Video Game Review: Amazing ‘The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim’ is Gaming Bliss For All Players

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CHICAGO – “The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim” passes the ultimate test of the best role-playing games — entertaining tedium. RPG fans have to be willing to spend hours grinding away to upgrade their character or sometimes just trying to get from point A to point B. There’s a fine line between repetition that feels worthwhile and that which feels boring. Even doing the most mundane tasks in “Skyrim,” one knows they’re playing a near-miracle of a game, one of the best RPGs of all time.

Video Game Rating: 5.0/5.0

For example, after one gaming session with “Skyrim,” it dawned on me that I had been playing roughly two hours and done little more than kill a few wolves, pick some flowers, talk to some NPCs, do some shopping, go through my inventory, before basically having a dragon fall on me like I was a fly under a swatter. In other words, it was a waste of time. But what a glorious, wonderful, addictive waste of time. I loaded up and started all over again.

Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Photo credit: Bethesda

Of course, I’m kidding. Don’t start writing hate mail all of you already addicted to the world of “Skyrim.” You may notice this review is a bit later than usual for us. We did receive our copy a bit late but it’s also such a massive experience that not only is it hard to put into words but it’s difficult to leave in order to write. I’m not done with “Skyrim.” I’m not sure I’ll be done with “Skyrim” for years (especially if DLC comes into play). It’s not something you finish. Ask the people who have multiple characters trying multiple playing styles. It’s a place that becomes a part of your life, not merely one that serves as a setting for a game. It’s like adding a new room to your house. “I’m going to the living room. I’m going to the kitchen. I’m going to Skyrim.”

Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Photo credit: Bethesda

In order for that to work, in order for a game environment to be that addictive and consistently engaging, it has to be perfectly developed and designed. Here’s where the hyperbole kicks in — there may be no better gaming world in the history of the form than Skyrim. It is an environment that feels three-dimensional and alive the minute you enter it. It is one in which you always have the sense that something is happening beyond the horizon, behind closed doors, and in the hidden places you have left to find. There has rarely been a world that felt more vibrant, consistent, and, most importantly, dangerous.

In most games, it’s clear where danger lies. It’s on the path in front of you as your character travels from level start to boss. In great modern games like “Skyrim,” danger lies everywhere — in the woods around you, in the towns on the horizon, and even in the sky above. I knew early on that the world of “Skyrim” felt genuine to me when I was literally too scared to travel the path I knew I need to at night. I needed to find a place to rest until the safety of morning light. When’s the last time a game scared you into finding a place to sleep? When’s the last game a world was so believable that you felt the time of day and the rest level of your character mattered? It’s incredibly rare, even in the most acclaimed modern RPGs, to find levels of detail that add up in a more impressive way than they do in “The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.” It’s the little things like the perfectly-rendered clouds, the animals on the path in front of you, or the sound of something stirring in the woods that add up to what is too often missing from the world of gaming — realism.

Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Photo credit: Bethesda

Yes, it’s a game about dragons in which I’m praising the realism. Call me crazy. But dragons are actually a small (but crucial) part of the “Skyrim” experience even if the title does open with an attack by one. You’ve been captured and you’re about to be executed when a giant beast descends upon the small town you’re in and you’re forced to run. The lack of freedom of movement in this prologue may surprise some RPG fans and concern them that “Skyrim” will be too linear. Nothing could be further from the truth. After getting the player accustomed to the combat controls and equipping him with a few items, the developers of “Skyrim” basically just thrust you into its world.

You can figure out why dragons, long thought extinct, have returned and put your own life in repeated jeopardy. You can start with a few side quests like dealing with a love triangle in a nearby town or returning stolen property to its owner — nearly everyone you encounter will give you something to do. You can begin the obsessive degree of grinding in the game to build your level, find items with which to use alchemy stations to create potions, or spend an hour trying to figure out which spell to pair with which weapon or whether or not you’re better equipped with a shield.

Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Photo credit: Bethesda

“Skyrim” plays well for all style of RPG gamers. The spell casting system is brilliant, using a regenerating meter known as Magicka and allowing for a number of different approaches to combat. Fans of destruction can shoot fire or ice from their left hand while they wield a sword in their right. Others may prefer to use their Magicka on spells like Oakflesh (which hardens your armor) or Fury (which sets enemies against each other) or even Calm (which does the opposite). I’m not a big RPG fan in no small part due to the fact that I think too many of them don’t know how to deftly balance magic and combat. The two elements are perfectly balanced in “Skyrim.”

The best games of the last few years have not just allowed for standard character customization but created fully-rounded experiences in which you feel more like an author than a player. The way “Skyrim” unfolds for me is different than they way it will unfold for you, your friend, or anyone else in the world. There’s that degree of control over decisions from order of quests, to what is saved & what is dropped in your inventory, to spells, to upgrade choices — it’s a perfectly-designed RPG system that plays to hardcore gamers and new ones at the same time. Those of you willing to devote 200 hours to “Skyrim” will be rewarded by your commitment to craft but others will be thrilled with a much more limited time in the field. Both the noob and the veteran will have hours spent in which they realize they really didn’t do much of anything worthwhile in the world of Skyrim. And both will go right back the next day asking for more.

By BRIAN TALLERICO Content Director HollywoodChicago.com [email protected]