GRAPHICS: Breathtaking upon release - anyone else remember how many times screenshots from Skyrim were mistaken for photographs of real-life scenery? Obviously aged now (at least in vanilla Skyrim), but still pretty gorgeous IMO.
CHARACTERS: None are particularly deep - this isn't the game to go to if you want broad, complex character development and personalities. NPCs serve their purpose, they make the world feel relatively alive, and they're nicely varied role-wise. Personal favourites are Brynjolf the Scottish thief, J'zargo the Khajiit mage apprentice, and Farkas the hulking werewolf mercenary.
DIALOGUE/VOICE ACTING: Dialogue's fine - conversation options are generally numerous enough (though more would be nice, and they tend to be questions that prompt lore exposition etc. rather than any meaningful two-way interaction). Voice acting is fine in itself, but you'll notice pretty quickly that there's a small pool of voice actors that voice almost every character you come across, not all of whom bother to put on different voices.
PLOT: Better than it's given credit for nowadays. I do, however, agree that the highlight of the game's writing is less the main quest and more the side quests and factions that surround it.
GAMEPLAY: Combat can be a little clunky, and I've had some friends who couldn't get used to it enough to stick with the game, but if you've played other Bethesda games (or some third-person RPGs in general), especially Fallout, you'll probably get the hang of it quick. I personally find archery far more intuitive and smooth to navigate than the slower, weightier movements of melee.
MULTIPLAYER: None available.
Frankly, flaws and all, this is one of the best games ever released, not just on its own merit back when it first came out but for its impact on other games and on gaming culture in general.
Honourary mention goes to the famous modding community - if you want to get into Skyrim and you own a PC, it's by far the best option to play it that way.
Favourite Male Character: Brynjolf
Favourite Female Character: Ysolda, Saadia
First Character I Liked: Farkas
Favourite Character Design: Sheogorath
Favourite OST: Dragonborn, The Streets of Whiterun, Sovngarde
Favourite Scene: Odahviing taking you to Sovngarde
Least Favourite Character: Fuck that racist guy in Windhelm
CHARACTERS: None are particularly deep - this isn't the game to go to if you want broad, complex character development and personalities. NPCs serve their purpose, they make the world feel relatively alive, and they're nicely varied role-wise. Personal favourites are Brynjolf the Scottish thief, J'zargo the Khajiit mage apprentice, and Farkas the hulking werewolf mercenary.
DIALOGUE/VOICE ACTING: Dialogue's fine - conversation options are generally numerous enough (though more would be nice, and they tend to be questions that prompt lore exposition etc. rather than any meaningful two-way interaction). Voice acting is fine in itself, but you'll notice pretty quickly that there's a small pool of voice actors that voice almost every character you come across, not all of whom bother to put on different voices.
PLOT: Better than it's given credit for nowadays. I do, however, agree that the highlight of the game's writing is less the main quest and more the side quests and factions that surround it.
GAMEPLAY: Combat can be a little clunky, and I've had some friends who couldn't get used to it enough to stick with the game, but if you've played other Bethesda games (or some third-person RPGs in general), especially Fallout, you'll probably get the hang of it quick. I personally find archery far more intuitive and smooth to navigate than the slower, weightier movements of melee.
MULTIPLAYER: None available.
Frankly, flaws and all, this is one of the best games ever released, not just on its own merit back when it first came out but for its impact on other games and on gaming culture in general.
Honourary mention goes to the famous modding community - if you want to get into Skyrim and you own a PC, it's by far the best option to play it that way.
Favourite Male Character: Brynjolf
Favourite Female Character: Ysolda, Saadia
First Character I Liked: Farkas
Favourite Character Design: Sheogorath
Favourite OST: Dragonborn, The Streets of Whiterun, Sovngarde
Favourite Scene: Odahviing taking you to Sovngarde
Least Favourite Character: Fuck that racist guy in Windhelm