The Elder Scrolls V : Skyrim
The Elder
Scrolls V: Skyrim is an action role-playing open world video game developed by
Bethesda Game Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks. It is the fifth
installment in The Elder Scrolls series, following The Elder Scrolls IV:
Oblivion. Skyrim was released on November 11, 2011, for Microsoft Windows,
PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360. Three downloadable content (DLC) add-ons were
released—Dawnguard, Hearthfire, and Dragonborn—which were repackaged into The
Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - Legendary Edition, which was released on June 4,
2013.
Skyrim 's
main story revolves around the player character and their effort to defeat
Alduin the World-Eater, a dragon who is prophesied to destroy the world. The
game is set approximately two hundred years after the events of Oblivion and
takes place in the fictional province of Skyrim. Over the course of the game,
the player completes quests and develops the character by improving skills.
Skyrim continues the open world tradition of its predecessors by allowing the
player to travel anywhere in the game world at any time, and to ignore or
postpone the main storyline indefinitely.
The game
was developed using the Creation Engine, built specifically for the game. The
team opted for a unique and more diverse game world than Oblivion's Cyrodiil,
which game director and executive producer Todd Howard considered less
interesting by comparison. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim was released to critical
acclaim, with reviewers particularly mentioning the refined character
development and the great setting. The game shipped over seven million copies
to retailers within the first week of its release, and sold over 20 million
copies across all three platforms.
Gameplay
The Elder
Scrolls V: Skyrim is an action role-playing game, playable from either a first
or third-person perspective. The player may freely roam over the land of
Skyrim, which is an open world environment consisting of wilderness expanses,
dungeons, cities, towns, fortresses and villages. Players may navigate the game
world more quickly by riding horses, or by utilizing a fast-travel system which
allows them to warp to previously discovered locations (Undiscovered locations
cannot be fast-travelled to.) The game's main quest can be completed or
ignored at the player's preference after the first stage of the quest is
finished. However, some quests rely on the main storyline being at least
partially completed. Non-player characters (NPCs) populate the world and can be
interacted with in a number of ways; the player may engage them in
conversation, marry an eligible NPC, or kill them. As in previous The Elder
Scrolls games, killing certain NPCs can make some quests or items unobtainable.
Some NPCs cannot be killed. If witnessed, crimes like murder and theft accrue
the player bounty points in each of the world's nine holds. Should the player
be stopped by a guard, they may wipe their bounty with gold or jail time, or
may resist arrest which will trigger an aggressive pursuit. NPCs may allocate
the player additional side-quests, and some side-quests have parameters
adjusted based on nearby dungeons which the player has yet to explore. Some NPCs who are befriended or hired by the
player may act as companions who will accompany the player and provide aid in
combat. The player may choose to join factions, which
are organized groups of NPCs -- such as the Dark Brotherhood, a band of
assassins -- or the player may choose to destroy them. Each of the factions has an associated quest
path to progress through. Each city and town in the game world each has an
economy which the player can stimulate by completing jobs such as farming.
The player
character engages in combat with monsters while exploring a dungeon. The player
may dual-wield weapons and magic at once in order to be more effective against
enemies.
Players
have the option to develop their character. At the beginning of the game,
players create their character by selecting one of several races, including
humans, orcs, elves and anthropomorphic cat or lizard-like creatures, and then
customizing their character's appearance. Over the course of the game, players improve
their character's skills, which are numerical representations of their ability
in certain areas. There are eighteen skills divided evenly among the three
schools of combat, magic, and stealth. When players have trained skills enough
to meet the required experience, their character levels up. Each time their
character levels, the players may choose to select a skill-specific ability
called a perk, or to store perk points for later use. Earlier entries in The
Elder Scrolls series used a character class system to determine which skills
would contribute to the character's leveling, but Skyrim allows players to
discover preferred skills as they play the game and rewards them with more
experience when a frequently used skill is leveled. A head-up display (HUD) appears when
any of the player's three main attributes are being depleted. Attributes
regenerate over time, although this process can be accelerated by using potions
or regenerative spells. Health is depleted primarily when the player takes
damage, and the loss of all health results in death. Magicka is depleted by the
use of spells, certain poisons and by being struck by lightning-based attacks.
Stamina determines the player's effectiveness in combat and is depleted by
sprinting, power attacking, and being struck by frost-based attacks. The
player's inventory can be accessed from the menu and items can be viewed in 3D,
which may prove essential in solving puzzles found in dungeons.
The
player's effectiveness in combat relies on the use of weapons and armor, which
may be bought, found and created at forges, and magic, which may be bought or
unlocked by finding spell tomes. Weapons and magic are assigned to each hand,
allowing for dual-wielding, and can be swapped out through a quick-access menu
of favorite items. Shields can be used to fend off enemy attacks
and reduce incurred damage, or offensively through bashing attacks. Blunt,
bladed and hacking weapons can be used in close combat and each have specific
advantages and roles; for example, the player can perform power attacks with
each weapon. Magic can be used in the form of spells, which have several
functions, such as the regeneration of health or the depletion of enemy health. A bow and arrow may be utilized in long-range
combat, but the bow can be used as a defensive melee weapon in close combat, by
"bashing". The player can enter sneak mode and pickpocket, or deliver
sneak attacks to unsuspecting enemies.
When
exploring the game world, the player may encounter wildlife. Many creatures in
the wilderness are immediately hostile towards the player. However, game
animals such as elk and deer will simply run away. Skyrim is the first entry in
The Elder Scrolls to include Dragons in the game's wilderness. Like other
creatures, Dragons are generated randomly in the world and will engage in
combat with NPCs, creatures and the player. Some Dragons may attack cities and
towns when in their proximity. The player character can absorb the souls of
Dragons in order to use powerful spells called "Dragon Shouts", or
"Thu'um". Each Shout contains three words in the language spoken by
Dragons, and the strength of the Shout will vary depending on how many words
have been spoken. The words to Shouts can be learned by visiting "Word
Walls" in dungeons or around the continent. The words to each shout are
unlocked for use by spending the absorbed souls of slain Dragons. A regeneration period limits the player's use
of Shouts in gameplay.
You can watch the trailer here :
Posts
