Elder Scrolls 5 - Skyrim

I did not think that I would find a RPG this year that i would like better than the Witcher 2. But then I played Skyrim. Well in retrospective I still think that Witcher 2 is better, although Skyrim came close.Good  character driven story in RPGs is more unique and in the end alongside the typical RPG elements make for a more immersive game to me when doing the comparison. That being said Skyrim is absolutely awesome.Everything one would ask from an Elder Scrolls game and 10 times more!!!!

I played Elder Scrolls since Morrowind and although Oblivion was a pretty good game I did not feel it was as good and had not the same impact as Morrowind. It was presented brilliantly , Cyrodiil was beautiful but my 3 main issues were the mediocre main story , the repetitive battle system and after a while just closing gates all the time grew old very quickly. Especially with the main story. Since you have an open world system there is no urgency in the main plot. For this reason you need a very interesting main story. Oblivions story lacked that. I especially remember completely ignoring the main plot after a while and doing other stuff. I played a lot of hours but never really finished it and never remembered the game as fondly as I remembered Morrowind. Then i also played Fallout 3 and did not like it and started loosing faith in Bethesda. Then came the trailer for Skyrim. With great surprise I saw that the main improvements were done exactly in these aspects.

The story begins 200 years after the Oblivion Crisis. The Empire is in turmoil. The Septim Dynasty ended with Martin's sacrifice and the new dynasty has been losing battle after battle by the Almeri Dominion, a High elf state built by a fundamentalist sect of High Elves , the Thalmor. You find yourself in northern province of the Empire and home of the proud Nords, Skyrim. In the wake of the defeats from the Thalmor the Nords have begun to demand their break off from the Empire and the land is in Civil War. In the midst of this situation the unthinkable happened. The Dragons, thought to be extinct , return to end the World. The only one that has the power to kill them is a mortal with the soul of the Dragon. Guess who that is..... 

Obviously the story is much more interesting than the last game, in my opinion at least. A Dragon attack in the midst of a bloody civil war. The story is actually strong enough to keep you interested even after loosing yourself in vastness of the side quest provided throughout Skyrim. The scenes are great and the end really as epic as one would expect in a world inspired by Nordic past and Mythology. Besides the main story the sidequests,typical to the franchise's fashion, are basically endless. Besides the many sidequests that are all interesting and impressive in number there are randomly generated quests that practically make the game unending. 

Exploration is in this sense absolutely rewarding as every single part of the land has something for you to discover. To that one has to mark the replacement of the gate closing in oblivion with the Dragon battles in Skyrim. The Dragons are also randomly generated, except those part of quests, and every encounter with them is always fun, even later on when your character is strong and the battle becomes relatively easy.

To the good story, the world itself gives even more quality to the game. Skyrim is by far absolutely beautiful!!!!Great cites , vast and changing countryside, strong harsh climate. Each area has it own characteristics and creatures without losing the general feel that Skyrim has , projecting the Nordic culture. Helpful in this are of course the game graphics that are stunning. I don't think I ever saw a more beautiful game and the graphics can only be compared to those in the Witcher 2. You really feel part of this world and the awe and immersion it creates is the main reason why this game will be remembered in the future.         

In terms of the battle system Skyrim  has improved greatly upon its predecessor.  The battle previously was quite repetitive and boring after a while. Here it feels much more involving and diverse. Double wielding of weapons, double wilding of magic, powerful magical shouts(courtesy of your dragon soul), finishing moves and magic combinations spice up the system and although it is not the best one has ever seen it never gets boring and it is always fun.The character customization system has also changed in the sense that there are no classes anymore. And this works well with the typical Elder Scrolls idea of leveling up any skill as you use it, as any skill improvement adds up to you level progression instead of just your class skill, like in previous games. Plus in every level you gain a perk that you can spend in the every skill perk tree. Yup, every skill has it own perk tree giving you skill boosts. The customization is just immense.  If you add to all these the easy yet deep crafting and alchemy systems, the gameplay can keep you interested...well...forever....   

In conclusion it is very rare for a game that is that hyped by marketing to prove itself worthy of it.Skyrim not only succeeds but surpasses expectations. It has its flaws of course. The enemies are not always well balanced and in early levels, life can be frustratingly difficult in Skyrim. And of course you have, as always, the infamous bugs all over the place. But these stuff are minor nuisances that don't take away from the experience. The bug are actually quite funny at times. The content and gameplay are endless and satisfying and even the most mundane of stuff in Skyrim can keep you occupied for hours.Even if it is just decorating your home. And and I forgot to mentioned this. It has one of the best soundtracks  in High Fantasy history.Play this game. Just prepare society to forget about you for a couple of months after you begin....