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. Messerschmitt
    May 25, 2015
    7
    The game has weak plot, it lacks interesting characters and although the design is inspired by nordic mythology it's still very generic and cliche - all those elements are essential for a really good rpg game and skyrim does them wrong. Also the game is quite buggy and dumbed down compared to it's predecessors. Despite those flaws It's fun to roam this world, music and visuals are good andThe game has weak plot, it lacks interesting characters and although the design is inspired by nordic mythology it's still very generic and cliche - all those elements are essential for a really good rpg game and skyrim does them wrong. Also the game is quite buggy and dumbed down compared to it's predecessors. Despite those flaws It's fun to roam this world, music and visuals are good and it managed to entertain me for about 30-40 hours.

    Overall it's a good game that by it doesn't deserve the praise it gets. It can probably be great but only if you smoke pot:)    … Expand
  2. Dezpy
    Apr 24, 2012
    7
    Being my first Elder Scrolls game, I probably wasn't as picky as those who have played the previous games. But I'd like to put my input as just a general PC gamer. This is not a game I can sit here and bad mouth, and surely I'd willingly recommend it, but like any other game, it had its flaws. The graphics were great, ever on low. But, I found lots of repetition in both the environmentBeing my first Elder Scrolls game, I probably wasn't as picky as those who have played the previous games. But I'd like to put my input as just a general PC gamer. This is not a game I can sit here and bad mouth, and surely I'd willingly recommend it, but like any other game, it had its flaws. The graphics were great, ever on low. But, I found lots of repetition in both the environment itself and in the dungeons. At the beginning and further into the game, I ran into dungeons that were all pretty much identical in both enemies and loot. Luckily I was immersed enough in what I was attempting to complete that this didn't stick out to me until my tenth or eleventh dungeon that looked exactly like the past few I had been doing. I'll cut bethesda some slack here, it was a huge game and creating each dungeon to be unique would have been both time consuming and difficult.

    It took a good thirty hours of choppy gameplay before I began getting bored, and I knew I was still at the very tip of the game still! I still continued playing, as I was curious. I had some good quests going that kept me playing, and was figuring out things every day that I hadn't known. It was the repetition that got to me. Sometimes I'd just want to log on and run around, doing quests that would consist of just running around town and delivering items or something of the sort. I found a few of these, which was fantastic, but a large majority of the quests sent you way off into some dungeon with the same graphics as the last dungeon you completed. And one last thing that I'd like to address to any future buyers. The quests are glitchy. Not all of them, but I've ran into a few that have made it either impossible to move forward, and nearly impossible. I'm grateful these can be fixed in patches, but they can really set you off of the game for a while. It's a fair warning that I'm sure most have heard before- it's not uncommon. Also, the game isn't at all linear. It has its moments (especially in dungeons or when speaking to someone), but you're able to go explore whenever and wherever you want. You're not stuck on a single path, you're able to branch off and join guilds of thievery, or armies, and even a college for mages, you name it. That's what I have liked the most about this game. I can make my character how I want to, and like most single players games, where you're stuck with one destiny, this one you get to chose what it is. Well worth the $60.00 I spent on it.    … Expand
  3. Xen-Masta
    Apr 30, 2012
    7
    The ratings that this game has received by the critics calls the integrity of the gaming/game review industry into question. These scores reek of bribery. This is a good game, but to give it a ten is absurd. The horrible looking shadows alone take a full point off, in my opinion. Oblivion's shadows were far preferable. I attempted to play this on ps3, but it looked so horrid i took itThe ratings that this game has received by the critics calls the integrity of the gaming/game review industry into question. These scores reek of bribery. This is a good game, but to give it a ten is absurd. The horrible looking shadows alone take a full point off, in my opinion. Oblivion's shadows were far preferable. I attempted to play this on ps3, but it looked so horrid i took it back and then played it on PC. The PC graphics are infinitely better, but still very dated due to cross platform development. The gameplay is solid, and addictive. I found myself wanting to finish the main quest more so than in Oblivion. But i also stopped playing after i finished it, and I don't see myself going back to it. If this game had not been developed primarily for 7 year old console hardware, It could have been a masterpiece. For the PC version, due to community modding, it still could be. Shame on any professional critic who gave this game a 10. Credibility = dunzo.… Expand
  4. wrongpassword
    May 23, 2012
    7
    Skyrim's a good game but it isn't as good as its predecessors on the PC. The graphics are slightly improved but they are not the quantum leap that Oblivion was to Morrowind. The menu system is in a word crap. The dragons are more annoying than challenging. The loss of crafting spells also really hurt gameplay. Travelling around the mountainous terrain with no ability to fly or climbSkyrim's a good game but it isn't as good as its predecessors on the PC. The graphics are slightly improved but they are not the quantum leap that Oblivion was to Morrowind. The menu system is in a word crap. The dragons are more annoying than challenging. The loss of crafting spells also really hurt gameplay. Travelling around the mountainous terrain with no ability to fly or climb is a massive hassle making the open world environment feel a lot less open. The radient quest system is just a pretty way of saying randomized kill and/or fetch quests. Like all Beth releases, it is riddled with bugs which leads to a series of often questionable patches. Steam's habit of auto/stealth updating the game makes preventing bad patches a hassle and wreaks havok with modders.

    That isn't to say there aren't any positives. The random encounters are far more varied and interesting now. The two weapon combat system creates interesting if not fully realized possibilities. The new companion system also is a welcome addition. If you are a modder, which is almost mandatory, it is quickly developing one of the strongest libraries though I personally would avoid steamworkshop and its over simplified attempt at QC for mods. With the current generation of mods, I would rate this an eight and probably a nine sometime next year. That is the thing with Bethesda titles. They only get better as they age.    … Expand
  5. lynxx
    Jun 24, 2013
    7
    This is really good game, but it can be boring at any second. If you like to play more like an action or a story based game... Play Oblivion.. That game is far better.
  6. smilzoboboz
    May 9, 2015
    7
    First let me introduce this review saying that I'm reviewing "The Elder's Scroll V: Skyrim", not its mods nor the game with mods.

    Bethesda continued the Elder's Scroll saga keeping the typical extreme role playing features, graphics are extremely nice and overall audio quality is amazing. I have to say though that progressing through the game there have been many things that made me    First let me introduce this review saying that I'm reviewing "The Elder's Scroll V: Skyrim", not its mods nor the game with mods.

    Bethesda continued the Elder's Scroll saga keeping the typical extreme role playing features, graphics are extremely nice and overall audio quality is amazing.

    I have to say though that progressing through the game there have been many things that made me lose interest or even abruptly stop playing the game.
    The first impact was with the minimalistic UI, for me medieval-themed RPG = parchment.
    Second impact (that made me quit after 15 min playing until I discovered the mod SkyUI) was with the UI layout/commands. You have a whole keyboard, full of keys, and you are restricted to up, down, left, right and 1-8 hotkeys, with no mouse integration whatsoever (well there's mouse integration that makes you click things you didn't click).
    After many, many, mods: new UI, mouse clicking bugfix on dialogues, huge bugfixing packs, etc I discovered computer generated quests... that halved my interest on this game just for them being in the game.
    A mix of all that made me quit after ~80h of playtime, of which I genuinely enjoyed probably only half.

    So, now comes the hard part, would I recommend this game given the above? Probably yes, because even with its bugs, the utterly bad UI or the uninteresting computer generated quests the game still holds a lot of hours of fun and good roleplaying. What makes you quit this game, even with all the bugfixing-mods installed, is repetitiveness, Oblivion had less content so, even if it was repetitive too, you couldn't get bored much, this game not only has really an extreme amount of content but also features computer generated quests...

    Ah, and watch out for amethyst rain: every human, animal and plant in skyrim holds at least on amethyst...    … Expand
  7. gloriouspotato
    Sep 29, 2014
    7
    Despite the nice visuals/environments and the grand sense of scale with Skyrim's large map, I found my enthusiasm for Skyrim dwindling quickly the more I played. It seems that Bethesda have focused more on quantity rather than quality, as there are a large number of quests, but only a handful of them have any actual thought put into them. Most of them are monotonous dungeon raids that getDespite the nice visuals/environments and the grand sense of scale with Skyrim's large map, I found my enthusiasm for Skyrim dwindling quickly the more I played. It seems that Bethesda have focused more on quantity rather than quality, as there are a large number of quests, but only a handful of them have any actual thought put into them. Most of them are monotonous dungeon raids that get old very quickly. A part of this is because of the sheer lack of any depth or creativity to many of the side quest narratives. There are a few exceptions ('Blood on the Ice', 'The Mind of Madness', 'The Forsworn Conspiracy'), but these quests are few and far between.

    Other problems include the sub-par UI (though this can be fixed with mods), repetitive voice actors and some balancing issues. For instance, gold is far too easy to come by, thus in accidentally owning the entire economy of Skyrim, the incentive for gold as a quest reward is no more. There are also numerous glitches and exploits, though fortunately most of them are fairly minor, and sometimes humorous.

    On the plus side, some of the gameplay mechanics have been improved over past TES games, and the game allows for a variety of different playstyles, however there might be a few who dislike the simplification/removal of some elements such as spellmaking and attributes.

    In short, Skyrim is a decent game at best, I just wish the game could've been more engaging in terms of storytelling and variation in quest design.

    Overall rating - 7.4/10    … Expand
  8. eyb0ss
    Sep 14, 2014
    7
    Honestly, this game deserves more than 7/10, but I didn't like it that much. The world is expansive and fun detailed as hell and the missions are varied. Personally, however, I disliked the game for the promise of RPG elements, but instead I received barely differentiated classes, boring skill trees, and little to no weapon diversity. For those who prefer a more action oriented game fromHonestly, this game deserves more than 7/10, but I didn't like it that much. The world is expansive and fun detailed as hell and the missions are varied. Personally, however, I disliked the game for the promise of RPG elements, but instead I received barely differentiated classes, boring skill trees, and little to no weapon diversity. For those who prefer a more action oriented game from elder scrolls, play this game. The "problems" that I mentioned were just nitpicks and personal dislikes.… Expand
  9. Thothistox
    Mar 25, 2012
    5
    If you want to be convinced that you're too old to enjoy RPGs anymore, this is your game. The world is huge, and though the graphics aren't as good as some games, it's tastefully done (someone really applied their geology degree). But the fun of exploration wanes fast and as you're filled with brief excitement upon discovering another location there follows that invariable sinking feelingIf you want to be convinced that you're too old to enjoy RPGs anymore, this is your game. The world is huge, and though the graphics aren't as good as some games, it's tastefully done (someone really applied their geology degree). But the fun of exploration wanes fast and as you're filled with brief excitement upon discovering another location there follows that invariable sinking feeling upon realizing it's filled with wooden Skyrim characters, and they are *very* wooden: no montages during the dialogue sequences, inexpressive faces, they look similar and are voiced by around 6 actors. Conversations rarely have C&C. The dialogue writing is so perfunctory and self-conscious it's like hearing someone read an ESL textbook. There is a rebellion brewing, but the NPCs don't seem to care. They have no sense of humour, no love lives, no jobs (that aren't related to things you can buy, craft or kill) and they usually greet you by mindlessly explaining what they can do for you, like some sort of talking user interface or airport security announcement. I still don't remember any names (except one). There are very many quests, but they're of poor quality. A few examples of absurdity: Around town, I once met an escaping thief who asked me to take something he'd stolen. I said no and killed him in front of two guards. Then, with the dead thief lying right in front of them, the guards asked me where he went. My dialog options were "he went that way" or "I didn't see him". Another example, I'm asked to rescue a woman's son. I use the arrow in the map view to locate where he is (no thinking here), clear out the castle and find him in the dungeon. He thanks me and goes away. I then find a few more people who are also locked up and free them and they stay in their cells and tell me to leave them alone. I then meet his mother, whose dialogue is so wooden she doesn't convey the slightest bit of relief. Another time I fought a dragon and a guard joined in the fight. After the mindless fight was over (aim, shoot, heal in a loop) the guard immediately arrested me. Apparently I once accidentally hit E while pointing to the wrong thing and inadvertently stole a wooden plate from a shopkeeper instead of talking to him. A different dragon battle was followed with the guards attacking me because one of my fireballs landed on them. After yet a different battle, my companion character attacked my dog repeatedly and killed him. The quests are generally sloppy. You're given dialogue options referring to people you haven't met yet, and what you have to do is sometimes spelled out for you in excessively simple terms and other times left so obscure you need the journal and map. Most involve going into a cave or fortress and fetching something in exchange for a reward you don't need from a wooden character you don't care about and will never see or hear from again. You're able to master every clique and become everything at once. I became archmage, and then leader of the Companions. I found myself not caring about this at all. Then I read the diary of the former leader of the Companions, who praised me for being such a wonderchild and then mentioned that he disapproved of magic, ignoring my status as robed magic-casting archmage! Oh, and reading that diary was purely aberrational. The books strewn throughout the game are written by someone astoundingly talentless. Other times the quests make me cringe. From Azura's mission in jarringly ugly Oblivion to going into a dead king's dream where he wouldn't shut up about how insane he was, and where I had to zap his "self-doubt" with a rod. At other times the quest writers seemed inspired by 80's sitcoms. I had to create a diversion at a party by encouraging a man to proposition (gasp!) one of the waitresses, and because this is puritanical Skyrim she was really offended. (How I missed the Witcher!) Main story: your character progresses from budding wonderchild to the prophesied Bestest Persun Evar. The story is neither personal nor heroic, and what you do and when you do it doesn't matter. You don't need to do any of the things you can do. There are no overwhelming odds to beat, no grand story to unravel. There's no suspense, sense of urgency or reason to invest in what's going on. Levelling involves buffering talents you learn elsewhere. Money is mostly useless. In 60 hours I changed armor 3X, and sold many useless sets of armor for unneeded money. Combat is mindless. No combos. I didn't need the poisons or scrolls. Whenever I met a difficult opponent I spammed health potions, which I made very effective with alchemy talents (typical talent: improve effectiveness of X by 20%). Your follower/dog gets in the way between your attack an the enemy. Death physics are well done though. There are many things I still haven't done in Skyrim, but I won't bother. This game is addictive, but unfulfilling, and the more I play it the more embarrassing it is too.… Expand
  10. tototototo
    Dec 30, 2011
    6
    Gameplay is fun but broken as **** with multiple ways of exploiting it o become a god, such as free-casting, alchemy-enhanced smithing, stun/paralysis locking, ect.

    Storywise it is alright but lacking when compared to Oblivion or Morrowind.
  11. paladinjedi
    Dec 30, 2011
    6
    (sigh)... A total letdown of a game that had the great Morrowind and Oblivion as predecessors.

    Skyrim SHOULD HAVE been much more than Oblivion. Instead, it's much more less. People expect more from a modern game, something to significantly improve the quality of time spent into virtual realities over older games: good visuals, deep story, logical overall interactions etc. Unfortunately,    (sigh)... A total letdown of a game that had the great Morrowind and Oblivion as predecessors.

    Skyrim SHOULD HAVE been much more than Oblivion. Instead, it's much more less.

    People expect more from a modern game, something to significantly improve the quality of time spent into virtual realities over older games: good visuals, deep story, logical overall interactions etc.

    Unfortunately, Skyrim doesn't provide those, here's why:

    .................

    1. Graphics/Visuals

    This is one of the very few areas where Skyrim shines a bit. There are nice landscapes and the wide open world is cute enough to invite for roaming. Yes, many games could do with such freedom of exploration.

    But again nothing extraordinary. No high jump from Oblivion.

    Some textures are not where they should be, in other areas contrasts are broken and bleak.

    Some pixels are just trembling for no reason and human faces are hardly distinguishable.

    I simply do not understand how playing as a native nord makes my skin suntanned. The logic of it...
    ...................

    2. Gameplay/Mechanics

    No voiced (optional) main char, no animations in dialogue... (ever considered at least comparing to Mass Effect?...)

    Controls are good, combat is satisfactory. But the idea of stamina bar is just annoying.

    What happened to acrobatics, athletics and other skills?

    THE WORST PART is the leveling system. For the life of me, I chose to play warrior and rely on weapons but couldn't get weapons to 100. Instead, I could max speech and enchant quite fast. Playing as mage? Same thing. Bah...

    This leveling system, based by skills is bad, bad, bad. Beside the non-logic of being all-in one: warrior, thief, mage etc., it's time consuming and tedious.

    I wanna level and use my blade well, but in order to get tougher I must find mobs to cut, and where if there are no fast respawning mobs?? But I can train in speech and smithing faster, instead. So much for the "freedom of playing style"...

    .............................

    3. Story/Choices

    Bad. The only "moral choices" with actual impact you are allowed to make are supporting the rebellion or the empire.

    I supported rebellion and guess what? The previously shy and anonymous now fresh established Whiterun Jarl (who, without my efforts would have ever remained a runt) tells me something as "You are not as dumb as you look". You're welcome, your "grace"...

    The rebellion titles Ulfric and his generals throw upon you are senseless and plain stupid. "Snowhammer" my ars... and when the rebellion succeeds, what about somebody granting me a Jarl title or at least a fort as a fief? No way, instead I have a pretty long, boring and useless "thane" agenda...

    Ok, let's become an Archmage then. The college of mages probably being the only sensible and more realistic implemented faction.

    After a no-dialogue, no dispute of ideas, lifeless final battle with Ancano, I am granted the high honor. But...
    Just when I thought I am somebody now at least, a mere court wizardling in a dull city speaks with me like I'm his boots keeper. Same in other courts. I can even recall some replies hinted to my narrow comprehension of magic arts... To me, the Archmage!!! ......................... 4. AI (artificial intelligence) Oh, my... Nothing more to be said here, except when dragons keep attacking the cities (they keep attacking forever, so kiss goodbye the fact you can be a real hero and vanquish them for good), some peasants dare provoke them in direct honorable combat with... bare hands!!! Such inspired logic deserves the bow of the day.... ......................... The game deserves a 6 only because it is better than many other present games and for its pretty open world. But once you played the story, its doubtful you'll ever replay it, considering other better games start growing on the horizon...    … Expand
  12. poiuta0
    Jan 15, 2012
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. As many here, I was a fan of Morrowind and I bought the game when it was released. A solid 15 hours of fun it was, and then... The varnish went off: the game is dull and repetitive, and there is no sense of an epic progression. No legendary objects crafted aeons ago that would beat anything I'd make myself; no reward in becoming a thane, a guild's master or solving the civil war; a clunky menu, because, hey, it's a console port; a boring combat system with ridiculously cheap and unvaried animations. If anything, the whole action felt, well, generic. On top of that, and after roughly 30 hours, I am completely overpowered *** possible spoilers ahead ***: I'm a pure two-handed warriors with armor crafting and enchanting to the max, and it takes me two or three hits to kill an ice-dragon. Boring. Once you're past the discovery of the supposedly beautiful (I find them colourless) landscapes and of the skill system (which is OK), the game is nothing but a series of repetitive dull tasks, and you get NO sense of achievement whatsoever.… Expand
  13. Lulgrim
    May 31, 2012
    6
    Massively overrated sandbox game with poor combat mechanics, clunky UI, bad story, uninteresting characters etc. I already knew the deal from previous TES games and was prepared for lots of modding to make it playable, but it was still too boring for me to finish.
  14. Havocs
    May 13, 2012
    5
    I do not understand why Skyrim receives so much praise. As any other Bethesda game, it's full of bugs and glitches. In fact, the game was unplayable due to bugs and crashes the first couple of months. Still not good. The game play was rather disappointing. The interface is complete rubbish, unless you're on a console. The main quest was bland and short. The world feels short and it lacksI do not understand why Skyrim receives so much praise. As any other Bethesda game, it's full of bugs and glitches. In fact, the game was unplayable due to bugs and crashes the first couple of months. Still not good. The game play was rather disappointing. The interface is complete rubbish, unless you're on a console. The main quest was bland and short. The world feels short and it lacks variety, especially in enemies. The crafting system is ridiculous, lore breaking and game breaking. Want a five thousand damage iron dagger? Craft it! Long story short, Skyrim is what Oblivion should have been. Every TES game after Morrowind finds itself in the very uncomfortable situation to be compared to Morrowind. I'm trying not to compare Skyrim with Morrowind in this short review. So 5/10 because Skyrim can still be saved by Expansions and DLC.… Expand
  15. Crispycookie
    Feb 15, 2013
    7
    This game is actually very hard to place because of the enormous amount of content it got some quests are just plain boring a LOT of quests are repetitive and 95% of the time the game holds your hand while questing because it tells you where to go with a map marker so there isn't any suprise of exploring for the most part. BUT this game also got some VERY good quests and very good dlc's,This game is actually very hard to place because of the enormous amount of content it got some quests are just plain boring a LOT of quests are repetitive and 95% of the time the game holds your hand while questing because it tells you where to go with a map marker so there isn't any suprise of exploring for the most part. BUT this game also got some VERY good quests and very good dlc's, I personally think Dawnguard was a very good dlc maybe a bit overpriced but the extra quest you got in it was worth it Dragonborn is even beter with a LOT more stuff to do. Modding is ofcourse also a nice addition!
    The skill system is pretty broken you can get from level 1 to 100 in some skills smithing in 10min by just crafting the same thing over and over again with mats you buy from merchants, and that's pretty stupid if you ask me, they needed to make skilling a lot longer a lot more rewarding!
    The area's in Skyrim look for 99% the same snow and mountains and the caves are pretty much ALL the same with 2 or 3 exceptions BUMMERRRR.
    Also a very stupid thing in this game is the weight system items just are too damn heavy 60 pods for a freaking chainmail?! for a mage or rogue that's like a full inventory in 3 items without potions counted.
    The graphics are pretty and the soundtrack is awesome tho!
    I give this game 7.5 out of 10! This game becomes boring after 100~ hours but those 100 hours you will have a great time!    … Expand
  16. Levardos
    Apr 19, 2012
    6
    I must admit that Skyrim has disappointed me. It didn't live up to my expectations. This game is an improved version of TES IV: Oblivion. It doesn't really show any innovation. Just improvements... What this game is only good for is exploring. And even if caves and ruins all differ, it still quickly gets repetitive. There's not enough types of opponents. Dragons on the other hand, I mustI must admit that Skyrim has disappointed me. It didn't live up to my expectations. This game is an improved version of TES IV: Oblivion. It doesn't really show any innovation. Just improvements... What this game is only good for is exploring. And even if caves and ruins all differ, it still quickly gets repetitive. There's not enough types of opponents. Dragons on the other hand, I must admit, are epicly made. They are innovative.. But other than that... Well, ok, random events, these are fun as well. But besides that, the story and all of the side quests are really boring. I was seriously hoping that they'll make the story really entertaining... They had so many years to work on that. But all they've done is that they have improved few things, and added dragons. Graphic-wise they've done a good job. I really think this game is far too hyped up. Comparing it to oblivion, it just doesn't offer enough of new things. I got bored sooner than I expected. Oh, and also... "Romancing" is the most shallow in the history of games here. And the only purpose of having a wife is that she may start a shop, and give you money every once in a while... Pros: -Huge open world, which is fun to explore... until it gets boring. -Graphics. -Dragons. Cons: -Just doesn't offer a lot of new things, compared to Oblivion. -Boring main story and side quests. -Could use more types of enemies.… Expand
  17. Pelopidas
    Jan 13, 2012
    7
    Much like Oblivion this is a game which provides an entirely new world to explore and interact with. The focus is on creating your story and no one really demands of you to be Dragonborn and follow the main quest until the end. I have had loads of fun simply playing as a thief, assassin and an archer. If you are creative and keen on roleplaying, this game is for you.
    There is however at    Much like Oblivion this is a game which provides an entirely new world to explore and interact with. The focus is on creating your story and no one really demands of you to be Dragonborn and follow the main quest until the end. I have had loads of fun simply playing as a thief, assassin and an archer. If you are creative and keen on roleplaying, this game is for you.
    There is however at least one huge downside to this game. Where the other Elder Scrolls always managed to make me feel as a part of the world, Skyrim makes me feel distant to it. It doesn't persuade me about its own history, and most of the time I feel like I am playing someone else's made up world.
    Despite that huge downside, this is still one of the best games of 2011 and a must buy for anyone looking for some 200 hours worth of escapism.    … Expand
  18. notacarebear
    Dec 16, 2011
    5
    I was going to write about the non existent player and profession progressions, the underwhelming spell progression , the ridiculously easy difficulty at master level, the broken spell exp gain, the unappealing race choices, the big dead world, the dragonball clashes, the ui, the feeling of emptiness once you realize you are not making progress or making any difference etc, but i thinkI was going to write about the non existent player and profession progressions, the underwhelming spell progression , the ridiculously easy difficulty at master level, the broken spell exp gain, the unappealing race choices, the big dead world, the dragonball clashes, the ui, the feeling of emptiness once you realize you are not making progress or making any difference etc, but i think this phrase sums what Skyrim really is by a developer's point of view: "we can't implement our visions so we dumb down our expectations, ideas and pride because of that black thing that plugs on that money-maker box".… Expand
  19. 10-Breaker
    Jan 3, 2012
    6
    The game Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, name that brought so much smile on gamer faces.

    This game, the state it is now, it's still in beta. Unsheathe your weapon while crouching allows you to run normal speed. Developing stealth is a joke. If you want to build up anything combat related fast, pick a mammoth where there's a tree or 2 and keep running around them. Wanna try even something more    The game Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, name that brought so much smile on gamer faces.

    This game, the state it is now, it's still in beta.
    Unsheathe your weapon while crouching allows you to run normal speed. Developing stealth is a joke.
    If you want to build up anything combat related fast, pick a mammoth where there's a tree or 2 and keep running around them. Wanna try even something more fancy? Use 1st stage Whirlwind sprint upstream.

    And what is the use for the horse? Sometimes it helps, sometimes it just makes a suicide run against everything. The speed barely matches you sprinting around combat ready. Whereas on the horse you're completely helpless. You can't talk or interact with anything, you can't even use the other hand to cast a spell or swing a sword to defend yourself.

    Armors some look fancy some just clip through your character's skin. Ouch I say. And for Argonian and Khajit races. Would it have been such a trouble making the tail slide below the armor or making the armor custom build, like having a hole for the tail.

    Dragons become a joke if you want to. They select weird landing spots and are unable to defend themselves against arrows or spells. It doesn't take much to see where they land 80% of the time and then running to distance where you can hit it and it still lands on the same place. And when your character is 60% behind a large object they are unable to attack. For some reason they just don't bother coming any closer.

    Then the usual battles and difficulty. Yes clearing a normal dungeon, fortress, cave. With a stealth bowman it's a disaster. If you play with stealth and arrows you can develop your stealth like 14 points while clearing one. It takes from 20 minutes to an hour to clear one with harder difficulty like expert or master. Even with 45 stealth your enemies are totally blind and in "shadow" area you are part of the furniture. Even running over you doesn't blow your cover straight. People see 4 of their mates dead and go to everyone saying, "I will make whoever did this pay!". Or listen for them to repeat the same songs, stories, chit chat of the same woman, same gold and glory. Guy can take 30 arrows up the nose and say every time, "I guess it was only my imagination". Some say this is fun..? Yea if you listen to it for 4 hours for clearing dungeons you want to switch to lower difficulty and feel like a real stealth archer should. It's pointless to raise the level. When you encounter the problem of swarm of strong people in one room as weak stealth bowman. Just shoot few arrows, every time you re-enter a room and after the 3rd time you get back in the enemy stations have been reset so they can be found sitting at a table or watching the wall. With a ranged build your ideal places are somewhat weird ledges that you can walk over at ease but the opponent thinks it's impossible route. Yes you shoot an arrow, walk few steps back, opponent turns back and starts running around the room, then you take a step forward and s/he'll come the same route.

    With a melee player this might however get somewhat satisfying. If you don't build stealth or pick a bow on the way that is, you MIGHT actually have a challenge up your face with harder difficulties like expert and master. In dungeons, forts and so on. It ain't so. Yea you clear up halfway of the place at ease. Then comes the little bit more experienced fighter that's capable of 3 hit and finishing strike you. And the leaders can do that in one blow. One way is having a table or fence around. You simply time your hit right and you can hit that baddie once, then jump over the fence or table and he will have to run around that. Now how fun is that?
    Dragons will be a pain when you run a warrior like this so what's the point if you can't hit one flying little lizard, comes floating next to you spitting fire or ice. You just can't hit it or force it to come down. You lose the ability to fight your main objective in the game.

    There is simply no point in raising the difficulty above adept so you can keep the overall combat and exploring, somewhat, pleasing.

    And yes your character can jump if you tap jump button while down and rising up.

    And then there's the final touch. Eventually you have to choose a side. You make a game this scale and don't add grey area.

    Most of the game's score comes from beautiful environment. Great story since you make it only as big as you like thanks to all the quests around the world. Visual, story. Easy to use UI once you get hang of it.

    I wished that the fight animations would've been a bit more versatile. And not having pretty much the same animations for 3 weapons.

    Yes. My opinion stays. Still beta...    … Expand
  20. Sephet
    Mar 24, 2014
    5
    One of the most compelling RPGs I've played in a long time, Skyrim presents players with all they could ask in this genre: good story, wonderful graphics and ambience, immersive and non-repetitive quests, beautiful and diversified environments, attractive game mechanics (casting spells has never been so fun) and a highly appealing theme (vikings and dragons can't go wrong). I must admitOne of the most compelling RPGs I've played in a long time, Skyrim presents players with all they could ask in this genre: good story, wonderful graphics and ambience, immersive and non-repetitive quests, beautiful and diversified environments, attractive game mechanics (casting spells has never been so fun) and a highly appealing theme (vikings and dragons can't go wrong). I must admit it's hard to stop playing, even after completing the whole game twice. BUT, there's the feeling that something is missing. What could it be? Well, once you get past the distractions, you will realize how utterly broken this game is; it's highly unbalanced in every possible aspect, and it favors exploiting the game's leveling mechanics instead of actually playing in order to level up your skills. If you choose to be a wizard, you will soon realize that magic is pretty weak once you reach a certain point in the game or select a higher difficulty, because the only way to increase magic damage is picking two perks that will (together) boost it by 50%, and that's it. As for the weapons, skill value and perks will increase it's damage by 215% or more (depending on the weapon), and it can be improved with smithing to give over 800% it's initial damage, without cheating. This can be achieved by using your alchemy skill to make potions that increase enchanting, then drink it and enchant your equipment to boost alchemy, repeat the process several times until you have the best possible enchantment potions, then use it to enchant armors which will boost your smithing skill, wear it, drink a smithing potion made with your best alchemy boosting equipment, and, finally, improve your weapon at the grinstone. Then you drink another potion to boost your enchanting and put enchantments on your armor that will increase damage output from weapons. This is the formula for power in Skyrim. I know, it sounds crazy. Anyway, while a Mage will start the game dealing 8 damage with initial spells and improve to a maximum of 80 damage with the top spells and perks, a Warrior or Archer will begin dealing about the same ammount of damage with inferior weapons and skills, but will have his damage improved to over 650 with top enchantments and weapons. And this is only a small example of how unbalanced and exploitable Skyrim is. Once you have your enchanted equipment, all other items you find in the game are just useless and inferior. Skyrim allows the player to save/load at any time, another exploit that takes the fun out of the game; what's the point of having the thrill of being caught pickpocketing when everyone saves the game before such actions to prevent failure? You will save before doing anything in this game to assure your success, because the game allows it. I can't give Skyrim a higher score because, even though it is awesome, it was not tested and balanced before it's release nor patched later, it is broken and will always be.… Expand
  21. BrokenPipe
    Jan 21, 2012
    7
    Skyrim is the best RPG game of 2011 year. If you like RPG games you should play it. However it is "best" not because it is perfect, but mostly because there are no alternatives (not much RPG games in 2011 year). What's GOOD: Huge world to explore, nice graphics. What's BAD: Combat system, main character development, game physics, AI, ambient sound, minimal player's influence on game world.Skyrim is the best RPG game of 2011 year. If you like RPG games you should play it. However it is "best" not because it is perfect, but mostly because there are no alternatives (not much RPG games in 2011 year). What's GOOD: Huge world to explore, nice graphics. What's BAD: Combat system, main character development, game physics, AI, ambient sound, minimal player's influence on game world. The game fails in the RPG's core principle - character development. Take for example Diablo 2, I had to start playing Diablo 2 from scratch like 10 times, because at some point I was unable to progress further because my character build - suck.Or take as example WOW, where your build and equipment is crucial for game success. This is not the case for Skyrim. Combat system and physics are very disappointing, for example you are holding a huge heavy mace, and swing at your opponent with it, what you would probably expect is something like Sauron from Lord of the rings when he kicks ass with his mace, and enemies flying miles away, in Skyrim however your enemy will stand like it was, it will not fall, nor it will show any sign that you hit him. In general the game lacks physics, except for collision detection, and gravity, and even it fails often. The game AI is dumb, enemies will simply attack you (run to you or do range attacks(bow, magic)), Don't expect NPCs to attack in groups, heal each other, retreat. Your influence on the game world, is very limited. You can exterminate whole city, no one cares, nothing will change. Due to those facts the game reminds a world viewer application, and most likely you will become quickly bored after 40-60 hours of wandering and admiring nature. And still you should play this game to mark a check box that you did it, and forget about it for an year, then give it a try again ("maybe it's not so bad and I can find something worth in it") play it for 2-3 days and tell yourself "Nah it's a boring crap", throw it away and go play some fun MMORPG with your friends.… Expand
  22. bombrero
    Apr 30, 2015
    7
    This game is one if not the holy grail of the RPG Action Sandbox. The freedom of choice is pretty ample in most aspect, such as the construction of your characters being able to chose between different combat styles along with varying approaches such as stealth, ranged, ranged stealth, shield and one handed, two handed, dual wielding, etc.

    It also provides out of combat approaches, such    This game is one if not the holy grail of the RPG Action Sandbox. The freedom of choice is pretty ample in most aspect, such as the construction of your characters being able to chose between different combat styles along with varying approaches such as stealth, ranged, ranged stealth, shield and one handed, two handed, dual wielding, etc.

    It also provides out of combat approaches, such as blacksmithing or persuassion, which allow you to wield highly rated equipment that can compensate for your lack in combat skills, or earn enough money to hire help to go on your quests, along with posibilities to bribe or intimidate enemies or guards; or simply use your economic situation to pay for combat or stealth or even magic lessons and gradually become a skilled warrior while specialicing in money control.

    The enemies are diverse, with distinct behaviour and their own lairs and settings, which are pretty well constructed, presenting ancient traps (ancient fortress), human lied traps (bandit caves or forts), or natural ambushes (Frostbite Spiders... Yuck!).

    Magic and powers are also present in the game, having the traditional fire, ice and lightning spells, which come in the form of "walls", beams, shields or projectiles; and other spells such as invocation of creatures and spiritual weapons, fear and appreciation spells that will change the npcs behaviour towards you or each other, weapon enchanting, healing and undead turning spells, telekinesis and magic shields, etc.

    The powers include the racial minor and or major powers, which vary depending on the race you may choose, the stones power which can be obtained in landmarks around Skyrim and present diverse powers such as revive a corpse for a limited time, poison an enemy, turn invisible for a short period, etc. This is complemented by other aquired powers, like the ability to turn into a werewolf, or a vampire, and lots of other powers granted trough questlines. The main quest starts you in the way of the voice, which allows you to project magic in shouts with little cooldown and varying, but often devastating effects (a huge force push "Fus Ro Dah", fire breath, ice breath, cold fire, disarm enemies (or allies), leave enemies (or allies) on the verge of death, and a long etc.

    The map itself is fairly huge and provides tons of fortress, villages, caves and landmark or temples to explore, each of them fairly unique and well designed.

    The npcs have their own life agenda, following slightly varying routines and all of them have independent disposition towards you. For example: if you are a dark elf you will be hated in some towns, leading to people treating you harshly and lowering their disposition towards you, meaning they will be less inclined to follow your persuasion intents on them. This can be changed by either helping them directly (with quests if they offer one or with shop patronage if they own one) or by helping their faction (helping their city or guild if they belong to one). You can always try to threaten them or put a charm on them that will turn them into your emotional slaves for a short time. If they like you, in the long time you will be helped if attacked near them, they will gift you items or coins sometimes, and if they die, you will be a beneficiary towards their heirloom.

    All in all its a great game and it comes with one of the best and biggest modding communities, which have achieved amazing results for mod standards. But sadly, the horrible attempt of Bethesda and Valve to force us to pay for mods to get more money have hurt the modding community pretty hard, causing disloyal competence during the time the paying mods were active that now resulted in a fragmented community, with old hard working members that used to work together towards a goal opposed or outright rejected by their old partners, meaning some modding teams may not be again working together. Basically, mods were constucted with the help of numerous peoples and other mods, with the help and credit of the original authors. This allowed the creation of huge campaigns and assets. Once the paid mods were released, the scene turned competitive, work that before was borrowed was suddenly stolen, some modders tried to go standalone, hurting their counterparts, and some others leaved feeling insulted by the new system. Skyrim was a modding paradise. It will be long until it recovers from the damage done by the greed of the companies.

    This game would be a 9, but after damaging the community by acting selfishly it is not the same.    … Expand
  23. ColombiaGames
    Jan 20, 2013
    5
    There are many great games , and I understand that Skyrim is called one of the best games , the graphics are great no doubt , but I find it a complicated and extreme long game.
    BUt the Elder Scrolls are a CLASSIC!
  24. gggjimmy
    Jul 1, 2015
    7
    Nice game.Beautiful graphics,awesome ambientation,and an enormous world filled with consistent side quests.But difficulty is casual,the combat is boring (just approach enemies and click on them,no tactic,no strategy.Unless you are a mage),and the plot is absolutely ridiculous.But overall it's fun and very extensive.If you don't mind the casual combat and poor story,it can please you forNice game.Beautiful graphics,awesome ambientation,and an enormous world filled with consistent side quests.But difficulty is casual,the combat is boring (just approach enemies and click on them,no tactic,no strategy.Unless you are a mage),and the plot is absolutely ridiculous.But overall it's fun and very extensive.If you don't mind the casual combat and poor story,it can please you for literally hundreds of hours.But it was not my case.… Expand
  25. renogza
    Jan 31, 2016
    5
    How to play Skyrim: Accept a quest, fast travel to an area, do one of three things (kill someone, talk to someone, get an item), return to the quest-giver, and get a leveled item and another quest. Repeat.

    A nice followup to Oblivion. Fun, but nothing innovative or special.
  26. marc5477
    Dec 23, 2014
    7
    Despite my complaints, Skyrim is easily the best game on the shelf until you fast forward 3 years to get Divinity Original Sin. Like previous Elder Scrolls games, the world is gargantuan and the graphics really look great albeit that does not drive my score. Voice acting is good. Story is acceptable and combat is tolerable albeit still not great.

    What I liked: + Exploration. Best    Despite my complaints, Skyrim is easily the best game on the shelf until you fast forward 3 years to get Divinity Original Sin. Like previous Elder Scrolls games, the world is gargantuan and the graphics really look great albeit that does not drive my score. Voice acting is good. Story is acceptable and combat is tolerable albeit still not great.

    What I liked:

    + Exploration. Best open world game since Morrowind and you can do a lot of things from stealing everything to owning most of every town.

    + I love finding unique items and displaying them in my home. They are my trophies.

    + As stated above, voice acting was good. People need to get a perspective and compare it to most games in the genre and previous games. Have you people actually played console jRPGs? They are a travesty in comparison and they are all considered 'ok,' by many reviewers.

    + Spells are still fun despite lack in variety. I like blowing things up.

    There are a few things I do not like about Skyrim:

    - Shameless dumbing down of what used to be awesome (Morrowind)... fewer spells, less enchanting options (and easier to get high level enchants), and fewer types of weapons and armor. Less variety = less fun. Yes it makes the game easier to balance, but who cares in a single player game? I dont. I want to play the way I want. Its an open world game right?

    - I hate the inventory system. Its slow, and cumbersome. Clearly it is a console downgrade for people who use a pad. The lack of respect for the PC platform that popularized the series is really disheartening.

    - AI is still as bad as previous games. Enemies keep getting stuck and you can easily defeat them by hopping onto a rock and then off... hilarious for the 1st hour, very disappointing after that.

    - Combat is still disappointingly shallow. They can really take a lesson from Witcher here, not that it is a work of genius, but it is much better than combat here. This has been an ongoing problem with all ES games.

    - Economy... lol what economy? You basically own the world in this game. Very dull and was also a weakness in previous ES games. It still has not been addressed and I am very disappointed.

    - Claw puzzles... are lame. These are not really puzzles. No brain required.    … Expand
  27. AnonXD
    Jan 15, 2012
    5
    Skyrim get's some things right, but ultimately it ended in disappointment. What's done right: 1. Map size and detail. Markarth is one of the most beautiful towns I've seen in a video game. 2. The beginning of the game is fun and engaging. What's done poorly. 1. Level scaling. By the time you hit level 40 and above, the game is incredibly unchallenging at normal difficulty, and on hard,Skyrim get's some things right, but ultimately it ended in disappointment. What's done right: 1. Map size and detail. Markarth is one of the most beautiful towns I've seen in a video game. 2. The beginning of the game is fun and engaging. What's done poorly. 1. Level scaling. By the time you hit level 40 and above, the game is incredibly unchallenging at normal difficulty, and on hard, fights are long and boring. 2. Economy. It's far too easy to acquire gold. It's amazing that there are still beggars in Skyrim. 3. Overall challenge. There is none. I can hit F5 whenever i sense danger and death can always be quickly circumvented. 4. Bugs and Patches. As expected, the game contained many bugs upon launch and most of these were tolerable, but when they released they're "patch" that introduced more bugs, it broke the game for me. I was disappointed to see such a lack of care. Now, I did put 70 hours into the game and the first 40 were solid (though the dark brotherhood was much better in oblivion in my opinion), but I can't bring myself to play it anymore when so many other quality games that involve true character development and provide a challenge are on the market.… Expand
  28. jakz4497
    May 15, 2012
    5
    Overall, Bethesda did a good job by crafting Skyrim's world and art style. However, the gameplay and story line is a let down. The gameplay has been dumbed down from both Morrowind and Oblivion and the graphics are barely an upgrade over Bethesda's previous titles.
  29. Tobi_Whatever
    Nov 13, 2014
    5
    When I started playing Skyrim I was flashed, the world was big and looked good and it really felt like an Elder Scrolls game.

    But the longer I played the more I realized how shallow it is. The game is basically a giant hub for Draugr dungeons with a dragon here and there that I can oneshot with the right build, no matter how strong. The game is a major downgrade from Oblivion, which    When I started playing Skyrim I was flashed, the world was big and looked good and it really felt like an Elder Scrolls game.

    But the longer I played the more I realized how shallow it is.
    The game is basically a giant hub for Draugr dungeons with a dragon here and there that I can oneshot with the right build, no matter how strong.
    The game is a major downgrade from Oblivion, which was already a major downgrade from Morrowind, but at least Oblivion fixed a lot of bugs compared to Morrowind.
    Skyrim on the other hand has a worse leveling system, a less complex fighting system, badly balanced skill trees, uncreative quests, a badly written plot and badly empty constructed Cities.

    The only thing rescuing Skyrim from being completely redundant is how easy it is to mod, like any recent game made by Bethesda.    … Expand
  30. JudgmentJay
    Nov 17, 2011
    6
    I'll preface this review by saying that while I was a huge fan of Morrowind, I couldn't bring myself to like Oblivion. I should also note that while I haven't finished the game, I'm 60 hours in, and I feel that I've seen enough of the game to write an unbiased review. First I'll discuss the good. The world is huge, immersive, and has a nice aesthetic even if the graphics are a bit dated.I'll preface this review by saying that while I was a huge fan of Morrowind, I couldn't bring myself to like Oblivion. I should also note that while I haven't finished the game, I'm 60 hours in, and I feel that I've seen enough of the game to write an unbiased review. First I'll discuss the good. The world is huge, immersive, and has a nice aesthetic even if the graphics are a bit dated. Music and sound is top notch. Quests are fun and so far non-repetitive. Dungeon layouts are varied and I've seen very little copy/pasting. Surprisingly few bugs for a Bethesda release. Both the amount of content in the game and the attention to detail is staggering. Now for the bad... The game is too easy even on master difficulty. The UI is terrible and it's especially difficult to switch to and from dual wielding melee weapons. Melee combat is bad, though I admit I'm enjoying stealth gameplay. Textures are low resolution. Not enough voice actors. NPCs repeat the same lines too often. Enemy AI is dumb as a rock. Dragon AI is dumb as a rock. Not enough dungeon types. You've got Castle/fort, Nord ruin, Dwarven ruin, and cave. That's it. Weather changes too quickly. Various other bugs such as NPCs teleporting around or a merchant standing backwards at their store counter. While that may seem like alot of negatives, most of them are nitpicks and don't detract too much from the overall feel of the game. Overall, not quite as good as Morrowind, but much better than Oblivion. With mods, patches, and tweaks I could see it becoming a 9/10.… Expand
  31. Puuugu
    Jul 7, 2012
    6
    This game could have been the greatest game ever, but it simply is a hollow shell at this point. It has very shallow characters and quests. It is horribly repetitive and gets very boring after 60 hours. The combat is lacking, loot is horrible and voice acting still consists of ~8 people. It also gets very easy.

    Finally, this game has no charm; it does not wow players or makes them feel    This game could have been the greatest game ever, but it simply is a hollow shell at this point. It has very shallow characters and quests. It is horribly repetitive and gets very boring after 60 hours. The combat is lacking, loot is horrible and voice acting still consists of ~8 people. It also gets very easy.

    Finally, this game has no charm; it does not wow players or makes them feel immersed. This game is a single player MMO, nothing more, nothing less.    … Expand
  32. Khitchary
    Dec 24, 2012
    6
    This game mostly just made me miss Morrowind. If you play a heavily modded skyrim I believe its a lot more fun,but I never bothered with that, as it is a fair amount of work to go to just to play a game. My flatmate has spent nearly as much time trying to force the game to work with a massive string of mods as actually playing. The stories for the various guilds/factions and even theThis game mostly just made me miss Morrowind. If you play a heavily modded skyrim I believe its a lot more fun,but I never bothered with that, as it is a fair amount of work to go to just to play a game. My flatmate has spent nearly as much time trying to force the game to work with a massive string of mods as actually playing. The stories for the various guilds/factions and even the main storyline are really quite sub-par in my opinion. Main good points would be better levelling system than oblivion I guess. I honestly cannot think of anything else nice to say. Only for the easily amused.… Expand
  33. matt79
    Nov 20, 2014
    6
    Fantastic setting, great world, great map. So you can clear and loot and do other unminingful stuff. It is impossible to get involved - it is more like - hmm, I have free half an hour, so maybe a quick race in Forza? Or maybe I just clear some cave in Skyrim. To me this is like a GTA without a plot and with an infinite loot to spend huge amounts of time sorting and crafting. Still, theFantastic setting, great world, great map. So you can clear and loot and do other unminingful stuff. It is impossible to get involved - it is more like - hmm, I have free half an hour, so maybe a quick race in Forza? Or maybe I just clear some cave in Skyrim. To me this is like a GTA without a plot and with an infinite loot to spend huge amounts of time sorting and crafting. Still, the freedom, feeling of being there, art design - that aspects make it a true gem. Too bad it is missing a plot. Sidenote - If Witcher 3 succeeds in combining Skyrim's world and immersion with Witcher's 2 characters, plot and decisions - I may get a game of my life.… Expand
  34. TheJudgernaught
    Dec 6, 2014
    6
    It's really hard to rate this game; Each review is subjective, because every one of us is different. Rpg's are also different; some of them focus on different parts of the gaming experience, others in other.

    What does Skyrim do best? Ambience (graphics and sound), exploration and adventure. What does Skyrim do worst? Narrative (plot, storyline, characters), progression (quests, hero    It's really hard to rate this game; Each review is subjective, because every one of us is different. Rpg's are also different; some of them focus on different parts of the gaming experience, others in other.

    What does Skyrim do best? Ambience (graphics and sound), exploration and adventure.

    What does Skyrim do worst? Narrative (plot, storyline, characters), progression (quests, hero development) and combat.

    If you're interested in playing a game where the story and the characters exist just because they need to and all you want is to wander, to explore stunning environments, to experience roaming in a fantasy world and kill foes just for the sake of it, then this game is for you.

    If you're interested in playing a game with intriguing storylines with carefully woven plots, memorable and diverse characters, well-written dialogues (there is a certain dragon that is the exception to this), meaningful hero development and choices, imaginative and interesting quests, diverse and difficult combat, then this game is not what you seek.    … Expand
  35. 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.
  36. TheCommander
    Jun 20, 2012
    7
    First of all, just because I gave the game a 7 doesn't mean that Skyrim is a bad game, in fact, it is quite fun. However I just don't think it is nearly the masterpiece that Fallout 3 or Morrowind was. The mechanics are pretty poor and revolve around a "favorite" system where my bulky fingers often press the wrong buttons and I use stuff I didn't want to, this system also stops combatFirst of all, just because I gave the game a 7 doesn't mean that Skyrim is a bad game, in fact, it is quite fun. However I just don't think it is nearly the masterpiece that Fallout 3 or Morrowind was. The mechanics are pretty poor and revolve around a "favorite" system where my bulky fingers often press the wrong buttons and I use stuff I didn't want to, this system also stops combat which kills the fluidness of the game. I wish that Bethesda had used the hotkey system they did in Morrowind. In this game I saw a lot of rehashing of things that Bethesda used in Fallout 3 and Morrowind, including items, references, and soundtracks which made me laugh. I was also disappointed in how unbalanced the classes were in this game. Warriors are horrible and pretty much useless while mages with fire magic kill just about anything hard, be it spriggans or trolls. Some enemies like the cavebear are just plain overpowered. I think perhaps the most disappointing thing in the game is that you find items according to your level. You can't just walk into a cave at level 1 and stumble upon a daedric longsword like you could in Morrowind. To me this takes away from the fun in the game. I would also like to say that this is the most buggy game I think Bethesda has ever released which was another disappointment. I did however think Skyrim was a big improvement over Oblivion as far as surroundings and storyline, but It just doesn't have the mechanics, fluidness, mystery and fun factor that Morrowind had.… Expand
  37. Rhiaven
    Nov 22, 2011
    6
    I have not played previous Elder Scrolls games (though I have played many other games, RPG and otherwise), so this review (for PC version) comes without any comparison to its prequels. I've played this game for about a week, and on the whole, it feels rather average to me, as though it has several pros, it also has many cons.

    Pros: - Very large world / map to explore, with locations that    I have not played previous Elder Scrolls games (though I have played many other games, RPG and otherwise), so this review (for PC version) comes without any comparison to its prequels. I've played this game for about a week, and on the whole, it feels rather average to me, as though it has several pros, it also has many cons.

    Pros:
    - Very large world / map to explore, with locations that are not necessary to questing, heightening realism and enjoyable for those who like to explore
    - Fast travel is nice because it allows you to save time travelling to places you have already been to, saving on wasted travelling time without actually cutting out the need to explore first
    - Large amount of side quests which mostly do not have to be done in a linear manner; quests also have some variety in type as they aren't all 'just kill this monster' quests
    - NPCs sometimes follow you around the house when you venture into their private areas, especially if you are sneaking, in an attempt to steal items, a very nice touch which makes stealing more difficult
    - The ability to craft armor and weapons, make potions and cook food are a good addition, as it adds more sophistication to the game
    - Decent, though not fantastic graphics
    - The ability to own a home, decorate it, and store items you don't want to carry or sell adds a personal touch to the game
    - The ability to joins certain groups / factions adds an identifying factor to the character you play

    Cons:
    - Quests (in themselves) are very linear; most do not offer multiple options or diversions from the route to completion
    - Barely any attempt at a background or history for your character; race and gender have hardly any impact on the story in general, aside from some NPC comments here or there; your character has little to say at all times, and dialogue options are all straightforward and have no variety of choice based on character / attitude; character also has no movement or quirks that define personality
    - Character build (i.e. warrior, thief, mage) not distinct, and has no impact on quests or stories; NPCs will call you whatever they want - a mage calls you a mage, and an archer calls you an archer
    - The game is simply too easy - combat is extremely straight forward and the combat actions / graphics are highly limited; recovery is also pretty quick
    - Not many cinematic cutscenes to show off graphics or to expand on stories and make you identify with the game story / character(s)
    - NPCs are pretty dull - they lack character, either through back story or voice acting; you have little motivation to actually listen to them speak
    - Followers are even more dull - thorough lack of interest in followers as they seem to have little character, and few events to motivate you to want to have followers; you just have them for pack mules and additional fighting power; they act like robots (and my follower sounds downright rude in fact)
    - Characters can change armor in the middle of combat which removes realism from the game
    - Some glitches and problems with the game, such as weird graphics glitches, black screens upon alt-tabbing, occasional unfathomable crashes
    - NPCs and your followers do not move out of the way when you try to move past them - this can result in you getting stuck in a room when your follower is blocking the doorway (I ended up shoving them with my shield just to get them out of the doorway, thus hurting them in the process)
    - Inability to drop quests you don't want or don't like
    - Have to get around menus mostly using the keyboard; the mouse doesn't work on everything - console port?
    - No one-page-viewable character breakdown, showing how your character looks, his / her stats, EQ, possible states etc.
    - Inventory is clunky to use - you have to scroll down through each category to look for items, rather than having them all listed out clearly on a single viewable list; generally the UI is really inconvenient to use; time is wasted scrolling through stuff all the time

    All in all, Skyrim is a game that feels more like a simple intellectual exercise than one that engages your emotions. After many hours of playing this game, it has frankly gotten rather boring and tedious, and has become something to pass time on with routine button pressing, rather than something I can't wait to do.    … Expand
  38. MagusGrandios
    Nov 17, 2011
    5
    Hurray sandbox, but it's all handled horrifically. You can fight! But it's the worst fighting engine in any game! You can steal! But it's just picking stuff up! You can housebreak! But it's a terribly done minigame. You can ride a horse! But it handles like you're on foot, just with a horse model stuck to your butt. You can talk to 1000s of NPCs! But they all say one of 4 things andHurray sandbox, but it's all handled horrifically. You can fight! But it's the worst fighting engine in any game! You can steal! But it's just picking stuff up! You can housebreak! But it's a terribly done minigame. You can ride a horse! But it handles like you're on foot, just with a horse model stuck to your butt. You can talk to 1000s of NPCs! But they all say one of 4 things and nothing you say to them will impact anything. And so on...… Expand
  39. Montavious
    Mar 25, 2012
    6
    Now that most of the problems seem to e fixed. Its a decent game. Still just kinda "Meeehh"...................................................................
  40. RyanAbes
    Nov 28, 2011
    6
    This game is, sadly, exceptionally repetitive an exercise in banality. As others have said, the world feels very empty, and the random quest generator is no match for hand crafted quests. I'd prefer one or two perfectly honed, well written, intriguing quests, than for all the random kill/fetch quests in China.

    I do not think it is that it is a console port though, as so many have said.    This game is, sadly, exceptionally repetitive an exercise in banality. As others have said, the world feels very empty, and the random quest generator is no match for hand crafted quests. I'd prefer one or two perfectly honed, well written, intriguing quests, than for all the random kill/fetch quests in China.

    I do not think it is that it is a console port though, as so many have said. It's interface is obviously geared towards console. I think the large part is the concessions Bethesda Software have made to try and make it a game with more "mainstream" appeal. I think if anything, the Steam Stats are telling, most people seem to be giving up playing it early (prior to level 25, a feat which is easily obtained http://steamcommunity.com/stats/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim/achievements/ ) at the time of writing this, the stats show that at least 50% of players look to be giving up somewhere between level 10, and level 25. The numbers of people who have completed guild quests to the end (which honestly, we're talking maybe two to four hours gameplay per guild), is staggeringly low. I think this game is a flop, I've tried to force myself to play it (and I have sunk 60 hours into the game,) TRYING to like the game... and it has failed to entertain me. It has felt tedious and boring. It has felt pointless.

    As a regular game, yes, this deserves a 6/10... it's pretty, but you can't play any more than two hours at a time, because it lacks anything to retain interest. There is a lot of lore in the game, yes; and infact some of it is entertaining. But I could as easily read the books online as in the game, and get as much entertainment value out of it. But as an ELDER SCROLLS game... I think it rates probably a 3/10, compared to the rest (I guess Morrowind being 10, and Battlespire being 1)

    If you are someone who is looking for an involving, engrossing, epic story, like Morrowind, and to a lesser extent, Oblivion; then look elsewhere.

    If you are looking for "kewl swords and spells and kik'n a** and man you fight dargons!", then this is likely the game for you. It is a lot like the Fable series... (fun in their own rights), but not what you'd come to have expected from a company like Bethesda, or from a game that takes itself this seriously.    … Expand
  41. Dariune
    Jan 17, 2012
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I have been a fan of TES series since DaggerFall. (I havent played Arena.) I loved Dagger Fall for its complex open world and advanced game mechanics. Of course it had its faults but they were undermined by the huge myriad of features the game had. Morrowind cut the features down a little bit but the incredibly detailed and interesting world it gave you to explore, the complex story line and still relatively complex character mecahnics more than made up for that. Oblivion dumbed down the character mechanics even further and even its pretty graphics couldnt hide the very generic game world provided. WHich leads us on to Skyrim. Well its both better and worse than Oblivion in many ways. The game world is visually stunning, very diverse in encounters and quickly becomes tedious. After several hours of walking through the varied locations you soon realise that although one place looks different from the other, they all act and behave the same. The character mechanics have been dumbed down to a horrible degree. Attributes are as good as gone with only three remaining. Instead they have given us the Fallout 3 style perks. You get to go up one attribute and one perk per level. This makes it VERY hard to care about leveling or the character you are creating. The quests are generally the same, go here, kill this, get that, come back. After 7 - 8 of these you will start to discover boredom at its best. The quest storylines are also far too "Awsome".[spoiler] For example, the mage questline has you saving the world as an apprentice and then suddenly rising to Archmage [/spoiler] I would say that after not too long, you will have saved the world at least a dozen times. Skyrim, on the surface is a great game, well worthy of the praise it has received. But as soon as you explore the game a little further, it quickly shows the lack of depth or longevity this game has to offer. All in all, I would say this game is on par with Oblivion which is not a good thing. I would personally buy this game at a low price or wait for one of its competitors to see if they are able to offer a better experience.… Expand
  42. darkmaterial
    Jan 25, 2012
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This game absorbed me for 2-3 weeks, then my interest fell off a cliff. I've been away for a month and half or so now and thought I should try it again but instead I'm writing this review. I've been trying to think what went wrong for me with Skyrim and still have trouble putting it in to a coherent explanation. I know my interest collapsed within a day or so of my encounter with the thieves guild. I arrived in that town and was told by about everyone how bad the thieves guild was. So being the do-gooder, sociopath that I am, I set out to find and destroy the guild. Things went well at first. I found the sewers and fought my way through several maps to arrive at the guild's underground bar/base. I backed up, summoned my elemental, positioned my tank companion, and then started raining in glorious aoe nukes. At this point what I had been deluding myself was an open-world sandbox rpg revealed itself to be just another tracked, console port--the thieves guild leadership (the terrible folks terrorizing the whole town) are immortal, unkillable npcs. The next day I came upon an imperial general standing in a field. Being a rebel at war with the imperials, I tried to kill him. Again, no dice--plot essential immortal.

    Obviously, not being able to kill a few folks can't be the full explanation for my loss of interest, but I think it is symptomatic of a game that while beautiful and immense, upon closer inspection fails to deliver on the depth that it promises. Oh, and the melee combat is unresponsive and bleh.

    rep'd my arriving in the town with the th    … Expand
  43. MrBuckie
    Nov 13, 2012
    5
    This game is definitely overrated. There's not enough content in this, all the quests or zones are a bit repetitive. They used same textures over and over. No wonder the game size is like 6gb. The storyline is too damn linear and it's not that great. But the worst problem I have with this game is dual hand spellcasting, it's quite stupid in my opinion. This is definitely the worst TheThis game is definitely overrated. There's not enough content in this, all the quests or zones are a bit repetitive. They used same textures over and over. No wonder the game size is like 6gb. The storyline is too damn linear and it's not that great. But the worst problem I have with this game is dual hand spellcasting, it's quite stupid in my opinion. This is definitely the worst The Elder Scrolls game so far. If this game is on sales, then it's worth a buy.… Expand
  44. thesmallprint
    Aug 9, 2012
    6
    Beautiful and fun, but oh so ronery. You see, I really like sandbox, open-world games, and I like Norse mythology, a bit of violence, some magic, some cool stuff, and Skyrim delivers on all of that, not to mention graphics that even look pretty on my 256MB GPU (except for horrible shadows on the characters, but that can be tweaked). The trouble is, it's more of an action/exploration gameBeautiful and fun, but oh so ronery. You see, I really like sandbox, open-world games, and I like Norse mythology, a bit of violence, some magic, some cool stuff, and Skyrim delivers on all of that, not to mention graphics that even look pretty on my 256MB GPU (except for horrible shadows on the characters, but that can be tweaked). The trouble is, it's more of an action/exploration game than an RPG. Your character can be male or female, any race, and look how you like (provided you like the weather-beaten, gaunt look. Mods mods mods), but beyond that you're not really a character. You have no personality, and neither really does anyone else. I didn't feel attached to *any* of the characters in the game, including my own. Dialogue options were limited and uninspired, and followers seemed to have one set of options to ask them about, which were mostly about the mechanics of having a follower or what their job was.

    The secondary plotline, whilst undeniably gritty and shade-of-grey did not give you any really morally satisfying options: side with the racist, nationalist stormcloaks, or the corrupt, domineering farce of an Empire whose soldiers decided to cut off your head for no better reason than just liking to do that kind of thing.

    Quests felt hollow, for the most part. Go fetch thing from some caves and kill a loads of people/things on the way, and overload your packs with junk. I liked the nordic/ germanic voice acting, but it was still a bit bland and they were clearly speaking American, even if they were doing it in their own accents "Gotta lay low for a while, still got a ways to go" etc. They also picked some really distinctive voices and used them on a load of characters, without trying to vary their lines, delivery or intonation at all. So the shopkeeper in Riverwood is the shopkeeper in Whiterun is the King of the Forsworn etc.

    Now, none of this would be a problem if it was multiplayer, because you could RP with real people and/or just go on dungeon raids and have fun times, but it's not. So, if you like epic storylines and atmosphere, great scripts and genuinely likable characters, go get Dragon Age (1, not 2). And if you want a fun blast with fast-paced violent action, get left 4 dead 2. Skyrim makes a great initial impression, but after a while you just feel like you're still sitting in the bath long after the water's gone cold.    … Expand
  45. Xradus
    Dec 11, 2012
    5
    Skyrim, I tried to like it so many times, I probably installed it and deinstalled it over 10 times because the game gets boring really quickly. All the game can offer is Skyrim itself, the world is beautiful and with some mods you can make it look almost real. If you played the other Elder Scrolls you know that this game isn't a big improvement, maybe in some parts it got even worse thanSkyrim, I tried to like it so many times, I probably installed it and deinstalled it over 10 times because the game gets boring really quickly. All the game can offer is Skyrim itself, the world is beautiful and with some mods you can make it look almost real. If you played the other Elder Scrolls you know that this game isn't a big improvement, maybe in some parts it got even worse than it was. Combat disappointed me the most, it's dull without any variety. If you're melee you're gonna spam attack over and over again, you just spam the mouse click until the enemy is dead. You don't feel any real impact of the weapons, you can't cut off limbs and cripple enemies (why is it possible in Fallout but not in Skyrim ?). The weapons don't feel like they're heavy, you just lose more stamina if you miss a hit and that's it. With Magic it's the same and more boring than as a melee. Chivalry: Medieval Warfare is a perfect example how combat should be done and feel. Enemies are also quiet repetitive, I'm tired of killing draugrs and falmers over and over again, there is not a wide array of enemies in Skyrim, the dragons are rather annoying than challenging, as a melee you're gonna hate them because all you will do is wait until they finally land so you can attack them, most of the time you're gonna be dead before you can even attack (if you play on master). Another thing that disappointed me was there was no feeling that a war is going on, but all people will tell you about the war between imperials and the stormcloacks. In Oblivion you actually got the feeling that daedra are invading the world and there's a war going on. I think with one more year of development, there could have been much more done and really bringing all the potential out of the game. The Dawnguard DLC story is probably the only thing that I really enjoyed so far. If you want action and a good story don't buy it, Skyrim is a big fantasy world simulator based on nordic lore.… Expand
  46. alanmacd
    Nov 19, 2014
    7
    The greatest role playing game ever crafted? Um, no. For all the wonders of its open world concept, Skyrim lacks the beautifully rendered characters and interactions seen in the Bioware games like Mass Effect and Dragon Age: Origins. There is no sense of epic drama to the story which matches the vast world that has been created. Choices make little difference in terms of how your characterThe greatest role playing game ever crafted? Um, no. For all the wonders of its open world concept, Skyrim lacks the beautifully rendered characters and interactions seen in the Bioware games like Mass Effect and Dragon Age: Origins. There is no sense of epic drama to the story which matches the vast world that has been created. Choices make little difference in terms of how your character is treated by others in the game. And battles become laughably easy, even on the toughest settings, once you have improved your equipment enough. Bethesda is to be credited for creating something with impressive scope. I just...don't care much about it. I played DA:O and couldn't want for another play-through. I went on the suicide mission in Mass Effect 2 and my heart was in my throat. I'm halfway through Skyrim and I'm just...bored.… Expand
  47. 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
  48. 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.
  49. Copenhagun
    Nov 26, 2011
    7
    Over-hyped. Too much walking, and riding a horse around vast amounts of land, and not enough action. Also, it'd be nice to know what your level is, versus the level of the enemy on screen consistently. I hate getting reamed by an enemy npc, because I couldn't see it level vs. my level.
  50. Manomama7
    Jan 14, 2012
    5
    While there are millions of bugs and the combat, textures and animations suck this game is still great! There are tons of hours of playtime.Bethesda could've done more on the 4 years of development. Anyways i think Skyrim deserves a 5
  51. CoolDadTx
    Jul 14, 2012
    7
    Skyrim lives up to the expectations of the Elder Scrolls series, for the most part. The main story itself is uninteresting. I didn't even get past the halfway point until I was forced to in order to get the remaining side quests. The whole civil war thing seems really tacked on to me. I eventually chose sides and started taking over cities as part of the war quests but then switchedSkyrim lives up to the expectations of the Elder Scrolls series, for the most part. The main story itself is uninteresting. I didn't even get past the halfway point until I was forced to in order to get the remaining side quests. The whole civil war thing seems really tacked on to me. I eventually chose sides and started taking over cities as part of the war quests but then switched back to the MQ to finish up. It seemed that neither side had notice that I had picked a side. Both acted the same way. This really broken the realism for me. Bethesda generally doesn't make these types of mistakes.

    The dragons (which people have been asking for forever) really don't add anything to the game. They are just another creature with loads of health. Fighting them becomes canned as they go through the same motions. The first encounter was interesting. The rest were boring. Even worse is the fact that they randomly appear out of nowhere (a feature Bethesda bragged about). The problem is that if you teleport somewhere to follow a quest you might suddenly have to fight one of these stupid dragons. Because of their large health it can take several minutes. I got to the point where I would just run away because fighting them wasn't worth anything. I hope that dragons don't make an appearance in future ES games.

    I've never been a fan of the leveling system of ES. Skyrim tried the Fallout approach of perks and it might have worked if the perks were actually that useful. For the most part they are useless. I much prefer the Oblivion skill system. But even then I should get rewarded for finding new areas. Make me want to spend time in this world Bethesda!! Instead my reward was generally yet another dragon battle I didn't want. You'd figure with all these dragons flying around that they would just take over the world.

    Some of the early enemies are, again, overpowering. Spellcasters and higher level bandits appear at frightening frequency even early on making melee attacks deadly. Once you've acquired a certain shield (after a side quest) though they become trivial. By midway through the game there was no enemy that was even a remote challenge to my character. Bethesda really needs to work on a better balanced system.

    Overall Skyrim was fun but I was honestly bored by the end of it. I wasn't interested in finishing the lackluster main quest nor searching the world for anything (because I gained nothing by doing so). I just ran through the final main quests as fast as I could. I see they now have DLC for the game but I doubt I'll get it. Nothing they throw at me wouuld be challenging (unless they take all your equipment - which is a popular pasttime) and it would probably have more dragons. Unless they come out with an expansion on the level of Shivering Isles I'll have to say goodbye to Skyrim until the next ES game comes along.    … Expand
  52. PrimalHunter70
    Mar 27, 2012
    6
    Skyrim is greatly overrated by the media and everyone who has bought it. Skyrim has a poor story, with no twists and turns in the plot, no stunning moral choice options which will affect the outcome of your experience, and there is just no justification to why your character should be good or bad; there's just no incentive, because it doesn't affect the outcome. The dialogue also poor, asSkyrim is greatly overrated by the media and everyone who has bought it. Skyrim has a poor story, with no twists and turns in the plot, no stunning moral choice options which will affect the outcome of your experience, and there is just no justification to why your character should be good or bad; there's just no incentive, because it doesn't affect the outcome. The dialogue also poor, as you don't even hear your character speak, and like I said before, there are no moral choice options to choose. The combat is fun but clunky, and doesn't flow like other games I have played. Also, the voice acting and character animations are fairly mediocre, as half the characters in the world have exactly the same voices and looks. The ending is pretty unsatisfying, and lacks the spectacularity in other games. After playing the Mass Effect series, I simply cannot say that Skyrim is as good as everyone is saying.… Expand
  53. Banhammer0
    May 31, 2014
    7
    Good things: extremely modable, good music, rich world, huge sandbox possibilities
    Bad things: extreme amounts of bugs and rough edges, terrible AI, meh combat, too few voice actors, idiotic radiant quests
    Overall it can be enjoyable if you mod it A LOT.
  54. STMary
    May 15, 2012
    7
    This game is well done. I enjoyed it more than Oblivion myself, but not nearly as much as Morrowind.
    Had to knock the score down a notch because of the horrible UI. I haven't played since the Steam Workshop has come out, but I imagine there are quite a few fixes for this since it seems to be a common complaint. Its a shame Bethesda neglected the PC version, I would say that's where most of    This game is well done. I enjoyed it more than Oblivion myself, but not nearly as much as Morrowind.
    Had to knock the score down a notch because of the horrible UI. I haven't played since the Steam Workshop has come out, but I imagine there are quite a few fixes for this since it seems to be a common complaint. Its a shame Bethesda neglected the PC version, I would say that's where most of their fan base lies. Still pretty fun, was able to squeeze 40-50 hrs out of it before the game got too tedious for me. Will try to pick it back up again in the future, but right now I need a break.    … Expand
  55. atlassys8
    Apr 27, 2015
    5
    Finally, and gladly, they removed the paid mods, but their crude and rude decision has done a lot of damage that cannot be undone easily. God bless us all.
  56. Zonerider
    Jun 29, 2012
    6
    Skyrim is a good RPG, but a bad Elder Scrolls. Sure the graphic is okay, but the perk and level system are only a ruin. as sample: Train your armor craft level to build a armor and a weapon, when you have all of them, the armor craft tree is useless, all points wastet because you cant repair things. another sample: only the smal and boring dungeons respawns, but the big and avesomeSkyrim is a good RPG, but a bad Elder Scrolls. Sure the graphic is okay, but the perk and level system are only a ruin. as sample: Train your armor craft level to build a armor and a weapon, when you have all of them, the armor craft tree is useless, all points wastet because you cant repair things. another sample: only the smal and boring dungeons respawns, but the big and avesome dungeons are wiped out forever. So you walk over the map, find a dwemer ruin and you think: Only another empty hole. Many wasted potential. Skyrim can never beat oblivion... maybe with massiv user mods they correct the broken play system.… Expand
  57. linkdude
    Jul 28, 2012
    7
    this game is good plain and simple that's how i'm going to put it i REALLY loved this game when it came out but then after about a week of playing everything gets meshed together and you already have the best armour and weapons. characters i feel need more depth i murdered everyone i could in whiterun and didn't really care about them i was just like "meh" and a bunch more glitches andthis game is good plain and simple that's how i'm going to put it i REALLY loved this game when it came out but then after about a week of playing everything gets meshed together and you already have the best armour and weapons. characters i feel need more depth i murdered everyone i could in whiterun and didn't really care about them i was just like "meh" and a bunch more glitches and bugs from falling through the world to the quality being pixilated to the max but the worst of all is the loading screen i've spent about 2 hours of loading screen on the first 2 weeks of playing. but don't think i hate this game
    the people you meet can sometime give special missions to you which is why you talk to everyone. the dragon battles are intense the first few times around you can become a werewolf and vampire and the map is EXTREMLY huge if you're looking for a game that has some flaws but is an overall fun expierence then i recommend that you pick up this game if you havn't already    … Expand
  58. johnnybgood8
    May 29, 2016
    5
    Overated game fixed by mods. If you look without mods it will be like this:

    1. Poor story 2. Bethesda has history with hiring worst voice actors in history of gaming. Why is that I really dont know but Skyrim is no exception. 3. Side quests mainly kill this and that. 4. No cinematic in the game at all. (Bethesda learn form CD projekt red) 5. Dialogues are joke. 6. No interaction    Overated game fixed by mods. If you look without mods it will be like this:

    1. Poor story
    2. Bethesda has history with hiring worst voice actors in history of gaming. Why is that I really dont know but Skyrim is no exception.
    3. Side quests mainly kill this and that.
    4. No cinematic in the game at all. (Bethesda learn form CD projekt red)
    5. Dialogues are joke.
    6. No interaction with characters
    7. Very poor combat system.
    8. Not very good balanced.

    Will be 6.5 or 7/10 but Ill give 5 to lower fan base hype.

    Once again Bethesda learn from CD projekt red and witcher games.    … Expand
  59. 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
  60. 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
  61. 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
  62. 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
  63. Machinegon
    Nov 17, 2011
    7
    Not perfect but not bad either. I'm playing the game on xbox and I like the modifications they did for the inventory management. I can't believe its the exact same thing for PC thought because you just can't play a game on pc like you play a game on console. There's a couple of things that are annoying me, the fact that I can kill a dragon in like 4 blows but sometimes I will just run intoNot perfect but not bad either. I'm playing the game on xbox and I like the modifications they did for the inventory management. I can't believe its the exact same thing for PC thought because you just can't play a game on pc like you play a game on console. There's a couple of things that are annoying me, the fact that I can kill a dragon in like 4 blows but sometimes I will just run into a **** saber tooth cat that will one shot me or either a no-were mercenary equipped with some piece of **** that I can't get a quarter of his life backstabbing him with a 30x 17 damages blow. Good work with difficulty scaling. Some random glitches in AI here and there, like the time I tried killed a chicken in a town and everyone jumped on me. The fact that the guards are still extremely overpower. In fact, I think the town guards are the hardest mobs to kill in the entire game. Positives facts, I like the main quest scenario, its better than in oblivion. I also like the critical blows that triggers an animation its really fun. Alot of graphical improvements on the xbox if I compare to oblivion, they really managed to exploit the old console, its annoying for loading times tough but not to bad. Overall a good game, alot of content has always, I would recommend it.… Expand
  64. TJD2
    Jun 15, 2012
    5
    meh, this wasn't a bad game, but the D A M N LOAD SCREENS took all the fun out of it. Seriously, when I'm exploring the vast lands of skyrim, I don't want to wait 30 seconds to 1 minute to enter a building....plus all the framerate and graphic glitches kept me from rating it higher. All this contributed to me getting bored of the game after a week and a half or so of playing it.
  65. Namredel
    Sep 29, 2012
    7
    Skyrim looks amazing, that is honestly the best thing I can say about it. Boy does it lack Good Content. When I play an RPG I expect good story telling and this game came up short. I don't know if it's just Elder Scroll combat or what but I just found it boring for the most part. The thieves guilds story line was pretty good but unfortunately I did that first so the rest of the game justSkyrim looks amazing, that is honestly the best thing I can say about it. Boy does it lack Good Content. When I play an RPG I expect good story telling and this game came up short. I don't know if it's just Elder Scroll combat or what but I just found it boring for the most part. The thieves guilds story line was pretty good but unfortunately I did that first so the rest of the game just seemed stale. I've dappled with the mods which breath new life into Skyrim which make it enjoyable. It's a well done game especially visually and they did a lot of technical touches that make it well polished. But I honestly don't understand why it lacks good story telling. Skyrim is a massive game with a huge world. It will take you many places however, they may be places you don't want to go to. If you're a fan of Elder Scroll games you'll most likely enough this one. But Oblivion had better story telling. imo.… Expand
  66. askewreviews
    Sep 2, 2013
    6
    In its own right, Skyrim is a shallow but passable RPG, but compared to previous Elder Scrolls titles it's a huge disappointment. The level of casualization is simply depressing less equipment slots, more linear dungeons, no stats besides health/mana/stamina, less skills etc. The combat is actually a step up from Oblivion, and yet is still very basic and mindless. The first two or threeIn its own right, Skyrim is a shallow but passable RPG, but compared to previous Elder Scrolls titles it's a huge disappointment. The level of casualization is simply depressing less equipment slots, more linear dungeons, no stats besides health/mana/stamina, less skills etc. The combat is actually a step up from Oblivion, and yet is still very basic and mindless. The first two or three dragon fights blew my mind, but it didn't take long to notice the looping patterns every single dragon would follow and how easy it was to exploit that. They soon became a chore. The main questline had a ton of potential but it's just so lacking and by the end I couldn't care less about it. I didn't care for many of the sidequests either, and the much-hyped infinite quests where nothing more than fetch quests. All in all, Skyrim is a nice-looking but barren and shallow sandbox that makes modding a near necessity.… Expand
  67. moslin
    May 10, 2013
    5
    it is a shame that because of the lack of open world large scale games and this being many peoples first rpg warrants a near 100 for a score. This game cannot even be called an RPG and deserves maybe a 75 at best. There is no decision making just like in oblivion, terrible dialogue and linear boring quests and repeatable quests that were even worse, poor loot variety once again includingit is a shame that because of the lack of open world large scale games and this being many peoples first rpg warrants a near 100 for a score. This game cannot even be called an RPG and deserves maybe a 75 at best. There is no decision making just like in oblivion, terrible dialogue and linear boring quests and repeatable quests that were even worse, poor loot variety once again including recycled enchanted weapons from previous elder scrolls games. I expected so much more.. this was the biggest disappointment in gaming of 2011 for me bigger than the massive failure that was star wars the old republic. If your a hard core elder scrolls fan this game is a must. I still played the game for over 60 hours but then grew bored as opposed to my hundreds of hours spent in oblivion. I am an objective rpg fan and the elder scrolls series falls a little short for me with including Skyrim. This game is average at best not stellar.… Expand
  68. kingdomofomins
    Jun 25, 2013
    5
    Ok lets get to the pros and cons of this game
    Pros: Good Landscapes, Some interesting perks, improved combats, arrows shoot further away unlike Oblivion, lots of places to explore, good lore, lots of things to kill, and you get to make your own stuff.
    Cons: Not that good dlcs, guilds are boring, npcs treat you like even though your saving the world from the dragon crisis, boring side    Ok lets get to the pros and cons of this game
    Pros: Good Landscapes, Some interesting perks, improved combats, arrows shoot further away unlike Oblivion, lots of places to explore, good lore, lots of things to kill, and you get to make your own stuff.
    Cons: Not that good dlcs, guilds are boring, npcs treat you like even though your saving the world from the dragon crisis, boring side quests, there's three decisions you make in the game join dawnguard or the Harkons vampire cult thingy, join the stormcloacks or the Legion, and kill or not kill Paathurnax), companions don't give you perks or anything which is pointless to have them unlike in fallout new vegas where companions do give you perks and xps, they made arrows weight like nothing but flowers weight more, swords and armors last forever apparently which is stupid, removed lots of spells, and puzzles, difficulty are too easy (expect for legendary mode), you get to live in a dumpy ass house with an annoying follower instead of living in a stronghold or a castle, those bandits are weak when you get in higher levels and don't look so scary or try to intimidate you unlike raiders and bandits for the previous elder scrolls, and you cant fail quests and the quest don't give that much details all its says is go to that place and so forth and they even remove class systems as well and lots of skills what the ****
    Despite most the cons i ll give skyrim a 5/10 and i'm pretty sure there lots of good rpg games out there    … Expand
  69. Myon-Neutrino
    Nov 1, 2016
    5
    Since Skyrim´s coming back via the remastered version, I wanted to share my experience with the original here. I don´t get the overwhelmingly hype around that game. It´s ok, it´s playable. It had its moments. But that´s it for me. I´ve played Morrowind, Oblivion and the Fallout Games and I´m aware of Bethesda´s way of life, that´s for sure. Skyrim managed to impress me at first. ManySince Skyrim´s coming back via the remastered version, I wanted to share my experience with the original here. I don´t get the overwhelmingly hype around that game. It´s ok, it´s playable. It had its moments. But that´s it for me. I´ve played Morrowind, Oblivion and the Fallout Games and I´m aware of Bethesda´s way of life, that´s for sure. Skyrim managed to impress me at first. Many improvements compared to its predecessors. There were many good things about Skyrim - but as many bad things as well. I liked the story and the graphics design, well and lovely designed. I liked the quest system. But the overall graphics? White, white and more white (and pale brown), kinda monotonous, lifeless and depressing world/colors. There were some major bugs which prevented me from progressing the main quest (some door couldn´t be opened, and a vampire bit could only be undone by starting a completely new game/char) The controls/menu were poorly ported to PCs and it took time for a good menu-mod to be available. Just like the Fallout 4 PC controls - they simply suck. One of Bethesda`s big issues... graphical improvements mods required a high end rig. I´ve sat through the game once, it was entertaining enough not to stop before. I never intended to play it again.… Expand
  70. Mor0
    Oct 19, 2013
    6
    The game is very easy, full of bugs, the main story line isn't interesting. The game-play is rather relaxing than demanding, it's also unbalanced. The animations looks rather cheap. Combat system is so simple and not difficult. I don't remember any characters (I even forgot the name of our character's alter-ego!). At least land of 'Skyrim' is very big, you can play this game for dozens ofThe game is very easy, full of bugs, the main story line isn't interesting. The game-play is rather relaxing than demanding, it's also unbalanced. The animations looks rather cheap. Combat system is so simple and not difficult. I don't remember any characters (I even forgot the name of our character's alter-ego!). At least land of 'Skyrim' is very big, you can play this game for dozens of hours (if you're RPG amateur I uninstalled the game instantly after ending main story line). One of the most overrated games of all time.… Expand
  71. Zoso
    Jun 15, 2012
    6
    Skyrim is not a bad game, to be sure. Some elements (Lockpicking, Archery) feel very natural - although archery is not perfect as you sometimes can't shoot through narrow openings you could shoot through in real life and arrows suddenly drop at long range. The scenery is impressive, but the character models are seriously lacking, human and non-human alike. And there numerous nice stories,Skyrim is not a bad game, to be sure. Some elements (Lockpicking, Archery) feel very natural - although archery is not perfect as you sometimes can't shoot through narrow openings you could shoot through in real life and arrows suddenly drop at long range. The scenery is impressive, but the character models are seriously lacking, human and non-human alike. And there numerous nice stories, but there not *TOLD*. I know, this an open world RPG, so telling stories can get quite complicated. But with Skyrim, there's so much to discover, but everything stays somehow flat, sterile, and unresponsive, though vast. It feels like every commoner now has a name, but it doesn't matter, they're still commoner 1 - 1000.… Expand
  72. FrannyFantastic
    Nov 19, 2014
    6
    Offers a big open world and creates a genuine sense of adventure, but after a while everything feels very samey. Looting tombs and dungeons become a routine chore and the core, hack and slash gameplay soon turn into a dull affair.
  73. uns3en
    Nov 13, 2011
    5
    This gets a solid 5 and even that feels a lot more than it should have been. Where do I start? Bugs everywhere, from immortal NPCs to crime-reporting chickens(!!!!!) . The controls are just horrible and unresponsive. The so-acclaimed UI is a joke - stinks of console, no mapping to numbers, mouse doesn't work in half the containers, and I'd rather have mouse wheel scroll through myThis gets a solid 5 and even that feels a lot more than it should have been. Where do I start? Bugs everywhere, from immortal NPCs to crime-reporting chickens(!!!!!) . The controls are just horrible and unresponsive. The so-acclaimed UI is a joke - stinks of console, no mapping to numbers, mouse doesn't work in half the containers, and I'd rather have mouse wheel scroll through my favourites than do what it does. The whole interface screams 'use a controller!!!', but I don't even own a console because I HATE THOSE THINGS! The graphics are weird in a way that there are great high-res details present and then you see a blurry low-res texture sitting right next to it (guess that makes it easier on console graphics units, BUT I'M NOT PLAYING A CONSOLE!!!!!). AI and pathing are just plain retarded. No point in levelling at all, because your enemies level with you. AND WHERE ARE MY REGULAR STATS? You no longer need to sleep to level, and to make it even more retarded you have now a choice of whole 3 (three!) stats to improve... and a perk (what is this? Fallout?). Dungeon-crawling quickly becomes monotonous and boring. Overall, it feels like a poor Oblivion 2.0 port packaged in recycled gift-wrap. Bethesda managed to take everything that made Morrowind great and... flush it down the drain, because there's non of it in Skyrim.… Expand
  74. Sargul
    Nov 15, 2011
    6
    I've really waited for the release of Skyrim but in the end this game turns out be just average.

    The graphics look like a lazy console port with textures flickering in the distance. I have to admit that there's a lot to do in Skyrim (with a huge number of side quests and things to explore) however the main story remains boring and very predictable. The skill system looks nice at the    I've really waited for the release of Skyrim but in the end this game turns out be just average.

    The graphics look like a lazy console port with textures flickering in the distance. I have to admit that there's a lot to do in Skyrim (with a huge number of side quests and things to explore) however the main story remains boring and very predictable. The skill system looks nice at the beginning however I'm missing the feeling that the character improves on a level up.

    It seems that this is Oblivion 1.2 with slightly improved graphics and an enhanced skill system.    … Expand
  75. 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
  76. stopdroplol
    Dec 25, 2011
    7
    I've been playing the series since Morrowind and I know it sounds elitist and unoriginal to say, but the games have been going downhill ever since. This latest game is by far the most repetitive and unoriginal game by far. The story really doesn't even feel TES, it's lacking on all fronts and is what I expect of a low budget Hollywood movie. The geography is almost universally the sameI've been playing the series since Morrowind and I know it sounds elitist and unoriginal to say, but the games have been going downhill ever since. This latest game is by far the most repetitive and unoriginal game by far. The story really doesn't even feel TES, it's lacking on all fronts and is what I expect of a low budget Hollywood movie. The geography is almost universally the same climate, i'd say a good 90% is covered in snow, 6% forest, 3% swamp, 1% badlands. Every city seems to be the same. The player really never gets a reason to feel sorry for the Stormcloaks yet it seems to be forced on us from the very beginging that they're the good guys. Dragons? Well they start off kinda ok, then you kill your first 5 and you think, "well they're nothing special." And by the time you kill the 12th or so you think, "Why'd they even put them in the game." Seriously, for a world in which dragons are suppose to be these ultimate beings, exceptionally rare, and rightfully feared by everyone, why does it only take 6 city guardsman to kill one? Why are do you seem to find one every 500 yards? Why do they rinse and repeat the same scripted attack patterns over and over? So why did I give it a 7? Well if its your first time playing an Elder Scrolls game you're gonna love it. But if you're a veteran of the series you probably couldn't play more than 30 hours before you had to give it up in boredom.… Expand
  77. cossayos
    Nov 3, 2012
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. After Bethesda's fallout 3 I had high hopes that the Elder Scrolls would finally come around to the same concept. Instead you still are John/Jane Doe whilst travelling through a - diversified - wilderness. The world doesn't react to your exploits. You stay a nobody throughout the game and even if you made it to the top of some guild, your underlings still treat you like the new stablehand. Same goes for the NPC population which mostly has just one line for you, regardless of who or what your character is. Some of the worst examples might be the mage at Whiterun, rambling on about you joining the mage guild, even if you're the head of said guild. The civil war, regardless of the side you picked, is bland and simply stops without further addo to throw you into Nobody territorry again. And then there are countless aspects where this game really could have shone if the devs added some depths. Marriage for example. A genius idea, but it stays a skeleton without any detail. All in all, a typical Elder Scroll game. I loved Morrowind when it came out in 2002, but the world moved on since then and what was good enough 10 years ago, isn't state of the art anymore. It's fun to play around a bit, but I never felt the compulsion to do a second playthrough.… Expand
  78. hexaae
    Jun 1, 2015
    6
    Unfortunately it's poorly done, with an ancient engine and FULL of over 2000 bugs. It could have been potentially a masterpiece. No, no mods can fix some broken engine mechanics and bugs.
  79. Jaman
    Nov 14, 2011
    6
    Loved Morrowind, Oblivion and Fallout 3. I find Skyrim to be more of the same. Some people will like that. Clearly a huge effort has been spent in creating the beautiful world to explore and the storyline, but the game really falls down in gameplay mechanics, which have barely changed and are as clunky as ever. Melee combat is unacceptably bad (c'mon now folks). I fail to see how characterLoved Morrowind, Oblivion and Fallout 3. I find Skyrim to be more of the same. Some people will like that. Clearly a huge effort has been spent in creating the beautiful world to explore and the storyline, but the game really falls down in gameplay mechanics, which have barely changed and are as clunky as ever. Melee combat is unacceptably bad (c'mon now folks). I fail to see how character interaction has changed - they hype suggested that this would be an area for improvement but the characters are still as dumb as ever. I went for the PC version because of the amazing modding community. It runs fine for me on highest quality, but I took it down a to medium to prevent my GPU from frying. It still looks good and plays even smoother. Yes there are noticeable and annoying glitches - YMMV.

    Based on the commercial release, the quality control team should be fired. I enjoyed the20+ hours I spent in skyrim, but it has now become extremely tedious and I have no desire to invest more of my time there.

    Shame that so many people blithely give a 0 or 10. It's not that bad, neither is it that good. Users should try to be more objective with their reviews otherwise companies like Bethesda will not feel compelled to make the necessary improvements to gameplay. In this day and age, gamers should be more demanding. That's how we progress.

    The gaming press has been bought.    … Expand
  80. hoffstarr
    Dec 8, 2014
    7
    Without mods Skyrim is nothing but a mediocre hiking simulator...

    - clunky combat
    - laughably bad writing
    - mostly consists of garbage content ( fetch quests, c&p dungeons, kill x amount of y, etc. )
    - No matter how big a game is, that amount of bugs and glitches is simply not acceptable
    - really poor animations
    - the interface is basically unusable
    - etc.
  81. osoichan
    Nov 12, 2011
    6
    It feels like, sounds like and looks like little pimped oblivion mixed with morrowind. Graphics are not that good as i excepted. If i compare them to withcher 2 the result is miserable
  82. Scritty
    Nov 17, 2011
    6
    A decent enough game. Development of character is ok(ish) but graphics for a PC are woeful. It shows that this game has been written with the "ancient clockwork" hardware of the 360 and PS3 in mind. They are so bad it's shocking. Combat is rather weak (point and click...and keep clicking - changing weapon is about the only tactical thing you can do and most fights it's just a case ofA decent enough game. Development of character is ok(ish) but graphics for a PC are woeful. It shows that this game has been written with the "ancient clockwork" hardware of the 360 and PS3 in mind. They are so bad it's shocking. Combat is rather weak (point and click...and keep clicking - changing weapon is about the only tactical thing you can do and most fights it's just a case of swapping to a melee weapon when the mob gets too close etc). Story is good, voice acting is better than Oblivion (More variation) But I just can't get over the poor graphics. Sure - -buy it - it's not a bad game, but it's definately not a 2011/12 game - more like a 2005/6 one… Expand
  83. Elmiq
    Nov 13, 2011
    5
    After like 6 hours i have stopped playing as i was just bored. It is almost the same as Oblivion, but we have rocks and snow instead of grass. Stupid dialogs, stupid tutorial (there is a bear ahead, lets sneak or take this bow - then one shot and bear is dead. So simple, but still my companion had to cry). Graphics are average - nothing special about it. Is dragon from start trying to killAfter like 6 hours i have stopped playing as i was just bored. It is almost the same as Oblivion, but we have rocks and snow instead of grass. Stupid dialogs, stupid tutorial (there is a bear ahead, lets sneak or take this bow - then one shot and bear is dead. So simple, but still my companion had to cry). Graphics are average - nothing special about it. Is dragon from start trying to kill us ? Then he should wait one more second - dragon idiot, that's all. I would give it 5, as game is not that bad, it is just nothing more than average experience.… Expand
  84. Greg_Heavy
    Jul 23, 2012
    7
    It's ok, until the next TES game comes out. Then it will be forgotten (I like to call it the "need for speed effect") by everyone. Shallow story and characters, nothing really interesting apart from the graphics.
  85. breslin
    Dec 19, 2011
    5
    "Freedom without Purpose": I was seriously disappointed by Skyrim; I choked on insignificant options, undirected freedom followed by quick deaths, the confusing UI, the confusing map, and poor combat mechanics. But I have read that if you play it in a certain way it's more enjoyable:

    http://www.oxm.co.uk/36533/features/skyrim-nine-ways-to-make-it-the-worst-game-ever/ I suspect that this    "Freedom without Purpose": I was seriously disappointed by Skyrim; I choked on insignificant options, undirected freedom followed by quick deaths, the confusing UI, the confusing map, and poor combat mechanics. But I have read that if you play it in a certain way it's more enjoyable:

    http://www.oxm.co.uk/36533/features/skyrim-nine-ways-to-make-it-the-worst-game-ever/

    I suspect that this writer is correct, but it's a shame that you ruin the game unless you do X, Y, and Z, particularly if the game presents itself as a "free play"/sandbox game. Again, undirected freedom isn't a good thing in and of itself, particularly if it's achieved by simply removing the signposts.

    I think Skyrim's success has to do with all the fancy graphics and media hype.    … Expand
  86. Bobwolf
    Mar 11, 2012
    7
    The reason why I can't give Skyrim a better score is simple : Skyrim has been made for console. I was expecting so much. But once you begin to truly explore, it feel very repetitive and the control on PC are very so so.

    It's still a good game, but I can't give more than 7.
  87. Zudeare
    Nov 23, 2012
    6
    I really really really really REALLY want to like this game, but i can't for some reason, I'm serious, the graphics are decent, the music is epic and the world looks very open and fun, but for some reason, i get bored with it, Maybe it's because of the quests, but i'm not sure, I love Bethesda in general, Fallout 3 happens to be one of my favorite game, but skyrim, not really, still, i'veI really really really really REALLY want to like this game, but i can't for some reason, I'm serious, the graphics are decent, the music is epic and the world looks very open and fun, but for some reason, i get bored with it, Maybe it's because of the quests, but i'm not sure, I love Bethesda in general, Fallout 3 happens to be one of my favorite game, but skyrim, not really, still, i've spent a good 30 hours in it and i've had a few moments where i had an absolute blast playing it.… Expand
  88. stephen0983
    Oct 28, 2012
    5
    A solid RPG with some of the best graphics to date. However, too easy, even on the hardest difficulty. And that's not even using the shouts, which seemed kind of stupid (and overpowered). Why so many of them?
    Had to use a 360 controller due to keyboard and mouse issues with the game, which is totally absurd. I have a logitech g500 mouse and a corsair k90 keyboard and couldn't even use    A solid RPG with some of the best graphics to date. However, too easy, even on the hardest difficulty. And that's not even using the shouts, which seemed kind of stupid (and overpowered). Why so many of them?
    Had to use a 360 controller due to keyboard and mouse issues with the game, which is totally absurd. I have a logitech g500 mouse and a corsair k90 keyboard and couldn't even use them, had to go with a gamepad! Unbelievable. The game also crashed regularly, probably once or twice a play session. Quest content, sheer size of the map and options, makes this a worthwhile game, especially if you liked Oblivion. Character levelling was streamlined a bit (dumbed-down), probably to attract a broader audience.
    Overall it has it's ups and downs, it does not live up to the hype due to technical problems, otherwise it could very well be worthy of the critics score here on this site (were it more challenging)    … Expand
  89. Garfoodle
    Apr 23, 2014
    5
    While it is a good time killer, its really not much more than that. The gameplay is flat-out dull, unless your using a bow, which is impractical 99% of the time. The voice acting, along with the story, isn't very good. The factions are here, and are rather good, but they have only 5-10 missions per, which is really a disappointment. The UI is pretty bad on PC, and the graphics are good.While it is a good time killer, its really not much more than that. The gameplay is flat-out dull, unless your using a bow, which is impractical 99% of the time. The voice acting, along with the story, isn't very good. The factions are here, and are rather good, but they have only 5-10 missions per, which is really a disappointment. The UI is pretty bad on PC, and the graphics are good. There is plenty of mods keep in mind, but you shouldn't have to mod a game for it to be fun.

    5/10. Decent. A good time killer, not much more    … Expand
  90. boomoperator
    Nov 12, 2011
    5
    sorry to say this but after 5 h i must say that skyrim is average. take a look on, as some mentioned too, easy combat, or the small map, or the boring generic bandit events. the lore, the music, the graphics are nice (except of character and face animations), but everything else seems uninspired, bad written and random. it is a generic hero story with dragons. i'm disappointed.
  91. sirtalomose
    Jan 21, 2012
    6
    Others seem to have had a much better time with it than I have. As for me I've run into a few game breaking bugs that not even console commands or regular saving could fix. One reason I got Skyrim for PC was to be able to avoid some issues like this. I also find it too combat oriented at times, even forcibly so. Some enemies are scripted to find you which can leave characters relying onOthers seem to have had a much better time with it than I have. As for me I've run into a few game breaking bugs that not even console commands or regular saving could fix. One reason I got Skyrim for PC was to be able to avoid some issues like this. I also find it too combat oriented at times, even forcibly so. Some enemies are scripted to find you which can leave characters relying on sneak or those not focused in combat in trouble. This can leave using console commands, lowering difficulty, or using tactics the AI can't put up a fight against to deal with the problem which I'd consider a design flaw. While not having enemies level with you like in Oblivion was a step in the right direction, if they're 20 levels above you, able to instantly get a killing animation if they get close enough, and running across all of Skyrim to hunt you down then needless to say it can be problematic. And people saying,"You just need to level up more," should understand that a game forcing you to play a certain way loses the definition of being open world, sandbox, or nonlinear. A game like this shouldn't be a race to grind levels. This might have been a string of bad luck for my first few characters, 4 or 5 I felt I had to delete for this reason or the previous one. Graphics aren't as refined as expected. Shadows are blocky unless on a higher end gaming PC or ini settings are adjusted, but the later results in a performance hit. Antialiasing and lighting conflict, giving a lighted or colored outline to characters in certain areas. Without mods I consider a character using Archery, and this goes for some magic skills also, as unplayable with the auto-aim Bethesda saw fit to put in. Otherwise in my opinion, many other features have been mixed to me. Getting rid of stats, the classless leveling system, removing or combining skills, Fallout lockpicking, new use of speech, removed birthsigns to name a few. I can see both good and bad things out of each. Dual wielding is a plus, but not being able to block when doing so is senseless. Dual casting can be exciting for new ways to play.… Expand
  92. Cell1e
    Dec 9, 2011
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I bought the game on day one and began playing. I was disappointed with the CC and the ghastly lack of choices for making any type of attractive character for this game. Eventually got a playable character and found myself in a fairly standard opening scene typical of Oblivion, captured and on my way to execution. Oblivion had me already in a cell so pretty typical beginning. Found myself not so impressed with the world and graphics, they are nice but not amazing as claimed and the world colours are too muted for my taste.
    There are many many many quests to do so I got busy. After a few days of questing and exploring and beginning to get quite fed up with the very long dungeon quests I decided to get married. Marriage is a joke. Its a cold and lacklustre union with little to recommend it as the perks of marriage were glitched and didnt work as they should have. I also felt not one bit connected or fond of the guy as he pretty soon annoyed me with his getting stuck, getting in the way, sleeping on floors and calling me 'sister' instead of wife. Oh my God if they were going to bring us some marriage couldnt they have at least have made it a little more romantic and meaningful. Blah. :(
    I got bored and fed up with the bugs and glitches before I managed to finish the main quest. I would have loved to give this game a higher score but it feels like such a half- assed effort and I feel it is not one bit an improvement on Oblivion. (I really get mad when I think of this game-grr my lists of complaints are endless)
    For people who love meaningless quests for uninteresting NPCs and huge worlds to run around in for days on end this game will be a winner. Those of us who need an intelligent and interesting storyline and an immersive world, this game will be a HUGE HUGE disappointment so wait until it goes on sale and you have many many days with nothing else to do.    … Expand
  93. papanurgle
    May 6, 2015
    7
    Skyrim has a awful short story, large empty world and broken and useless RPG elements.
    Story is: here comes a bad dragon who wants to destroy the world and you must defeat it...who was writing this...a ten year old boy. Morrowind did not have a Planescape Torment story but you had that mystic with Dagoth Ur and that was making Morrowind awesome story game...put more time in story mates.    Skyrim has a awful short story, large empty world and broken and useless RPG elements.
    Story is: here comes a bad dragon who wants to destroy the world and you must defeat it...who was writing this...a ten year old boy. Morrowind did not have a Planescape Torment story but you had that mystic with Dagoth Ur and that was making Morrowind awesome story game...put more time in story mates. Evolve more mature depth story not cheep Hollywood action story.
    Civil war quest is also short and dumb...I was expecting from civil war more then go and take over the fort quests.
    Why did you built a large world where practically nothing happens ( come on Skyrim is in the middle of the civil war and I had never had a feeling while traveling through Skyrim that civil war is going ), put more life in Skyrim wilds and roads or reduce the map size that we have a feeling that something is happening ( New Vegas had that...reduced map with more life...their I had a feeling that war was going on between Legion and NCR ). Why did you not combine dragon revivals and civil war quests…you know dragon revival would effect civil war. I also had a feeling like people of Skyrim aren’t effected by dragons return and they are living their boring life…put more fear in your world.
    Sidequest are awesome but in the future instalment you must avoid putting quests like get me this item or get me this weapon ( do not cut it just reduce the pointless quests ), it is really pointless that you must travel from one edge of Skyrim to another just to take a item from the NPC and return it to the quest giver.
    Put guild requirements ( it is really dumb that a barbarian with no skill in magic can join mage guild, same goes with mage in fighters guild).
    Why put 80 points of perks where you can finish you character in 25-30 perks (built improve armor rating , improve damage with weapon , archery damage some sneak and restoration and here you have a awesome character and still I did not use smiting, alchemy or enhance perks because when you used them it is a overkill for every enemy) . Many trees like speech ( why did you not put perks involving shouts in speech tree), lockpicking ( only good perk is the one that improves your weight) are useless. Smiting, alchemy and smiting is OP ( put a limit how much you can improve potion or weapon or armor so it does not go in infinitive), some perks do not apply to weapons ( I think it was critical hit perks, probably some others also ).
    Why there is no attributes? It is really dumb that every character no matter how much is his weapon skill can always hit his enemy. Dexterity should determine a chance to hit, lose the perk that improves damage put strength attribute. Endurance should determine health and stamina and intelligence should improve magicka and spell damage , put willpower so you have better resist magic chance and charisma for sweet talk. Put better perks and not “ if you do a backward power attack you have a chance to stun enemy for 1 seconds and that is ultimate weapon perk ( wow…OMG ) and the list goes on.
    I also heard that many things like guild requirements, better civil war you developed in construction set but left it out…why?
    And after slamming your head to a wall because you wasted your money for BS like Skyrim you discover Skyrim Nexus and boy what a change...mods rule...thank you modders!!!
    Mods fixes many things but still dumb story is here and going ( no main story mod…yet ).
    My suggestion is if you are planning to develop new TES ask Obsidian ( most of them are ex Black Isle employees and we all know that Black Isle was creating best RPG-s ever ) to help you like you did in New Vegas…it is a win and win situation for you and us.
    I give Skyrim without mods 2/10!!!
    I give Skyrim with mods 9/10!!!
    I give Skyrim in general 7/10 because counting on modders to fix your game is lazy so Bethseda learn from modders. The game is unplayable without mods.    … Expand
  94. 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
  95. whitewi666
    Feb 3, 2012
    5
    Man, was I wrong when I gave this game 8 points. It's not what I thought it is. I have played tones of hours just by assuming it should get better but it never did. I will never buy Bethesda game again until they start to innovate and make more story driven games! Because Skyrim is Big Empty world full of same characters with same crappy lines. Main quest is joke as many others. No matterMan, was I wrong when I gave this game 8 points. It's not what I thought it is. I have played tones of hours just by assuming it should get better but it never did. I will never buy Bethesda game again until they start to innovate and make more story driven games! Because Skyrim is Big Empty world full of same characters with same crappy lines. Main quest is joke as many others. No matter what you do you never feel the difference in outcome. Very dull game!!!!! I regret that I spend 60 dollars on it.… Expand
  96. reviewobsession
    Feb 4, 2015
    6
    AAA games leaving old school players like high elves, who leave middle earth with ships in Tolkein's tales. I'm not surprised at high ratings because this isn't a bad game for average console player or player who hasn't got enough time to invest in games. Yes, this game has huge world but with lifeless characters. Yes, it has an easy to learn character improvement system but with brokenAAA games leaving old school players like high elves, who leave middle earth with ships in Tolkein's tales. I'm not surprised at high ratings because this isn't a bad game for average console player or player who hasn't got enough time to invest in games. Yes, this game has huge world but with lifeless characters. Yes, it has an easy to learn character improvement system but with broken mechanics. Yes, you have dragons in this game but they are desperate to survive against a town guard's attack. Yes, you have many quests to do but without emotion and they are repetitive. You have cities without people, you have roads without surprising adventures, you have dungeons without danger of life... I miss Morrowind. I miss unsolvable character creation mechanics and rich choices. I miss strange looking places and unknown, deadly dungeons. I miss playing a real RPG...Good luck with this game.… Expand
  97. reguire
    Jan 23, 2015
    7
    this game has nothing to do with role playing. it is more like action adventure game. repetitive cave clearing quests, fetch quests MORE THAN dragon age inquisition. but still fun game and I am playing it for hours.
  98. steddye
    Dec 8, 2014
    6
    This game is good but not awesome
    the good
    open world
    sense of adventure and discovering
    plot

    the bad
    inventory
    repetitive dungeon, dragon, enemy, puzzle
    very very stupid ai
    abuse of potion in combat

    The most annoying thig is how much repetitive are things in this game, it became boring too soon.
  99. moonlight_shado
    Jan 27, 2015
    6
    Very interesting in the beginning, extremely boring later. This game is huge but when you get know 30% of the game everything is the same later on. Poor quests. Not very interesting (or just silly) main plot. It's Not good when game is boring, especially game with high ratings like Skyrim. Morrowind is he king so far.

    Great atmosphere, soundtrack and still not bad graphics (with the    Very interesting in the beginning, extremely boring later. This game is huge but when you get know 30% of the game everything is the same later on. Poor quests. Not very interesting (or just silly) main plot. It's Not good when game is boring, especially game with high ratings like Skyrim. Morrowind is he king so far.

    Great atmosphere, soundtrack and still not bad graphics (with the mods at least) are the strongest parts of this game.    … Expand
  100. Orctownorc
    Mar 30, 2013
    6
    Skyrim is clearly overated. The biggest fantasy of all is that Bethesda is a studio that 'knows' and 'loves' RPGs. Oblivion was A LOT MORE FUN. If you disagree go back and try it. Skyrim is a hollow shell of a game with only a single great feature: The WORLD. The rock structures the plants and the weather of Skyrim are all brilliant. The fish in the streams, the butterlies in the air.Skyrim is clearly overated. The biggest fantasy of all is that Bethesda is a studio that 'knows' and 'loves' RPGs. Oblivion was A LOT MORE FUN. If you disagree go back and try it. Skyrim is a hollow shell of a game with only a single great feature: The WORLD. The rock structures the plants and the weather of Skyrim are all brilliant. The fish in the streams, the butterlies in the air. AWESOME work. well done Bethesda. Sadly its ALL DOWNHILL from there. Skyrim boasts '300' unique locations. Well its more like 4 really, all copypasted and tweaked to be 'different' but they dont feel different. You might enjoy your first draugr ruin, but running through nearly identical ruins over and over again looses its luster soon enough. And it becomes incredibly tedius before you have levelled up even your first character. Character development in this game hits NEW LOWS. For a company that is supposed to 'know and love RPGs', how can it be that with each new game levelling your character becomes more tedius and BORING. The character levelling system in this game is TERRIBLE. Choosing between 'red' 'green' or 'blue' when you level is TERRIBLE. And from the studio that 'knows and loves RPGs the magic system is also TERRIBLE. The mellee combat, hit detection, and double-wielding mellee options are all TERRIBLE! Go Bethesda! The studio may be famed as 'knowing and loving RPGs', but is an abiding mystery why they think they can create immortal games without HIRING ANY WRITERS. You got that right. Click on the credits for the game, read it and weep. When you are playing the game you might notice how dull, boring, repetive and tedious it all is. You might notice that every single quest is a pale version of something you saw before in Oblivion or Morrowind. You might awaken to the fact that the 'endless questing' is a lie, no fun at all. Check the credits to blame the writers. THERE ARE NONE. that's right. Bethesda is so hard up for money that the 3D artists who built their 4 dungeons and the 20 physical assets they dump in every single room in the land double-up as scenario writers. And if you think the side quests are bad watch out! The main quest is WORSE. it's probably the most pathetic excuse for a story dumped into a game in the last decade! It's ever worse than Fallout 3 (Which is overall a much better game than this one by the way). Not only that. This game is totally lacking in terms of the kinds of magical or legendary items we usually associate with RPGs. The only vaguely interesting items to find are tied into the Daedric Quests. These quests are an assorted grab bag of sheer nihilism and ammoral garbage which will demand you please the 'whims of the gods, doing such role playing classics as eating human flesh and murdering strangers in order to get the blessings of the god'. Nice work Bethesda! (NOT!) So if you can endure a dreadful character system, boring combat, boring 'adventures, terrible magic, non-existant plots, a game that in all areas is inferior to both Morrowind and Oblivion, I guess Skyrim is Ok. It has its moments, roaming, watching sunsets, catching butterflies, of fishing by hand in the cool clear streams. I truly wonder at user reviews that give this game 10/10 scores. presumably these are all written on the initial wonder, before 40 hours have passed. Before they have accumulated 300,000 gold with nothing you need or CAN buy, or learned how to make every potion under the sun, only to find that they NEVER EVER need to use even one potion, or while they are trying various wield options before realising that most of them suck, and settled on playing sneaky archer, which is the only really viable build (SIGH). When you play this game to maximum level it reveals itself as a soul-less, empty, hollow lonely, terminally BORING, joyless affair. There is not a single likeable NPC in the game. No kind of interesting interaction with any of the puppet-like characters in the game. There is no main plot, no compelling sidequest, nothing memorable at all. Only some sunsets, some bug-catching and then tedium as you waste dozens of hours unlocking dragon shouts that you never even need to use. All this in a crappy port with the worst UI ever put on a PC. Bethesda do NOT know and love RPGs. Bethesda are cheap skates who cut corners, build huge worlds and fill them with copy-pasted tedium and FILLER. The high scores for this game are wishful thinking, tinged with nostalgia, and appreciation for all the good things Bethesda have done over the years. Bethesda needs to know the ways this game is NOT GOOD. They have to understand the way it fails. They can and should do a LOT better than this. Giving this game a 10/10 is a really big mistake because that only encourages more of the same. Wake up people, believe me. You do NOT want more of THIS!… 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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