Beran
Official Writing Team
I’m going to be writing about my personal opinions of Skyrim in general, my feelings about the game, and my experiences with how the game works. Anything you feel I’ve got wrong, feel free to tell me, but don’t have a moan at me, as this is my piece of writing, about my feelings, of which yours may differ.
**Mild Spoilers Ahead**
__________________________
Hello people of Skyrim Forums, and to the first post of this section! At the request of Renegader and Rayven, I will be writing a piece for the newly instated ‘Skyrim Articles’ section of the forums. So, without further ado, let’s begin on what you came here to read!
Skyrim is a beautiful game, there’s no doubt about it. With outstanding views and landscapes, it is one of my favourite games around. One of my favourite aspects of this beauty is the spectacular ‘Northern Lights’ at night, which have such a close resemblance to the splendour of the real anomaly that they deserve a mention. When walking through Skyrim at night, all I seem to be able to do is stare at the vast, expansive sky above me, in absolute glee and wonder. More than once, in fact, I have been set upon by wild beasts of Skyrim that wish to catch me while I’m engaged in astonishment at these views. This is just one of the visual aspects in which Skyrim has obviously improved in, compared to previous Elder Scrolls games like Oblivion and Morrowind.
More of these spectacular visual improvements are evident in smaller, more finite aspects of the game. For example, the texturing on characters is spectacular, with enough detail for me to believe that Bethesda has really put a lot of time and effort into making this game as stunning as it is. The visualisations of weapon enchantments (e.g. sparks crackling on a lightning enchanted sword) and the weapons themselves are also worthy of note, each adding yet more depth into the already expansive experience.
However, Skyrim, like any game, is not without its downfalls. One of the more inferior elements of Skyrim is the lack of Non-Player Character adaptability. For example, when I became Harbinger of the Companions, all that was really added to NPC chat was the relatively small addition of a few extra Guard responses. I was extremely disappointed in this, as I was expecting much more appreciation among the Blacksmiths of Whiterun, and the lack of dialogue with Adriana Avinecci was particularly infuriating. I simply cannot feel sympathetic to many of the characters in Skyrim, as I simply do not feel that I know them well enough (with the obvious exception of Lydia).
Another area in which Skyrim loses its seemingly amazing touch is the very obvious fact that you can be extremely powerful extremely early in the game. On one of my personas, I am a level 40 Orc, who has completed the campaign as well as the Companions, Thieves Guild and Dark Brotherhood quest lines. In my opinion, this is a fairly average level compared with the percentage of the game I have completed. However, on another of my saves, I am a level 32 Nord who hasn’t even seen the Jarl of Whiterun about defending Riverwood, but has completed every single one of the miscellaneous quests in Whiterun, as well as the Companions quest line. Obviously, enemies level up to meet you, but I cannot help thinking that the final battle will be incredibly easy if I just enchant my sword with one of my many black soul gems, or craft some full Daedric armour. I, personally, much prefer a challenging game than one in which I can power-level, ignore the linear quest line and still be rewarded just as much.
Anyway, I’m going to round this up here, as I don’t particularly want this article to drag on forever. I may or may not write another of these, perhaps on some completely different topic, depending on whether you like it or not. Please, make sure to rate this post honestly, as I would prefer some true and helpful feedback to some that just makes me feel good.
Beran
Note: Can I send a big thank you to the following people: Renegader and Rayven, obviously, and Larkie, who kept me sane and in good spirits with her chat box messages.
**Mild Spoilers Ahead**
__________________________
Hello people of Skyrim Forums, and to the first post of this section! At the request of Renegader and Rayven, I will be writing a piece for the newly instated ‘Skyrim Articles’ section of the forums. So, without further ado, let’s begin on what you came here to read!
Skyrim is a beautiful game, there’s no doubt about it. With outstanding views and landscapes, it is one of my favourite games around. One of my favourite aspects of this beauty is the spectacular ‘Northern Lights’ at night, which have such a close resemblance to the splendour of the real anomaly that they deserve a mention. When walking through Skyrim at night, all I seem to be able to do is stare at the vast, expansive sky above me, in absolute glee and wonder. More than once, in fact, I have been set upon by wild beasts of Skyrim that wish to catch me while I’m engaged in astonishment at these views. This is just one of the visual aspects in which Skyrim has obviously improved in, compared to previous Elder Scrolls games like Oblivion and Morrowind.
More of these spectacular visual improvements are evident in smaller, more finite aspects of the game. For example, the texturing on characters is spectacular, with enough detail for me to believe that Bethesda has really put a lot of time and effort into making this game as stunning as it is. The visualisations of weapon enchantments (e.g. sparks crackling on a lightning enchanted sword) and the weapons themselves are also worthy of note, each adding yet more depth into the already expansive experience.
However, Skyrim, like any game, is not without its downfalls. One of the more inferior elements of Skyrim is the lack of Non-Player Character adaptability. For example, when I became Harbinger of the Companions, all that was really added to NPC chat was the relatively small addition of a few extra Guard responses. I was extremely disappointed in this, as I was expecting much more appreciation among the Blacksmiths of Whiterun, and the lack of dialogue with Adriana Avinecci was particularly infuriating. I simply cannot feel sympathetic to many of the characters in Skyrim, as I simply do not feel that I know them well enough (with the obvious exception of Lydia).
Another area in which Skyrim loses its seemingly amazing touch is the very obvious fact that you can be extremely powerful extremely early in the game. On one of my personas, I am a level 40 Orc, who has completed the campaign as well as the Companions, Thieves Guild and Dark Brotherhood quest lines. In my opinion, this is a fairly average level compared with the percentage of the game I have completed. However, on another of my saves, I am a level 32 Nord who hasn’t even seen the Jarl of Whiterun about defending Riverwood, but has completed every single one of the miscellaneous quests in Whiterun, as well as the Companions quest line. Obviously, enemies level up to meet you, but I cannot help thinking that the final battle will be incredibly easy if I just enchant my sword with one of my many black soul gems, or craft some full Daedric armour. I, personally, much prefer a challenging game than one in which I can power-level, ignore the linear quest line and still be rewarded just as much.
Anyway, I’m going to round this up here, as I don’t particularly want this article to drag on forever. I may or may not write another of these, perhaps on some completely different topic, depending on whether you like it or not. Please, make sure to rate this post honestly, as I would prefer some true and helpful feedback to some that just makes me feel good.
Beran
Note: Can I send a big thank you to the following people: Renegader and Rayven, obviously, and Larkie, who kept me sane and in good spirits with her chat box messages.
