The Elder Scrolls Return With Skyrim

Today marks the release of Skyrim, the fifth installment of Bethesda's The Elder Scrolls series. The game is set about 200 years after the events of Oblivion, at which point the province of Skyrim is embroiled in a civil war, and dragons roam the skies. Early reviews for the game have been largely complimentary — one at Rock, Paper, Shotgun artfully details all the things the reviewer hasn't yet done, despite playing the game for over 30 hours. Quoting: "I seriously worried Skyrim would, for all its talk of lavishness, depth and dragons, continue the transformation into a trudging, consolified action game filled with clunky acting. It does not. It slams on the brakes then reverses at dangerous speed back into Morrowind territory. Some things are lost (e.g. Persuasion is a sadly watered-down, irregular affair now mostly to do with shopping), many things are changed (e.g. recharging magic items can be done anywhere) and it’s certainly not as weird (no flying or Siltstriders), but it truly reclaims that sense of being in another world, rather than a generic soft-focus, over-familiar fantasyscape." An addendum goes into more detail on the specifics. If you're curious how the game looks in action, Giant Bomb has posted a ~52-minute quick-look video with commentary.

My favorite quick look so far...

[RyanFenton]

Elder's Scrolls games are timeless experiences for their bugs and exploits as much as for their gameplay. Here's a simply wonderful example:

A beutiful expoit [youtube.com]

Ryan Fenton

I love it

[SharkLaser]

I'm not really far in the game yet, but Skyrim has great feel. Magic seems to be better than in Oblivion, and the world is beautiful. It does kind of need a better texture pack, but I'm sure modders will be working with that. In the beginning (after you get out to the real world), there's a nice old lady who says it's so nice to have a visitor. I felt kinda bad after bursting her into flames and robbing her house.

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Man, that Notch guy works fast!

[Speare]

I've been looking forward to that latest game from Mojang-- they sure delivered this latest installment of Scrolls quickly!

Oh, wait....

Re:My favorite quick look so far...

[CmdrPony]

Well I think it's a nice addition that when you die, your levels and skills will be gone too. It makes the dieing much more persistent, constant threat, especially if you're mining in caves. You also have to eat food, so building a house with a farm should be done first. As much as people say that Notch is a lazy developer, I think he has done some good job with this game.

Re:I love it

[Baloroth]

there's a nice old lady who says it's so nice to have a visitor. I felt kinda bad after bursting her into flames and robbing her house.

Her mistake. She didn't specify what kind of visitor.