Developer: Bethesda Game Studios
Publisher: Bethesda Softworks
Platforms: Xbox 360, Playstation 3, PC
Release Date: November 11^th, 2011
Rated: M for Mature

“An RPG for the decades, and a brilliant modern-day video game version of Tolkien”.

To start off on a clean slate, there is no one that deserves to have a successful game like Bethesda. It’s not as if they hadn’t worked hard at their previous titles, it has just been a little bit of a buggy run for the last bit. But ALAS! Bethesda has struck it rich yet again in revitalizing their Elder Scrolls series. Skyrim (or SCROLLS as I will call it for the remainder of this review, just to please Notch and co.) is an explosion of great lore and yes, DRAGONS!

Story:

Dragons!!! and SCROLLS. Lots of SCROLLS.

Well, where do you start in a game that boasts one hundred plus hours of endless exploration and brilliant story-telling? How about with the big winged ancient speaking over-sized lizards? Ok. Well there are dragons in this one folks. To keep the start of the game a little fuzzy for all of you “people allergic to spoilers”, a high-powered rebel has been caught by the law and you just happen to get caught in the fray. After a beheading gets interrupted by the first dragon seen in centuries, you’re hurled on a “discover yourself, and choose a side in this continent-wide struggle for power quest”. For the record, there is a bundle more story but it’s all so dependent on the decisions you make that it makes zero sense to try to explain them all.

Gameplay:

hunting is a very fun and challenging way to get supplies needed for crafting.

The game that has set all standards for first-person swordplay is at it again. While not perfect, there is something to be said about getting the solid shield bash/throat slice combo down to a t. That being said, the rest of the control scheme acts and feels identical to that in Oblivion (sorry, SCROLLS IV) and Fallout 3/NV.

While the combat may be simple, every other aspect sure as hell isn’t; which doesn’t create a damper on the experience what-so-ever. In fact, for die-hard RPG fans this is the biggest blessing in gaming today. Not a single day goes by when avid fans and dice-rollers don’t pine for a single tasteful RPG and luckily, this year they have enough to shack a stick at. The items in SCROLLS (yes it will be in capitals every time I write it, you’re welcome Mojang) take on another role that has only been seen in earlier SCROLLS titles. There are dozens of weapons, armour, items and anything else you can think of. There is a beautifully simple crafting part to SCROLLS and it comes without saying that I found multiple occasions where it was not only useful but saved my ass. Sprawled across the world are an assortment of plants, fungi, animal parts and other random ingredients that a player adept enough can strew together into potions and balms. Another way to kill time and level up is the enchanting and magical endowment tables where you take enchantments you’ve learned through your journey and Soul Gems filled with the soul of defeated foes and make your ordinary weapons MAGICAL! Well, that didn’t work as well in text as it does in my echoing wizard voice. Back track, and read that in the voice I just described, and then meet me back here.

Are we all back, and tidy? Good. Let’s get on with the skill tree, arguably the most knit-picky subject when it comes to the downright serious RPG’s. Woven into the menus of SCROLLS is a beautiful portrait of the stars. Bethesda got some seemingly out of nowhere dream that included stars and the star signs which then were intertwined in every possible place. The skill tree is complicated, in a happy-go-lucky “I just picked up a rare loot drop” kind of way. There are three major skill sets in SCROLLS; Thief, Warrior, and Mage. Each sign holds two handfuls of perks (think Fallout with an RPG twist) that contain 6-8 separate skills within them. All in all there is about eighty-ish things to add to your characters ever-growing resume of awesome-ness.

star light, star bright, let me swing with greater might.

Magic is strung up in a very cool way and definitely gets my vote for the best implemented magic wielding in RPG’s to date. The different specialties of magic in SCROLLS are divided up into the given practice (illusion, destruction, restoration etc.) and all known spell are thrown into their own sub-menu that is accessed just like your inventory. The beauty of the deal is that when using magic, you are actually equipping that spell to a specific hand. For examples sake, when in melee battle, I would equip a hearty blade in my right hand and a fire spell in my left. While this tactic leaves you shield-less, my character had enough offence to ignore the health bar. All the magic you learn in the game is absorbed by reading Spell Tomes found on your journey, but there is another way to cast the wizardry; Gandolf style. No, it isn’t a “you shall not pass” mini-game, but instead you can find/buy/steal a staff that cast certain spells. Like the real magic spells, getting a staff of magical ability requires you to equip it.

One issue I had with the earlier SCROLLS games and Fallout was the quick switch features that were lacking throughout. In SCROLLS V, Bethesda finally added the simplest and actually blissful quick switch menu. While scrolling through your items of magic, you have the ability to favourite something. Once you’ve made a favourite, you can use the favourite menu during a battle or any other time during gameplay and switch your equipped items. This process is extremely simple and the fact that it does pause the action while doing it is very useful.

if you duel wield spells, it can add variety. Or if duplicated, double the power.

When you level up, you have simple choices (and in the first 20-40 hours, you level up quite a bit), you open the skills menu and have to pick one of three things; Magicka, Health, or Stamina. This quantifies the process of having to slightly bump up a dozen different character stats and bundles all the BS into one nice and neat decision. After you choose one of the three stats to level, you get to pick one of those previously mentioned perks.

Enough about RPG details, the controls of SCROLLS is simple and fantastic. Just like previous instalments, SCROLLS lets you play in 1^st person or 3^rd person depending on your preference. Personally, I played the majority of the outdoor world in 3^rd person to gain more vision and the indoor in 1^st person. Let’s move on shall we?

Appearance:

such spectacular character detail. ITS SCROLL-ER-IFFIC!

I can’t say for certain that everyone is going to be completely blown away by the graphics in SCROLLS, but what I can predict is that everyone (just as I did) will stand in awe of the environments and the field of vision that spans nearly the entire map.

One of the early quests has you (if you decide to do it, which you’d be stupid not to) scale a mountain in search of the Greybeards. These Dragon speakers are perched atop the largest mountain in the game and whether I was jacked on coffee, it took me 30+ minutes to get from base to peak. Along the way, you experience not only weather system changes (going from wet and rainy, to extreme cold and snowing) but the enemies also change according to environment (going from rats and wolves to giant snow trolls and a bitchen white wolf). I was floored. Not only does the game give you the greatest sense of scale, but it lets you reach out and touch it. Sorry RAGE, but I still want to at least know that I can go there, even if I don’t want to.

The best atmo design in gaming today.

The grass moves with wind and every hot springs steams with the audacity of its marshy counterpart. I think it’s beautiful when I am feeling extremely confident and strong but as soon as I enter a specific environment it can take me whirling into the world of nervousness and lack of hope. The tombs and catacombs in SCROLLS set a very mystical Indiana Jones feel and give enough hordes of living dead moments to keep you pushing further into the deep. The environments in SCROLLS contain everything that has lacked in Dragon Age I&II, Dark Souls, and all those woeful JRPG’s. Bethesda does a near flawless job of painting the situation to influence the player’s attitude and approach. Every City/Town/Lodging has its own unique feel and I could tell you exactly which one it is just by looking at it. Being that a lot of the locations in SCROLLS (maybe 50%) are in the mountains, snow and cold weather was a big task for Bethesda. I believe without a shadow of a doubt that this is the best environmental snow and cold experience in gaming. I felt cold; I hesitated to jump into a lake in the mountains thinking my character would get too cold, I fought Ice demons after salvaging a frozen ship-wreck. Every tiny touch adds to the perfect situation and atmosphere.

you wore iron armor into the forest? what's the word for CHAFING in dragon?

The characters and races all feel very different and lack no attention to detail to separate them. The NPCs are beyond personable. I never confused two main characters or townsman. The level of dialog and voice acting in SCROLLS is I believe the largest cast and trees ever in a game. That is, until SWOR comes out in a month. Every single fragment of speech resonates with personality and maintains that connection with the player. Some of the accent work is a little off, but more in a hilarious way than an off-putting way. With the ambient sound, SCROLLS hits a new high for gaming. From the tickling of spider legs on rock, to the banter by city guards; SCROLLS breaks through the needless and lands directly on the absorbing. Trust me when I say that I tinkled a bit EVERY time that you hear a dragon approach from a far. The sound of the huge wings throwing the air around with every flap is astonishing.

Overall Ruling:

You vs. Dragon = EPIC!

What can I say, to all my Nords and Khajiit out there; Skyrim (sorry, SCROLLS) is the best RPG on the market. HANDS DOWN. With an abundance of places to see, people to meet and things to explore, it seems never-ending. With hours of entertainment breaching into the hundreds of hours, SCROLLS is the most diverse, fun, and extensive game for sale today. It’s an RPG for the decades. The fifth instalment in the SCROLLS franchise is a brilliant modern-day video game version of Tolkien and won’t be pushed aside for some time. Whether you’re an Imperial or a Stormcloak, any dice-rolling sword-wielder will have an amazing experience with SCROLLS.

What Worked: