I'm like 99.9% sure you and I have the same itch. I love playing skyrim (and mine is modded to hell). Most of my mods enhance the immersion factor. My favorites are Frostfall and Campfire. I recently started playing again and hit a snag that just comes with the territory when playing a modded game: one of my mods has been updated, but another that relies on it hasn't. So of course I'm bummed about that. Well I started thinking "I wish there was a game that fit my desires that I didn't have to rely on mods for." So far nothing I've given a go has fit my need. I think I've managed to map out my criteria for the perfect game to "scratch my itch."

1. Not an MMO, but has to be an RPG (I've played MMOs and they're fun, but I like playing the central hero)

2. Not straight survival/craft like Minecraft (I love Minecraft, my husband and I play it together, but there's just no story there)

3. Has a crafting system, but you're not dependent on it (I like Skyrim's crafting system even without the mods because it is simple and it levels with you)

4. Has to have an overarching story (Skyrim's plot may be simple but it is fun and puts you as the central hero/special snowflake)

5. Also needs lots of side quests (I enjoy helping strangers in games no matter how small the quest may be, whether it's Dragon Age, Witcher, or Elder Scrolls, I do all of the side quests. It fleshes out a good open world and provides character development)

6. Must be open world, and must realistically mirror time of year and environment with weather, and the effects of this on the character. (This is the main thing Skyrim is missing w/o mods. It has always bothered me that I can just jump into near freezing water and come out perfectly fine like hypothermia isn't a thing. Additionally, different races that come from different home climates would not be effected exactly the same way. For example an Argonian would succumb to the harsh cold weather much faster than a Nord. True Storms, Wet and Cold, Frostfall and Campfire do an excellent job of fixing this. However, that's four separate mods to fix one aspect of a game. And at least two of those mods are dependent on SKSE. So when that updates the mod creators have to update the mods and me as a gamer has to wait. And I'm not upset at the mod creators, they do something amazing and I appreciate all the hard work and time they put in.)

7. More immersive character design. (So far my favorite way for designing characters is with Dragon Age Inquisition)

8. Player homes (Skyrim did this well, but it could have been more in depth. I have yet to find a game that does this perfectly though.)

9. In depth romance. (Skyrim is so lackluster when it comes to romance it's not even funny. Dragon Age Inquisition did a brilliant job, but it was still missing something. Witcher 3 had the something that was missing from DAI, but was lacking in the development aspect that DAI had.)

So, sorry for the long post, but I hope this explains my dilemma. Any game suggestions? If there isn't a game that fits this list I will not be surprised, just sad. But I'm curious if you guys know of any.