Spend some quality time with Skyrim.

The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion was a paradigm changing game for me: it revealed the power of the FPS genre to explore more than Doom clones and multiplayer Halo style combat. The Elder Scrolls is a venerated series with its origins in 1994 with The Elder Scrolls: Arena for DOS. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion was the first game I played though the first one I purchased was Morrowind for the XBox, and I have yet to play that game to this day. What a mistake. I initially treated Oblivion in much the same way. I was quite an RPG snob, preferring JRPGs and Japanese content and design over anything from the West. All apologies to The Elder Scrolls, I was ignorant of their greatness. Oblivion engulfed me totally for a good three or four months and I have replayed it several times since, not for the quests or the storyline but singularly for its vast scope and open environment. I don’t think I’ve had such replay value out of a game since Civilization II, and that game is an elder scroll in itself in terms of age. The Elder Scrolls opened up my mind, like I said, and it was only of immense convenience that FallOut and Bethesda were fused into a new take on one of my favorite series from the Civilization II era of my gaming life. I loved FallOut then, and I love it now, even if the feel of the game is slightly off from what I remember in the Interplay and Black Isle Studios period. When FallOut 3 debuted I snatched up the Collector’s Edition and began questing in the Capital Wasteland. Like I said, I was somewhat thrown by it at first and if I hadn’t previously played Oblivion, I would have likely been very upset with this take on Oblivion. I am currently embroiled in FallOut: New Vegas, which I will discuss on this blog in greater detail in the future. Needless to say, I’m addicted to this style of gameplay. 11-11-11, the release date for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is a date etched in my calendar and I almost feel like I need to schedule substantial vacation time in the days following its release. Skyrim takes place in the eponymous realm of Skyrim, features Nordic elements like dragons and craggy vistas, and has greatly improved graphics over Oblivion which is still has amazing graphically. I do hope it doesn’t look like the environments in FallOut: New Vegas. Not the monochrome ones rather the forested areas and such. I…just don’t personally like how the flora and fauna of FallOut: New Vegas look.
It is hard to tell from video alone but I do know from video alone that graphical disappointment will not be a bar to enjoyment of Skyrim. Unlike the previous game, Oblivion, Skyrim will not have character classes but will allow the character to develop a uniquely tailored class organically through gameplay. Additionally, players will be able to craft their own weapons, dual-wield spells and perform finishing moves on opponents. Bows and arrows will be a relative rarity in Skyrim, as opposed to how ubiquitous they were in Oblivion. To make up for their rarity they will be especially powerful thus giving players an incentive to develop archery skills. The world of the realm of Skyrim will be roughly the same size as that of Cyrodiil, 16 square, virtual polygonal miles of mountainous terrain to discover. There will be five cities much larger than those in Oblivion as well as countless towns and map locations in addition. Dungeons will be locked to the level you initially entered them at and enemy scaling will be much improved over Oblivion. I’m sure it will also be accompanied by copious amounts of DLC and expandability, lengthening an already consuming experience.