Some folks have taken issue with my statement that the Red Ring of Death from the Xbox 360 "wasn't that bad," and that's a fair stance to take. I did a bad job explaining what about it "wasn't that bad," so let me explain. The Xbox's RRoD is probably THE worst hardware failure in console history, and saying it "wasn't that bad" is very incorrect. What actually wasn't that bad about it was audience reception. I dunno what it was about that time, but Xbox 360 was beating its primary competitor in the PS3 throughout that generation (until the end when the PS3 finally surpassed it through good pivoting on Sony's part), so the huge and glaring issue that was the RRoD didn't really destroy their bottom line. What actually "wasn't that bad" about the RRoD was how it affected the prevalence of the Xbox 360 at that time, whereas Microsoft's release strategy since then has proved very bad for their console and game sales. People are much less willing to give Microsoft the benefit of the doubt now, whereas the Xbox 360, despite its RRoD, by and large was. That was what was meant by that line in the history section, and it was poorly delivered on my part. My bad. Also on an unrelated note, many people in the comments say Skyrim is pretty and the previous games are ugly. I disagree. Skyrim looks a lot better now because of remasters, but we must remember Skyrim came out in the "piss era" of graphics. It looked like brown and grey soup, and still does a lot of the time.
The issue with the ps3 at the time was a higher pricetag because of the Blu-ray early adoption coupled with crippling supply delays. They were on their backfoot throughout pretty much that entire generation.
You're correct, and I think it comes down to Xbox's swift response and accountability. Pete Moore (head of Xbox at the time) had to go to Steve Ballmer (head of Microsoft at the time) and admit they needed $1.1 billion to issue repairs for everyone who needed one, and surprisingly, Steve Ballmer signed off immediately. I do think they wouldn't receive the same grace from consumers nowadays though. Fun fact, Pete Moore went on to be CEO of Liverpool fooball club.
It should be against the fucking law to make an open world game with no Quest markers I mean people should be severely punished for that people should go to jail for that that is just horrible I quit playing the Royal Edition that I really thought I'd like it because it looks so cool and it was realistic and you know but it's too realistic the combat is too difficult it takes too long if the combat is way too realistic I mean it's I mean it'll be okay if it was realistic moves but you don't have to have a chance you first start out I mean you can't do nothing
I once purchased an Xbox 360 from GameStop.. immediately when I turned it on the red ring of death appeared, so I immediately called the GameStop and told them about it.. I told them that right as I turned the system on the red ring of death appeared.. they immediately apologized and told me to come back and bring in the Xbox and they would exchange it for another one.. thankfully they are able to do that.. if they told me there was nothing they can do, I don't know what I would have done.. it just goes to show how good customer service can be sometimes. But once I exchanged it, I didn't have that issue again. I don't own a console anymore, I went on the road for a long time and I gave away most of my possessions. Which now I'm regretting it. But anyways that's a story for another day. As for you, I'm glad that you are finally on the Skyrim bandwagon.. this is a good time to join the elder scrolls adventures.. there are some new and exciting mods to try out.. and there are some older ones that are just as fun. I can make a list if you want to check out some of the adventures that I highly recommend. And of course, some good tips to make a lot of coin in this game pretty fast.
Calling it a “podcast game” really hits the nail on the head for me. I played it during high school, where I listened to creepypastas in the background. I played it during Covid, when I had to listen to prerecorded lectures because my professors didn’t really care. I play it now, listening to podcasts and streams, to escape the mundanity of reality, even for a time. No other game has been there for me as long as Skyrim has.
I find this really interesting because while I definitely have listened to podcasts or other videos while playing, I'm almost always fully engaged 80% of the time with the game. Granted I play a modpack that adds a ton to the experience but I always get too sucked in to have chatter in the background.
@@tony8076 I don't think I've ever listened to a podcast.. I think the most I've ever done is probably play music over Skyrim.. but that was when I had an Xbox 360.. but mostly now, I enjoy the game like being in a movie theater, that's what keeps me immersed and not so distracted.
I've been playing Minecraft for longer than Skyrim even existed, and it's my "podcast game" because it has more menial chores and less _i m m e r s i o n_ than Skyrim does. Also no voiced dialogue. I have to pause videos to focus on Skyrim whenever anything interesting is happening, and tbh I'd rather be immersed anyway. I enjoy taking literal _walks_ (not jogs) through Skyrim's wilderness, just taking in the views, the sound, the music... and getting mauled by bears 😂
you word for word laid out 2 sentiments that always made me appreciate the game. 'Skyrim doesn't get in your way' and "skyrim doesnt care' I come back to the game on average once a year and its always when Im worn out. When I'm at my best, I like to think I'd play something with great writing or intricate mechanics that demand my attention. When I'm at my worst, I know I'll play something like skyrim and that makes it incredibly valuable in its own right. I usually ignore the quests and just roam around, build a character and explore, interacting only with the systems I feel like interacting with. And when I've had enough, I close the game and move on. No hard feelings because I got exactly what I wanted for as long as I needed. Skyrim feels like it was just designed for that kind of play.
For me how easy it is to step into this world to then realize how VAST the lore is and how well thought out the worldbuilding is was a real draw for me. Most of my time spent on Elder Scrolls is being a lore nerd and learning history and culture. This series has a low engagement floor but an incredibly high ceiling
that plus if you seek and willing to put in the effort for more. ther is plenty more to be had. Good story and writing? I hear theres like 3-4 *that ive heard of* Full games built in the engine. wand ball dropping gameplay that makes you think of any other rpg game? probably a mod list out there that gets close? Graphics? Bro its insane what modders do to abuse this battered house wife of an engine. Want a generic rpg but with one mod that turns all the characters anthro so you pla y into your furry side witch is more than enough and anything you can fit is just the cherry ontop till you break your entire game adding one more mod? you can do that... ;-; And dear god. there is a vr version of the game. skyrim. for a long time will probably be THE definitive vr rpg puyrely for the fact of how much other people put into building this game. So much potential I wish I had the patience to do again.
@leggotheeggodemon1323 yeah, picking up skyrim today isn't just picking up skyrim, you could pick up entirely different games built into it, or just download 200 different mods that change completely it's system and add more quests than you'll ever be able to enjoy in a dozen playthrough Hell, if you want there are ways to make pure roleplaying a valid way to advance questlines while someone else becomes the dragonborn
This is why mods are so popular, not only do they allow for doing whatever you want, but they also fill in for it's flaws by adding more depth. And since modpack became a thing it gave the game new life. Lorerim (one it's popular modpack) is legit some of the best gaming experience i had in a while, and i would recommend anyone to try it out.
@@ohlookitsethan if you want high fantasy jrpg style combat then nolvus, if you want more westers style combat (a lot harder) and more down to earth then LoreRim.
@@vanyadolly you spend huge portion of game in combat, you are literally playing as a dragon slaying warrior, so id say combat is important, and it not being good is there for a flaw.
@@nurudinnuhefendic8951 And it being good is subjective. It's a lot more immersive and realistic than what's considered "good" in most cases. You're also likely to spend most of the time in the game exploring out of combat, and that's where they put in the most effort.
I’ve also been replaying Skyrim for the first time since release. I’m homeless and my switch is my primary source of entertainment. There’s something really comforting about the way it plays. You just do stuff and no matter what you do you get rewarded, and the whole time you’re in a truly gorgeous and huge world.
first time dragonborn reaches the top of the throat of the world, and sees perched on a nearby stone: a horrible dragon! he draws his sword and shield, ready to do battle, when the dragon....doesn't move. Confused, the Dovakin awkwardly checks his surroundings, cocking his head at the creature as it continues to stare at him, before reluctantly asking, "So.....are we gonna...fight or something?" Sagely, the dragon responds with, "Would you...like to fight me, Dovakin?" The dragonborn looks somewhat embarrassed and peeved, exclaiming,"you can speak tamrielic?!" and the dragon chuckles. As the warrior watches, he notices a few things: the dragon is of a strange tan color, with a broken chin spike and an awkward pose for a beast of Akivir. "Who did you think you were coming up here to see?" The dragon asks, ad the dragonborn can feel the amused energy radiating from the elderly creature. The man sighs, sheathing his weapons, and chastising himself for his foolishness. The next phase of his training had clearly begun.
its just a dffference in quality, in skyrim is just set-piece for the main quest, in elden ring and Totk its an actual mysterious and exciting part of the world
@@Bagel12321 sorry, for me it was a set piece with nothing else to do by walk to quest markers and swing you weapon at spongy enemies. Well pre much all Skyrim was like that, looks good but no substance. Yeah and prob you can find that lore hidden in the books and such, but I much prefer in-game storytelling.
What age do kids go to college, let alone graduate, where you're from lol? Even if it arrives in 2028 (the latest possible by all evidence, its likely as early as holiday 26 if you do your research into it) that's 16 years. Might be exaggerating a tad. Heck even if you're one of the people who doggedly subscribes to the 'noooo gonna be 2030+" *meme*, its still not long enough. So nah, there's no likely let along *highly*.
@@afz902k eh statistically unlikely, without discussing how much. Starfield was a new IP and elder scrolls is a rich world (that was written by others no longer there to be fair). So their core settings and groundwork are incomparable. Assuming it will be 'shallower' than 'Spacefield' (starfield) is just repeating the same pessimistic memes people have been doing piecemeal since *daggerfall* lol. But ya know, we'll see
I will still take a Friday or Monday off if every now and then when I feel like I’m about to start a Skyrim playthrough. Sad but true, I like to be immersed.
The reason why Skyrim is so perennial is because no other game attempted to copy it's success. The Witcher 3 was very successful, but it brought with it a slew of Witcher clones. Breath of The Wild was very successful, but it brought with it a slew of Zelda clones. Baldur's Gate 3 was very, very successful, and I'm sure we'll see more CRPGs like it before long. But no developer has attempted anything even remotely like Skyrim, at any time the past 13 years. The only studio using the Bethesda formula is... Bethesda. You've only one place to go if you want to scratch that itch. Eventually, sooner or later, players return to either Morrowind, Oblivion, or Skyrim for that reason.
@@XGD5layer Well, I certainly think it helped to kickstart the 'Viking' media obsession. Skyrim released not long after Game of Thrones, so that live-action trailer has a real GoT vibe, but after Skyrim there came the Vikings TV show, Assassin's Creed Valhalla, God of War returned all about the Norse, and probably more than I cannot remember But no one has actually attempted to recreate the game or it's style and it's not exactly clear why
"The only studio using the Bethesda formula is... Bethesda. You've only one place to go if you want to scratch that itch. " That being said as of Fallout 4 they're started churning out broken products just because they became complacent. While it took me like 11 years (actually a full year counting the years i'm playing and modding Skyrim) to "perfect" Skyrim into the definite game... i declared Fallout 4 to be a "lost cause" thanks to the same amount of time i sank fixing the problems and modding the games (especially how F4 was railroaded by design while S less so) Starfield... well it's not two years yet, two years it took for Skyrim to perfect itself (as the Legendary Edition back in the day). But Starfield had shown regressions even compared to Skyrim.
I remember seeing your comment on Raz’ video. I had never heard of your channel, so I thought to myself, “Oh, I still hope he makes it because I would like to hear a different option as well, besides Raz’. I love Skyrim, so it would be fun.” Then I read his comment encouraging you to finish the video, and I’m glad you did. Thanks for the work you put into it. I’m a new subscriber as of today.
As a completionist, I don't think of being a thief AND an assassin as a contradiction. It's a progression. I usually start playing as a very good sword & board type soldier who slowly progresses to thievery and then assassination to necromancy and destruction ending with becoming a dark lord killing every NPC I can everywhere. Or whatever variation of that progression I feel like. It's actually the only game I ever role play.
Me being a loot goblin, there is simply no way I'd pass over looting opportunities. Chests... pockets... neither lock nor life is enough to deter a dedicated loot goblin.
@@mikeity2009well here’s the thing; in this video, he articulated an idea with his own thoughts, as a result he says words as “breadth/depth” instead of repeating a tired phrase. We all know it’s a wide and shallow experience in 2024. We can move on maturely by reassessing our feelings and describing a 10 year old sentiment in new ways.
The entire all breadth no depth section of your video is why I play the game with alternate start mods. It genuinely lets me start off however I want, and stay that way.
Since Oblivion it's the only way to enjoy Elder Scrolls (and to some extent, Fallout) game for me (not counting Arena, in which you're innocent, Daggerfall, which you aren't a prisoner in the first place, Morrowind, in which you're a fresh immigrant, Fallout 3, where you're born to the world, and New Vegas, where you're a nobody courier getting tangled up with a mugging).
Your wife is right, The Oblivion Dark Brotherhood storyline would make a great movie or Netflix series. Whew! I won't spoil it here, but there's a reason why Elder Scrolls veterans gave a sudden gasp choke, when Lucien's Ghost and Horse showed up in Skyrim's Dark Brotherhood. Hail Sithis!
To be genuine, I bought Skyrim 5 years after release specifically bc of the modding. I still pick it up often bc it's easy to get back into, and I stay playing it bc of the mods I've picked up for added depth. (Inigo and Legacy of the Dragonborn have kept me playing for years. Also big recommend for you and anyone else to try out Enderal.)
A video from Zaric Zhakaron made Morrowind accessible to me, and I played it for the first time earlier this year, making a super-overpowered Redguard with a Long Sword. Oblivion was made accessible to me by a Reddit post, which described a "backwards" class for a warrior, a Breton with mostly magic major skills, which I'm still playing right now after efficiently leveling to 23 and maxing out my warrior skills and attributes, but still working on the rest. Skyrim is easy to pick up and play, but if you "know" how to play the other two, they are just as much fun. I played all of these 3 games this year, and for the first time, too, except maybe the fact that I tried Oblivion in 2006 and got into the same trap that you guys did and just stopped playing - which by the way is why I never tried Skyrim before, I was expecting the same problem.
For me any terrible gameplay especially Bethesda games can be solved by one simple solution: bump up the damage output of everyone including your enemies except player vs bosses (simply by upping the bosses defense or health, because they're meant to be challenge)
I have a whole old computer dedicated to being my Skyrim machine. It has a heavily modded copy of Skyrim, I worked my butt off modding. I love firing it up once or twice year, and getting lost in that world!
I just found out about Skywind right now by your message! That being said, I just looked, and Skywind has no idea how far off they are in terms of content, nor release, whereas the other projects I mention are done or releasing within the next year, so I'm not too bummed that I missed that. I feel like people would be more annoyed that excited if I told them a Morrowind conversion in TES5 was... some years off, most likely 5+ years.
@@superdude10000Skywind does track progress but only by team (art, writing, voice acting, coding). Still, by my estimate it's still some years off at the current pace. The most recent progress update video (which was great btw) 3 months ago had the progress roughly at: >90: Art, Writing >80: 3d Art, Voice Acting, VA File Cutting >70: Asser implementation, Level design, Vfx, Music, Quest implementation >60: Navmesh exterior >40: Navmesh interior, Sfx 30% Quality Assurance 25% Animation 5% VA mastering Coding was unknown because "they do things as things come up" but they also hadn't finished the spell system and they only have like three members
26:11, ah yes, the great filter, understanding the hit chance mechanic (which is actually really easy to understand) For anyone reading this wanting to try out Morrowind, just remember that being unskilled, not agile, and tired will make you miss, being skilled, agile, and fresh will make you hit. If you pick "long blade" use a long blade, if you pick "axe" use an axe, and whatever you do don't use the Iron Dagger in the census office (which everyone feels compelled to pick up and use regardless of their build for some reason) then make sure your green bar isn't at zero, fatigue affects literally everything, including prices in shops, when you're tired, you're not functioning at 100%.
Skyrim has quickly become my number one comfort game, it just feels... safe, homey, predictable? But in a good way. I've already amassed a small collection of different playthroughs, each with different goals, play styles and just general directions. It feels like I could be anyone there... and while the writing gets dull at times... idk, it just feels... comfortable. Carlotta is always gonna call out about fresh baked loafs fresh from the oven, Nazeem is always gonna be an asshole, Jarl Bargruff is always gonna be a kind if a bit shortsighted fellow. You can make little changes in your world but honestly sometimes its just nice to feel like you're part of something a bit bigger than you... just like my other comfort game Animal Crossing New Horizons.
@@sethrussell7771Morrowind haters are more annoying than Morrowind fans. My favorite TES game is Morrowind. Morrowind has the best atmosphere in my opinion, Oblivion has my favorite quest and Skyrim has the best gameplay. But hey what do I know I'm just an annoying Morrowind fan
@@sethrussell7771 the morrowind elitists don't understand that skyrim is simply a different game. enjoyed both morrowind and skyrim immensely, but I like them for different reasons. morrowind is more of a rich rpg with systems that were amazingly fun to play around with while skyrim is more of a simpler power fantasy that you could turn off your brain and enjoy.
It’s so good I started playing maybe a month or so go and I’m no where near done with the main story quest but I’m already looking forward to later replays it’s fantastic
This video was pretty different then "Why Skyrim" and I think they go well together for copium explanation to my family why I am not crazy when I got to make my 8000th skyrim character...
I've legit roleplayed the lumberjack. Spent countless hours on that stupid animation. Was great when i got a sla-I meant-assistant to chop it for me lol
Never be afraid to give us interesting history about the video topic. I love getting to know more about the game I'm going to listen to someone talk about for the next 20-30 minutes.
this game’s openness & breadth are what let me enjoy gaming. i liked animal crossing, civ, & nintendo games before. but any real-time combat was too stressful for me. skyrim let me be a wandering buffoon without locking me out of what i was interested in. i could explore & be immersed in the world, and when i slowly became comfortable with the mechanics, there was even more for me to do. it’s one of my favorite games ever, and it’s allowed me to branch out into other games i previously would have written off. i love it so much. (and omg the score is divine)
Yo I love that the Beacon clip I posted is still relevant to this day I never would have expected that silly thing to be a good representation of the exact feeling finding it gives
i do wanna say the firewood animation was initially only useful for roleplaying but when they added arrow crafting in the legendary update firewood became a key component for crafting arrows
16:45 I know this is going to be hammered in a LOT, but New Vegas had a more immersive response to the players action. The difference is that (some director has gone on record with this during some interview) they sprinkled several throughout all different quests instead of everything everywhere. To your point, the guilds quests would be a great line for those small response to be made. It’d be so cool to have Astrid be like “I didn’t think the archmage of a college would be so bold to murder someone in broad daylight but here we are” type thing. At the end of the day however these were just design decisions that are different between Bethesda and Obsidian where Bethesda wants to make expansive world where Obsidian wants it to be interconnected
Though in the end New Vegas fell with the same Bethesda traps: -You know (or will know) about how the Legion treats female. Yet you're a honorary marked guest after a certain point in the game even if you're a female character. -You know (or will know) about how the Legion treats traitors and failures (even with the supposedly very loyal Malpais Legate - no spoiler at all given no context). Yet you're a honorary marked guest after a certain point in the game even if you're blasting one of the high ranked Legion members or some. Of course you can easily invalidate those "honorary marked guest" especially if you want a certain overpowered ex military night shift guard on your side (and completing his personal quest), but still...
Watching this a second time, I think what keeps me coming back to Skyrim is that it's the best gaming experience I can have with my oldest OC, created way back in 1994 for a (then) Macintosh-only RPG named Realmz. 30 years of experiencing fantasy worlds with her, and Skyrim is the definitive game with which to really craft a narrative experience for her. Mods also definitely help, both with the game itself and with her characterization.
Quests not being something you opt in for is not something I’ve ever thought about, but has made me realize that’s probably one of my favorite parts of the game, even with the giant quest log you get.
Re: The world not reacting around you. This is exactly why i cant play the game again. The Thieves Guild quest line was just too good. Some people in the know can recognize you as a sneaky thieving mofo. And the ones who dont, don't even consider you, because you're a suave thief. All those idiot "Give me all your coin" ragamuffins who usually ruin immersion by coming after you no matter what high level gear you have on are immediately fixed by "I'm part of the thieves guild too" or "I'm a Nightingale." The biggest gripe of the game solved through hard work and getting your licks in. I almost wish i never played that fantastic quest.
The only thing that stops me from playing Skyrim is simply not having access to it. Most deteactors i know of that have mentioned Slkyrim only go deep enough to say it isn't a true roleplaying game. Then agajn these are the same people who say the same thing about FO4.
Every once in a while I have the Slyrim fever, downloads a few (hundreds of) mods and just have fun, Skyrim is a game I'm always coming back to. I still can have fun in Vanilla Skyrim but after a few years it's nice to add some variety with mods. It's a timeless game really.
I do really like it when a game will reference things you've done it it. One example that stuck with me, albeit a small one, is with the crafting guilds in FFXIV. As you progress through the guild questlines you get to a point where you have to take a trip to other crafting guilds and talk to the leaders there. If you have also been working in that guild, they comment on it. Sometimes with a joke, or just an acknowledgement that you as a character have nuance and more going on than just one thing at a time
Playing through Skyrim for the first time. I was finally able to stick with it longer than ever before. So far it's great. But some things are just not well explained or just broken. Without the internet to answer my questions I'd probably have dropped it out of sheer frustration. Apparently I became a vampire early on and couldn't regen anything. Had no idea what to do and couldn't fight anything. The dude that cured me was hoooouuurs away if I had to figure it out by myself.
One of the biggest advantages Skyrim has over the previous tes games is that it looks pretty. Morrowind's low render distance and oblivion's potato faces can really take away from the wonder and awe of their worlds
@@NKL3085 Oblivion had bright saturated colors because it was in a warmer climate. Skyrim is set in the cold north where the color palette often is grey-scale. -- Real life Nord
I just started a playthrough again last week for the first time in a few years. I'm already my typical overpowered stealth archer. One shotting most targets and such with very little that can challenge me. Any other game was that easy I would probably hate it. But for some reason it works in Skyrim and it doesn't make the game less satisfying for me. I think I'm probably there more for the world than the gameplay. See the beautiful sights, tick that quest box off, clear that map marker, add another display to the dragonborn museum. Idk man, Skyrim just hits different
I've replayed Skyrim like 5 times. The first Skyrim I bought was the Collector's Edition, with the large Alduin on the dragon wall figurine. I proudly display it to this day.
I am so hyped for Skyblivion for these very reasons. I love Oblivion's settings and quests most, but love Skyrim's combat the most. So this will likely be my favorite iteration of anything Bethesda has made.
I’ve played all three games, and the first thing that made Skyrim stand out to me, was the levelling system. I loved the fact that it was so simple, and didn’t require me to mechanically focus on different skills strategically in order to build a better character. It was the first thing I was excited about, because the levelling system in Daggerfall, Morrowind and Oblivion was attributes based. You had to gain two points in any skill that had the governing attribute that you wanted to increase in order to add a x1 multiplier to that attribute at your next level up. If you wanted to increase your strength, you would have to increase abilities that were governed by strength, even if you would never use them in the game. So levelling up in the early game was me with a pen and paper recording which skill increases had accrued since my last level up to figure out which attributes I should focus on in order to get a x5 multiplayer. Ugh. I will say, though that the quests in Skyrim mostly suck, it’s go fetch quests all the time with the odd memorable one. Oblivion on the other hand, had a quest that had you casting a spell that removed everybody’s clothes!
I love raz’s videos and liked his why Skyrim vid a lot when it came out, because I couldn’t help but feel everyone always praised the game and rarely acknowledged its flaws which kept me from getting into it. But man was this the perfect companion video to go with it. I think *NOW* I finally get it. Calling it a sandbox game really put it into perspective, honestly. I was like “holy crap it’s the Minecraft of fantasy rpgs” And it just made sense.
I honestly think the elder scrolls would be generally better games with fixed enemy stats fallout stile. Quickest fix for the leveling systems that can feel good, because scary place becomes faceable, then easy if you play long enough
Doing a playthrough of Skyrim for the first time in a few years, and it's the first time I've progressed through as much of the story as I have since 2014. I'm playing with about 70-80 mods, and about 1/4 of those are a group of animation mods and engine fixes, or things like SkyUI that are basically required. A mod that redoes the games lighting engine made exploring Blackreach very thrilling. There was near total darkness, with the only light being the luminescent fungi, occasional Nirnroot and the light of my torch. There was also occasional commentary from my near constant companion throughout this playthrough, Serana. The Serana Dialogue Add-On mod among a few others have been standouts for me. Serana will have full conversations with NPCs while I'm doing something else, or intelligently comment on quests I'm doing or have in progress, which has been awesome. When we visited the College of Winterhold's library she got very excited and gotcaught up in reading a book while I was talking to the librarian and when I left she was still reading. I used a Summon spell a few minutes and she got upset that I interrupted her reading. That's the kind of good characterization Skyrim was missing, in my opinion.
Can I just say how weird it is that people say "dang we got ______ before we got GTA 6" when it would make more sense to say "before Elder Scrolls 6" the Elder scrolls has been around longer than GTA and Elder Scrolls 5 is older than GTA 5.
I just subscribed to you recently and this is the first video I have found so early. I love this video and can't wait to go watch it's companion. Your analysis and thoughts are appreciated can't wait for more
The Wii and switch bit at the beginning; I don’t know if you intentionally left out the Wii U but definitely proved your point that they aren’t all winners 😂
Skyrim may not be perfect, there are definitely better RPGs that came out before and after it, but to me it is perfect it’s what got me into the Elder Scrolls and made me fall in love with the franchise -which then led me to become a lore nerd. Skyrim is timeless and regardless of how long my breaks are from it I will always come back to it whether that’s to make a new character or to just roam around the beautiful land Bethesda created. Skyrim has given me countless hours over two platforms of fun and for that I will look fondly upon it forever.
Like other Bethesda games, it should be shallow and i found deeper games before and after, but by the power of modding, a lot of variables (like monster/enemy and item variety) have something empty that can be easily filled in the blanks or be modified.
@@meyers0781 I agree BGS games aren’t the deepest but it’s a good thing modders fix aforementioned issues even though BGS should have been the ones to do that.
Skyrim is available on more platforms & is far more casual. It also has a colossal modding community that, to my knowledge, dwarfs that of any other game outside of maybe Minecraft. It's an RPG cosy game that can be unbelievably relaxing to play. Oblivion was my first & I adore it. But it has the worst looking characters out of the last 4 TES games. & it's levelling system once you understand it is awful & outright unplayable without the +5 every level mod. Morrowind demands the most attention from the player, has the deepest systems, doesn't allow you to do everything in one playthrough & is the only game where it's advisable to have a notepad on hand. Skyrim is just a fun casual relaxing experience that was most people's first. Once you run out of stuff you have modders to give you several expansions worth of more. Often better written than the core game. Oblivion will always be my fave. But its understandable why we all keep coming back to Skyrim.
How could you not bring up the soundtrack?! The soundtrack is easily one of the greatest in the entirety of entertainment mediums. The music literally transports you to another plane of existence. It just wouldn't be as good without the amazing score.
@mitch.paulsen Honestly, I think you're right. Raz's video and my own are different enough that they compliment each other. Plus, if Raz had released his video after mine, there is a very real chance my video gets eaten by his, whereas the opposite seems a lot less possible barring some serious luck. Perhaps Raz's viewership may even hop on over and give this a watch! Here's hoping.
Skyrim is the game I play between other games and releases. So what usually ends a playthrough for me is something new and shiny coming along (like Shattered Space for Starfeild) and then by the time I am done with that, I can't remember what I was doing with my character or have a new idea for a character. My current character is a "go with the flow, do it all" character for that reason.
I wanna say, Skyrim on the switch has been a game changer for me. Its just so comforting to play this game handheld and in bed, I dont know its just great.
This thing about skyrim that they randomly drop quests on you is what is keeping me hooked everyday because I like to clean my quests menu in every other game but here I can’t.
Funny when you say Skyrim could not interlinked its questline with dialogue choices because its too massive, when New Vegas did so incredible well and also being just as massive in terms of questlines, and it did it before skyrim came out.
I thought maybe Raz had uploaded a sequel to "Why Skyrim" and then saw it was you and was like 'wait a minute...' Excellent video though, really has a different perspective and flavour from Raz's stuff and I thought it was well done ^.^
I think the critique of its writing seems to confuse writing with game design. Actually, I play Skyrim because its writing and its worldbuilding complement each other so well. I love scavenging the Dwemer ruins and quests related to them really piece the story of the Dwemer together so well. Also, because it excludes you from having an impact outside of forwarding the plot, it really feels like you are reading a book. And some plots are really damn cool, like the whispering door or the haunted house in markarth.
I totally get how the idea of the completionist dragon born makes no real narrative sense. I always just imagined they were a power hungry mad man. Plus you can see how they kind of expect the player to choose only one or two guilds to play through and to be occupied by side quests otherwise. Mainly the various races still start with different skill levels, and the first standing stones you see lay out three distinct play styles. They introduce most of the guilds in the early game via following the main quest or rumors and most builds hit a sort of experience plateau around level 46. Despite all that, as you said the way they introduce most quests makes you want to explore, so many end up doing way more than that.
To me, Skyrim is a collection of stories. Big stories : Main quest, Mage College, Dark Brotherhood... Smaller stories : Hold quest lines, Daydra quests, meaty longer standalone side quests... And most importantly, the stories you create yourself. The unscripted moments made possable by the power of the sadbox and its many complex systems. While I know Skyrim will never tie these stories together. I'm okay with that. They are tied together by all living in the same world and by my character getting to experience all of them. Along with my character's progression, skills, and power growing along the way. And that's good enough for me. 😀
I was ready to write a huge analysis of about 10 videos about the success of skyrim that i have watched on TH-cam because i was convinced no one ever got the real reason. You did tho. This is it. The most representative line of your video is "systems like Alchemy or enchanting are so simple that you immediately understand them at first glance" And thats what makes skyrim great: gameplay simplicity that allows roleplay without creating FOMO and that's compensated by a intriguing world that happens * upon* you.
16:21 I majorly disagree on this point. Writing hundreds of specific reactions WOULD be impossible IF that was the solution. It is the brute force solution to a problem which can be solved by creating a system that does it for you. Fallout NV kinda did it. You can easily limit the scope of who responds to what. Not every single random NPC would realistically know everything you did. But let's start simple: To give the player the >feeling< of a reactive world it doesn't actually respond to every single thing you do. Just give major NPCs some throwaway lines acknowledging the players deeds directly without changing the quest content in a kind of milestone system. That can easily be done. Advanced: Have global and/or local reputation changing how certain voice lines react to you. So during a discussion with an important NPC they can react in one of 3 way for negative, neutral and good reputation. That would barely change maybe 5 - 10 % of voice lines. The multiple options increase the work, but it can be done. Local reputation would be even easier since it limits the responses to a single city/region. It also makes sense that not everyone would've heard if your deeds. Only some people with specific connections like leaders and nobles. Expert: Design a stat system (like Fallout NV) and build quests as such that they you have 1 - 3 obstacles in the quest solvable with particular skills. If you keep it to the standard D&D stats you can easily throw in a line acknowledging that the player used his high strength in solving the quest or his great intelligence. There's even no need to write responses to every single stat, just the ones that make sense in context. Quite involved sure, but not impossible. I just thought of these in 5 minutes. Just think what an actual competent designer can come up with. Bethesda's lack of creativity and planning does not mean that these systems are impossible for everyone, just that Bethesda was unable to implement them. As they famously do not use a master design document I am the opposite of surprised that there is no grand reputation design in the game. In the end people like to criticize the game because we can see how great it COULD be if Bethesda was willing to commit. No one writes this much about a game they don't care about. Alas, with the direction Bethesda is going in all I can do is wait for someone else to do the TES formula justice.
"You don't see the same thing with Fallout unless it's New Vegas and they're trans" ok buddy just cuz you're right doesn't mean you need to swing so hard lol
Funny how in New Vegas you can join a group of... something, that is more vile than the antagonists of Wolfenstein (hey at least they still allow women in their ranks) Something that wouldn't take off in the "woke" era of this time.
Altho when you stop to read the books on shelves it can be quite interesting and the lore is WILD wish they could convince kirkbride to come back full time
Truest statement in this video is saying we were in the golden age of gaming and didn't know it. Not that no good games come out now but look at the 360 release schedule from winter 06 to like 09 it is wild.
Thanks for putting into words why every time I try to "replay" Skyrim I make it a maximum of two or three hours (even with mods) before I uninstall it again knowing I'll just reach the same pitfalls as before, lol
Some folks have taken issue with my statement that the Red Ring of Death from the Xbox 360 "wasn't that bad," and that's a fair stance to take. I did a bad job explaining what about it "wasn't that bad," so let me explain. The Xbox's RRoD is probably THE worst hardware failure in console history, and saying it "wasn't that bad" is very incorrect. What actually wasn't that bad about it was audience reception. I dunno what it was about that time, but Xbox 360 was beating its primary competitor in the PS3 throughout that generation (until the end when the PS3 finally surpassed it through good pivoting on Sony's part), so the huge and glaring issue that was the RRoD didn't really destroy their bottom line. What actually "wasn't that bad" about the RRoD was how it affected the prevalence of the Xbox 360 at that time, whereas Microsoft's release strategy since then has proved very bad for their console and game sales. People are much less willing to give Microsoft the benefit of the doubt now, whereas the Xbox 360, despite its RRoD, by and large was. That was what was meant by that line in the history section, and it was poorly delivered on my part. My bad.
Also on an unrelated note, many people in the comments say Skyrim is pretty and the previous games are ugly. I disagree. Skyrim looks a lot better now because of remasters, but we must remember Skyrim came out in the "piss era" of graphics. It looked like brown and grey soup, and still does a lot of the time.
The issue with the ps3 at the time was a higher pricetag because of the Blu-ray early adoption coupled with crippling supply delays. They were on their backfoot throughout pretty much that entire generation.
You're correct, and I think it comes down to Xbox's swift response and accountability. Pete Moore (head of Xbox at the time) had to go to Steve Ballmer (head of Microsoft at the time) and admit they needed $1.1 billion to issue repairs for everyone who needed one, and surprisingly, Steve Ballmer signed off immediately. I do think they wouldn't receive the same grace from consumers nowadays though.
Fun fact, Pete Moore went on to be CEO of Liverpool fooball club.
It should be against the fucking law to make an open world game with no Quest markers I mean people should be severely punished for that people should go to jail for that that is just horrible I quit playing the Royal Edition that I really thought I'd like it because it looks so cool and it was realistic and you know but it's too realistic the combat is too difficult it takes too long if the combat is way too realistic I mean it's I mean it'll be okay if it was realistic moves but you don't have to have a chance you first start out I mean you can't do nothing
It wasn't as bad as people remember. It was just major news since reporting wasn't common. I've had Xbox since the first Xbox
I once purchased an Xbox 360 from GameStop.. immediately when I turned it on the red ring of death appeared, so I immediately called the GameStop and told them about it.. I told them that right as I turned the system on the red ring of death appeared.. they immediately apologized and told me to come back and bring in the Xbox and they would exchange it for another one.. thankfully they are able to do that.. if they told me there was nothing they can do, I don't know what I would have done.. it just goes to show how good customer service can be sometimes. But once I exchanged it, I didn't have that issue again. I don't own a console anymore, I went on the road for a long time and I gave away most of my possessions. Which now I'm regretting it. But anyways that's a story for another day. As for you, I'm glad that you are finally on the Skyrim bandwagon.. this is a good time to join the elder scrolls adventures.. there are some new and exciting mods to try out.. and there are some older ones that are just as fun. I can make a list if you want to check out some of the adventures that I highly recommend. And of course, some good tips to make a lot of coin in this game pretty fast.
Now we just need “Where Skyrim?” and “Who Skyrim?” then the game can finally be put to rest…
u wot Skoiem?
coulda skyrim. shoulda skyrim. woulda skyrim
When skyrim
don't forget "When Skyrim?"!
And 'What' Skyrim
Calling it a “podcast game” really hits the nail on the head for me. I played it during high school, where I listened to creepypastas in the background. I played it during Covid, when I had to listen to prerecorded lectures because my professors didn’t really care. I play it now, listening to podcasts and streams, to escape the mundanity of reality, even for a time.
No other game has been there for me as long as Skyrim has.
It is my go-to when everything else is boring as fuck.
I find this really interesting because while I definitely have listened to podcasts or other videos while playing, I'm almost always fully engaged 80% of the time with the game. Granted I play a modpack that adds a ton to the experience but I always get too sucked in to have chatter in the background.
@@tony8076 I don't think I've ever listened to a podcast.. I think the most I've ever done is probably play music over Skyrim.. but that was when I had an Xbox 360.. but mostly now, I enjoy the game like being in a movie theater, that's what keeps me immersed and not so distracted.
I've been playing Minecraft for longer than Skyrim even existed, and it's my "podcast game" because it has more menial chores and less _i m m e r s i o n_ than Skyrim does. Also no voiced dialogue. I have to pause videos to focus on Skyrim whenever anything interesting is happening, and tbh I'd rather be immersed anyway. I enjoy taking literal _walks_ (not jogs) through Skyrim's wilderness, just taking in the views, the sound, the music... and getting mauled by bears 😂
Same here man 😂
you word for word laid out 2 sentiments that always made me appreciate the game. 'Skyrim doesn't get in your way' and "skyrim doesnt care'
I come back to the game on average once a year and its always when Im worn out. When I'm at my best, I like to think I'd play something with great writing or intricate mechanics that demand my attention. When I'm at my worst, I know I'll play something like skyrim and that makes it incredibly valuable in its own right. I usually ignore the quests and just roam around, build a character and explore, interacting only with the systems I feel like interacting with. And when I've had enough, I close the game and move on. No hard feelings because I got exactly what I wanted for as long as I needed. Skyrim feels like it was just designed for that kind of play.
Love this take
Yeah sometimes I'm too tired to really game (#latecapitalism) and do Skyrim just as a walking simulator where I pick flowers and chase butterflies.
For me how easy it is to step into this world to then realize how VAST the lore is and how well thought out the worldbuilding is was a real draw for me. Most of my time spent on Elder Scrolls is being a lore nerd and learning history and culture. This series has a low engagement floor but an incredibly high ceiling
that plus if you seek and willing to put in the effort for more. ther is plenty more to be had. Good story and writing? I hear theres like 3-4 *that ive heard of* Full games built in the engine.
wand ball dropping gameplay that makes you think of any other rpg game? probably a mod list out there that gets close? Graphics? Bro its insane what modders do to abuse this battered house wife of an engine.
Want a generic rpg but with one mod that turns all the characters anthro so you pla y into your furry side witch is more than enough and anything you can fit is just the cherry ontop till you break your entire game adding one more mod? you can do that... ;-;
And dear god. there is a vr version of the game. skyrim. for a long time will probably be THE definitive vr rpg puyrely for the fact of how much other people put into building this game. So much potential I wish I had the patience to do again.
@leggotheeggodemon1323 yeah, picking up skyrim today isn't just picking up skyrim, you could pick up entirely different games built into it, or just download 200 different mods that change completely it's system and add more quests than you'll ever be able to enjoy in a dozen playthrough
Hell, if you want there are ways to make pure roleplaying a valid way to advance questlines while someone else becomes the dragonborn
glad that it's not just me who's had a skyrim phase for the last month or so
Same. I guess we all tapped in to the collective need for that sweet sweet skooma
Been playing on my switch, I never use my switch but I wanted to play games and I’m never home so it made sense fr
My Skyrim phase has been going for the past 13 years
I just hopped back on for the first time in a long while. Not sure what brought the urge too, it was so random.
This is definitely strange cause I've gotten the itch after a long time away as well. It's weird how hivemind this shit is
"You're not gonna believe this but Raz and I... are different people"
Impossible.thanos
big, if true
Skyrim!
Disco?
Sucks
DAGGERFALL
HOW?
hell yeah
love the razbuten title lol
And the OSP Blue reference!
Right! I saw this and i immediately knew it was a play on razbutens
This is why mods are so popular, not only do they allow for doing whatever you want, but they also fill in for it's flaws by adding more depth. And since modpack became a thing it gave the game new life. Lorerim (one it's popular modpack) is legit some of the best gaming experience i had in a while, and i would recommend anyone to try it out.
I haven’t tried nolvus or lorerim but my PC is finally strong enough to run it. Should I try lorerim over Nolvus ?
@@ohlookitsethan if you want high fantasy jrpg style combat then nolvus, if you want more westers style combat (a lot harder) and more down to earth then LoreRim.
Skyrim not being a combat game isn't really a flaw, it's just not what it is.
@@vanyadolly you spend huge portion of game in combat, you are literally playing as a dragon slaying warrior, so id say combat is important, and it not being good is there for a flaw.
@@nurudinnuhefendic8951 And it being good is subjective. It's a lot more immersive and realistic than what's considered "good" in most cases.
You're also likely to spend most of the time in the game exploring out of combat, and that's where they put in the most effort.
I’ve also been replaying Skyrim for the first time since release.
I’m homeless and my switch is my primary source of entertainment. There’s something really comforting about the way it plays. You just do stuff and no matter what you do you get rewarded, and the whole time you’re in a truly gorgeous and huge world.
first time dragonborn reaches the top of the throat of the world, and sees perched on a nearby stone: a horrible dragon! he draws his sword and shield, ready to do battle, when the dragon....doesn't move. Confused, the Dovakin awkwardly checks his surroundings, cocking his head at the creature as it continues to stare at him, before reluctantly asking, "So.....are we gonna...fight or something?" Sagely, the dragon responds with, "Would you...like to fight me, Dovakin?" The dragonborn looks somewhat embarrassed and peeved, exclaiming,"you can speak tamrielic?!" and the dragon chuckles. As the warrior watches, he notices a few things: the dragon is of a strange tan color, with a broken chin spike and an awkward pose for a beast of Akivir.
"Who did you think you were coming up here to see?" The dragon asks, ad the dragonborn can feel the amused energy radiating from the elderly creature. The man sighs, sheathing his weapons, and chastising himself for his foolishness. The next phase of his training had clearly begun.
Elegantly written my friend.
Skyrim had a mysterious underground environment that was nowhere in the marketing before TotK.
Don't forget Elden Ring.
its just a dffference in quality, in skyrim is just set-piece for the main quest, in elden ring and Totk its an actual mysterious and exciting part of the world
@@MaxYari black reach has tons of lore and was a mysterious and exciting part of the world what are you on about
@@Bagel12321 sorry, for me it was a set piece with nothing else to do by walk to quest markers and swing you weapon at spongy enemies. Well pre much all Skyrim was like that, looks good but no substance. Yeah and prob you can find that lore hidden in the books and such, but I much prefer in-game storytelling.
@@MaxYari Obviously you didn't explore it, As said before Blackreach has tons of lore and history, it's way more than just a set piece.
It is highly likely that the chosen baby, born in 11.11.11 named Dovahkiin will be graduating college before we see TES 6
Ouch but true 😢 I hate Bethesda now
What age do kids go to college, let alone graduate, where you're from lol?
Even if it arrives in 2028 (the latest possible by all evidence, its likely as early as holiday 26 if you do your research into it) that's 16 years.
Might be exaggerating a tad. Heck even if you're one of the people who doggedly subscribes to the 'noooo gonna be 2030+" *meme*, its still not long enough.
So nah, there's no likely let along *highly*.
Also TES 6 might be more shallow than even Spacefield
@@afz902k eh statistically unlikely, without discussing how much. Starfield was a new IP and elder scrolls is a rich world (that was written by others no longer there to be fair).
So their core settings and groundwork are incomparable. Assuming it will be 'shallower' than 'Spacefield' (starfield) is just repeating the same pessimistic memes people have been doing piecemeal since *daggerfall* lol.
But ya know, we'll see
@@blakebrown3888 you never know what a Dovahkiin can do. I have heard of one who became the head of a magical college without casting a single spell.
Skyrim remains to this day the only game I have ever taken 3 days of time off from work to play at launch.
I will still take a Friday or Monday off if every now and then when I feel like I’m about to start a Skyrim playthrough. Sad but true, I like to be immersed.
The reason why Skyrim is so perennial is because no other game attempted to copy it's success.
The Witcher 3 was very successful, but it brought with it a slew of Witcher clones.
Breath of The Wild was very successful, but it brought with it a slew of Zelda clones.
Baldur's Gate 3 was very, very successful, and I'm sure we'll see more CRPGs like it before long.
But no developer has attempted anything even remotely like Skyrim, at any time the past 13 years. The only studio using the Bethesda formula is... Bethesda. You've only one place to go if you want to scratch that itch.
Eventually, sooner or later, players return to either Morrowind, Oblivion, or Skyrim for that reason.
I remember thinking that game publishers tried to emulate parts of its success when looking at advertisements in the years after, but I agree
@@XGD5layer
Well, I certainly think it helped to kickstart the 'Viking' media obsession. Skyrim released not long after Game of Thrones, so that live-action trailer has a real GoT vibe, but after Skyrim there came the Vikings TV show, Assassin's Creed Valhalla, God of War returned all about the Norse, and probably more than I cannot remember
But no one has actually attempted to recreate the game or it's style and it's not exactly clear why
@@InhabitantOfOddworld The first Thor movie also came out in 2011, I found that interesting to note.
"The only studio using the Bethesda formula is... Bethesda. You've only one place to go if you want to scratch that itch. "
That being said as of Fallout 4 they're started churning out broken products just because they became complacent.
While it took me like 11 years (actually a full year counting the years i'm playing and modding Skyrim) to "perfect" Skyrim into the definite game...
i declared Fallout 4 to be a "lost cause" thanks to the same amount of time i sank fixing the problems and modding the games (especially how F4 was railroaded by design while S less so)
Starfield... well it's not two years yet, two years it took for Skyrim to perfect itself (as the Legendary Edition back in the day). But Starfield had shown regressions even compared to Skyrim.
True. But I've been on a Daggerfall kick lately.
I remember seeing your comment on Raz’ video. I had never heard of your channel, so I thought to myself, “Oh, I still hope he makes it because I would like to hear a different option as well, besides Raz’. I love Skyrim, so it would be fun.” Then I read his comment encouraging you to finish the video, and I’m glad you did. Thanks for the work you put into it. I’m a new subscriber as of today.
As a completionist, I don't think of being a thief AND an assassin as a contradiction. It's a progression. I usually start playing as a very good sword & board type soldier who slowly progresses to thievery and then assassination to necromancy and destruction ending with becoming a dark lord killing every NPC I can everywhere. Or whatever variation of that progression I feel like. It's actually the only game I ever role play.
Me being a loot goblin, there is simply no way I'd pass over looting opportunities. Chests... pockets... neither lock nor life is enough to deter a dedicated loot goblin.
@@w0t3rdog I'll...allow it
So THAAAT'S why I always start new playthroughs. It adds up. Those first couple hours are the best
Great content. Both yours and Razbuten's takes have been very enjoyable watches.
20 minutes in and you've somehow resisted the urge to say "wide as an ocean deep as a puddle", how did you get this willpower?
It’s an accurate assessment though.
@@MrSpartan993yeah but it’s overused by people who don’t really know how to properly explain it.
@@Ealais76 its half become a buzzword for 'skyrim retrospectives' at this stage hasn't it
@@Ealais76 It's only overused because you don't like hearing about it.
@@mikeity2009well here’s the thing; in this video, he articulated an idea with his own thoughts, as a result he says words as “breadth/depth” instead of repeating a tired phrase. We all know it’s a wide and shallow experience in 2024. We can move on maturely by reassessing our feelings and describing a 10 year old sentiment in new ways.
The entire all breadth no depth section of your video is why I play the game with alternate start mods. It genuinely lets me start off however I want, and stay that way.
Since Oblivion it's the only way to enjoy Elder Scrolls (and to some extent, Fallout) game for me
(not counting Arena, in which you're innocent, Daggerfall, which you aren't a prisoner in the first place, Morrowind, in which you're a fresh immigrant, Fallout 3, where you're born to the world, and New Vegas, where you're a nobody courier getting tangled up with a mugging).
Your wife is right,
The Oblivion Dark Brotherhood storyline would make a great movie or Netflix series.
Whew! I won't spoil it here, but there's a reason why Elder Scrolls veterans gave a sudden gasp choke, when Lucien's Ghost and Horse showed up in Skyrim's Dark Brotherhood.
Hail Sithis!
To be genuine, I bought Skyrim 5 years after release specifically bc of the modding. I still pick it up often bc it's easy to get back into, and I stay playing it bc of the mods I've picked up for added depth. (Inigo and Legacy of the Dragonborn have kept me playing for years. Also big recommend for you and anyone else to try out Enderal.)
A video from Zaric Zhakaron made Morrowind accessible to me, and I played it for the first time earlier this year, making a super-overpowered Redguard with a Long Sword. Oblivion was made accessible to me by a Reddit post, which described a "backwards" class for a warrior, a Breton with mostly magic major skills, which I'm still playing right now after efficiently leveling to 23 and maxing out my warrior skills and attributes, but still working on the rest. Skyrim is easy to pick up and play, but if you "know" how to play the other two, they are just as much fun.
I played all of these 3 games this year, and for the first time, too, except maybe the fact that I tried Oblivion in 2006 and got into the same trap that you guys did and just stopped playing - which by the way is why I never tried Skyrim before, I was expecting the same problem.
For me any terrible gameplay especially Bethesda games can be solved by one simple solution: bump up the damage output of everyone including your enemies except player vs bosses (simply by upping the bosses defense or health, because they're meant to be challenge)
Skyrim combines the sandbox openness with immersive simulation.
Yeah, but the simulation for space launch could use a little work...
I have a whole old computer dedicated to being my Skyrim machine. It has a heavily modded copy of Skyrim, I worked my butt off modding. I love firing it up once or twice year, and getting lost in that world!
33:36 "...and Skyrim never gets in your way."
Only the (Crash to) Desktop does.
Yeah but both oblivion and morrowind crashed and still do crash
Surprised you never mentioned the score, which only amplifies the emotions you feel. Also no mention of Skywind
I just found out about Skywind right now by your message!
That being said, I just looked, and Skywind has no idea how far off they are in terms of content, nor release, whereas the other projects I mention are done or releasing within the next year, so I'm not too bummed that I missed that. I feel like people would be more annoyed that excited if I told them a Morrowind conversion in TES5 was... some years off, most likely 5+ years.
@@superdude10000Skywind does track progress but only by team (art, writing, voice acting, coding). Still, by my estimate it's still some years off at the current pace.
The most recent progress update video (which was great btw) 3 months ago had the progress roughly at:
>90: Art, Writing
>80: 3d Art, Voice Acting, VA File Cutting
>70: Asser implementation, Level design, Vfx, Music, Quest implementation
>60: Navmesh exterior
>40: Navmesh interior, Sfx
30% Quality Assurance
25% Animation
5% VA mastering
Coding was unknown because "they do things as things come up" but they also hadn't finished the spell system and they only have like three members
These community projects are great though, they organize workshops every once in a while for those willing to learn the skills.
Came here literally to mention Skywind lol
26:11, ah yes, the great filter, understanding the hit chance mechanic (which is actually really easy to understand)
For anyone reading this wanting to try out Morrowind, just remember that being unskilled, not agile, and tired will make you miss, being skilled, agile, and fresh will make you hit.
If you pick "long blade" use a long blade, if you pick "axe" use an axe, and whatever you do don't use the Iron Dagger in the census office (which everyone feels compelled to pick up and use regardless of their build for some reason) then make sure your green bar isn't at zero, fatigue affects literally everything, including prices in shops, when you're tired, you're not functioning at 100%.
Skyrim has quickly become my number one comfort game, it just feels... safe, homey, predictable? But in a good way. I've already amassed a small collection of different playthroughs, each with different goals, play styles and just general directions. It feels like I could be anyone there... and while the writing gets dull at times... idk, it just feels... comfortable. Carlotta is always gonna call out about fresh baked loafs fresh from the oven, Nazeem is always gonna be an asshole, Jarl Bargruff is always gonna be a kind if a bit shortsighted fellow. You can make little changes in your world but honestly sometimes its just nice to feel like you're part of something a bit bigger than you... just like my other comfort game Animal Crossing New Horizons.
Sometimes you flash text for half a second and I can't read it. I know it is "cool", but I hate it.
Quality perspective, thanks for uploading!
great video! razbuten's video and this one are indeed good companion pieces to each other
Do be fair, Morrowind fans do share their love of the game
Morrowind elitest are probably the most annoying fans of all.
@@sethrussell7771Morrowind haters are more annoying than Morrowind fans. My favorite TES game is Morrowind. Morrowind has the best atmosphere in my opinion, Oblivion has my favorite quest and Skyrim has the best gameplay. But hey what do I know I'm just an annoying Morrowind fan
@@markusmitchell8585 you’re not an elitest then. You like all parts of different games. I didn’t say “Morrowind Fans are the most annoying of all”
@@sethrussell7771 the morrowind elitists don't understand that skyrim is simply a different game. enjoyed both morrowind and skyrim immensely, but I like them for different reasons. morrowind is more of a rich rpg with systems that were amazingly fun to play around with while skyrim is more of a simpler power fantasy that you could turn off your brain and enjoy.
It’s so good I started playing maybe a month or so go and I’m no where near done with the main story quest but I’m already looking forward to later replays it’s fantastic
Thank you! Finally someone clearly said the difference from open world to sandbox and you were on point.
This video was pretty different then "Why Skyrim" and I think they go well together for copium explanation to my family why I am not crazy when I got to make my 8000th skyrim character...
"Stuff Just Happens To You" makes such a great point that i rarely see being discussed anywhere tbh
I've legit roleplayed the lumberjack. Spent countless hours on that stupid animation. Was great when i got a sla-I meant-assistant to chop it for me lol
I'm drawn to the lumberjack role so much that one of my necessity mods is a faster wood chopping animation...
@@peterlewis2178 The woods call to us, Peter
Never be afraid to give us interesting history about the video topic. I love getting to know more about the game I'm going to listen to someone talk about for the next 20-30 minutes.
17:25 had me thinking about baldurs gate 3. that game was such a breath of fresh air after being obsessed with skyrim for most of my life
This was great video, we can feel your effort and that is something to be proud about.
this game’s openness & breadth are what let me enjoy gaming.
i liked animal crossing, civ, & nintendo games before. but any real-time combat was too stressful for me. skyrim let me be a wandering buffoon without locking me out of what i was interested in. i could explore & be immersed in the world, and when i slowly became comfortable with the mechanics, there was even more for me to do.
it’s one of my favorite games ever, and it’s allowed me to branch out into other games i previously would have written off. i love it so much. (and omg the score is divine)
Yo I love that the Beacon clip I posted is still relevant to this day I never would have expected that silly thing to be a good representation of the exact feeling finding it gives
i do wanna say the firewood animation was initially only useful for roleplaying but when they added arrow crafting in the legendary update firewood became a key component for crafting arrows
Death to Belathor's intern for constantly hogging the chopping block when you decide to play archer---
16:45 I know this is going to be hammered in a LOT, but New Vegas had a more immersive response to the players action. The difference is that (some director has gone on record with this during some interview) they sprinkled several throughout all different quests instead of everything everywhere. To your point, the guilds quests would be a great line for those small response to be made. It’d be so cool to have Astrid be like “I didn’t think the archmage of a college would be so bold to murder someone in broad daylight but here we are” type thing. At the end of the day however these were just design decisions that are different between Bethesda and Obsidian where Bethesda wants to make expansive world where Obsidian wants it to be interconnected
Though in the end New Vegas fell with the same Bethesda traps:
-You know (or will know) about how the Legion treats female. Yet you're a honorary marked guest after a certain point in the game even if you're a female character.
-You know (or will know) about how the Legion treats traitors and failures (even with the supposedly very loyal Malpais Legate - no spoiler at all given no context). Yet you're a honorary marked guest after a certain point in the game even if you're blasting one of the high ranked Legion members or some.
Of course you can easily invalidate those "honorary marked guest" especially if you want a certain overpowered ex military night shift guard on your side (and completing his personal quest), but still...
Watching this a second time, I think what keeps me coming back to Skyrim is that it's the best gaming experience I can have with my oldest OC, created way back in 1994 for a (then) Macintosh-only RPG named Realmz. 30 years of experiencing fantasy worlds with her, and Skyrim is the definitive game with which to really craft a narrative experience for her.
Mods also definitely help, both with the game itself and with her characterization.
Quests not being something you opt in for is not something I’ve ever thought about, but has made me realize that’s probably one of my favorite parts of the game, even with the giant quest log you get.
Re: The world not reacting around you.
This is exactly why i cant play the game again. The Thieves Guild quest line was just too good. Some people in the know can recognize you as a sneaky thieving mofo. And the ones who dont, don't even consider you, because you're a suave thief.
All those idiot "Give me all your coin" ragamuffins who usually ruin immersion by coming after you no matter what high level gear you have on are immediately fixed by "I'm part of the thieves guild too" or "I'm a Nightingale." The biggest gripe of the game solved through hard work and getting your licks in.
I almost wish i never played that fantastic quest.
Coming soon, What Skyrim? Answers the question of What version of Skyrim is best, and why it's the next release
The only thing that stops me from playing Skyrim is simply not having access to it. Most deteactors i know of that have mentioned Slkyrim only go deep enough to say it isn't a true roleplaying game. Then agajn these are the same people who say the same thing about FO4.
Every once in a while I have the Slyrim fever, downloads a few (hundreds of) mods and just have fun, Skyrim is a game I'm always coming back to. I still can have fun in Vanilla Skyrim but after a few years it's nice to add some variety with mods. It's a timeless game really.
I do really like it when a game will reference things you've done it it. One example that stuck with me, albeit a small one, is with the crafting guilds in FFXIV. As you progress through the guild questlines you get to a point where you have to take a trip to other crafting guilds and talk to the leaders there. If you have also been working in that guild, they comment on it. Sometimes with a joke, or just an acknowledgement that you as a character have nuance and more going on than just one thing at a time
oh boy i’m glad you didn’t drop the video, i loved it
Playing through Skyrim for the first time. I was finally able to stick with it longer than ever before.
So far it's great. But some things are just not well explained or just broken.
Without the internet to answer my questions I'd probably have dropped it out of sheer frustration.
Apparently I became a vampire early on and couldn't regen anything. Had no idea what to do and couldn't fight anything. The dude that cured me was hoooouuurs away if I had to figure it out by myself.
One of the biggest advantages Skyrim has over the previous tes games is that it looks pretty. Morrowind's low render distance and oblivion's potato faces can really take away from the wonder and awe of their worlds
It's ugly, grimy ps3 "realism"
@@NKL3085 and oblivion isnt???
I think the better graphics make it more accessible but it never affected my immersion in other elder scrolls games
@@NKL3085 Oblivion had bright saturated colors because it was in a warmer climate. Skyrim is set in the cold north where the color palette often is grey-scale. -- Real life Nord
I find Morrowind more interesting to traverse and look at. I dont care about pixels.
I just started a playthrough again last week for the first time in a few years. I'm already my typical overpowered stealth archer. One shotting most targets and such with very little that can challenge me. Any other game was that easy I would probably hate it. But for some reason it works in Skyrim and it doesn't make the game less satisfying for me. I think I'm probably there more for the world than the gameplay. See the beautiful sights, tick that quest box off, clear that map marker, add another display to the dragonborn museum. Idk man, Skyrim just hits different
I've replayed Skyrim like 5 times. The first Skyrim I bought was the Collector's Edition, with the large Alduin on the dragon wall figurine. I proudly display it to this day.
I am so hyped for Skyblivion for these very reasons. I love Oblivion's settings and quests most, but love Skyrim's combat the most. So this will likely be my favorite iteration of anything Bethesda has made.
Your closing essay thoughts were spot on, even though it's sad to think of Skyrim as being turned off and never played again.
I’ve played all three games, and the first thing that made Skyrim stand out to me, was the levelling system. I loved the fact that it was so simple, and didn’t require me to mechanically focus on different skills strategically in order to build a better character.
It was the first thing I was excited about, because the levelling system in Daggerfall, Morrowind and Oblivion was attributes based.
You had to gain two points in any skill that had the governing attribute that you wanted to increase in order to add a x1 multiplier to that attribute at your next level up. If you wanted to increase your strength, you would have to increase abilities that were governed by strength, even if you would never use them in the game. So levelling up in the early game was me with a pen and paper recording which skill increases had accrued since my last level up to figure out which attributes I should focus on in order to get a x5 multiplayer. Ugh.
I will say, though that the quests in Skyrim mostly suck, it’s go fetch quests all the time with the odd memorable one. Oblivion on the other hand, had a quest that had you casting a spell that removed everybody’s clothes!
I love raz’s videos and liked his why Skyrim vid a lot when it came out, because I couldn’t help but feel everyone always praised the game and rarely acknowledged its flaws which kept me from getting into it. But man was this the perfect companion video to go with it. I think *NOW* I finally get it. Calling it a sandbox game really put it into perspective, honestly. I was like “holy crap it’s the Minecraft of fantasy rpgs”
And it just made sense.
1:28 damn called out
I honestly think the elder scrolls would be generally better games with fixed enemy stats fallout stile.
Quickest fix for the leveling systems that can feel good, because scary place becomes faceable, then easy if you play long enough
Doing a playthrough of Skyrim for the first time in a few years, and it's the first time I've progressed through as much of the story as I have since 2014. I'm playing with about 70-80 mods, and about 1/4 of those are a group of animation mods and engine fixes, or things like SkyUI that are basically required. A mod that redoes the games lighting engine made exploring Blackreach very thrilling. There was near total darkness, with the only light being the luminescent fungi, occasional Nirnroot and the light of my torch. There was also occasional commentary from my near constant companion throughout this playthrough, Serana.
The Serana Dialogue Add-On mod among a few others have been standouts for me. Serana will have full conversations with NPCs while I'm doing something else, or intelligently comment on quests I'm doing or have in progress, which has been awesome. When we visited the College of Winterhold's library she got very excited and gotcaught up in reading a book while I was talking to the librarian and when I left she was still reading. I used a Summon spell a few minutes and she got upset that I interrupted her reading. That's the kind of good characterization Skyrim was missing, in my opinion.
Can I just say how weird it is that people say "dang we got ______ before we got GTA 6" when it would make more sense to say "before Elder Scrolls 6" the Elder scrolls has been around longer than GTA and Elder Scrolls 5 is older than GTA 5.
I just subscribed to you recently and this is the first video I have found so early. I love this video and can't wait to go watch it's companion. Your analysis and thoughts are appreciated can't wait for more
The Wii and switch bit at the beginning; I don’t know if you intentionally left out the Wii U but definitely proved your point that they aren’t all winners 😂
Skyrim may not be perfect, there are definitely better RPGs that came out before and after it, but to me it is perfect it’s what got me into the Elder Scrolls and made me fall in love with the franchise -which then led me to become a lore nerd.
Skyrim is timeless and regardless of how long my breaks are from it I will always come back to it whether that’s to make a new character or to just roam around the beautiful land Bethesda created.
Skyrim has given me countless hours over two platforms of fun and for that I will look fondly upon it forever.
Like other Bethesda games, it should be shallow and i found deeper games before and after, but by the power of modding, a lot of variables (like monster/enemy and item variety) have something empty that can be easily filled in the blanks or be modified.
@@meyers0781 I agree BGS games aren’t the deepest but it’s a good thing modders fix aforementioned issues even though BGS should have been the ones to do that.
I dont have anything to say, just want to support and help with the algorithm
Skyrim is available on more platforms & is far more casual. It also has a colossal modding community that, to my knowledge, dwarfs that of any other game outside of maybe Minecraft.
It's an RPG cosy game that can be unbelievably relaxing to play.
Oblivion was my first & I adore it. But it has the worst looking characters out of the last 4 TES games. & it's levelling system once you understand it is awful & outright unplayable without the +5 every level mod.
Morrowind demands the most attention from the player, has the deepest systems, doesn't allow you to do everything in one playthrough & is the only game where it's advisable to have a notepad on hand.
Skyrim is just a fun casual relaxing experience that was most people's first. Once you run out of stuff you have modders to give you several expansions worth of more. Often better written than the core game.
Oblivion will always be my fave. But its understandable why we all keep coming back to Skyrim.
How could you not bring up the soundtrack?! The soundtrack is easily one of the greatest in the entirety of entertainment mediums. The music literally transports you to another plane of existence. It just wouldn't be as good without the amazing score.
was this inspired by Raz or just unfortunate timing lol
Very unfortunate timing.
@@superdude10000 great work nonetheless😆
@@superdude10000unfortunate? Seems like a happy coincidence
@mitch.paulsen Honestly, I think you're right. Raz's video and my own are different enough that they compliment each other. Plus, if Raz had released his video after mine, there is a very real chance my video gets eaten by his, whereas the opposite seems a lot less possible barring some serious luck. Perhaps Raz's viewership may even hop on over and give this a watch! Here's hoping.
@@superdude10000it was very good and definitely a different perspective than his. Hopefully it hits the algorithm well brother!
I liked both videos!!! Good job there, as always :)
I fffff love your cats dude xd
Skyrim is the game I play between other games and releases. So what usually ends a playthrough for me is something new and shiny coming along (like Shattered Space for Starfeild) and then by the time I am done with that, I can't remember what I was doing with my character or have a new idea for a character.
My current character is a "go with the flow, do it all" character for that reason.
I wanna say, Skyrim on the switch has been a game changer for me. Its just so comforting to play this game handheld and in bed, I dont know its just great.
This thing about skyrim that they randomly drop quests on you is what is keeping me hooked everyday because I like to clean my quests menu in every other game but here I can’t.
Funny when you say Skyrim could not interlinked its questline with dialogue choices because its too massive, when New Vegas did so incredible well and also being just as massive in terms of questlines, and it did it before skyrim came out.
(Which is why people tend to like New Vegas more)
the thing with skyrim is that it's great with user intuition, the mechanics feel logical so it's easy to learn the navigation of the game controls
I thought maybe Raz had uploaded a sequel to "Why Skyrim" and then saw it was you and was like 'wait a minute...'
Excellent video though, really has a different perspective and flavour from Raz's stuff and I thought it was well done ^.^
I think the critique of its writing seems to confuse writing with game design. Actually, I play Skyrim because its writing and its worldbuilding complement each other so well. I love scavenging the Dwemer ruins and quests related to them really piece the story of the Dwemer together so well.
Also, because it excludes you from having an impact outside of forwarding the plot, it really feels like you are reading a book. And some plots are really damn cool, like the whispering door or the haunted house in markarth.
Skyrim just feels like home for some reason,especially White Run.No game has ever makes me feel at home like Skyrim does,that is the magic of Skyrim.
everybody always asks why skyrim... but no one every asks how skyrim
I'll do you one better; where Skyrim?
@@dragonhunter2343 Everywhere, including your smart fridge.
I totally get how the idea of the completionist dragon born makes no real narrative sense. I always just imagined they were a power hungry mad man.
Plus you can see how they kind of expect the player to choose only one or two guilds to play through and to be occupied by side quests otherwise.
Mainly the various races still start with different skill levels, and the first standing stones you see lay out three distinct play styles.
They introduce most of the guilds in the early game via following the main quest or rumors and most builds hit a sort of experience plateau around level 46.
Despite all that, as you said the way they introduce most quests makes you want to explore, so many end up doing way more than that.
Great analysis! This finally explained to me why I dropped Skyrim after around 20 hours in back in the day :’)
Been playing for about 7 years now.
With the advanced modding tools, the game become not a game anymore, its became an engine.
The unexpected OSP reference got my like!
3:30
I don't really think things have ever gotten as bad let alone worse than the 360's red ring. It happened to like 50% of consoles.
Lol, me too...
This was a great video, i enjoyed it a lot. Subbed.
To me, Skyrim is a collection of stories.
Big stories : Main quest, Mage College, Dark Brotherhood...
Smaller stories : Hold quest lines, Daydra quests, meaty longer standalone side quests...
And most importantly, the stories you create yourself. The unscripted moments made possable by the power of the sadbox and its many complex systems.
While I know Skyrim will never tie these stories together. I'm okay with that. They are tied together by all living in the same world and by my character getting to experience all of them. Along with my character's progression, skills, and power growing along the way.
And that's good enough for me. 😀
I was ready to write a huge analysis of about 10 videos about the success of skyrim that i have watched on TH-cam because i was convinced no one ever got the real reason. You did tho.
This is it.
The most representative line of your video is "systems like Alchemy or enchanting are so simple that you immediately understand them at first glance"
And thats what makes skyrim great: gameplay simplicity that allows roleplay without creating FOMO and that's compensated by a intriguing world that happens * upon* you.
16:21 I majorly disagree on this point. Writing hundreds of specific reactions WOULD be impossible IF that was the solution. It is the brute force solution to a problem which can be solved by creating a system that does it for you. Fallout NV kinda did it. You can easily limit the scope of who responds to what. Not every single random NPC would realistically know everything you did.
But let's start simple:
To give the player the >feeling< of a reactive world it doesn't actually respond to every single thing you do. Just give major NPCs some throwaway lines acknowledging the players deeds directly without changing the quest content in a kind of milestone system. That can easily be done.
Advanced:
Have global and/or local reputation changing how certain voice lines react to you. So during a discussion with an important NPC they can react in one of 3 way for negative, neutral and good reputation. That would barely change maybe 5 - 10 % of voice lines. The multiple options increase the work, but it can be done. Local reputation would be even easier since it limits the responses to a single city/region. It also makes sense that not everyone would've heard if your deeds. Only some people with specific connections like leaders and nobles.
Expert:
Design a stat system (like Fallout NV) and build quests as such that they you have 1 - 3 obstacles in the quest solvable with particular skills. If you keep it to the standard D&D stats you can easily throw in a line acknowledging that the player used his high strength in solving the quest or his great intelligence. There's even no need to write responses to every single stat, just the ones that make sense in context. Quite involved sure, but not impossible.
I just thought of these in 5 minutes. Just think what an actual competent designer can come up with.
Bethesda's lack of creativity and planning does not mean that these systems are impossible for everyone, just that Bethesda was unable to implement them. As they famously do not use a master design document I am the opposite of surprised that there is no grand reputation design in the game.
In the end people like to criticize the game because we can see how great it COULD be if Bethesda was willing to commit. No one writes this much about a game they don't care about. Alas, with the direction Bethesda is going in all I can do is wait for someone else to do the TES formula justice.
"You don't see the same thing with Fallout unless it's New Vegas and they're trans" ok buddy just cuz you're right doesn't mean you need to swing so hard lol
Funny how in New Vegas you can join a group of... something, that is more vile than the antagonists of Wolfenstein (hey at least they still allow women in their ranks)
Something that wouldn't take off in the "woke" era of this time.
I do not understand the joke.
@@jupitersnoot4915 then you should hang out with more trans gamers
especially if you like FONV
That's why Fallout 4 is the Sigma Fallout fr fr ong ong rizz
Exactly
this video was already great but i immediately subbed at the DE mention lmao
Revachol ❤ I love both Skyrim and Disco Elysium, but they really are polar opposites 😅
Fantastic analysis!
Altho when you stop to read the books on shelves it can be quite interesting and the lore is WILD wish they could convince kirkbride to come back full time
Truest statement in this video is saying we were in the golden age of gaming and didn't know it. Not that no good games come out now but look at the 360 release schedule from winter 06 to like 09 it is wild.
Great video my dude
Thanks for putting into words why every time I try to "replay" Skyrim I make it a maximum of two or three hours (even with mods) before I uninstall it again knowing I'll just reach the same pitfalls as before, lol