User:D. Cello/sandbox/floatcodex
"The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim" by Cello[edit | edit source]
Let's begin the review with the image that sums the game:
It's big. It's gorgeous. And it has dragons.
Skyrim is a masterpiece. It is amazing, and it manages to hit a high note in every single aspect from graphics to gameplay throughout story and coming out the other side with music. Skyrim will take you on its wings and fly to distant lands for extended and seemingly fast periods of time. Skyrim will conquer you.
The game is big. Like, really big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind- bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to Skyrim. I'm a adventurer, and with 60+ hours of gameplay I only hit the fourth main mission among the various side quests and explorations I like doing. And the best part? I am NOT tired XD The game is simply unable to bore you to a point you will stop playing, it's wizardry. And in a game this big, besides walking and running and jumping and fast travelling, you can buy horses *-* My horse is so cute... I bought her because she kept looking at me with those lovely eyes:
Ooooun *-* Isn't she the most cutie-cute horsie you ever saw? s2
Anyway, moving from the melting heart subject, we enter the stabbing heart subject! =D or burning heart, eletrocuting heart, freezing heart, whatever-violent-noun heart you wish to kill someone with. The game allows you to wield one weapon or dual-wield two (duh) weapons, or wield a sword and a spell, or two spells, or a Gandalf-style sword and staff. It's up to you, play as you want, kill as you wish. Archery has never been so fun in this game, largely in thanks to the amazing mechanics and physics they developed, making every kill, with a sword, axe, mace, bow, arrow or spell equally satisfying.
And in the subject of "doing what you want as you want it", Skyrim gives you amazing freedom. Want to shoot people like watermelons from miles high with a bow? You can! Wanna run right into the middle of a pack of mercenaries slashign throats and roasting flesh? Check! Rather go sneaky about it and cut throats without ever been seen? Go ahead!
The fun thing is the skills you use most are the ones developed, so the more you do what you like, the better you become at it. That, along with some pretty cool cinematic kills keeps thing interesting (in case killing people in 500 different ways isn't interesting)
Besides that, you got the usual array of stuff to do, like pickpocketing, breaking in, stores, conversations, music, cutting wood, mining ores, smithing, skinning animals and other normal stuff.
And you get to do all that here:
I know.
And the best part of the whole game? All that... with DRAGONS!
Dragons are the soul and fun of anything ever -- EVERYTHING would be better with dragons. If you think sex is fun, imagine having sex while you and your partner are strapped to a flying dragon. Even awesomer!
Dragons are worthy adversaries, very smart and powerful, and most important of all: unpredictable. They are endless and fly through the land at will, appearing randomly and attacking anything in sight. Nothing compares to the thrill of riding your horse through a beautiful green plain, when suddenly you hear a defening roar, your view is engulfed in flames and the world shakens beneath the thunderous clap of giant wings flying directly above and near you. Dragons can go from "shooting flames from the sky" or "dragon flaming bombing run!" to "up close and personal I want your head SNACK" in seconds, and they look great while doing it. And they ALSO look great dying. Be it from a slash to the head, where you flip on their neck and stabs their skull with a sword, or be it from a arrow shot right in his eye mid-dive ending with him kissing the ground and leaving a huge trench and a trail of destruction, they will captivate you like no other mythical flying creature can. And the best thing, the whole fight is accompannied by a huge battle chorus, setting the scene for a legendary battle of man vs dragon.
One of the most enthralling soundtracks ever found on a videogame -- they are John Williams and above AC1 level of immersion and quality, bringing the gameplay to new levels -- and top notch visuals and details award this the title of best game of 2011 for me.
So if you haven't got Skyrim, go check it out. If this text haven't convinced you to buy Skyrim, do it for the Dragons. Dragons are just so lovable, really.