The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is a computer role-playing game that was developed by Bethesda Game Studios in the United States and released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on November 11, 2011. It is the fifth part of the Bethesda role-playing game series The Elder Scrolls and takes place in the eponymous province of Skyrim
In contrast to previous games in the series, Skyrim appeared for the first time outside the United States in the exclusive distribution of publisher Bethesda Softworks. To use the Windows version, Valve’s online sales platform Steam is required.
The game received numerous awards, including several times as “Game of the Year”. With over thirty million copies sold, it is one of the twenty best-selling games of all time.
In October 2016, Skyrim was released as a special edition for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Windows, which offers revised graphics and contains all DLCs. For the first time, there was also the option of installing player-made modifications for Skyrim on the consoles. Although the PlayStation 4 Pro is supposed to represent the optimized new edition technically better and supports 4K resolution, there were initial problems so that it had poorer performance than the version for the PlayStation 4. [3] On November 17, 2017, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim was released for the Nintendo Switch and in 2018 a virtual reality version for PlayStation VR and HTC Vive.
Storyline (MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD)
The action of the game begins about 200 years after the events in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. There are also some references to the previous part. The location of the events is the province of Skyrim, north of Cyrodiil. The background is a prophecy of the eponymous “Elder Scrolls” about the return of the dragons.
Since no one wanted to believe this prophecy, the people of Skyrim are completely surprised by the arrival of the dragons. According to prophecy, however, there is a person, the “Dovahkiin”, also called “Dragonborn” in Tamrielian, who consists of the body of a human being and the soul of a dragon and was chosen by fate, Alduin den Kill World Eaters (the main antagonist of the game).
In addition, the political and social situation in Skyrim is very tense. The Empire of Cyrodiil became dependent on the Thalmor due to the “Great War” against the Aldmeri League, which the Empire had lost. Skyrim, a province of Tamriel, is facing tough changes and reforms, also known as the White Gold Concordat.
This includes changes to the current conditions of rule as well as a ban on belief in Talos, one of the Nine Divines, who fought and triumphed as a human against the Thalmor. The situation worsens when Ulfric Sturmmantel, the Jarl von Windhelm, kills the Great King of Skyrim with a Thu’um, a powerful force in the language of dragons, and claims his place. As a result of this claim, a civil war results between the imperial troops who, together with the Jarlen who remained loyal, fight against Ulfric and his supporters, the so-called storm coats.
Gameplay
In Skyrim, as with its predecessors, an individual character creation is possible, in which different fictional races such as z. B. high elves, the Scandinavian-like Nord or the lizard-like Argonians can be chosen. The player explores the open game world either on foot, swimming, on horseback or (since the Dragonborn expansion) with a dragon in various locations on the game world and in dungeons.
The game can be played in both first-person and third-person perspectives, with riding mode, werewolf mode and the option to play as a vampire lord introduced in the Dawnguard expansion being restricted to third-person perspectives . Battles are fought in real time. The combat system enables two-handed combat, the use of long-range weapons such as bows or crossbows, and the combination of one-handed weapons and spells. It is also possible to use two spells or one-handed weapons at the same time.
The skill development of the player in various areas takes place through an integrated skill system: A skill is only improved if it is actually used. Exceptions are masters who give the character experience for gold.
With every level up the player receives so-called perk points, which can be used to obtain special abilities or reinforcements in the respective skill trees. Furthermore, with each level up the player can choose whether the character should receive ten additional points magicka, stamina or life.In the game you can also pursue many other secondary activities such as brewing potions, forging weapons and armor, or trading various goods.
The player can recruit friendly NPCs as companions, such as mercenaries, horses or dogs. With the help of a fast travel system, already discovered places can be visited again; a carriage service also transports the player to previously undiscovered cities for a fee. The actual aim of the game is to solve the main story-giving quests, whereby there are countless side quests that can be solved independently of time. The game is kept open to add-ons and mods.
The Special Edition version of the game
The most pressing question for owners of the original Skyrim: Is it worth buying the Special Edition for me? As is so often the case, the answer is: It depends. For example, if you already have the Legendary Edition of Skyrim on your PC, the question doesn’t even arise – it is automatically supplemented by the separate Special Edition in the Steam menu.
The advantage: The original Skyrim and the installed mods remain playable. The disadvantage: cloud saves are not automatically adopted, we have to copy them manually.
If you have no problem with the installation of gorgeous mods, you can easily bring your “old” Skyrim up to the level of the Special Edition. Or even beyond, with post-processing as well as mesh and vegetation mods, the old Skyrim looks better than the new one.
However, if you shy away from the not entirely uncomplicated mod tinkering with Skyrim and like to have everything from a single source, you should consider buying or at least switching to a special edition.
Man up for the dragonsss
The highlights of Skyrim are the aforementioned dragon fights, in which we either shoot the flying fire-eaters with arrows and spells – or wait for them to land to work them with the sword. Even then, the scale carriers turn out to be tough opponents. Good for those who always have a supply of healing potions with them! Or lure the dragons to the AI soldiers so that they struggle with the beasts – at least within their means, because the AI occasionally gets stuck and can then be blown over easily.
After completing the main quest, however, the dragon fights become a lot easier. First of all, we find a sword in the course of the story that causes considerable additional damage to the beasts. Second, we learn a battle cry that forces them to the ground – nothing with flying away! As a powerful veteran, we can even take on two dragons at the same time without ending up as a flambéed hero kebab.
Defeating dragons is not only fun, but also has playful advantages. Runic walls are hidden in the caves and temples of Skyrim, from which our hero can read “words of power”. We then have to unlock these mighty battle cries with the souls of defeated dragons. The words of power include bursts of fire and waves of ice that freeze opponents for a short time. We can also slow down time or unleash thunderstorms.
More freedom with the character system
The screams are one facet of Skyrim’s character development; we have to weigh up which words of power we unlock with the captured souls. As in the predecessors Oblivion and Morrowind, we increase all other talents through use: Those who pick a particularly large number of locks will soon become the key master on duty. All talents now contribute equally to leveling up, main skills no longer exist.
This can be exploited with a trick that has already worked in Oblivion: If we switch to sneak mode near an opponent and weigh down the forward button (or the analog stick) with an object so that our hero does the whole thing Time runs against a wall, our stealthy talent increases higher and higher – and with it our character level.
Of course, this only works if we stay outside the opponent’s field of vision, for example behind a wall. However, we do not recommend this approach, you cheat around a good part of the game fun.
Bugs here and there
When we tested the Xbox 360 version of Skyrim, we found only a few bugs; none of the problems turned out to be serious. Sometimes a moose ran backwards, sometimes houses hung in the air, sometimes textures became invisible. And in some sequences the sound mix is not correct, in some cases the voices cannot be heard even when the speakers are standing in front of us because of the background noise that is too prominent.
All in all, such slight mistakes are bearable in such a giant role-playing game. In the PC version, too, we have so far not discovered some errors, for example a watchtower was invisible. After we reloaded the game, the walls were visible again. In addition, Skyrim crashed several times – but because we had jumped back and forth between the desktop and the game too often using Alt + Tab.
Bottom line
Finally the journey continues! In terms of freedom in quests and staging, Skyrim is still a bit behind the company’s own competition, Fallout 3. Apart from that, The Elder Scrolls V is again a fascinating role-playing board, with many useful innovations (better dialog and level system, great dungeons) and some nonsensical innovations (illogical division of the quests, confusing inventory) on the television for over 150 hours captivates.
It’s very difficult to escape the fascination of Skyrim once you’ve sniffed the cold northern air. By the way, Himmelsrand is not only ideally suited as an excursion destination for all fans of the series, even newcomers will quickly find their way around the fascinating Nordland and go on a quest search with verve!
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