I have two disagreements: First: the AI. He spends a little time on the AI systems and dismisses them as not part of the core game, but I think they're the je ne sais quois that makes Skyrim...
I have two disagreements:
First: the AI. He spends a little time on the AI systems and dismisses them as not part of the core game, but I think they're the je ne sais quois that makes Skyrim uniquely Skyrim. The one mistake they made was dialing down Radiant AI too much and only using the large-scale travel system it has on a few characters. This leads to hilarious things like Malborn being saved from the Thalmor Embassy and an ambush in Winterhold, only to potentially die to a group of three Ice Trolls at the Morrowind border, It is also used in the the Dark Brotherhood quest where you get to stalk a general across the map. The game will simulate the former encounter with you across the map if it is to occur, and Malborn will die if it occurs and you are not there to save him (this doesn't fail the quest). They also learned this lesson in FO4 where every follower and settler will walk to their destination, as well as a ton of merchants.
This system is like bay leaves in the soup, you'll miss it if it isn't there. I miss it in games where everybody just sorta stands there and doesn't meaningfully interact with the world. I miss it in Skyrim if I've been playing Oblivion because it's turned down so far, and I miss it in Starfield because it only exists in each planet, not across planets like other Bethesda games simulate some inter-city interactions.
Second: The combat. He corrects for it with comments on how the design of the game makes it work, but I actually thoroughly enjoy Elder Scrolls and Fallout/Starfield combat systems over other games like Dishonored. Dishonored is so precise as to be cumbersome, and I definitely bounce off it. Elder Scrolls has me think about how I want to run an encounter, gives me the basic tools to do so, and I can let it rip. Same for Fallout and Starfield, but they are gun-heavy.
I appreciate that he also delves into the base game, not the modability, not the external factors, but what just makes Skyrim work. I mostly play vanilla Bethesda games, with some engine stability tweaks for Oblivion, FO3 and FNV, or total conversions (Fallout: London, SureAI's stuff). People will insist that mods are the only reason Skyrim is popular, but I would also insist that people wouldn't want to mod it if it wasn't already some minimal level of good.
Makes me wonder if "less is more" is a good explanation of all of the non roleplaying elements of Bethesda games. At some point, the game is more accessible (both to new players and to existing...
Makes me wonder if "less is more" is a good explanation of all of the non roleplaying elements of Bethesda games. At some point, the game is more accessible (both to new players and to existing players who aren't necessarily always 'in the mood' for something heavy) because the mechanics are so basic.
Elden Ring is a good comparison for me because I've spent similar amounts of time playing each game, and they sort of kind of seem similar on the surface. Elden Ring asks a lot of players in terms of combat and quest navigation, but the roleplaying is so barebones you can basically ignore it. Skyrim basically gives you a hammer for combat and lots of handholding for quest nav, so you can largely ignore them; instead, the game lets you focus on the roleplaying, the stories, the quests, etc.
Both games can be difficult to get back into after a long stretch away for very different reasons.
On the totally opposite side of the spectrum? GTA! a game that has basic combat, handholding nav, and a story you can mostly ignore. As a result, it's an easy game to pick up at random.
I think he’s right about a lot of things. It’s a deeply flawed game but still one that creates a feeling that no other game I’ve played can deliver. The open world still feels enormous, rich and...
I think he’s right about a lot of things. It’s a deeply flawed game but still one that creates a feeling that no other game I’ve played can deliver. The open world still feels enormous, rich and lived-in. As the video points out, you can interact with most objects and end up spending a lot of time thinking about what specific items are worth picking up, and remembering what you’re carrying in your inventory. Everything feels heavy and worth your attention. Lots of cool stuff (treasure, interesting story set pieces, and unique items) is hidden in out-of-the-way places, rewarding exploration.
The gameplay is as vast as an ocean but deep as a puddle. You have a decent amount of choices but few have any real consequences. Everything is always open to the player: You can be a magic-less barbarian and still become the archmage of the College of Winterhold; you can be a wizard of restoration magic and still become the leader of the Companions warrior guild. Dungeons are mostly linear, you can progress through them easily without getting turned around, and there’s usually a convenient shortcut back to the entrance from the treasure room to minimize backtracking. And the “puzzles” are the simplest, most hand-holdey ones ever devised.
BUT all of this facilitates your ability to experience the hugeness and richness of the world. The map is full of places with distinct landscapes, weather, stories, cities, and NPCs. Because no place is ever a slog, you can familiarize yourself with everything. And as you do that you discover that Skyrim is built on tons of Elder Scrolls lore… It’s the DNA of the game. Everything is internally consistent and connected to a larger background of world building that is equal parts fascinating and bizarre. The deeper you look into it, the more absurd creativity you discover. And it’s all around you, in books, in random conversations, place names, etc. I’m sure plenty of people play the game and miss 95% of it, but the fact that it exists and adds so much palpable depth to the world if you look for it, elevates Skyrim for me.
Also, one thing the video didn’t mention is that the game mechanics all contribute to a pretty great POWER FANTASY. You start out as a prisoner in literal rags, but before long you basically ascend to godhood. You are the center of everything. And your power manifests in plenty of ways beyond the narrative: through three distinct branches of crafting, five schools of magic, and a variety of melee/ranged weapon types; skills that progress just by using them, with diverse skill trees containing powerful perks; racial powers; a huge array of shouts; unique enchanted items; standing stone effects; temporary effects from altars, etc.; a panoply of daedric artifacts… you can go wherever you want and have a huge range of tools at your disposal for progressing. It’s a veritable sandbox of new things to try. And the storylines (main and side quests alike) will take you to the afterlife and back, back and forth in time, to otherworldly planes of madness and cosmic horror, to the ruins of a vanished but technologically advanced people which are still guarded by their automata, to a cavernous underworld full of bioluminescent secrets. The late stages of the game have you summoning dragons to ride and do battle alongside you, and you’ve accumulated such a cache of abilities and artifacts that you’re basically an immortal deity. When you start playing you feel tiny in a huge world, but by the end you feel like you have conquered the whole thing. I’ve never played a game that matches its feeling of epic power progression. I feel like most summaries of the game focus on viking guys fighting draugr or whatever, and miss all this additional scope.
I still play Skyrim often. I’m a console player, I had it on launch day for PS3; I bought it again for PS4 and eventually upgraded it for PS5. I keep coming back to it because it’s digestible in small portions — I can clear a couple dungeons in the evening before bed. It’s like comfort food. I’ve seen everything the game has to offer dozens of times, but it’s cozy and doesn’t require a lot of concentration, and still makes me feel like a legendary hero.
Bethesda has changed a lot over the past 13 years. I’m not confident that TESVI will (if it ever arrives) recapture the magic of Skyrim. I hope it does, but their other releases of late have me doubtful they still have the right combination of talent and priorities internally to do it again. I’ll probably still be returning to Skyrim decades from now. It’s special.
I think this is a point that gets overlooked by people who haven't really been sucked into the lore rabbit hole. It very much takes the Tolkien approach to world-building in that the history and...
And as you do that you discover that Skyrim is built on tons of Elder Scrolls lore… It’s the DNA of the game.
I think this is a point that gets overlooked by people who haven't really been sucked into the lore rabbit hole. It very much takes the Tolkien approach to world-building in that the history and cosmology are there and well-developed, but it doesn't feel the need to shove it all in your face at every moment. It's how real life is affected by history: you know there are historical precedents and causal events that have led to the point in history you're in, but it's not like those influences are constantly at the fore patly explaining everything. The games can be confidently allusive moment-to-moment because the history is actually there, ready to be explored if that's what you fancy.
Speaking of cosmology, the TES games have one of the most cogently developed creation stories since Tolkien's "Ainulindalë." Unlike that story though, there are multiple conflicting racial versions built into the lore, which is what you'd expect on a world like Nirn. It's clear that the cultures of most of the races have a common origin, but have diverged over the ages so that their religions and creation stories often conflict with each other (the exceptions to this are the Argonians, who are a special breed, and the Redguards, who may or may not be from a different time/universe/dimension altogether).
All of this has a couple of really interesting consequences. For one thing, none of the historical or religious allusions have the feel of being made up on the spot to suit some trivial necessity of plot. It all feels like it just exists, and that you're swimming in the ocean (extremely wide puddle, really) that springs from the history.
It also means that Bethesda's writers never need to worry too much about retconning or being contradictory in their more fanciful elements. Contradiction is expected, and actually adds to the richness of the tapestry of lore that's been woven over nearly 30 years and who-knows-how-many games. Even the strange retconning regarding dragons in Skyrim doesn't feel entirely out of place because of it. It's the sort of neat little storytelling trick that you don't see often that both adds to verisimilitude and allows for creativity within an already developed fictional world. It's easily the most impressive thing about the Elder Scrolls to my mind.
It's surprising to me how no other game has captured the magic of Skyrim. I've played a number of the alternatives, including Witcher 3, and they can't measure up. I keep coming back to Skyrim...
It's surprising to me how no other game has captured the magic of Skyrim. I've played a number of the alternatives, including Witcher 3, and they can't measure up. I keep coming back to Skyrim because it's a game where you can have a blast just wandering around. Hell, I did nothing but that for my first hundred hours, never getting past the first act of the main quest. You can go pretty much anywhere and do pretty much anything in any order you want. This has effectively ruined all other single player open world games for me. Unless I have Skyrim-level freedom I drop the game.
I love all of the little bits of lore hidden around. Like the Thieve's Guild house markings. Or a copy of The Lusty Argonian Maid tucked under a chair at a guard's watch post. Pretty much anywhere you look you can find something interesting. Go into any room and there's a note that might lead you to some hidden treasure or reveal a relationship between two townsfolk who will then complain about each other if you talk to them.
Building a game with all of this is no small task. But Bethesda did it all those years ago. I can't see why another studio couldn't do it again.
I'm in a similar position with open world RPGs. I got tired of Skyrim and saw Witcher 3 recommended and it sorta felt flat right out the gate for what I wanted the game to be. I bee-line the main...
I'm in a similar position with open world RPGs. I got tired of Skyrim and saw Witcher 3 recommended and it sorta felt flat right out the gate for what I wanted the game to be. I bee-line the main quest on a first playthough, but didn't feel like there was enough open-endedness in Witcher 3 to feel satisfying. The only games I feel get close are the recent Zelda games and Elden ring but I wish there was a single linear story progression to follow like Skyrim that had walls you could jump out of, and back into. I think having narrative anchors like that helps reinforce the openness of the world if you're doing story questlines.
I can't see why another studio couldn't do it again.
I might get laughed at, but I honestly think Todd Howard is the reason. He's the stalwart who keeps this machine running. He is equally responsible for the good and the bad in Bethesda games, insofar as he is responsible, but I also think he's the main point of consistency that keeps Bethesda games as "Bethesda Games."
I have two disagreements:
First: the AI. He spends a little time on the AI systems and dismisses them as not part of the core game, but I think they're the je ne sais quois that makes Skyrim uniquely Skyrim. The one mistake they made was dialing down Radiant AI too much and only using the large-scale travel system it has on a few characters. This leads to hilarious things like Malborn being saved from the Thalmor Embassy and an ambush in Winterhold, only to potentially die to a group of three Ice Trolls at the Morrowind border, It is also used in the the Dark Brotherhood quest where you get to stalk a general across the map. The game will simulate the former encounter with you across the map if it is to occur, and Malborn will die if it occurs and you are not there to save him (this doesn't fail the quest). They also learned this lesson in FO4 where every follower and settler will walk to their destination, as well as a ton of merchants.
This system is like bay leaves in the soup, you'll miss it if it isn't there. I miss it in games where everybody just sorta stands there and doesn't meaningfully interact with the world. I miss it in Skyrim if I've been playing Oblivion because it's turned down so far, and I miss it in Starfield because it only exists in each planet, not across planets like other Bethesda games simulate some inter-city interactions.
Second: The combat. He corrects for it with comments on how the design of the game makes it work, but I actually thoroughly enjoy Elder Scrolls and Fallout/Starfield combat systems over other games like Dishonored. Dishonored is so precise as to be cumbersome, and I definitely bounce off it. Elder Scrolls has me think about how I want to run an encounter, gives me the basic tools to do so, and I can let it rip. Same for Fallout and Starfield, but they are gun-heavy.
I appreciate that he also delves into the base game, not the modability, not the external factors, but what just makes Skyrim work. I mostly play vanilla Bethesda games, with some engine stability tweaks for Oblivion, FO3 and FNV, or total conversions (Fallout: London, SureAI's stuff). People will insist that mods are the only reason Skyrim is popular, but I would also insist that people wouldn't want to mod it if it wasn't already some minimal level of good.
Makes me wonder if "less is more" is a good explanation of all of the non roleplaying elements of Bethesda games. At some point, the game is more accessible (both to new players and to existing players who aren't necessarily always 'in the mood' for something heavy) because the mechanics are so basic.
Elden Ring is a good comparison for me because I've spent similar amounts of time playing each game, and they sort of kind of seem similar on the surface. Elden Ring asks a lot of players in terms of combat and quest navigation, but the roleplaying is so barebones you can basically ignore it. Skyrim basically gives you a hammer for combat and lots of handholding for quest nav, so you can largely ignore them; instead, the game lets you focus on the roleplaying, the stories, the quests, etc.
Both games can be difficult to get back into after a long stretch away for very different reasons.
On the totally opposite side of the spectrum? GTA! a game that has basic combat, handholding nav, and a story you can mostly ignore. As a result, it's an easy game to pick up at random.
I think he’s right about a lot of things. It’s a deeply flawed game but still one that creates a feeling that no other game I’ve played can deliver. The open world still feels enormous, rich and lived-in. As the video points out, you can interact with most objects and end up spending a lot of time thinking about what specific items are worth picking up, and remembering what you’re carrying in your inventory. Everything feels heavy and worth your attention. Lots of cool stuff (treasure, interesting story set pieces, and unique items) is hidden in out-of-the-way places, rewarding exploration.
The gameplay is as vast as an ocean but deep as a puddle. You have a decent amount of choices but few have any real consequences. Everything is always open to the player: You can be a magic-less barbarian and still become the archmage of the College of Winterhold; you can be a wizard of restoration magic and still become the leader of the Companions warrior guild. Dungeons are mostly linear, you can progress through them easily without getting turned around, and there’s usually a convenient shortcut back to the entrance from the treasure room to minimize backtracking. And the “puzzles” are the simplest, most hand-holdey ones ever devised.
BUT all of this facilitates your ability to experience the hugeness and richness of the world. The map is full of places with distinct landscapes, weather, stories, cities, and NPCs. Because no place is ever a slog, you can familiarize yourself with everything. And as you do that you discover that Skyrim is built on tons of Elder Scrolls lore… It’s the DNA of the game. Everything is internally consistent and connected to a larger background of world building that is equal parts fascinating and bizarre. The deeper you look into it, the more absurd creativity you discover. And it’s all around you, in books, in random conversations, place names, etc. I’m sure plenty of people play the game and miss 95% of it, but the fact that it exists and adds so much palpable depth to the world if you look for it, elevates Skyrim for me.
Also, one thing the video didn’t mention is that the game mechanics all contribute to a pretty great POWER FANTASY. You start out as a prisoner in literal rags, but before long you basically ascend to godhood. You are the center of everything. And your power manifests in plenty of ways beyond the narrative: through three distinct branches of crafting, five schools of magic, and a variety of melee/ranged weapon types; skills that progress just by using them, with diverse skill trees containing powerful perks; racial powers; a huge array of shouts; unique enchanted items; standing stone effects; temporary effects from altars, etc.; a panoply of daedric artifacts… you can go wherever you want and have a huge range of tools at your disposal for progressing. It’s a veritable sandbox of new things to try. And the storylines (main and side quests alike) will take you to the afterlife and back, back and forth in time, to otherworldly planes of madness and cosmic horror, to the ruins of a vanished but technologically advanced people which are still guarded by their automata, to a cavernous underworld full of bioluminescent secrets. The late stages of the game have you summoning dragons to ride and do battle alongside you, and you’ve accumulated such a cache of abilities and artifacts that you’re basically an immortal deity. When you start playing you feel tiny in a huge world, but by the end you feel like you have conquered the whole thing. I’ve never played a game that matches its feeling of epic power progression. I feel like most summaries of the game focus on viking guys fighting draugr or whatever, and miss all this additional scope.
I still play Skyrim often. I’m a console player, I had it on launch day for PS3; I bought it again for PS4 and eventually upgraded it for PS5. I keep coming back to it because it’s digestible in small portions — I can clear a couple dungeons in the evening before bed. It’s like comfort food. I’ve seen everything the game has to offer dozens of times, but it’s cozy and doesn’t require a lot of concentration, and still makes me feel like a legendary hero.
Bethesda has changed a lot over the past 13 years. I’m not confident that TESVI will (if it ever arrives) recapture the magic of Skyrim. I hope it does, but their other releases of late have me doubtful they still have the right combination of talent and priorities internally to do it again. I’ll probably still be returning to Skyrim decades from now. It’s special.
I think this is a point that gets overlooked by people who haven't really been sucked into the lore rabbit hole. It very much takes the Tolkien approach to world-building in that the history and cosmology are there and well-developed, but it doesn't feel the need to shove it all in your face at every moment. It's how real life is affected by history: you know there are historical precedents and causal events that have led to the point in history you're in, but it's not like those influences are constantly at the fore patly explaining everything. The games can be confidently allusive moment-to-moment because the history is actually there, ready to be explored if that's what you fancy.
Speaking of cosmology, the TES games have one of the most cogently developed creation stories since Tolkien's "Ainulindalë." Unlike that story though, there are multiple conflicting racial versions built into the lore, which is what you'd expect on a world like Nirn. It's clear that the cultures of most of the races have a common origin, but have diverged over the ages so that their religions and creation stories often conflict with each other (the exceptions to this are the Argonians, who are a special breed, and the Redguards, who may or may not be from a different time/universe/dimension altogether).
All of this has a couple of really interesting consequences. For one thing, none of the historical or religious allusions have the feel of being made up on the spot to suit some trivial necessity of plot. It all feels like it just exists, and that you're swimming in the ocean (extremely wide puddle, really) that springs from the history.
It also means that Bethesda's writers never need to worry too much about retconning or being contradictory in their more fanciful elements. Contradiction is expected, and actually adds to the richness of the tapestry of lore that's been woven over nearly 30 years and who-knows-how-many games. Even the strange retconning regarding dragons in Skyrim doesn't feel entirely out of place because of it. It's the sort of neat little storytelling trick that you don't see often that both adds to verisimilitude and allows for creativity within an already developed fictional world. It's easily the most impressive thing about the Elder Scrolls to my mind.
Also on Nebula.
It's surprising to me how no other game has captured the magic of Skyrim. I've played a number of the alternatives, including Witcher 3, and they can't measure up. I keep coming back to Skyrim because it's a game where you can have a blast just wandering around. Hell, I did nothing but that for my first hundred hours, never getting past the first act of the main quest. You can go pretty much anywhere and do pretty much anything in any order you want. This has effectively ruined all other single player open world games for me. Unless I have Skyrim-level freedom I drop the game.
I love all of the little bits of lore hidden around. Like the Thieve's Guild house markings. Or a copy of The Lusty Argonian Maid tucked under a chair at a guard's watch post. Pretty much anywhere you look you can find something interesting. Go into any room and there's a note that might lead you to some hidden treasure or reveal a relationship between two townsfolk who will then complain about each other if you talk to them.
Building a game with all of this is no small task. But Bethesda did it all those years ago. I can't see why another studio couldn't do it again.
I'm in a similar position with open world RPGs. I got tired of Skyrim and saw Witcher 3 recommended and it sorta felt flat right out the gate for what I wanted the game to be. I bee-line the main quest on a first playthough, but didn't feel like there was enough open-endedness in Witcher 3 to feel satisfying. The only games I feel get close are the recent Zelda games and Elden ring but I wish there was a single linear story progression to follow like Skyrim that had walls you could jump out of, and back into. I think having narrative anchors like that helps reinforce the openness of the world if you're doing story questlines.
I might get laughed at, but I honestly think Todd Howard is the reason. He's the stalwart who keeps this machine running. He is equally responsible for the good and the bad in Bethesda games, insofar as he is responsible, but I also think he's the main point of consistency that keeps Bethesda games as "Bethesda Games."
Baldurs Gate 3 has a lot of that feel! There's some rails, but the world and characters are amazing. Very different combat system, of course...