The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition Reviews

best game and the graohics oohhhmmmmm

I've beaten the base game twice now, once on my PS4 and again on Xbox Windows games when I had Game Pass Ultimate, and in addition to that, I have done the DLC at least once, though, I've yet to have beat Dawnguard. I got the game again for Steam to use mods. I don't add too many, just QoL and minor graphical mods; nothing that dramatically changes the gameplay. This is the kind of game where one can turn on and just immerse themselves into the world. The only reason why I do not have more time is being Skyrim'ed out (I beat the Game Pass version fairly recently).

I spent like 15 minutes in the menu screen for downloading "creations". Anniversary Edition content doesn't even get through steam, which is much faster, better, and headache free. Thanks Todd Howard. You absolute clown of director of Skyrim. >:(

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is one of those games that grabs you by the soul and never lets go. I absolutely love this game. The world is massive, atmospheric, and endlessly explorable, every mountain you see can be climbed, every cave hides a story, and every random encounter somehow becomes a memory. The setting is gorgeous in that cold, Nordic, mythic way. Even after all these years, the landscapes, music, and ambient sound design still hit hard. The soundtrack alone feels like it’s carved out of ancient stone. The graphics may be older, but the art direction is timeless. The story is flexible and emotional in the way only Bethesda’s open worlds can be. You can follow the main quest, ignore it completely, become an assassin, a mage, a thief, a werewolf, a vampire, or all of them. The freedom is intoxicating. And the game’s length is perfect because it’s whatever you want it to be: 20 hours, 200 hours, or your entire personality. Skyrim isn’t just a game. It’s a place you live in for a while. A place you come back to. A place that feels like home.

I have complete control of the artwork. My game is beautiful and relaxing. If I want , I can just enjoy a ride through the countryside. Then I can go back to the action when I want.

DISCLAIMER: I DID NOT get the anniversary upgrade and do not plan to. It is unrelated to my experience with the game and I've heard bad things about it. If there's anything I can say about this game, it's that it is noticeably dated compared to games such as The Witcher 3, which does a much better job in terms of writing in both the main story and in the side quests. If you've played games beyond that, keep in mind that Skyrim will not be like that. [h1] Gameplay [/h1] This is the bread and butter of the series. There's a LOT to do in this game, multiple different playthroughs that you could do, and many different roles you can take up. You can mix and match between different playstyles, which is something that makes this game a huge selling point to this day. It makes roleplaying extremely and it's why the modding community for this game is as active as it is. The difficulty is unbalanced. At times going through dungeons or bosses can be a cakewalk, but on higher difficulties (especially Legendary) it can feel like a slog to deal with these enemies. Of course, you can make ridiculously overpowered builds to counter this, but if unprepared, it can make the experience much more drawn out and boring. The combat is still very well done and there is a lot of unique sidequests that make use of different playstyles depending on your decisions. In terms of bugs, while not so buggy that it's impossible to play, it's a Bethesda game, and has a lot of bugs. I managed to get through the game fine in vanilla. Saving frequently and having different save points will make the experience much better even if you wish to go completely blind without changing any paths just so you can minimize game breaking bugs. However, most achievements and questlines are possible to complete with little to no issue. Excluding bugs the overall score in this category is a 9.5/10 [h1] Story [/h1] Going to be honest, the story is extremely forgettable. It's evident when looking at the achievements and you see a lot of people failing to finish the main quest. There's not many plot holes or contrivances in this game to my knowledge, but keep in mind [b] I haven't played the previous games [/b]. The lore of this game helps flesh out Skyrim and the world of Tamriel as a whole, but I don't feel as drawn to it as other massive gaming franchises. Dawnguard and Dragonborn are cases where the writing takes an improvement. Dragonborn is especially the case since there is much less content on Solsteim, so I actually bothered to explore the entire island and all non-radiant sidequests there before doing the main story and it's an obvious improvement. The villains are much more interesting in these DLCs and I found myself actually wanting to finish the stories. The overall score in this category is a 7/10. [h1] Design [/h1] There are a lot of iconic design choices in this game that are still some of my favorites. The different symbols, the armor sets, the color palette of the world to match the Nordic European style the game was going for with Skyrim. While the graphics are dated many of the design choices still hold up to this day. There were much more hardware and engine limitations at the time, so the graphics wouldn't be groundbreaking with all things considered. However, there is a lot to appreciate in how the game uses it's design in small ways. The map icons that you see do a good job of conveying what location is going to be to the player, which helped a lot during my first playthrough. The overall score in this category is a 8.7/10. [h1] Soundtrack [/h1] Most people reading this review at this point have listened to the soundtrack. It's iconic and perfectly fits the game. Jeremy Soule [b] COOKED [/b] with the soundtrack. It's one of the best gaming soundtracks in history. 10/10 easily. [h1] Conclusion [/h1] While dated in game design, it still has a lot of things going for it and it's undeniably a revolutionary game and a big leap forward for game design. It's clear why Game of the Year even if there are elements that could be improved out with the story and general writing of the sidequests. Even still, I can recommend it even if I must give a little caution before playing. The overall score for this game an 8.9/10.

"Played it on console in 2017. Played it on console again in 2020. now i just bought it on steam. the game is over a decade old, i've changed platforms three times, and Alduin is still patiently waiting for me to fight him while i pick flowers in whiterun. Mastepiece 10/10."

Nice RPG of all times and story of Dragon born Dova King. Multiple times finished on ps4 / ps5 and xbox one as well on PS3 but now have the opportunity to beat it on PC

I completed the main quest, both DLCs, and explored the vast majority of the map before writing this review. Skyrim made a fantastic first impression. For around the first 100 hours, I genuinely enjoyed exploring its world. Setting off in a random direction and discovering a cave, a ruin, a town, or a quest gave the game a real sense of adventure. Bethesda absolutely nailed that feeling of wandering into the unknown. For a while, I also enjoyed developing my character. Unlocking new perks and abilities made it seem like the gameplay was gradually building toward something deeper and more engaging. Unfortunately, that payoff never came. My character became stronger, but the combat itself never became more interesting. By the end, fighting bandits, draugr, dragons, or almost anything else felt like going through the motions rather than engaging with meaningful mechanics. As the hours went on, the game's biggest weakness became impossible for me to ignore: repetition. Dungeons began to blur together, objectives rarely changed, and exploration slowly turned into clearing yet another cave, looting yet another chest, and moving on to the next map marker. The world is undeniably huge, but I increasingly felt that its size came at the expense of variety. I even considered starting a second playthrough as the infamous stealth archer, thinking maybe approaching the game differently would reignite my interest. Instead, I realised I simply couldn't bring myself to do it. I was already bored by the core gameplay, and changing my build wasn't going to fix that. The story also left me disappointed. The main quest never really grabbed me, and I found it surprisingly forgettable considering the scale of the setting. Some faction questlines have their moments, but overall the writing rarely rose above "good enough." The roleplaying elements are also much shallower than I was hoping for. Dialogue choices often feel cosmetic, player choice has limited impact on the world, and I rarely felt like I was truly shaping my own story. The voice acting didn't help either. There are certainly some memorable performances, but so many NPCs share the same voices and deliver lines in a way that quickly becomes repetitive. It made the world feel smaller than it should have, despite its impressive physical scale. That said, I do want to give credit where it's due. One thing Bethesda consistently excels at is worldbuilding. Just like Morrowind and Oblivion, Skyrim has an enormous amount of lore behind it. The history of Tamriel, its races, religions, politics, and mythology are genuinely fascinating, and reading books or learning about the setting was often more engaging than the main story itself. The lore is easily one of the game's strongest qualities. I completely understand why Skyrim became such an influential RPG, and I don't regret giving it a fair chance. But after 250 hours and experiencing virtually everything it had to offer, I came away feeling that its reputation rests far more on its atmosphere, world, and moddability than on its gameplay, storytelling, roleplaying, or quest design. I got my money's worth, but that's not the same thing as enjoying the experience enough to recommend it. For me, the excitement of exploration eventually gave way to repetitive gameplay, mediocre writing, and shallow RPG mechanics, and by the end I was simply relieved to be finished. For now, I've had my fill of Skyrim. I won't be racing back to the land of the Nords anytime soon...if ever.

In this game, I can do everything I can't do in real life. Shout at dragons, kill giants, use magic, and talk to women.... For me, one of the best games in the world. It's simply always a pleasure to dive into the world of Skyrim with its beautiful music and spend several hours there.