Game worlds… it’s all about game worlds and how much time you spend in them. Elder Scrolls is famous for its sweeping land of Tamriel, ripe with secrets, treasures, and stories all begging to be explored. If you’ve played Skyrim, you’ve probably never forgotten that first time you existed the tutorial cave and seen the entire region of Skyrim stretched out before your eyes in the form of a vast wooded and mountainous valley. If you were adventurous enough not to explore the first quest marker, you could get completely lost in the wilderness.
When does that happen in video games… not often. But the world is just so deep and rich, full of treasures to discover and mysteries to explore. The arguably outdated combat system of Skyrim doesn’t matter as much as it should because the world is so rich with almost limitless possibilities. Exploring and collecting in Skyrim can be so fulfilling, in fact it became a hobby of many to collect mystical potions and rare books. Essentially it was a hobby within a hobby. Head into a town, meet some people, barter, get a drink, and pick up a new quest or two. It’s not a perfect game by any means, but its flaws made it unique. Some things are more beautiful with flaws. And that was Skyrim, from the game’s idiosyncratic code to the inner politics within the game. Skyrim is special because it is a bit like life, a weekend with no plans. You open up the map and ask yourself, what am I going to do today?
The world of Elder Scrolls is uniquely special, and Skyrim got it right. That sense of wonder, a mysterious world filled with awesome lore, creatures and races and monsters and people. All packaged into a graphically beautifully rendered world.
Let me know, what made Skyrim special for you?