The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim

The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim is a role-playing game with action elements in an open world. It was developed and released by Bethesda for PS3, Xbox 360, and PC on November 11, 2011. It is the fifth game in the Elder Scrolls series, expanding the events of the game universe and offering new gameplay mechanics and opportunities for both the series and the RPG genre.

The updated Creation Engine made Skyrim a benchmark for visual quality for several years to come. The game surprised players with a large seamless world and its high-quality design — each of the climatic regions is recreated as realistically as possible, with characteristic landscapes, vegetation, and animals.

Modern technologies of global illumination, reflections, light and shadow play, numerous effects like depth of field or wet surfaces, and a colorful particle system were used at the time of release, but outdated animation techniques were employed. Level designers filled the interiors with details as much as possible.

The Elder Scrolls universe is rich and diverse, as it combines myths, tales, and beliefs of humanity with fantasy and legends. In the Elder Scrolls series, magic coexists and even intertwines with technology, different races coexist together, and the setting combines early medieval times with fantasy.

The game takes place in Skyrim, one of the most dangerous provinces of Tamriel — a large continent of the fictional planet Nirn. The region is inhabited by the fierce Nords — a collective image of Scandinavians who are unafraid of cold, dangerous enemies, and difficult trials. The bestiary of Skyrim is extensive — from mammoths and giants to undead, dwarves, and ancient gods.

Skyrim is a province with diverse, but predominantly mountainous terrain, intersected by hills, passes, and high ridges. Few valleys are occupied by large cities, while the rest of the territory is almost uninhabited. About a third of the map is constantly covered in snow, and there are also lowlands and swamps, rivers and lakes, tundra.

At a new level, underground life is showcased — in the mountains of Skyrim, there are many mines, tunnels, dungeons, and even entire cities with their inhabitants and terrible secrets.

According to the chronology of Elder Scrolls, the plot of Skyrim begins in the year 201 of the 4th era, 200 years after The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion. The war between the Empire of Man and the Aldmeri Dominion ended 30 years before the events of Skyrim with a humiliating peace treaty for the humans. The Stormcloaks, a group of Nords led by the veteran Ulfric Stormcloak, rebelled against the Empire and killed the High King of Skyrim.

The jarls divided into two warring camps. Some want the province to separate from the Empire of Man, while others advocate for maintaining unity. In the heat of the civil war, the player's character finds themselves sentenced to execution, with an axe already raised above their head. Next in line is Ulfric himself.

A second before the executioner's strike, a dragon attacks the watchtower, burning everything to ashes; by a miracle, the hero manages to escape. He learns that he is the Dragonborn, the one who can defeat the dragon, while Skyrim is being terrorized by flying fire-breathing beasts.

Discovering his destiny, the hero begins to slay dragons, learns the Words of Power and Shouts — ancient magic that requires no preparation to fight the dragon king Alduin and stop their large-scale invasion.

Side quests will also keep you entertained. The war between the jarls for the future of Skyrim continues, the Empire sends an expeditionary force to suppress the rebellion, the guild of assassins operates in the shadows, and werewolves and vampires solve their problems at the expense of the simple inhabitants of the region.

The class system in Skyrim is virtually non-existent; players can develop their character as they wish, even against logic. At the beginning, the game offers to choose the race and gender of the character. There are 10 playable races in Skyrim — humans, elves, orcs, lizards, cats, and others, each with its own set of unique talents and bonuses to certain skills.

Talents allow for faster recovery of magic, health, grant temporary invisibility, reduce stamina consumption, and so on. Some act constantly, while others are activated as a magical ability; some are determined by the hero's race, while others are gained by reading books, during quests, or by transforming into a werewolf or vampire.

Skills allow you to pick locks, wear better armor, use rare weapons, cast spells, enchant, and so on. The growth of a skill is determined by how often it is used; for example, by picking light locks first, you can quickly progress to harder ones. Practicing alchemy allows you to create potions with increasingly powerful effects.

Abilities are new ways to implement a skill or some bonus during its use. For example, by frequently using magic, a mage will learn to shoot fireballs or freeze targets, while a blacksmith will learn to forge higher quality armor. Lockpicks will no longer break, and an archer will learn to shoot without pause.

In Skyrim, the player is completely free; after completing the prologue, you can head in any direction to explore the world, get into scrapes and find your way out, complete random quests, fight monsters, make new friends, and develop your character to the limit (there are no restrictions, but the higher the level, the longer you need to play).

Alternatively, you can follow the storyline, playing the role of the Dragon Slayer, establish relationships with the jarls, participate in political intrigues, join guilds and secret organizations, find companions, some of whom can even become life partners, buy and furnish estates.

Completing Skyrim fully will take about 300 hours, while the storyline offers options for replayability: Depending on the player's actions, some characters may die and not play their role in the story. A number of quests will close or open, and the player may discover new territories that they have not explored before.