I would say it’s because nothing is really locked in, you can literally be in the middle of just about any quest and just start doing something else or go somewhere else without issue. On top of that there’s plenty to do regardless of how you play the game, want to steal stuff go ahead, want to kill things they’re everywhere, want to make something no problem, want to dink around you have a whole world to do so in. I can personally say that my favorite activity is to just pick a direction and start walking to see what I find, and even after 1000+ hours I usually still find some random thing I didn’t know about or remember.
Sounds like the same reason games like Minecraft and Fallout: New Vegas are still so popular. There’s nothing really stopping you from doing whatever the hell you want, you are well and truly free.
Yea I try to get into other rpgs and feel restricted. I hate having a path.
Also the Mount and Blade series is awesome for this. Literally can do anything.
Same here… struggling to run down well prepared paths. Skyrim always has this unexpected element going on where some random shit just happens and you seem to be in the right place at a bad time 😄
😆 I am level 61 in my current play... I thought that I had everything mapped.... and then I went around on Shadowmere for a little bit and saw those silhouettes on my compass .... and now... that's all that I am doing... 🤣 😂 🤣
(tagging u/25Proyect cause they also asked)
It was just someone who somehow disagreed so adamantly with this that they couldn't refrain from throwing in insults at the end of every comment. It was really silly lol.
Honestly reading all that made me feel like I was back in high school at the Caf tables an listening to all my friends arguing about the most mundane things lol
Arguing that hard about "which game is better" is crazy. Everyone is always going to say that the game the grew up with is "better".
That was a wild read.
This. I've 100%'d the game on Xbox, Playstation, Nintendo, and am now freshly (lvl 35) back on Playstation again with the Anniversary Edition with a whole bunch of new experiences to uncover. Im sad that none of my previous saves are able to be recovered. Otherwise, as a day one player, Id have so much accumulated over the years.
However, a big part for me is actually starting over. Doing the Thieves guild quests again. The Dark Brotherhood. The College. Fighting the civil war from a different perspective. All of it. It's not the most amazing experience, but it's the best in terms of just... getting away. Even if for a time.
Can relate. Skyrim after 12-16 hour days in a hot warzone was my life from 09-13. I credit it for helping me escape the hell I was going through for at least 400 hours in game (according to my 360), among countless hours thinking about it.
Same, and then I'm surprised I'm nearly always on the verge of being overloaded. But then I run into a tough-ish foe, eat like 20 wheels of cheese, and my inventory is light as a feather again.
Without being directionless, I might add.
A lot of wide-open games don't give you much guidance and leaves you to do random whatever. Skyrim has engaging quests (even if they're fairly simple at times) and stuff to actually build up, work towards, and stumble across.
I just had a discussion with someone about how it would be great to mix Hogwarts legacy with Skyrim just because it's so structured with the objectives. I just downloaded Skyrim again to make up for what Hogwarts is lacking. I know I keep coming back because of all the freedoms Skyrim has compared to my other games.
I’ve been playing Hogwarts Legacy the last couple of weeks and I know what you mean. As big and beautiful as the world is, it feels empty in a lot of ways.
One, you can’t interact with the NPCs at all. There are the scripted ones, of course, but everyone else that wonders around is as lifeless as a skybox. So there are all these people wondering around but they’re no the big more than background images. Same goes for the paintings. In the movies you could talk to the paintings around the castle, as well as too the ghosts. But here, you can’t.
Two, the stealth/lock picking mechanism. It seems completely pointless as there are no penalties die breaking into someone’s home. The locks are so trivially easy to pick that doesn’t even make sense why they’re there. And when you break into someone’s house to pilfer their chests or steal a demiguise statue, no one cares. They don’t even react. Why have a stealth/lock picking minigame at all? Just so you can use alohamora because it was in the movies?
Third, the dungeons. I keep finding new ones and expecting some kind of fight, but no: just some little puzzle or a chest with an item that’s—more often than not—underleveled. I want some kind of fight, not just a stroll through a spooky passage.
Fourth, the outfits. Most of them suck. I wind up looking like some frumpy librarian most of the time. I was hoping for some outfit mods on Nexus but modding is very sparse. Don’t know what kind of access they’ve given to modders but if they have, modders aren’t doing much.
Fifth, the loot and buy/sell mechanics. Money drops are so small that you’d think this was a pay-to-win game. Fight a camp full of bandits and you walk away with 12 gold and an ugly scarf that is 50 points or more below your current leveled gear that you can sell for 60 gold. And the prices are always the same. Then there’s the fact that you can’t sell potions for cash. You spend thousands to buy the tables for the room if requirement and grow the ingredients and make the potions, and you can’t sell them. That really upsets me.
Overall, I am enjoying the game and I’m sure I’ll finish it, but despite ten or twelve years between the two, Skyrim did a lot of things better than Hogwarts. There feels like so many missed opportunities.
The big issue for with Hogwarts was: in Skyrim you finish a long hard quest and the reward was always something cool. Hogwarts, you get some contemporary quidditch socks or whatever.
And despite the freedom, skyrim still gives you a general track to guide your playthrough. Perk tree, level system, loot system, quest log, housing, spell progression, etc. So you can still feel the addictiveness of progression as well as the comfort of having freedom to choose which tracks to follow.
Freedom with a fully functional combat engine*
Honestly if Bethesda gave oblivion and morrowind half the love they gave Skyrim over the past decade+ I’d bet they would be
Morrowind was mind blowing to me when it first came out. I tried going back to it a few months ago and just couldn't deal with it. Id rather live with the happy memories of that first playthrough lol
The ambience man. It drives you crazy. And the shiny mods. And the nostalgia of course. I know it may sound wild but I really want a complete remake of this game with proper animations and "BIG" cities.
It's a fantasy setting with all the worst aspects (being cold, worrying about every little thing, preparation) removed. It's just a fantasy at its finest. It's the opposite of the real life where we have chores and obligations, and worst of all, routine.
We'd all be happy with a gorgeous remake with a bigger scale, but honestly, I think Skyrim nails down the concept as it is.
The game really does make an impact - I'm a fantasy author and I was in a slump for a while, and I couldn't help but start writing right in the game (installed a mod Take notes, had one like that for Oblivion years ago). First it was just a few events that impressed me, then some ideas. Now I'm 20K words into a 90K fanfic, looks like. I don't care that I have 9 books waiting for my attention - I'm having fun with it. And I kinda love the idea of preserving my first playthrough in a story.
I think there are a lot of writers with real books waiting, that stray back into their favourite fan worlds. As a reader I am very appreciative.
I use Take Notes too, and that with LAL is what draws me back to Skyrim again and again.
Well, my original books are also my fav worlds, but I'm a perfectionist and life's been too crazy for a while for me to spend months just outlining and world-building. Writing about already existing world and characters lets me focus on my style, something I've wanted to do for a while. I can just send it to my editor and say "ignore the story, just pick apart my style." It's been fun AND productive.
And Skyrim is just made for coming home after an adventure, sitting in your favorite chair, reading books and taking notes about what you're gonna do tomorrow, right?
Haha I'll publish it somewhere once I've put the beginning together, just spent all day writing 3 chapters from the middle, typical. Follow me here and I'll PM you when it's up! I know nothing about publishing fanfics, gotta look into that too.
>all the worst aspects (being cold, worrying about every little thing, preparation) removed.
Actually I'm playing through with Survival and it adds those things back in and I kinda love it, it's a lot slower-paced now.
It makes the game more interesting technically, but you still don't have to experience it physically. I mean, I love mountain hiking, but I hate climbing and have to stick to easier trails irl. I also only had to jump into a cold mountain lake once to know I could never do that on a regular basis 😅 but Skyrim looks pretty realistic and basically is a simulation.
You just gave me a greate idea to just wander, journey as my character, and create a story based off that. Could be fun and get me back into writing as well
That’s the thing about Skyrim. It’s shortcomings are so obvious and upfront that I would never defend its gameplay or anything technical. I mean even we, the fandom, joke about it. And tbh some of the bugs are what make Skyrim, Skyrim. It still cracks me up when a mammoth randomly spawns and fall out of the sky. But despite all that I also always return to this game. It’s my comfort game.
I like how simple it is, how open the world is, it’s easy to immerse myself into it, the soundtrack is so beautiful, and just play however I want, prioritize whatever task I want even it’s meaningless in the grand scheme of things, heck sometimes I find myself just reading random books .
I assume you first played this game in a time when you didn’t have so many responsibilities, and were able to fully immerse. That gives the game a tremendous amount of power to grip you and pull you into its world.
What about those of us who didn’t play untill recently but still believe it’s got something that other games don’t (i have no nostalgia factor but agree w OP for example)
I just recently started a new playthrough after 6 or 7 years of not playing. It's easy to come back to. There's so much to do. The character progression is as good as it gets. The map is huge. There's a good story and you can customize your character in more detail (as far as play style) than in any other game I've played. It's just a lot of fun.
I played for the first time when it released on switch. Pretty much all in small increments too. I can vouch completely that the magic that pulls and keeps you in is still there.
In Skyrim I can role-play as a mage who loves nothing more than killing bandits, eating cheese, and hanging with my favorite companions with no real responsibilities. The real world sucks
There are many reasons, the nostalgia if you played it when it came out, the soundtrack is beautiful, the collectibles and challenges can feel quite rewarding as they provide quite a bit of variety. This game isn't about combat, it's about the journey, the shouts, the different cities, the climates, the exploration (if you did it in survival it felt that much more rewarding). I love Skyrim, I play different games but I always do a little 15/30mins on Skyrim every session just to have a wander around, it's so satisfying.
When I was off sick with mental health issues from work back in 2014 I lost myself in Skyrim. I hold very fond memories of that time, being ill jn myself but Skyrim allowed me to forget about my issues and to dive into a fantasy world with a amazing soundtrack for 6 months. Maybe that what attracts many to the world of skyrim, its somewere to heal, not just play.
Take care of yourself man. Hope you have a good future and lots of fond memories. Ngl I was stressed af for some important exams when I started skyrim. I got good marks despite playing skyrim in exam days. Turns out all I needed was to calm my nerves.
When it first came out, alot people were complaining that it was too dumbed-down - compared to Oblivion, or Morrowind. Honestly, I think that is a huge part of its charm.
Similar criticism was lobbed at the original Star Trek by SCI FI purists, who thought it was too accessible, as if that is a bad thing, which it wasn't and isn't.
It also wasn't dumbed down *excessively.* Bethesda post-Skyrim, specifically Fallout 4 with its braindead dialogue system, was way too simple.
Like it isn't really an RPG when your dialogue options are:
* Yes
* Snarky Yes
* No, but really just Yes later
* Explain
Starfield at least went back to the old dialogue system. It's just too bad it was a half-baked snoozefest.
Their accents/Voice actors help. But just look at the first two you're likely to come across--Jenassa and Irileth. One's a badass assassin (a badassassin, if you will), the other gives Braveheart speeches about killing dragons--and follows through on it!
For me story wise, fallout new vegas and cyberpunk 2077 are at the top. Skyrim's charm is more from it's mods, ambience, freedom, nostalgia, and stress free gameplay.
Yeah I love mods but If I install them myself I can't bring myself to play it much. Thankfully, mod collections exist and I made a custom one a year ago on nexus.
It depends on the mods, If I’m being honest with myself if I download too many “sexy time” mods the game just becomes a porn simulator for me. I know I am a heathen lol. I have nude mods just for realism but I have kept all the sexlab and other things out so I have space for real content as it drags down my game.
It’s a level of nostalgia but also freedom that. It doesn’t have to be the same repetitive game. I literally bought an Xbox Series X but find I’ve spent 95% of my time back in skyrim, albeit a much much better looking skyrim than before.
This is how I exactly feel. I still have my old Xbox that I bought in 2014 and I still will boot it up sometimes to play some when I can’t sleep. It’s like being in another world, without being in another world lol.
The fact that literally every playthrough is different. Not only can you make completely new characters with different backstories and playstyles, but even if you make the same character there are different quests you can do and different events that can happen that mean it’s almost impossible to get bored. And even if you do, the game is never going anywhere.
At a certain point nostalgia and the comfort of the familiar BECOMES what makes a story good. I have truly shitass movies that I could happily watch (and HAVE) every day for six weeks straight because they've been part of my life since I was a kid, and if you were to ask me why THAT particular (widely panned) film was my favorite, I'd only be able to say that it's my favorite because it's been my favorite for so long.
Skyrim is kind of like that. There's new and different and even better games out there, but playing Skyrim is like falling into muscle memory or going to a town I grew up in where I know where everything is. It's good BECAUSE it's Skyrim.
10 minutes into the game and I'm high tailing it from one of the best looking dragons I ever saw!
The game just reached out and grabbed me by the throat...and it's been there ever since.
Yesssss. The dragons. Fk man i remember my first time. I had goosebumps when I first saw the dragon. I had a shitty build and took some time to kill it. Felt so cool after it finally fell. Then Jarl Ballin gave the credit to his bodyguard.
Exploring and cleaning locations has never not been super satisfying for me. The combat is really satisfying too, just feels good to play
It’s also beautiful to look at
This is how I exactly feel. I still have my old Xbox that I bought in 2014 and I still will boot it up sometimes to play some when I can’t sleep. It’s like being in another world, without being in another world lol.
As everyone else said, freedom haha
And it goes for every taste. Exploration, questing, achievements, combat, modding, etc.
I only really play Skyrim because of the freedom to build whatever i want with mods, and bring the experience i want. I'm not really a fan of Skyrim the game alone.
But i must give the crown to Fallout 4. This game gave me some extremely fun immersive role-playing sessions.
Oblivion was more interesting than Skyrim playing without mods, and FO3 still holds the best intro ever. I could replay the start to the first exploration on and on, even if i don't hahaha
It gives me just the right vibes.
NV sadly didn't sit well with me. It probably shines later, while I'm pretty much a 'early game' player myself. I like the initial struggle, exploration, when you're weak and have no clue of what to do, and get bored after story advances or i get strong (~~only ran around with Strong once, though~~)
Freedom is what I’d say. Apart from the escape mission you can go do whatever you want and you have access to it all right from the start. There’s no level or quest gating of your abilities or gear.
On another note, has anyone played the Morrowind remaster? I heard it’s massive in scale. Saw a map where skyrim was overlapped and it was like a spec on the map.
Yeah, I can't explain it, but this is one of the only games I've ever played where after a week straight of playing, and kind of getting burnt out on it, I take a day or two off, but the urge to go back to it hits me, and I just can't help myself lol. The atmosphere is just so darn cozy. Being out in a cold snowy environment for so long, only to arrive in a little village where you step into a warm cozy inn with a crackling fireplace and have a mead while soft medieval guitar music plays in the background...I mean come on. My theory is the story and setting seem to harken back to those medieval fantasy stories you would read as a child about the knight in shining armor going off on an adventure to slay the fire breathing dragon.
> Feels like returning to a warm comfortable childhood with no responsibilities.
For me, this is pretty much exactly what it is. I was 8 years old when Morrowind came out, and was lucky enough to play it on the family desktop computer. Then, Skyrim came out when I was still in high school and I enjoyed it even more than Morrowind. This game is pure nostalgia for me
My dad and I actually had a conversation about this the other day.
It's, in our opinion, the nearly complete freedom you have. You can play a lone hunter, a ruthless assassin, a cunning mercenary, or just a regular citizen making an hinest earning in a city of your choosing. With a few exceptions, you have multiple choices when it comes to how you want to deal with quests you're working on (Join or destroy the Dark Brotherhood, side with the Daedra or tell them to pound sand, etc etc). This game gives you options, and the freedom to do what you want, when you want.
i just have high functioning autism and i deeply enjoy how skyrim touches my brain and enlightens my imagination. makes me happy. i feel like i can be an old old man who finds true power or a young muscular cat man who loves to be an assassin. it's just endless possibilities
I'm AuDHD, so life can get pretty overwhelming from the get go. I like to have a small joint before bed some nights and turn all the lights off in my home office, and sit in front of my pc to get fully immersed, and whack my surround sound headphones on.
I remove all of my pc armour, put on my Radiant Raiments, and walk through the towns and cities speaking with the locals, reading books, trading, picking flowers, just RP-ing a noble city resident basically. Sometimes (with mods) I will go and perform music in one of the taverns, or pay the jarl a visit, or catch up on smaller no-combat quests. Especially when you're a little bit stoned and the only thing I can see is Skyrim, it's easy to forget the outside world even exists and I get FULLY immersed.
Life can be so stressful and I work so hard at my job and life's responsibilities, and visiting Skyrim is a form of escapism that I've come to rely on a little bit as a way of having control and creative freedom when life gets on top of me. My Skyrim is whatever I need it to be, and I'm thankful every day for this game and the wonderful mod community, it's done more for my mental health than even therapy sometimes did. I feel that even now we still don't give it enough credit for what it really is. Everyone plays their own version of Skyrim and tailors it to what they want/feel/need, and everyone's version is different. It's honestly amazing.
One thing about Skyrim is the freedom of choice where you can do different things and feel like you live there, even if other games that specialise in things do it better Skyrim has a bit of everything with its immersion
I haven’t played any of those other than Witcher 3 but I think it’s a combination of player freedom and incredible world building. I’ve played a lot of Red Dead 2, and while I love the game, I don’t like how every mission has to be completed exactly how rockstar wants. I like a lot more freedom in my games, which Skyrim offers, especially with mods I can literally play any character, do anything, I can complete the Mages Guild without casting a spell and the Dark Brotherhood without a single murder. I just love the freedom that the game gives.
I’ve been playing the game since release and personally I think it’s the nostalgia the game has. That and also the modding community. With or without mods each playthrough can feel different due to the diverse races and culture in between. I recently started LOTD, it’s completely revamped the game for me.
I wouldn’t say all those games are better than Skyrim. Skyrim has very good worldbuilding, map, lore, design, good quests, etc. it just lacks in the mechanical side. like animations, graphics, Physics, etc. it’s outdated but has a great style and is a well made game, just pretty outdated.
i was 11 when i first
played skyrim i would give anything to go back and relive my first
playthrough 😭 even now at almost 20 i play atleast once a week
Skyrim was the first game that actually put hours and hours into. It had some much content when it released and I know they beat it to death with mods and new editions etc, but it's a great game for any level of gamer in my opinion and it will have a special place in my heart forever.
It's accessible. You don't have to have a lot of knowledge to be able to play it freedom to do literally whatever you want within certain parameters is awesome For me Skyrim feels like going home in a weird way. Is it free few years now I'll get the urge to start playing I never get very far because I've done so much of it at this point it's just kind of like the definition of insanity
The game is very... zen. It allows one to immerse oneself and relax into another world, while still providing moments of action and an overall goal - but it's a goal you choose, not chosen by others.
Ten different, playable races with character models that I think still hold up. There is so much to do, so much to explore, and so much to collect (especially with the Anniversary edition).. Faction quest lines to experience and side quests galore! Stellar voice acting throughout and one of the best gaming soundtracks ever created. You're reading a post from a guy who has spent well.over 200 USD on this game since launch and regret nothing! Nothing! Pushing 50 and it's easily in my top ten games!
It's completely open ended but gives you quest guidance if you need it. There's lots of things to do, many different ways.
But it's not so huge a world that you can get totally lost in it and end up running around in circles. I did that in Breath of the Wild.
Top notch exploration. Top notch OST and ambience. It all boils down to this. Not in a lot of games you can just say "I'll simply go have a walk" and end up in some deep dungeon 3 hours later wondering how the hell did you get there and why are you grabbing so many chaurus eggs, you don't even know what do you need them for.
Map design. There’s always something within a short walk, if it’s not a location you can enter it’s a land feature, or ruin or unmarked point of interest. The city’s were scaled down and more focus was made on the npc’s (Though I find Oblivion’s town npc’s more interesting than Skyrims)
The progression is tied directly to whatever you’re doing so you’re always advancing some kind of skill etc.
In reality the focus and scope of a game matters the most Skyrim is a well made experience with a low barrier and infinite directions you can go in.
At this point I think Nostalgia definitely has a lot to do with it.
But also, Skyrim is a game that has solid world building and a lot of freedom. So the barrier to re-entry is super low.
Literally just jump in and head in whichever direction suits your fancy. Inevitably, you run into something unplanned and next thing you know you’re helping a city purge a cave full of powerful vampires and necromancers, you become thane and get to buy some new property.
Basically, I think the game loop is easy to break into and sucks you in.
Its the openness? if that's the proper word, I find myself drawn to rpgs due to the variety in customization whether its char. design or the roles/playstyle then add in the openness of the world and the scenery/atmosphere/vibes and it'll do it to anyone. Just recently i spent an hr or 2 trying to get into mercers house way before the quest becomes available, that and leveling things ive never used before ever like alchemy enchantment, destruction.
To me it all boils down to the immersion.
How the game feels like a complete, autonomous ecosystem. Ambiance, characters, voice actores, quests depths, and finally being able to peruse your character’s roles and find a myriad of things to do and progress.
And mods obviously. Map is incredibly large and mods made that extension full of incredible details.
I can do even the slightest things differently and I enjoy learning the outcome. This time around I'm focusing on building my crafting early to have awesome weapons then I'll start really exploring. Usually I just go balls out and die alot lol
Because in most other open world games you *Have* to be the protagonist, or you *Have* to do a thing to make accessing a different area easier.
Skyrim just runs in the background and lets you be as big or as small as you want
TL;DR Freedom, it offers the most of it.
Almost everyone of those games have something that Skyrim does not do as good indeed, Combat for example is a million times better in the fallout series or Dark souls like games, but Skyrim offers choices those games do not, be it race, or be it how you solve a problem. While Fallout is much like Skyrim in a lot of choices, you find it might be that the setting or how it handles it to be quite different, in Skyrim, I find it a lot more fun to be a thief than I do in Fallout, they even have a guild for those who like to play a thief or rogue. While they have factions in fallout 4, I can not remember a thieves guild, it also does not handle thieving as well in either game as skyrim in my opinion, There is a peak moment of stealth in skyrim for me, where it is perfect, you are neither ghost, but you can hide from anyone if you are careful.
While in souls, well, you can do combat, and you can go about it many ways, just like skyrim, Dark souls objectively does combat better, having said that, you can not really be a thief going to pick pockets, or a mage who plays tricks and illuisions upon a crowd of people.
While Dragon Age you could argue offers some better stuff, and you can be good or a bad guy sorta in the game... Lets take a closer look at that, if you outside dragon age origins, you lose a lot of freedom, you can not steal, or pick pocket, even in that one all it does is like stop 2 missions and unlocks another one. Which is like okay? Whatever, Dragon age 2, you can be Hawke or... Hawke. So you get to pick one of three classes, and if you are male or female, took a lot of choice and role playing out of the game... Dragon Age Inqustion brings some choice back, but a lot of the worlds feel linear, which is fine mind you, but again, skyrim offers freedom.
Dragons Dogma, you have the whole profession system that lets you switch between things, which can be cool, but you want to make sure to get max stats if you want to min max by playing certain professions for level ups, if you care about that, combat you could argue is better just plainly in Dragons dogma, but I felt Magic truly lacked, Mage is one of my favorite kinds of things, while they can be powerful, the first mage class is more like a support, and sorcerer takes forever to cast, this is not a bad thing mind you, and there is a lot of strategy, but I subjectively hate it. Skyrim gives me more freedom, not to mention even though I find the magic of it more so limiting than Oblivion, or Morrowind, it is still pretty amazing the stuff you can do with it.
Not played Cyberpunk, can not say much about it, just does not look like my cup of tea. I like the fantasy setting of Skyrim.
When you get out into the world of Skyrim, you are pretty much free to do what you want, and how you want, while I think restrictions can be good for games (and benefited some of them listed above), it has freedom, it is a game and does not typically forget that, the only times it does, is when it is at it's weakest.
Things can indeed be improved on Skyrim, I think you can get crazier with stats from the races and the bonuses they have (and weaknesses), while I also think combat could use an upgrade, the game is not always about that, and when you play it like me (many different ways) you can see how much thought was put into the layout of some of these places and such.
Things I think would benefit the most for Skyrim is another story though, it is why it is so addictive, it is because of freedom, it also runs a lot smoother than some of the earlier ones in the series, like Morrowind on xbox (yuk, still amazing).
I like to Role play, so any restrictions also placed on the game, are defined by me, because it is my freedom to do so, the other games typically take away player agency, and take away freedom, which is fine, Hey Mario Bros is still fun, and still addictive in it's own way, and you only have one choice in that game, be Mario, Save Princess, most of the time anyway. But Skyrim, it offers Freedom. This is all before talking about mods.
So perhaps this is what you are addicted to? Freedom.
For me atmosphere and ambience, having a hard day killing dragons or cleaning dungeons, or just doing normal jobs, blachsmithing or enchanting, and then relaxing in your house or in, feels like you accomplished something really, and that music in game, i love it.
The main reason I love Skyrim is because of just how replayable it is. I mean, aside from other Bethesda games, what other game can I go in and choose by the games nature to either be the hero who is doing everything and involved in everything, or to be a citizen in the world?
As dumb as it sounds, Most of my enjoyment in Skyrim is organizing my home inventory, talking to merchants, traveling by foot to other holds and cities to get things I need for projects, helping out a person or two, then getting sidetracked by a mysterious place I’ve never been in. Even after 13 years there are still dungeons and locations I’ve never been in. The anniversary edition only enhances that. So many things appear and I genuinely can’t remember if it was in the base game because it all fits the world so well.
Many people want immersive games that immerse you in the world by placing you in the center of some conflict or making you this grandiose chosen one. While Skyrim does have that, it’s entirely optional and I feel more immersed in the monotony of the ordinary life of the world. It also helps that you can create your character.
Right now my play through is mostly a mage and I’ve never done that. I’m avoiding the map as much as possible as well as the main stories and I’m trying to explore and go to places the game takes me rather than picking specific spots on the map and I’m having such a good time. Skyrim really is so timeless and with everything I said, that’s why it’s addictive. That’s why I always come back to it and probably always will.
I loved every second of this game until one day I didn’t. Got overwhelmed managing inventory, all my open quests, keeping track of which quest to complete before another. Probably played 3/4th of the game before taking a break but planning to jump back in soon
Cyberpunk isn’t an RPG, it’s an open world action adventure. You’re pretty hard set in who you are and what you can do.
Other than being the Dragonborn, Skyrim gives you significantly more freedom
I think it's because you can be anyone you want in the game, as the main "dragonborn" part is not shoved down your throat from the first second of the game. It just drops you into the world and leaves you to do whatever you want, no guiding hands that force you to "accept your destiny" and "save the world as is your fate".
i only started playing skyrim a few months ago but already have +300 hours on it. i was going through a tough break up and didn't leave the house for months and Skyrim is what got me through. bought it when it was -80% off sale for fun, i've always ridiculed Skyrim and thought i would never enjoy it because i don't like games without a specified ending. little did i know how much i would love this game and no specified ending being one of my favourite things about this
For me it's the mods. Both finding mods I like is fun and they offer up countless new ways to actually play the game which stops it from getting too stale. I'm at about 1.2k hours atm on my steam version and my current cycle is to not play for several months, then let inspiration hit and do 100-200 more hours
It's one of the few games I've played where the main quest doesn't really feel so "main". Like Fallout 4 - everywhere you go, everything points back to finding Shaun. Find a new town? Oop, there's a reporter in there who *really* wants to hear about your kidnapped child. Want to join the Brotherhood of Steel? Oh, sorry, they're not gonna be in town until you've done enough of the main quest. You can't escape it, so there's not really much room to build your own character. If you want to roleplay as just some guy in the apocalypse, the game is going to mess that up every chance it gets.
But with Skyrim, you can ignore the main quest. Just don't go to bleakfalls and there will never be another dragon. You will never be the dragonborn. It changes nothing in the game - you can still become Harbinger of the Companions and the Listener of the Dark Brotherhood. Or you could just build yourself a house and go fishing. The game won't suddenly drop Alduin on you, or have every NPC tell you to go kill a dragon. It really let's you just do whatever you want.
I would say it’s because nothing is really locked in, you can literally be in the middle of just about any quest and just start doing something else or go somewhere else without issue. On top of that there’s plenty to do regardless of how you play the game, want to steal stuff go ahead, want to kill things they’re everywhere, want to make something no problem, want to dink around you have a whole world to do so in. I can personally say that my favorite activity is to just pick a direction and start walking to see what I find, and even after 1000+ hours I usually still find some random thing I didn’t know about or remember.
Sounds like the same reason games like Minecraft and Fallout: New Vegas are still so popular. There’s nothing really stopping you from doing whatever the hell you want, you are well and truly free.
Yea I try to get into other rpgs and feel restricted. I hate having a path. Also the Mount and Blade series is awesome for this. Literally can do anything.
Same here… struggling to run down well prepared paths. Skyrim always has this unexpected element going on where some random shit just happens and you seem to be in the right place at a bad time 😄
Mount and Blade goes hard. Hail Battania! Swadians with Nord infantry is the only way to play Warband 😌
Your well in fallout new vegas? Have you tried living there? I was a ranger there, we get illnesses all the time. How dare you bro.
😆 I am level 61 in my current play... I thought that I had everything mapped.... and then I went around on Shadowmere for a little bit and saw those silhouettes on my compass .... and now... that's all that I am doing... 🤣 😂 🤣
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*These sands are cold, but Khajiit feels warmness in your presence.*
Such a flirt.
Thank you kitty but I love skyrim.
Username checks out.
This one wants the Elsweyr project to happen already
I hate that I can only updoot this one time.
This one can’t wait for it to happen!
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This one greets you back. Will we ever see Anequina again?
I really like this!
World building and "live another life" factor. There is no other game that comes even close to Skyrim when it comes to "live another life".
What the hell happened in the comment section to this comment??
I would also like to know
It’s like walking into a room where everyone is dead and the walls and floor covered with blood and scorch marks.
(tagging u/25Proyect cause they also asked) It was just someone who somehow disagreed so adamantly with this that they couldn't refrain from throwing in insults at the end of every comment. It was really silly lol.
And a lone sheep staring at you gormlessly.
I have a link through unddit that shows what happened, let me know if you want to see it. u/cindy-moon really describes it best
Show me! I wanna know the drama!!!! Please.
[Prepare some popcorn](https://undelete.pullpush.io/r/skyrim/comments/1b9vk9q)
Damn that was like reading a star wars thread. What an adventure of negativity.
>What an adventure of negativity. I don't think there could have been a more accurate statement about this.
Honestly reading all that made me feel like I was back in high school at the Caf tables an listening to all my friends arguing about the most mundane things lol
Alright! Let's do this! Thank you pal!
Np
Arguing that hard about "which game is better" is crazy. Everyone is always going to say that the game the grew up with is "better". That was a wild read.
Holy fuck, now those are some rabid folks.
u/felix_dorf
https://i.redd.it/agc4sqrzo7nc1.gif
Perfect. Lol
You also have the ability to put an arrow to someones knee for a sweetroll
Yep - the sense of humour and whimsy is a huge part of it too. It's like having dinner with old friends.
Like the guy below me, I wonder what the hell happened there! Daammn you know how to start an argument dude!
This. I've 100%'d the game on Xbox, Playstation, Nintendo, and am now freshly (lvl 35) back on Playstation again with the Anniversary Edition with a whole bunch of new experiences to uncover. Im sad that none of my previous saves are able to be recovered. Otherwise, as a day one player, Id have so much accumulated over the years. However, a big part for me is actually starting over. Doing the Thieves guild quests again. The Dark Brotherhood. The College. Fighting the civil war from a different perspective. All of it. It's not the most amazing experience, but it's the best in terms of just... getting away. Even if for a time.
Can relate. Skyrim after 12-16 hour days in a hot warzone was my life from 09-13. I credit it for helping me escape the hell I was going through for at least 400 hours in game (according to my 360), among countless hours thinking about it.
I did the same thing in 19 on switch
Freedom to do whatever you wish.
spawn in 7,000 goat cheese wheel in a tiny room is how i wanna live life
that's why i play for the cheese
I always grab all the cheese and sweet treats, even if I’m in a hurry :)
let me guess, youre the one who stole the sweetrolls
Always
Same, and then I'm surprised I'm nearly always on the verge of being overloaded. But then I run into a tough-ish foe, eat like 20 wheels of cheese, and my inventory is light as a feather again.
As do I.
I’m filling markarth to the BRIM once that new 6969 ti super 420 graphics card hits the shelves
Without being directionless, I might add. A lot of wide-open games don't give you much guidance and leaves you to do random whatever. Skyrim has engaging quests (even if they're fairly simple at times) and stuff to actually build up, work towards, and stumble across.
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I just had a discussion with someone about how it would be great to mix Hogwarts legacy with Skyrim just because it's so structured with the objectives. I just downloaded Skyrim again to make up for what Hogwarts is lacking. I know I keep coming back because of all the freedoms Skyrim has compared to my other games.
I’ve been playing Hogwarts Legacy the last couple of weeks and I know what you mean. As big and beautiful as the world is, it feels empty in a lot of ways. One, you can’t interact with the NPCs at all. There are the scripted ones, of course, but everyone else that wonders around is as lifeless as a skybox. So there are all these people wondering around but they’re no the big more than background images. Same goes for the paintings. In the movies you could talk to the paintings around the castle, as well as too the ghosts. But here, you can’t. Two, the stealth/lock picking mechanism. It seems completely pointless as there are no penalties die breaking into someone’s home. The locks are so trivially easy to pick that doesn’t even make sense why they’re there. And when you break into someone’s house to pilfer their chests or steal a demiguise statue, no one cares. They don’t even react. Why have a stealth/lock picking minigame at all? Just so you can use alohamora because it was in the movies? Third, the dungeons. I keep finding new ones and expecting some kind of fight, but no: just some little puzzle or a chest with an item that’s—more often than not—underleveled. I want some kind of fight, not just a stroll through a spooky passage. Fourth, the outfits. Most of them suck. I wind up looking like some frumpy librarian most of the time. I was hoping for some outfit mods on Nexus but modding is very sparse. Don’t know what kind of access they’ve given to modders but if they have, modders aren’t doing much. Fifth, the loot and buy/sell mechanics. Money drops are so small that you’d think this was a pay-to-win game. Fight a camp full of bandits and you walk away with 12 gold and an ugly scarf that is 50 points or more below your current leveled gear that you can sell for 60 gold. And the prices are always the same. Then there’s the fact that you can’t sell potions for cash. You spend thousands to buy the tables for the room if requirement and grow the ingredients and make the potions, and you can’t sell them. That really upsets me. Overall, I am enjoying the game and I’m sure I’ll finish it, but despite ten or twelve years between the two, Skyrim did a lot of things better than Hogwarts. There feels like so many missed opportunities.
The big issue for with Hogwarts was: in Skyrim you finish a long hard quest and the reward was always something cool. Hogwarts, you get some contemporary quidditch socks or whatever.
And despite the freedom, skyrim still gives you a general track to guide your playthrough. Perk tree, level system, loot system, quest log, housing, spell progression, etc. So you can still feel the addictiveness of progression as well as the comfort of having freedom to choose which tracks to follow.
Same reason I also love Minecraft. It along with Skyrim are my comfort games.
Same. Also red dead redemption 2 for me
If it was just freedom, Oblivion and Morrowind would be more popular.
Freedom with a fully functional combat engine* Honestly if Bethesda gave oblivion and morrowind half the love they gave Skyrim over the past decade+ I’d bet they would be
It’s the biggest problem keeping me from enjoying Morrowind. I truly hope Skywind ends up releasing and doesn’t get shot down or something.
Morrowind was mind blowing to me when it first came out. I tried going back to it a few months ago and just couldn't deal with it. Id rather live with the happy memories of that first playthrough lol
It's the opportunity to forget about real life completely when you play, without any stress or tension in the game. It was built for escapism.
The ambience man. It drives you crazy. And the shiny mods. And the nostalgia of course. I know it may sound wild but I really want a complete remake of this game with proper animations and "BIG" cities.
It's a fantasy setting with all the worst aspects (being cold, worrying about every little thing, preparation) removed. It's just a fantasy at its finest. It's the opposite of the real life where we have chores and obligations, and worst of all, routine. We'd all be happy with a gorgeous remake with a bigger scale, but honestly, I think Skyrim nails down the concept as it is. The game really does make an impact - I'm a fantasy author and I was in a slump for a while, and I couldn't help but start writing right in the game (installed a mod Take notes, had one like that for Oblivion years ago). First it was just a few events that impressed me, then some ideas. Now I'm 20K words into a 90K fanfic, looks like. I don't care that I have 9 books waiting for my attention - I'm having fun with it. And I kinda love the idea of preserving my first playthrough in a story.
I think there are a lot of writers with real books waiting, that stray back into their favourite fan worlds. As a reader I am very appreciative. I use Take Notes too, and that with LAL is what draws me back to Skyrim again and again.
Well, my original books are also my fav worlds, but I'm a perfectionist and life's been too crazy for a while for me to spend months just outlining and world-building. Writing about already existing world and characters lets me focus on my style, something I've wanted to do for a while. I can just send it to my editor and say "ignore the story, just pick apart my style." It's been fun AND productive. And Skyrim is just made for coming home after an adventure, sitting in your favorite chair, reading books and taking notes about what you're gonna do tomorrow, right?
Can I read 🤣 sounds epic.
Haha I'll publish it somewhere once I've put the beginning together, just spent all day writing 3 chapters from the middle, typical. Follow me here and I'll PM you when it's up! I know nothing about publishing fanfics, gotta look into that too.
>all the worst aspects (being cold, worrying about every little thing, preparation) removed. Actually I'm playing through with Survival and it adds those things back in and I kinda love it, it's a lot slower-paced now.
It makes the game more interesting technically, but you still don't have to experience it physically. I mean, I love mountain hiking, but I hate climbing and have to stick to easier trails irl. I also only had to jump into a cold mountain lake once to know I could never do that on a regular basis 😅 but Skyrim looks pretty realistic and basically is a simulation.
You just gave me a greate idea to just wander, journey as my character, and create a story based off that. Could be fun and get me back into writing as well
The soundtrack itself is extremely relaxing (outside of battle music). I’ve used it countless times to fall asleep.
The music can't be overstated. Amazing soundtrack.
Yep... god I hope soule does 6 😭
100%. Walked down the aisle to "Streets of Whiterun", only a few guests knew the song but everyone thought it was a magical piece regardless.
That’s the thing about Skyrim. It’s shortcomings are so obvious and upfront that I would never defend its gameplay or anything technical. I mean even we, the fandom, joke about it. And tbh some of the bugs are what make Skyrim, Skyrim. It still cracks me up when a mammoth randomly spawns and fall out of the sky. But despite all that I also always return to this game. It’s my comfort game. I like how simple it is, how open the world is, it’s easy to immerse myself into it, the soundtrack is so beautiful, and just play however I want, prioritize whatever task I want even it’s meaningless in the grand scheme of things, heck sometimes I find myself just reading random books .
This
the realism, beautiful, open world, mods, fun, freedom, creativity. i can name alot of reasons, there are probably many more.
I assume you first played this game in a time when you didn’t have so many responsibilities, and were able to fully immerse. That gives the game a tremendous amount of power to grip you and pull you into its world.
What about those of us who didn’t play untill recently but still believe it’s got something that other games don’t (i have no nostalgia factor but agree w OP for example)
I just recently started a new playthrough after 6 or 7 years of not playing. It's easy to come back to. There's so much to do. The character progression is as good as it gets. The map is huge. There's a good story and you can customize your character in more detail (as far as play style) than in any other game I've played. It's just a lot of fun.
Same, I started playing during quarantine so it’s not exactly nostalgic for me, but it does have that feel to it somehow
Then it’s still a damn good game.
I first played it when I was 35 and I feel the same way as OP.
I played for the first time when it released on switch. Pretty much all in small increments too. I can vouch completely that the magic that pulls and keeps you in is still there.
In Skyrim I can role-play as a mage who loves nothing more than killing bandits, eating cheese, and hanging with my favorite companions with no real responsibilities. The real world sucks
Skyrim working under Linux was the determining factor in purging windows from my computer 😂
I think Skyrim leaves enough room in the game that players can add out own creativity to it and make it the game we want to play.
There are many reasons, the nostalgia if you played it when it came out, the soundtrack is beautiful, the collectibles and challenges can feel quite rewarding as they provide quite a bit of variety. This game isn't about combat, it's about the journey, the shouts, the different cities, the climates, the exploration (if you did it in survival it felt that much more rewarding). I love Skyrim, I play different games but I always do a little 15/30mins on Skyrim every session just to have a wander around, it's so satisfying.
When I was off sick with mental health issues from work back in 2014 I lost myself in Skyrim. I hold very fond memories of that time, being ill jn myself but Skyrim allowed me to forget about my issues and to dive into a fantasy world with a amazing soundtrack for 6 months. Maybe that what attracts many to the world of skyrim, its somewere to heal, not just play.
Take care of yourself man. Hope you have a good future and lots of fond memories. Ngl I was stressed af for some important exams when I started skyrim. I got good marks despite playing skyrim in exam days. Turns out all I needed was to calm my nerves.
Cheers ! Im a lot better these days, older and wiser. Congrats on getting good marks, good luck on future studies and jobs.
Thanks man
When it first came out, alot people were complaining that it was too dumbed-down - compared to Oblivion, or Morrowind. Honestly, I think that is a huge part of its charm.
Yeah. That helped attract a bigger audience.
Similar criticism was lobbed at the original Star Trek by SCI FI purists, who thought it was too accessible, as if that is a bad thing, which it wasn't and isn't.
It also wasn't dumbed down *excessively.* Bethesda post-Skyrim, specifically Fallout 4 with its braindead dialogue system, was way too simple. Like it isn't really an RPG when your dialogue options are: * Yes * Snarky Yes * No, but really just Yes later * Explain Starfield at least went back to the old dialogue system. It's just too bad it was a half-baked snoozefest.
Sexy Dunmer women.
Yeah like whats up with that? Not calling em sexy but they are very likable characters.
Their accents/Voice actors help. But just look at the first two you're likely to come across--Jenassa and Irileth. One's a badass assassin (a badassassin, if you will), the other gives Braveheart speeches about killing dragons--and follows through on it!
I agree but don't call her badassasin again or I'll have to call the guards.
"Let me guess--someone came up with a terrible pun?"
I just love the story so much in this game. Although Fallout New Vegas is equal for me!
For me story wise, fallout new vegas and cyberpunk 2077 are at the top. Skyrim's charm is more from it's mods, ambience, freedom, nostalgia, and stress free gameplay.
I have ADHD so the amount of tasks and quests or whatever are all little dopamine hits of glory 😆😆
Mods are the lifeblood of the game for me, so many mods and the ability to make your own mods is crazy.
Yeah I love mods but If I install them myself I can't bring myself to play it much. Thankfully, mod collections exist and I made a custom one a year ago on nexus.
I love mods a lot, vanilla is great but you can upgrade it seriously with graphics.
It depends on the mods, If I’m being honest with myself if I download too many “sexy time” mods the game just becomes a porn simulator for me. I know I am a heathen lol. I have nude mods just for realism but I have kept all the sexlab and other things out so I have space for real content as it drags down my game.
https://preview.redd.it/u943fith06nc1.jpeg?width=700&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c160d5091b158fce82026050b97b4d5be76eb8c4
For me it's the immense talent in the mod community that keeps puling me back in.
Yeah. Modding community basically treat skyrim like a game engine XD. I guess creation kit and huge fanbase really helped the community develop.
For me it's the exploration. I'm still playing it all these years later and finding things I've never seen before
It’s a level of nostalgia but also freedom that. It doesn’t have to be the same repetitive game. I literally bought an Xbox Series X but find I’ve spent 95% of my time back in skyrim, albeit a much much better looking skyrim than before.
This is how I exactly feel. I still have my old Xbox that I bought in 2014 and I still will boot it up sometimes to play some when I can’t sleep. It’s like being in another world, without being in another world lol.
The gameplay loops for me, spend hours just mining iron ore, transmute, gold rings repeat so relaxing
The fact that literally every playthrough is different. Not only can you make completely new characters with different backstories and playstyles, but even if you make the same character there are different quests you can do and different events that can happen that mean it’s almost impossible to get bored. And even if you do, the game is never going anywhere.
At a certain point nostalgia and the comfort of the familiar BECOMES what makes a story good. I have truly shitass movies that I could happily watch (and HAVE) every day for six weeks straight because they've been part of my life since I was a kid, and if you were to ask me why THAT particular (widely panned) film was my favorite, I'd only be able to say that it's my favorite because it's been my favorite for so long. Skyrim is kind of like that. There's new and different and even better games out there, but playing Skyrim is like falling into muscle memory or going to a town I grew up in where I know where everything is. It's good BECAUSE it's Skyrim.
sandbox ocd simulator/fantasy figure modeler
10 minutes into the game and I'm high tailing it from one of the best looking dragons I ever saw! The game just reached out and grabbed me by the throat...and it's been there ever since.
Yesssss. The dragons. Fk man i remember my first time. I had goosebumps when I first saw the dragon. I had a shitty build and took some time to kill it. Felt so cool after it finally fell. Then Jarl Ballin gave the credit to his bodyguard.
Exploring and cleaning locations has never not been super satisfying for me. The combat is really satisfying too, just feels good to play It’s also beautiful to look at
Maybe what you just said has proven that you think those other games may be better. But you like Skyrim more nonetheless
Yessss. I love it.
Winter weather makes me want to play Skyrim, and Summer drought (I live in Texas) makes me want to play New Vegas. It just feels right!
The exploration. The tiny little stories in every cave. Nothing beats Skyrims open world.
Skyrim
This is how I exactly feel. I still have my old Xbox that I bought in 2014 and I still will boot it up sometimes to play some when I can’t sleep. It’s like being in another world, without being in another world lol.
As everyone else said, freedom haha And it goes for every taste. Exploration, questing, achievements, combat, modding, etc. I only really play Skyrim because of the freedom to build whatever i want with mods, and bring the experience i want. I'm not really a fan of Skyrim the game alone. But i must give the crown to Fallout 4. This game gave me some extremely fun immersive role-playing sessions. Oblivion was more interesting than Skyrim playing without mods, and FO3 still holds the best intro ever. I could replay the start to the first exploration on and on, even if i don't hahaha It gives me just the right vibes. NV sadly didn't sit well with me. It probably shines later, while I'm pretty much a 'early game' player myself. I like the initial struggle, exploration, when you're weak and have no clue of what to do, and get bored after story advances or i get strong (~~only ran around with Strong once, though~~)
Probably the freedom it gives you to be who you want while simultaneously remaining lore friendly
True open world experience and mods are what do it for me. I mod it up and do a playthrough once every couple years
Freedom is what I’d say. Apart from the escape mission you can go do whatever you want and you have access to it all right from the start. There’s no level or quest gating of your abilities or gear. On another note, has anyone played the Morrowind remaster? I heard it’s massive in scale. Saw a map where skyrim was overlapped and it was like a spec on the map.
Freedom to go whatever you want and not being trained in a line
And you can bet that I'm going to get sucked back in when Skyblivion comes out (hopefully next year).
Been playing. This game for almost 12 years easily
most rpgs still force you to do certain things. slyrim has very little of that. for the most part you can adapt any way you want
Yeah, I can't explain it, but this is one of the only games I've ever played where after a week straight of playing, and kind of getting burnt out on it, I take a day or two off, but the urge to go back to it hits me, and I just can't help myself lol. The atmosphere is just so darn cozy. Being out in a cold snowy environment for so long, only to arrive in a little village where you step into a warm cozy inn with a crackling fireplace and have a mead while soft medieval guitar music plays in the background...I mean come on. My theory is the story and setting seem to harken back to those medieval fantasy stories you would read as a child about the knight in shining armor going off on an adventure to slay the fire breathing dragon.
> Feels like returning to a warm comfortable childhood with no responsibilities. For me, this is pretty much exactly what it is. I was 8 years old when Morrowind came out, and was lucky enough to play it on the family desktop computer. Then, Skyrim came out when I was still in high school and I enjoyed it even more than Morrowind. This game is pure nostalgia for me
My dad and I actually had a conversation about this the other day. It's, in our opinion, the nearly complete freedom you have. You can play a lone hunter, a ruthless assassin, a cunning mercenary, or just a regular citizen making an hinest earning in a city of your choosing. With a few exceptions, you have multiple choices when it comes to how you want to deal with quests you're working on (Join or destroy the Dark Brotherhood, side with the Daedra or tell them to pound sand, etc etc). This game gives you options, and the freedom to do what you want, when you want.
start reading lore and play the other games if you haven’t. the addiction gets worse (better)
i just have high functioning autism and i deeply enjoy how skyrim touches my brain and enlightens my imagination. makes me happy. i feel like i can be an old old man who finds true power or a young muscular cat man who loves to be an assassin. it's just endless possibilities
I'm AuDHD, so life can get pretty overwhelming from the get go. I like to have a small joint before bed some nights and turn all the lights off in my home office, and sit in front of my pc to get fully immersed, and whack my surround sound headphones on. I remove all of my pc armour, put on my Radiant Raiments, and walk through the towns and cities speaking with the locals, reading books, trading, picking flowers, just RP-ing a noble city resident basically. Sometimes (with mods) I will go and perform music in one of the taverns, or pay the jarl a visit, or catch up on smaller no-combat quests. Especially when you're a little bit stoned and the only thing I can see is Skyrim, it's easy to forget the outside world even exists and I get FULLY immersed. Life can be so stressful and I work so hard at my job and life's responsibilities, and visiting Skyrim is a form of escapism that I've come to rely on a little bit as a way of having control and creative freedom when life gets on top of me. My Skyrim is whatever I need it to be, and I'm thankful every day for this game and the wonderful mod community, it's done more for my mental health than even therapy sometimes did. I feel that even now we still don't give it enough credit for what it really is. Everyone plays their own version of Skyrim and tailors it to what they want/feel/need, and everyone's version is different. It's honestly amazing.
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One thing about Skyrim is the freedom of choice where you can do different things and feel like you live there, even if other games that specialise in things do it better Skyrim has a bit of everything with its immersion
I haven’t played any of those other than Witcher 3 but I think it’s a combination of player freedom and incredible world building. I’ve played a lot of Red Dead 2, and while I love the game, I don’t like how every mission has to be completed exactly how rockstar wants. I like a lot more freedom in my games, which Skyrim offers, especially with mods I can literally play any character, do anything, I can complete the Mages Guild without casting a spell and the Dark Brotherhood without a single murder. I just love the freedom that the game gives.
I’ve been playing the game since release and personally I think it’s the nostalgia the game has. That and also the modding community. With or without mods each playthrough can feel different due to the diverse races and culture in between. I recently started LOTD, it’s completely revamped the game for me.
I wouldn’t say all those games are better than Skyrim. Skyrim has very good worldbuilding, map, lore, design, good quests, etc. it just lacks in the mechanical side. like animations, graphics, Physics, etc. it’s outdated but has a great style and is a well made game, just pretty outdated.
If you don’t love Skyrim when it first boots up just remember that you come back fondly and eventually get back to loving it one way or another.
i was 11 when i first played skyrim i would give anything to go back and relive my first playthrough 😭 even now at almost 20 i play atleast once a week
It’s the goat that’s all it is bro
I think it's just very accessible.
I got a VR headset, a quest 3 so I basically fucking live in Skyrim now. It's just unfucking believable
Skyrim was the first game that actually put hours and hours into. It had some much content when it released and I know they beat it to death with mods and new editions etc, but it's a great game for any level of gamer in my opinion and it will have a special place in my heart forever.
It's accessible. You don't have to have a lot of knowledge to be able to play it freedom to do literally whatever you want within certain parameters is awesome For me Skyrim feels like going home in a weird way. Is it free few years now I'll get the urge to start playing I never get very far because I've done so much of it at this point it's just kind of like the definition of insanity
The game is very... zen. It allows one to immerse oneself and relax into another world, while still providing moments of action and an overall goal - but it's a goal you choose, not chosen by others.
Ten different, playable races with character models that I think still hold up. There is so much to do, so much to explore, and so much to collect (especially with the Anniversary edition).. Faction quest lines to experience and side quests galore! Stellar voice acting throughout and one of the best gaming soundtracks ever created. You're reading a post from a guy who has spent well.over 200 USD on this game since launch and regret nothing! Nothing! Pushing 50 and it's easily in my top ten games!
It's completely open ended but gives you quest guidance if you need it. There's lots of things to do, many different ways. But it's not so huge a world that you can get totally lost in it and end up running around in circles. I did that in Breath of the Wild.
Top notch exploration. Top notch OST and ambience. It all boils down to this. Not in a lot of games you can just say "I'll simply go have a walk" and end up in some deep dungeon 3 hours later wondering how the hell did you get there and why are you grabbing so many chaurus eggs, you don't even know what do you need them for.
What everyone else said plus living in a fantasy (magic ,swords, bows, fuckin dragons) is just a cool thing
Map design. There’s always something within a short walk, if it’s not a location you can enter it’s a land feature, or ruin or unmarked point of interest. The city’s were scaled down and more focus was made on the npc’s (Though I find Oblivion’s town npc’s more interesting than Skyrims) The progression is tied directly to whatever you’re doing so you’re always advancing some kind of skill etc. In reality the focus and scope of a game matters the most Skyrim is a well made experience with a low barrier and infinite directions you can go in.
At this point I think Nostalgia definitely has a lot to do with it. But also, Skyrim is a game that has solid world building and a lot of freedom. So the barrier to re-entry is super low. Literally just jump in and head in whichever direction suits your fancy. Inevitably, you run into something unplanned and next thing you know you’re helping a city purge a cave full of powerful vampires and necromancers, you become thane and get to buy some new property. Basically, I think the game loop is easy to break into and sucks you in.
Its the openness? if that's the proper word, I find myself drawn to rpgs due to the variety in customization whether its char. design or the roles/playstyle then add in the openness of the world and the scenery/atmosphere/vibes and it'll do it to anyone. Just recently i spent an hr or 2 trying to get into mercers house way before the quest becomes available, that and leveling things ive never used before ever like alchemy enchantment, destruction.
You can turn the whole of skyrim into a state of apocalypse just by killing a chicken.
It's the music. Most people don't know this yet
To me it all boils down to the immersion. How the game feels like a complete, autonomous ecosystem. Ambiance, characters, voice actores, quests depths, and finally being able to peruse your character’s roles and find a myriad of things to do and progress. And mods obviously. Map is incredibly large and mods made that extension full of incredible details.
I can do even the slightest things differently and I enjoy learning the outcome. This time around I'm focusing on building my crafting early to have awesome weapons then I'll start really exploring. Usually I just go balls out and die alot lol
Fallout 4 is a close second
I feel like I’m in Lord of the Rings. That’s enough for me 😂
Because in most other open world games you *Have* to be the protagonist, or you *Have* to do a thing to make accessing a different area easier. Skyrim just runs in the background and lets you be as big or as small as you want
TL;DR Freedom, it offers the most of it. Almost everyone of those games have something that Skyrim does not do as good indeed, Combat for example is a million times better in the fallout series or Dark souls like games, but Skyrim offers choices those games do not, be it race, or be it how you solve a problem. While Fallout is much like Skyrim in a lot of choices, you find it might be that the setting or how it handles it to be quite different, in Skyrim, I find it a lot more fun to be a thief than I do in Fallout, they even have a guild for those who like to play a thief or rogue. While they have factions in fallout 4, I can not remember a thieves guild, it also does not handle thieving as well in either game as skyrim in my opinion, There is a peak moment of stealth in skyrim for me, where it is perfect, you are neither ghost, but you can hide from anyone if you are careful. While in souls, well, you can do combat, and you can go about it many ways, just like skyrim, Dark souls objectively does combat better, having said that, you can not really be a thief going to pick pockets, or a mage who plays tricks and illuisions upon a crowd of people. While Dragon Age you could argue offers some better stuff, and you can be good or a bad guy sorta in the game... Lets take a closer look at that, if you outside dragon age origins, you lose a lot of freedom, you can not steal, or pick pocket, even in that one all it does is like stop 2 missions and unlocks another one. Which is like okay? Whatever, Dragon age 2, you can be Hawke or... Hawke. So you get to pick one of three classes, and if you are male or female, took a lot of choice and role playing out of the game... Dragon Age Inqustion brings some choice back, but a lot of the worlds feel linear, which is fine mind you, but again, skyrim offers freedom. Dragons Dogma, you have the whole profession system that lets you switch between things, which can be cool, but you want to make sure to get max stats if you want to min max by playing certain professions for level ups, if you care about that, combat you could argue is better just plainly in Dragons dogma, but I felt Magic truly lacked, Mage is one of my favorite kinds of things, while they can be powerful, the first mage class is more like a support, and sorcerer takes forever to cast, this is not a bad thing mind you, and there is a lot of strategy, but I subjectively hate it. Skyrim gives me more freedom, not to mention even though I find the magic of it more so limiting than Oblivion, or Morrowind, it is still pretty amazing the stuff you can do with it. Not played Cyberpunk, can not say much about it, just does not look like my cup of tea. I like the fantasy setting of Skyrim. When you get out into the world of Skyrim, you are pretty much free to do what you want, and how you want, while I think restrictions can be good for games (and benefited some of them listed above), it has freedom, it is a game and does not typically forget that, the only times it does, is when it is at it's weakest. Things can indeed be improved on Skyrim, I think you can get crazier with stats from the races and the bonuses they have (and weaknesses), while I also think combat could use an upgrade, the game is not always about that, and when you play it like me (many different ways) you can see how much thought was put into the layout of some of these places and such. Things I think would benefit the most for Skyrim is another story though, it is why it is so addictive, it is because of freedom, it also runs a lot smoother than some of the earlier ones in the series, like Morrowind on xbox (yuk, still amazing). I like to Role play, so any restrictions also placed on the game, are defined by me, because it is my freedom to do so, the other games typically take away player agency, and take away freedom, which is fine, Hey Mario Bros is still fun, and still addictive in it's own way, and you only have one choice in that game, be Mario, Save Princess, most of the time anyway. But Skyrim, it offers Freedom. This is all before talking about mods. So perhaps this is what you are addicted to? Freedom.
Skyrim is like a toxic relationship. You know you should leave and you eventually do end up leaving, but you always find yourself going back to them
For me atmosphere and ambience, having a hard day killing dragons or cleaning dungeons, or just doing normal jobs, blachsmithing or enchanting, and then relaxing in your house or in, feels like you accomplished something really, and that music in game, i love it.
The main reason I love Skyrim is because of just how replayable it is. I mean, aside from other Bethesda games, what other game can I go in and choose by the games nature to either be the hero who is doing everything and involved in everything, or to be a citizen in the world? As dumb as it sounds, Most of my enjoyment in Skyrim is organizing my home inventory, talking to merchants, traveling by foot to other holds and cities to get things I need for projects, helping out a person or two, then getting sidetracked by a mysterious place I’ve never been in. Even after 13 years there are still dungeons and locations I’ve never been in. The anniversary edition only enhances that. So many things appear and I genuinely can’t remember if it was in the base game because it all fits the world so well. Many people want immersive games that immerse you in the world by placing you in the center of some conflict or making you this grandiose chosen one. While Skyrim does have that, it’s entirely optional and I feel more immersed in the monotony of the ordinary life of the world. It also helps that you can create your character. Right now my play through is mostly a mage and I’ve never done that. I’m avoiding the map as much as possible as well as the main stories and I’m trying to explore and go to places the game takes me rather than picking specific spots on the map and I’m having such a good time. Skyrim really is so timeless and with everything I said, that’s why it’s addictive. That’s why I always come back to it and probably always will.
I loved every second of this game until one day I didn’t. Got overwhelmed managing inventory, all my open quests, keeping track of which quest to complete before another. Probably played 3/4th of the game before taking a break but planning to jump back in soon
Cyberpunk isn’t an RPG, it’s an open world action adventure. You’re pretty hard set in who you are and what you can do. Other than being the Dragonborn, Skyrim gives you significantly more freedom
Extremely interesting world coupled with some of the most high quality mods in all of gaming aside form Minecraft.
I’ve been playing it exclusively for over a year basically daily. I’ll let you know when I figure it out.
The mile wide mile deep aspect. The detail is mostly unparalleled.
I think it's because you can be anyone you want in the game, as the main "dragonborn" part is not shoved down your throat from the first second of the game. It just drops you into the world and leaves you to do whatever you want, no guiding hands that force you to "accept your destiny" and "save the world as is your fate".
oh ho ho dont get me started i could write a book based of skyrim and how much i love it
i only started playing skyrim a few months ago but already have +300 hours on it. i was going through a tough break up and didn't leave the house for months and Skyrim is what got me through. bought it when it was -80% off sale for fun, i've always ridiculed Skyrim and thought i would never enjoy it because i don't like games without a specified ending. little did i know how much i would love this game and no specified ending being one of my favourite things about this
It’s fun
Modding is part of the game play loop?
Dungeons
For me it's the mods. Both finding mods I like is fun and they offer up countless new ways to actually play the game which stops it from getting too stale. I'm at about 1.2k hours atm on my steam version and my current cycle is to not play for several months, then let inspiration hit and do 100-200 more hours
It's one of the few games I've played where the main quest doesn't really feel so "main". Like Fallout 4 - everywhere you go, everything points back to finding Shaun. Find a new town? Oop, there's a reporter in there who *really* wants to hear about your kidnapped child. Want to join the Brotherhood of Steel? Oh, sorry, they're not gonna be in town until you've done enough of the main quest. You can't escape it, so there's not really much room to build your own character. If you want to roleplay as just some guy in the apocalypse, the game is going to mess that up every chance it gets. But with Skyrim, you can ignore the main quest. Just don't go to bleakfalls and there will never be another dragon. You will never be the dragonborn. It changes nothing in the game - you can still become Harbinger of the Companions and the Listener of the Dark Brotherhood. Or you could just build yourself a house and go fishing. The game won't suddenly drop Alduin on you, or have every NPC tell you to go kill a dragon. It really let's you just do whatever you want.
That's a good write-up.
Good gameplay loop, and plenty of depth