by RILEY GOLDEN//Entertainment Editor
Tamriel, a land of werewolves, vampires, dragons, snowy peaks, and grassy plains, is a beautiful, action-packed world to explore for everyone.
“The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim” is an Action Role Playing game that can be played in first or third-person, with fantasy elements that’s available on PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and will be available on the Nintendo Switch in the fall.
“Skyrim” is playable in so many different ways that no one person will play the game the same, and not even the same person will play the game the same way as he or she previously has.
Skyrim is a province of Tamriel, and the player can explore every edge of the province, a medieval land full of cities and villages populated by Nords (normal people), Khajiit (cat people), Altmer (High elf), Argonian (lizard people), Bosmer (Wood Elf), Breton (normal people), Dunmer (Dark Elf), Imperial (normal people), Orsimer (Orcs), and Redguard (darker-skinned people).
The player can play as any of the aforementioned races, and name and dress their character however they want. As the player progresses through the game, he or she will encounter different people and creatures that will invite them to join one of those groups or offer a different quest for the player. Along the journey, the player will gain experience and make money that helps the player improve.
Different armor, clothes, and weapons can be found or bought throughout the game. Steel armor is readily available, but as players rank up, they will be able to purchase or find beautiful glass armor, ebony armor, and more throughout the world of “Skyrim.”
Whiterun, which is right in the middle of the map, is a fortified city surrounded by hilly, grassy plains and little settlements. Northwest of Whiterun is Morthal, a smaller, snowy town at the base of some mountains. Further northwest is Solitude, a very nice and large city at the top of a plateau.
Almost directly south is Markarth, a large, rich city that’s built into the side of a mountain. Far north of Whiterun is Dawnstar, a smaller port city. To the east of Dawnstar is Winterhold, where the Mage’s College of Winterhold can be found.
Southeast of Winterhold is Windhelm, a fortified port city. Located at the southeast corner of the map is Riften. Not the nicest part of “Skyrim,” Riften is home to the Thieves’ Guild, one of the few groups the player can join throughout the course of the game.
Along with the Thieves’ Guild, the player can join the Dark Brotherhood, which are basically assassins, and the College of Winterhold. For the main quest, the player can choose between joining the Imperials and the Stormcloaks, the two opposing political parties in the game.
Each group will give the player access to different armor and weapons. There are many different weapons in the game, such as the two-handed battle axes, the one-handed war axes, one-handed swords, and the two-handed greatswords. For each type of weapon, there are those that correlate with the different armors such as, the glass battle axe or the ebony greatsword.
The player also has a large set of skills that he or she can rank up each time they advance their base rank. These skills range from one-handed weapons, blocking, and two-handed weapons, to speech, light armor, and heavy armor. Each skill has its own tree of skills that will improve the skill in one way or another.
“Skyrim” is a massive, visually stunning, open-world fantasy RPG that is well worth the time of any avid gamer. I give “The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim,” 5 out of 5 stars.
Leave a Reply