Skyrim.
It's announcement made me salivate like a corporate fat cat on bonus
day; I just couldn't wait to get my hands on it. Being a veteran of
both Morrowind and Oblivion, I knew that we'd be in for a treat.
Sure, I expected it to be buggy and it certainly was (is?) that.
Flying horses, broken quests, a dragon flying backwards in a circle
and the hilarious moment when you first get smacked into orbit by an
angry giant.
I'm still not sure that last is a bug and even if it
is, it shouldn't be fixed. It's one of the funniest things I've
witnessed in a video game for ages. Despite the bugs that came with
it, Skyrim didn't disappoint me at all. It's immense, epic,
beautiful and entertaining. A release day buy for me, I haven't
stopped playing it yet and I've racked up 180 hours plus.
In
previous Elder Scrolls games, or at least the two mentioned, I have
always opted to become skilled with the bow and to be a sneaky type.
There's just something satisfying about being warned by an NPC how
scary a bandit leader is, then dropping him without him ever knowing
what hit him. I've had friends scoff and ask me what the point of
playing like that is but I've never understood why you'd rush into a
room with your sword flashing when you can stay hidden and dispatch
bad guys from the other side of that room. It just makes more
tactical sense to me. My choices of weapon and sneakiness were no
different when it came to Skyrim. With one very notable exception.
The
Khajit have never been a race I had ever found myself choosing to
play as before, whether it was because of the weird way they walked
in Morrowind or because of the weird way they looked in Oblivion, I
don't know. Their raspy voices always kind of got on my wick too, so
imagine my surprise then, when I saw how good these cat folk looked
in Skyrim! I decided to fly in the face of prejudice and make a
Khajit character. I swiftly set about making a lithe but mean
looking tiger like guy, he even has a cute scar on his nose. Did I
say cute? I meant manly...a manly (cat-ly?) scar, yes. After
fighting the urge for several minutes, I decided not to call him Tony
and chose a more appropriate name instead; thus, Khadaj was born or
rather, was captured by the Imperials and sent to be executed.
I
have to say that I haven't noticed race making much of a difference
to reaction of NPC's in any recent Elder Scrolls game, aside from the
words they use to address you, and Skyrim was no exception. Then
again, those Nords seem to dislike anyone who isn't a Nord anyway!
One thing that always makes a difference though is the racial
bonuses and the Khajit ones came in very handy at the beginning of my
game. The ability to see in the dark meant that I would stay up and
wander the countryside until way past my bedtime and it certainly
makes sneaking around monster infested caves easier and claws make
punching someone in the mush far easier!
So,
the intro to the game was over. I was free, I had a weapon and some
armour and a helpful blonde Nord guy stood looking at me, despite
telling me he was going and that we should split up. I agreed with
him about splitting up because he annoyed me and so I wandered off
into Skyrim's wilderness. I wandered for quite awhile, catching
butterflies and salmon and picking flowers. I killed a few wolves
and practised my archery and sneaking on those easily spooked deer
and elk. It was great just to wander around and discover things my
own way. This is something I am glad got carried over from the other
Bethesda Elder Scrolls games. I was initially concerned that the
Dragon Blooded/Shouts system might make the game a little linear. I
needn't have worried about that at all.
One
of the great things I liked about Oblivion was how the main plot
built into a big epic story; a fight between good and evil that ended
in a huge way, even if the final moments seemed a little deus
ex machina
(I wanted to have a go at Mehrunes Dagon, y'know?). Nevertheless, it
was a great storyline and made you feel like a massive hero when
you'd finished it, with a new title and some swanky armour! Imagine
my surprise then when I finally made my way through the main quest on
Skyrim.
For those of you reading who have yet to finish the quest, I won't
say much about it because I don't want to spoil it. What I will say
is that at first I didn't think it was as good as Oblivion's main
quest but after having a few weeks to think about it now, I've come
to think that it's just on a different scale. Whereas Oblivion's
main quest has you fighting to save the world from a very bombastic
and visible threat, Skyrim takes a more personal, stripped back
approach. Most of the people of Skyrim didn't even know that the
return of the dragons signalled a possible end of the world scenario.
So my initial disappointment has been changed to admiration for a
much more stripped back (if no less impressive) main quest. I still
think Oblivion's Dark Brotherhood storyline was better though!
I have always admired the easy way in which Bethesda can make you
believe in the worlds they create. Over the 180+ hours I've spent
playing Skyrim, I have consistently felt like a part of the world,
sometimes I've even fallen into the pattern of blacksmithing all day
then going to the inn at night before retiring to bed, adventuring be
damned! I know of no other game so far that has just made me want to
live a regular life in its environment. It's gotten so bad that I
can no longer go near Riverwood. I stayed in Riverwood for a long
time, living with the people there, blacksmithing and drinking with
them until the horrible day when not one, but two dragons turned up
and I had to fight them. During the fight, the dragons killed most
of the people in the village leaving just the kids, the drunk guy and an old woman left. I went to Whiterun and haven't returned since;
seeing those people killed so carelessly by the dragons was an
emotional moment for me and I don't know any other game save Skyrim
that has ever done that to me.
Ultimately, video games come and go, but like Oblivion before it,
Skyrim now has a special place in my heart and I'll keep adventuring
there until...well, at least until Elder Scrolls VI comes out! I
await any DLC they have for the game eagerly and in the mean time,
I'm continuing my search for those Words of Power! See you in the
Wilderness!
Steven Kenny
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