Skyrim: Fallout mini-review with tips and tricks!
Posted on: November 16th, 2011 by mrbuttons
How NOT to tame a dragon!
So by now everyone and their grandma have Skyrim aka Elder Scrolls 5, and that the series is so mainstream nowadays those hipsters complain about playing Daggerfall when it was still fairly unheard of. Bethseda being one of the big masters of rpgs, next to Bioware, has learned from their previous experiences within and out of the series, you could almost call the game Elder Scrolls: Fallout with the number of features and gameplay mechanics that can be found from there.
By all means I am not dissing the game at all. The crafting tables are an awesome addition, no more will you have to lug around the crafting tools that can weigh you down and clutter your inventory, I find it lends more realism to the game. At the same time you lose out on the quick access and instant satisfaction on using these crafting items while in dungeons or on the road when you could need them the most, regardless of finding these stations randomly in the wilds.
Quests are scattered everywhere, same with the dungeons, you can barely throw a fireball in a direction without finding something new to explore or do. Story wise you continue the Elder Scrolls tradition of being a prisoner at the beginning, but freedom finds you soon in the form of a dragon attack. Skyrim is divided between the Empire and the rebels known as the Stormcloaks who’re the natives who want any non-Nord out of their lands, either of them can be joined officially after finding the right person and by helping them out you can affect the lands you roam.
No! I don't want to see your rendition of YMCA!
Companions also make a return in numbers, the game even practically throws them at you, giving you some as quest rewards, hiring them, having them follow you after a sound beating or even after you help them secure a lady friend. Bro’s forever! And just like in New Vegas you can use them as pack mules to an extent as they have a weight limit as well. Be careful when giving them gear to equip though as if you exchange them for another follower by choice or force, they’ll lose all of them when they go back to their original place.
The game is very satisfying, and has all of the beloved fun adventuring that you’d expect from an Elder Scrolls game, though expect plenty of mods and patches soon to fill in the gaps and gripes about the game. I myself found the AI to be fairly disappointing in two ways, one that companions will often sit there and watch the fighting going on with weapon drawn with a blank stare in their face while finally joining in for the last swing or two and the enemy pathing needs work as I’ve had some go back and forth not knowing how to get to you while you’re in an open room and wailing at them with arrows.
Speaking of patches, many of you have seen a couple of hilarious glitches in the game, especially on YouTube where people can place jars, baskets or whatever on an npc’s head and steal everything in front of them because they can’t “see” you, just hope you’ve found a fence for them though. The other is a free training trick. All you need is a companion who can train you in a skill, just need to pay them for it, open up trade and take the money back, no qualms, great customer service and free points to your next level!
Why are you holding that basket like that for?
Overall this is still a great game from Bethseda. The graphics is definitely the game’s money maker; just the faces alone are an improvement. The gameplay is easy to figure out after a few tries so just about anyone can enjoy minus the elitists and rpg haters. Getting it on PC or on the consoles doesn’t matter as both run the same on both, using USB Xbox controller on the PC can even have its advantages once you get the hang of playing in 3rd person. Even the level-scaling has been tuned similarly to Fallout 3, so expect less overly powered rats and beware the dark malicious looking spirits. The only other little gripe one could have is with all of the big names they placed into the game, you still have a lot of npcs talking with the same voice and the same lines. Especially in the city of Whiterun where most of the guards sound like Arnold Schwarzenegger wanabes.
Graphics 9/10: The game runs very well on high settings even on 3 year old laptops and is one of the best in the industry so far.
Gameplay 8/10 The game is balanced enough that any type of character you make can succeed but the bugs, AI issues and a tough to handle 3rd-person view keep it from being perfect.
Sound 7.5: Solid environmental sounds, dramatic music that swells during pivotal moments and Hollywood voice acting keep things going, but it all repeats and the re-use of the voices and lines really brought down the experience for me.
Overall 8.5: To some Skyrim is just another money grab in a growing franchise that Bethseda has been nurturing over the years, but it is also that same nurturing idea that turned a unique and unusual game from the early Elder Scrolls Arena and Daggerfall, learning from them and bringing out a winning experience in their later games that brought them where they are now with the thousands if not millions of fans out there who enjoy what they do best. Making an epic adventure.
For more tips and tricks in Skyrim just check out this quick video I made. Feel free to ask me any questions about it too as there’s a lot to learn and find in the game. =)