
    Nov 11, 2011
    7
    Good game much better than Oblivion but it still has its flaws. First of all is the combat: it's very similar to Oblivions but this time has finishing moves that seem to happen randomly. It also has those stupid slow motion bits at the end of combat that appeared in Fallout 3 (which I hate). Facial animations are a bit stiff but that being said no one does make on an RPG like Bethesda. MyGood game much better than Oblivion but it still has its flaws. First of all is the combat: it's very similar to Oblivions but this time has finishing moves that seem to happen randomly. It also has those stupid slow motion bits at the end of combat that appeared in Fallout 3 (which I hate). Facial animations are a bit stiff but that being said no one does make on an RPG like Bethesda. My only major qualm with this game (and the reason I gave it a 7 not a 9) is the menu system. I have no problem with developers making a game for consoles but is it really that difficult make a different menu for the PC version? A menu system designed for use on consoles very rarely works well on PC.… Expand
  27. 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
  28. Angriest
    Nov 11, 2011
    7
    The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim offers the user new story content in a familiar world. Understanding of development: This is where the user is a fault, the urge for a new game in the series are insane. And development of a game, engine, story, characters takes years and years. So to expect a massive upgrade in every aspect of a game, in the short amount of time developers have is just absurd.The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim offers the user new story content in a familiar world. Understanding of development: This is where the user is a fault, the urge for a new game in the series are insane. And development of a game, engine, story, characters takes years and years. So to expect a massive upgrade in every aspect of a game, in the short amount of time developers have is just absurd. They provide us with new material/story, new characters, new enemies, slight graphic upgrades to quell our thirst for a new game, but we want more. How are they to survive while developing this uber game, that even the most common of users will enjoy ? e.i. Dad who started playing with the Xbox generation, not to mention his kids. Bugs are annoying agree, but they will be fixed.
    User interface friendliness, specially for PC users is bad I agree.
    Graphics are great, not mind-blowing but hey they were already so good to begin with.

    I think story needs to be the key instrument ALL gaming companies needs to be working on and F what corporate are saying. In game characters/monsters/neutrals/music should be well tweaked to fit the story and enhance authenticity. User interface should be optimized and game should be close to bug free. After these things, if graphics are great too hurray!    … Expand
  29. Chimpwn
    Nov 12, 2011
    7
    First off, I want to say I'm having tons of fun with this game. But I'm only giving it a seven because the developers promised so much more and came short on everything. They promised that the combat would be skill based and not a button mashing combat system. That was a lie. You click till they're dead. I've been using 2 handed weapons that supposedly do 3 times the damage of theFirst off, I want to say I'm having tons of fun with this game. But I'm only giving it a seven because the developers promised so much more and came short on everything. They promised that the combat would be skill based and not a button mashing combat system. That was a lie. You click till they're dead. I've been using 2 handed weapons that supposedly do 3 times the damage of the single handed weapons I have. And the 1 handed weapons seem to do about 1-2 damage less. It's so stupid. Also, they said the animations would be better, they are and they aren't. The animations by themselves are fine. But none of them interact with each other. Also, there's STILL no diagonal run animation. It's 2011 Bethesda, please move forward at a normal pace. And don't try to get by doing the same stuff you did last time. Update the engine with every release, and by that I mean make big changes that make a difference and not adding "slo-mo" and making the same washed out textures for all the games they make. And by that I mean the game kind of looks like ass. But that's to be expected out of a game they explicitly said would have the 360 as the lead platform. Oh and, the UI is total ass. The worst from any game I've ever played.… Expand
  30. Philderbeast
    Nov 12, 2011
    7
    Upon loading the game up I was quite impressed, visually its quite easy on the eyes even on medium settings with a distinctly elder scrolls feel to it, and this is achievable on most common PC hardware. Now my PC is no gaming beast but its still above the average hardware that post people are using (again according to the steam statistics) so Iâ
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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.
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  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.
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  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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