Live Magazine : June/July issue

The Elder Scrolls V : Skyrim is the
fifth main entry in the immensely
popular Elder Scrolls series from
Bethesda Softworks. It remains
one of the most successful RPGs
of all-time, selling over 23 million
copies since its launch, having
a constantly active fanbase, and
sporting an impressive score of
94/100 on Metacritic.
What was it then, that makes
Skyrim so brilliant?
Skyrim is an open-world RPG set
in the Elder Scrolls universe. The
Elder Scrolls games are famous
for their huge open-world environments,
though with Skyrim,
Bethesda shifted their focus to
creating a game world that was
not only huge, but also highly detailed.
Craggy cliffs and mountain
ranges, hauntingly dark caves,
massive open plains and thick
forests are the order of the day,
though there are also imposing
fortresses, ruins, castles and other
man-made structures. Bethesda
truly outdid themselves with
Skyrim’s environments.
It’s not enough to have an immense
open-world in an Elder
Scrolls game, you have to allow
Written by nick getley
players to play the game their
way too. In this regard, Skyrim
is extremely versatile. Feel like
dual-wielding daggers or hand
axes? You can. Are you more of
a classic sword-and-shield adventurer?
You can do that too.
Perhaps you’d like to try your luck
with a bow and arrow, or magic
wielding? There are a ton of options
available, and there’s bound
to be quite a few that suit your
playstyle.
It seems as though every single
thing that could have been
improved upon since The Elder
Scrolls IV: Oblivion has been with
Skyrim. The story is more engaging
(though still rather short), the
combat is tighter, the graphics
are drastically improved and the
amount of side missions and activities
is fantastic.
So where does Skyrim fall short?
What could have been done better?
As with most Elder Scrolls games,
Skyrim’s story fell very short of
what it should have been, both
in terms of quality and its length.
Hopefully the next Elder Scrolls
game (which should hopefully
be announced soon) will feature
a story with multiple endings,
branching narratives and player
input – if Fallout 4 can feature a
fully-voiced protagonist there’s
no reason why Bethesda’s other
baby can’t as well.
When Bethesda developed Oblivion,
a lot of what made The Elder
Scrolls III: Morrowind was cut
from the game. A lot of this was
understandable due to Oblivion
being set in a different location,
but as The Elder Scrolls series
progresses, it feels a lot less like
The Elder Scrolls. Morrowind had
towns beset by disease and dust
storms, huge insects used as
transportation, as well as more
weapons and armour (who else
misses throwing stars and bo
staffs?).
As far as sequels go, The Elder
Scrolls V: Skyrim was a drastic
improvement over Oblivion. It’s
extremely polished, but it’s missing
that unique something that truly
defines an Elder Scrolls game.
Here’s hoping the next game is
overrun by Khajiit and Argonians,
as well as unique weaponry and
spells.