Sunday 20 November 2011

This Week, I 'Ave Been Mostly Playing (14/11/11 - 20/11/11)

Skyrim (PC)

Like so many others, Skyrim has me. The amount of buzz surrounding this game is incredible, and I can't remember the last time I heard so many people talking about one game. It's strange to think that it was only two games previous that the Elder Scrolls series wasn't that well known, and was mostly for hardcore western RPG fans. I'll admit that I didn't even know what Morrowind was until a few years after its release. By the time Oblivion came out, a lot more people knew of the series, and now the latest entry is towering over this year's Call of Duty game, with at least 3 times as many players. I guess you could say the series has... gathered steam (ho ho ho).

It's all I've played this week, and I'm enjoying it a lot. I skipped Oblivion, but I heard that it was a little repetitive, and empty compared to Morrowind. I did play some of the third Elder Scrolls game and enjoyed the open world that, despite its size, was still packed with things to see and do for the inquisitive explorer. Skyrim seems to follow that style, but looks a lot better, and brings in a slightly streamlined skill leveling system that makes it more accessible. I appreciated that, for once, I was able to begin playing this game without too much prior planning. I merely decided on a race that started with bonuses to the skills I was interested in, and they've developed naturally as I've played in my own preferred style.

I've barely touched the main storyline. Whenever I'm on my way to the next objective, I find caves to loot and new quests to embark on. Merely visiting a new town fills your quest log up with plenty of opportunities to completely ignore the main questline and enjoy the feeling of freedom.

I decided on an orcish character, as I tend to favour orcs in any game that doesn't represent them as dumb beasts. I'm going with my usual approach of wielding a one-handed weapon and shield, and playing defensively, bashing enemies in the face with the shield and striking when they're open to attack. It's working out well. Meanwhile, I've been dabbling in a bit of smithing and enchanting. I love crafting in RPGs. It's even better when you can actually use the stuff you create. I'm currently working on a full set of orcish armour, in order to look the part.

I haven't decided between the Stormcloaks or Imperials yet. It seems there are plenty of reasons not to join either, but it's probably something you should get involved in at some point. I guess I'm leaning towards the Imperials at the moment, seeing as the Stormcloaks hate everyone that isn't a Nord. Yes, the introduction to the game gave a pretty good reason not to join the Imperials either, but hey, we all make mistakes. Maybe they deserve a second chance.

Anything Else?

My druid reached level 83 in World of Warcraft, and we're nearly done with Deepholm. I still have Arkham City to finish, but it's really difficult not to play Skyrim when I sit down to do some gaming. I'll try and get round to it this week. All it would take is to log out of Steam. I can never remember my password, and the effort of resetting it might serve as enough of a block to sway me towards switching the PS3 on instead.

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