Wednesday, July 30, 2014

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - Initial Thoughts

About the Game (From the Steam Store Page)

EPIC FANTASY REBORN 
The next chapter in the highly anticipated Elder Scrolls saga arrives from the makers of the 2006 and 2008 Games of the Year, Bethesda Game Studios. Skyrim reimagines and revolutionizes the open-world fantasy epic, bringing to life a complete virtual world open for you to explore any way you choose. 

LIVE ANOTHER LIFE, IN ANOTHER WORLD 
Play any type of character you can imagine, and do whatever you want; the legendary freedom of choice, storytelling, and adventure of The Elder Scrolls is realized like never before. 

ALL NEW GRAPHICS AND GAMEPLAY ENGINE 
Skyrim’s new game engine brings to life a complete virtual world with rolling clouds, rugged mountains, bustling cities, lush fields, and ancient dungeons. 

YOU ARE WHAT YOU PLAY 
Choose from hundreds of weapons, spells, and abilities. The new character system allows you to play any way you want and define yourself through your actions. 

DRAGON RETURN 
Battle ancient dragons like you’ve never seen. As Dragonborn, learn their secrets and harness their power for yourself.


Previous Play Time

8 hours

What Was I Thinking When I Bought This

 Skyrim is one of my favorite console games, and I'd heard nothing but good things about the PC version. In particular, people seemed to sing the praises of its mods. However, for a long time I dithered about getting it, because I didn't feel like buying the game, and its DLC, a second time. Then, one day, I saw The Elder Scrolls Anthology for 30% off, and it was a no-brainer.

Prior Experience  

I played the hell out of Skyrim on the xbox (though, strangely enough, not as much as I played Oblivion, probably because I owned a lot more video games when Skyrim came out), but I haven't really done much with the PC version. I experimented with a few mods, and started playing it as part of this rpg.net thread, but during that thread, I got frustrated by Skyrim Redone's unforgiving difficulty curve, so I took a break, and then during the break, I got distracted by another project, and I haven't touched it since.

Expectations

I don't know if I have an expectation as much as a goal - I want to finish that previous, abandoned thread, (my plan is to use that for the recap, and then post miscellaneous thoughts to the blog), and in the process of doing so, I want to explore as much of the game as possible. That means that, barring any unexpected wave of ennui on my part, I want to go a lot past 20 hours with this one. I think I'll be able to do it this time, because I learned a thing or two from Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul - namely that I should not struggle against the slower pace of the modded game, and learn to accept that I can't just go wherever my fancy takes me. (That is the main advantage of level-scaling, as much of a pain in the butt that it can be - wherever you go, you have something to do).

Hopefully, this new, enlightened attitude of mine is more than superficial, because I'll be using the same mods as last time:

Skyrim Redone
Frostfall
Basic Needs
When Vampires Attack

plus a couple of new ones

Run For Your Life
Dragon Combat Overhaul
Deadly Dragons
Spend Dragon Souls on Perks

also, I have not yet decided whether I want to start with a new character or not, but if I do, I have the option of using

Skyrim Unbound

I expect this to be an intense experience, but I'm hoping it will be a rewarding one.

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