So the other day I fired up Skyrim again, for old times sake, and I have to say that it keeps being impressive. The bite is in the massive attention for details which this game has. And I'm not talking graphical details such as jumping fish; to be honest I couldn't care less about that, as impressive at it is its still icing on the cake. In case you want to know my setup: I've got a level 71 highelf who has already defeated both Alduin and Miraak, is a werewolf, wears dragon bone armor and uses some (pretty powerful) dragonbone weapons such as a great sword and bow (all enchanted of course). I remember forging & enchanting those because even though I was level 100 I used potions (and / or enchants) to increase my levels even further. My favorite is my bow; which can do approx. 170 damage but also does extra frost and shock damage (frost to slow enemies down and shock damage to cause extra damage but also drain some magicka). Other than these two weapons I use only magic (this was a classic mage/warrior character combination). Companion is, you probably guessed, Aranea Lenith. Wearing rather revealing (enchanted) fornsworn armor, ebony bracers and boots and a Nordic helmet. Ha, ha, I remember how much trouble it was getting her to wear that (before a certain patch characters would chose 'more powerful' but still prefer their default clothing). I eventually managed by using a helmet or circlet. So I ended up walking from my first mansion (Lakeview manor) up to Riverwood and Whiterun and I noticed that the only major enemies you encounter there are wolfs (well; also bandits and a weird necromancer close to your home). And they all got one thing in common: they were very easy to defeat, especially the wolves around Riverwood. I recall having quite a bit of issues with those when I just started the game, and I think its brilliant that they didn't go for the commonly used "the higher your level the more difficult the enemies" because it would seriously defeat the storyline and atmosphere. Think about it: what chances of survival would a town have if it was surrounded by extremely powerful creatures which would attack just about anyone walking around? You can say goodbye to traders, farmers, travelers, couriers which would pretty much completely cut the town off. I don't think that people would be living there much longer... It might make decent gameplay, but would do very poorly on realism. Instead they're saving that approach for other areas or other enemies. Dragons do get stronger for example, but rightfully so (even though you still seem to encounter regular dragons as well). And in dungeons... Man, I hate those draugr deathlords Getting swarmed by some of those guys can really spice up your dungeon fights a little Say; do you guys remember who was your favorite companion and do you also remember why? For me it was Aranea to begin with. I was still using Lydia back then when I discovered the statue of Azura and took on the quest to bring the star back. After I had done that I talked some more to Aranea and then she started making comments about how the goddess didn't speak to her any longer and: "For the first time I feel alone...". Which pretty much made up my mind there and then; come along with me then That voice actress really left an impression on me..
Its actually behind Arena on most people's 'Best Elder Scrolls games' list... so its bad .-. Yeah. The main selling point of the game's engine was 'it looks pretty'. 'Tis a shame everywhere in Skyrim is mostly covered in snow...
I always kind of liked Karpik's description of it. From his sig on the Bethesda forum: But back to Skyrim... Style over substance. If you take the game at face value, it's actually pretty shallow and inconsistent. That's one of the main reasons I like writing out story-form updates, delving into character motivations and personalities. As much fun as the game is (and Skyrim is a lot of fun), it lacks the narrative depth of earlier games. Ah well. More room to apply my own, I guess :3
In terms of art style, yeah, it's well put together, albeit a bit bland at times. But graphically it's a little rough. Like, go look at The Witcher 2. Both were released the same year, but The Witcher 2 looks way better. I've found I'm having a bit more fun this time, because I'm telling my own story in my head. But yeah, I know what you mean. Most of the time, I feel like it's so open ended that you have to make up your own story.
So this made me want to derp some more with Skyrim. I have created about 3 characters in the last couple days because of interruptions and other crap. FINALLY made one I hope to keep and so here are my adventures so far in the land of Skyrim. Poor little Khajiit about to be beheaded Ohsnapthat'saDragon! Yo, look out Mr. Imperial friend Crap, a bear!
Lol, that'd be the "Nigel Thornberry is All Creatures in Skyrim" mod http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=205678644
Skyrim isn't only about the gameplay and such; everyone who has played it will know that the sound score can also be very impressive. You're walking around the wastelands, looking out over a big valley (is that a dragon flying in the distance?) and then all of a sudden you notice where the atmosphere comes from: the background music. You're walking around and suddenly recognize a familiar eery sound. You spin around, minding your compass, and there it is: a red dot, indicating an enemy. But where? And before you know you hear a flapping sound, it lands and.... A very tense music starts to play, indicating the epic battle which is about to occur. Given the success of Skyrim it should come as no surprise that many people tried to copy or "cash in" on its success, people I usually tend to ignore. Except one... Lindsey Stirling (I'm not really a fan, but I like what she does) is a dancer and violin player and has made a repertoire of playing well known music scores using her violin, and made (youtube) video's out of it. Not just that; I think she really manages to capture the atmosphere of whatever it is she's doing too. From Pokémon and Dragon Age right down to Skyrim. She teamed up with a singer, Peter Hollens, and made a Skyrim video with the main music score. I'm normally not really into fan made stuff but this... I really think its an impressive piece of work and actually managed to capture the atmosphere. Quite frankly I think its a fun video too. So, without further ado... Hope you guys like this too: And for browsers which don't pick it up right: link to the youtube video.
I love Lindsey Stirling! :D (Also, thank you for the YouTube link) Really good explanation of how audio can set the atmosphere, thank you.
I love me some skyrim but its very hard to play when tired .... that good music just luls me into never never land.
i'm super sorry for being gone my computer's power supply is shot, i doubt i'll be able to get it to stay on long enough to even enjoy skyrim. i love your updates though <3 for the love of skyrim.
So your computer used to be a computer like ours, then it took an arrow to the PSU? (lame joke). Sorry to hear that man, fortunately power supplies aren't that expensive and relatively easy to swap. So here's hoping for the best and that you can work this stuff out.
So I couldn't last any longer and I finally got Skyrim on PC yesterday on the last day of the Steam sale (Totally didn't download a complete world save - I had it on my PS3 before I sold it and didn't want to go through all of the game again)
