Skyrim is a good game all-around, but really brought to a new level entirely when modded (it would be a 5-star game if I were reviewing a well-modded variant).
The graphics were great for its time (although the animations were dated at release), and the soundtrack is perfectly composed to match the themes and tone of the game.
The world invites you to explore every nook and cranny, in a way no other game has managed to achieve to date, especially at such a scale.
The quests are a mixed bag, with some strong questlines, and some menial tasks. The overall main stories are serviceable but nothing astounding.
Combat is weak, with most attacks just being a hitscan, and the movement being slow and clunky. Enemy AI is weak, and most combat can be resolved by just alternating bashing and attacking.
The skill/leveling system is intrinsically flawed - you are penalized for levelling anything except your primary combat skills, since all skills increase your level (and therefore the level enemies scale to), but only the main combat skills you intend to use increase your combat potency. In addition, magic doesn't scale with skills aside from a couple small boosts from perks, so it is strong early-to-midgame, but falls off extremely hard lategame.
Difficulty levels are also just damage penalties to the player and damage increases to all NPCs. This lazy difficulty implementation has the side effect of making certain playstyles (eg. summoning spells or using companions) increasingly overpowered on higher difficulties.
Most of my criticisms are fixable to varying degrees thanks to the incredibly talented and vibrant (if sometimes drama-filled) modding community, but I really hope they can do better for some of them in the base TES VI release.
The graphics were great for its time (although the animations were dated at release), and the soundtrack is perfectly composed to match the themes and tone of the game.
The world invites you to explore every nook and cranny, in a way no other game has managed to achieve to date, especially at such a scale.
The quests are a mixed bag, with some strong questlines, and some menial tasks. The overall main stories are serviceable but nothing astounding.
Combat is weak, with most attacks just being a hitscan, and the movement being slow and clunky. Enemy AI is weak, and most combat can be resolved by just alternating bashing and attacking.
The skill/leveling system is intrinsically flawed - you are penalized for levelling anything except your primary combat skills, since all skills increase your level (and therefore the level enemies scale to), but only the main combat skills you intend to use increase your combat potency. In addition, magic doesn't scale with skills aside from a couple small boosts from perks, so it is strong early-to-midgame, but falls off extremely hard lategame.
Difficulty levels are also just damage penalties to the player and damage increases to all NPCs. This lazy difficulty implementation has the side effect of making certain playstyles (eg. summoning spells or using companions) increasingly overpowered on higher difficulties.
Most of my criticisms are fixable to varying degrees thanks to the incredibly talented and vibrant (if sometimes drama-filled) modding community, but I really hope they can do better for some of them in the base TES VI release.