Skyrim should carry a health warning, something like, ‘May induce existential angst.’ Because, believe me, it is literally impossible to experience everything the game has to offer in one lifetime. As you trek through Skyrim's glorious wilderness you soon realise just how cosmically vast this game is.
Franz Kafka once said, ‘I am free, and that is why I am lost.’ I know exactly what he means. The undefined nature of Skyrim is both awe-inspiring and intimidating. I spent 8 hours last night doing approximately fuck all, just picking flowers and reanimating the corpses of wildlife I’d just slaughtered. Thing is, I loved every pointless second of it. The random adventures you’ll stumble across on your journey are often incredible. To illustrate this point, I'd like to share one such moment with you:
From the peak of a mountain, I spy a solitary hut in the canyon below. As I draw nearer, I notice the fallen tree that has smashed through the roof, killing the inhabitant within. The name of this unfortunate soul? ‘Lucky Donavan’. I search his corpse and discover a treasure map, which leads me to a sprawling underground catacomb. After fighting my way through booby traps and a horde of disgruntled undead, I discover a glowing hieroglyph etched into the wall. It begins to hum and throb, beckoning me closer. I’m enveloped in a blinding white light and imbued with the power to encase my enemies in ice. Keen to test my new skill I exit the dungeon and spend the next 3 hours freezing anything that crosses my path.
This, dear reader, is the joy of Skyrim. One random encounter has the potential to flourish into something quite memorable. No hand-holding required. All that's needed is a keen sense of curiosity and a few hundred hours to burn. Even the glitches are epic. Helium-filled mammoth? Check. A horse riding a dragon? Check. Gravity-defying snow bear? Check. It’s all here. But rather than detract from the experience, they somehow make it even better.
It’s not often I find myself agreeing with Cliffy B, but he gets it absolutely right when he says, ‘Skyrim is shaping up to be my favorite game since the original Legend of Zelda. That's right, I said it. This game is shaking me to my core.’ Me too Clifford, me too.
Related article: The Life And Death Of Skyrim’s Lydia.
I have yet to try any game of the series.
ReplyDeleteBut this topic makes me curious to try it, but this the goal of games to present a "life" changing experience, to give us the possibility to live great adventures.
Shame the money all games cost, and the time I have free to play them all is never enough, I am still starting to play Deux EX HR, but you knows maybe I will wait for the GOTY edition of this one.
Are you not going to wait untill you have given Skyward a good seeing too?
ReplyDelete