Review: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Bethesda has always excelled at creating games with expansive worlds and engaging content, and they have went beyond expectations to unprecedented levels no one thought possible with its lastest edition The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim
Skyrim continues its non-linear gameplay that has become familar to the Elder Scrolls franchise. The player can explore the open world of Skyrim on foot or on horseback, and fast-travel to cities, towns and dungeons after they have been discovered.
Quests are given to the player by non-player characters (NPCs) in the world, and through the Radiant Story system, the quests can be dynamically altered to accommodate for player actions which may influence the quest's characters and objectives.

The story is packed with explict and implied narrative. Every location feels handcrafted and fight feels different as you explore the world of Skyrim. The best part about Skyrim is that no one plays the same game. The first 30 or 40 hours are designed to be different. Skyrim gives you freedom to explore the world around you and define who you want your character to evolve into as you play the game.

The storyline for Skyrim is interesting to say the least.  Following the Dragon attack on Helgen, the player character can choose to escape either with an Imperial soldier or a Stormcloak rebel, making their way through Helgen's keep to escape through a cave.  The player is sent of a journey to kill a dragon.  The player meets with the Greybeards, who further train the player in the Way of the Voice, teaching the player more powerful Thu-um's and instructing the player on their destiny and role as the only known Dragonborn.

Character development is a primary element of Skyrim. At the beginning of the game, the player selects one of several human, elven, or zoomorphic  human races, each of which has different natural abilities, and customizes their character's appearance.  A perpetual objective for the player is to improve their character's skills, which are numerical representations of their ability in certain areas. There are eighteen skills divided evenly between the three schools of combat, magic and stealth, and training until the necessary required experience is met, results in the player's character leveling up.

Character growth feels organic and based on the way you play the game naturally.  The game rewards you for being repeative in the actions you enjoy.  If you use a ton of destructive magic, then you gain bonuses for using destructive magic.  If you are a thief that likes to sneak in the shadows and stab an enemy in the back, then you will be rewarded each time you achieve that and get better and better each time.  The combination of developing skills and picking bonuses to apply to those skills are a perfect marriage of character development.

The additions to the franchise since oblivion makes skyrim seem like a new franchise all together.   
There is no penalty for being a thief where a warrior would excel, it does not matter you can get the job done with what you want to be.  The combat system creates an environment where you can act as a hybrid warrior and wizard. Combat is epic with clashes against dragons and giants that are not crafted to your skill level like in oblivion, so be prepared for a bone chilling and challenging fight.

The visuals are impressive, but some improvements can be done with the basic graphics since each character you meet seems to have expressionless faces or innkeepers having hands glued into the table as they talk to you.  Aside from those minor things the environment is stunning.  With wildlife like goats and deers randomly roaming in the forest or snow flurries in the mountain the come down so strong you can't see three feet in front on you, developers created an element of realness unseen in any rpg so far on the next gen consoles.

The Elder Scroll V: Skyrim is out of this world and addictive rpg fun.There is something impressive about seeing a tower in the distance, working hard to run to it, and actually being able to go inside and interact with life living inside.  Hivegaming gives skyrim a 9.5/10.