Skyrim - again

I hope for the sake of my well-being that these are the closing comments on Skyrim - at least for the time being. Two days ago I finally ended the main quest, and while the game graciously allows you to go on playing with your character, I feel spent and see this as a good point to to put Skyrim on the back burner. Still, I want to correct my earlier assumptions, and while Skyrim still is a very strong game, and definitely worthy to be admitted into my personal Valhalla of gaming, a full play-through still showed some points which appear as weaknesses.

Non-optional upgrades

I feel that Skyrim - contrasted with, e.g., Fallout New Vegas - has only limited replay value (which is a good thing in a very tangible way, with just having wasted half a month on the game). A replay of an RPG is often motivated by trying out a different character type, and the best RPGs allow very different approaches to plot and gameplay. I don't see that possibility in Skyrim: While the whole setting screams for a barbarian character - a Conan, if you will - who abhors the unnatural magecraft, and this would be a nice choice for a replay, I would always end up playing a character with at least moderate magical abilities, as the gameplay forces you to use magics to deal with your opponents - especially the dragons. As your figure becomes better at what he does, and as only a handful of tactics seem to work, the pool of possible characters seems rather limited, even if you have some ten fantasy races to chose from. But a fighter-mage is a fighter-mage, whatever his ear size. And your character will get good at lockpicking, seems no way around it. At the moment I don't plan a replay (again, this is a thinly veiled blessing) because I already know how my character would develop.

A nagging sense of familiarity

Atmosphere is Skyrim's strong suit - even after dozens of hours the environment appears beautiful, and you are regularly surprised with epic views and vistas. This atmosphere (and the fact that Skyrim does not fall into the theme park trap - or structures its theme park in such a subtile way that it never becomes an issue) was my main motivation for going out an exploring. And while exploring, you find the dungeons - their symbols pop up on your compass, conveniently divided into nord barrows, nord crypts, dwemer ruins, armed camps, unspecified caves and so on.

Once inside, the feeling of being in a strictly linear haunted house ride becomes stronger with each dungeon you pass. After a dozen or so you find yourself looking for the sliding wall section close to the entrance where your treasure-laden ass will be deposited after dealing with the boss fight, and that's not a sign of full immersion. I'd rather have complex cave systems where you could get completely lost while your supplies and assets dwindle, but other players told me they where very happy with this haunted house dungeon design - getting lost is not for everyone, and it's nice to know that you don't have to walk back all those crypts, some of us have work to do etc. And the visual appeal and distinctiveness of the dungeons makes up for the linear design.

So there you have it: two minor niggles, one of which is purely subjective, while the other allows me to leave the house again. I see no need to correct my earlier rating.

5 of 5 cute little rabbits soul-trapped and fireballed