If the last few years of game releases have made one thing abundantly clear, it’s that craftsmanship and polish count for a lot. Bethesda Softworks is undeniably a master of the former — the company’s made a name building huge, open and gripping role-playing games (RPGs), but that scale often comes at the cost of polish — almost all of its titles have a lovable roughness to them. Skyrim is different. In terms of size, polish and creativity, it’s one of the most ambitious games ever made and it’s almost certainly the biggest RPG ever.
This is a world that’s incredibly rich, generous and meticulously designed: there’s an unbelievable number of characters, quests and items to discover, and the landscapes, towns, cities and dungeons are, without fault (and despite not utilising the latest PC graphics tech), masterworks of subtle beauty.
Well-worn complaints about Bethesda games have mostly been remedied — there’s more varied and realistic character faces, a broader voice cast and better, more flexible combat that has a real ebb and flow to it. What’s perhaps most remarkable is that despite its colossal size, there’s very little that feels lazy here, with each dungeon and town feeling fresh and unique, and while the game’s quests may often start on familiar lines, there’s almost always an unexpected twist or a surprisingly personal component to the game’s stories.
The quest tracking and map systems are simple yet effective and make the game’s size far less intimidating. It makes for an incredibly engaging and absorbing experience all up. The game isn’t quite perfect: there’s still some of Bethesda’s trademark rough patches here, shonky follower AI (which can take your sidekicks on massively roundabout routes as they try to follow you, or have them triggering traps you’ve carefully avoided) being the particular standout.
In the face of everything it does right, Skyrim’s problems barely register — if you love RPGs, it truly doesn’t get any better than this.
