Challenging, captivating, immersive, plain and simple, Skyrim is amazing and Bethesda hit all the right notes on this!
Gameplay
At times, I couldn't help but wonder if this game was made by the same people as Oblivion. As much as I loved it, this game corrects everything in game play that Oblivion seemed to ignore. Combat is a major one. Even though you still at times seem to have to "hack" at enemies, each hit still feels satisfying. Now I wanted to figure out exactly WHY it felt so much better. Was it the rumbling or maybe how each swing seems to be packed with power? Well yes to both of these, but one big, yet so simple, thing makes it even look better. If you notice when you swing, the camera angle swings slightly with your guy, so every time you swing, you can sense how your character is doing it. It truly adds to the scope of combat. Spells are well, beautiful. I'll never forget the first time I put the sparks spell in one hand and the fire in the other and went to town on a troll. The way the lighting crackles and the fire sounds is amazing and once again, just looks fantastic. I wanted to touch bass briefly on the difficulty of this game. Now a day, people have Dark Souls (it kills me to even write that in here) as the pinnacle of hardcore gaming, since it is almost at times nearly impossible to beat, well let me tell you that Skyrim changed how "easy" their games are. Oblivion was never easy but you did feel unchallenged at times after the start of the game. Since starting Skyrim, I haven't had a twenty minute span were I did not feel challenged, whether its being completely destroyed by some huge giants, fighting one those fluffy dragons (they're so cute!), or even trying to figure out those puzzles, Skyrim provides a challenge to the player that is difficult enough so that the pain is a good pain, not sure if that makes sense, but a very good level of difficulty. Overall, gameplay is leaps and bounds from Oblivion and can be seen in almost every aspect of the game thus far. 10/ 10
Graphics
I am playing this on the Xbox 360 and I still believe the environments to be lush with trees, side flowers, and random animals. You really get a sense that you're in the forest just from the scope of everything. You can seem the wind carry through and start to move everything and see the snow drifting along the surface. Now the auroras are just stunning. Every night, just look up to the sky and see how breath-taking it is. Is that not enough, look up to the mountains and see the fog and wind wrapping about its summit. Skyrim is bountiful with alluring environments, and yes, we do find some texture problems up close, but truly this game is not about you standing next to a tree and saying "Jeez, this bark looks AMAZING!" No, this game is about you standing back and looking at that tree with ten others along the river side and seeing the water vapor rise from the river as the wind carries over top. The character's all look much more realistic in this game since the cartoonish sense is gone in them. The mouths don't line up sometimes as they talk but this is only a trivial detail. The character creator provides another diverse range of things to set on your character, along with beards, war paint, and scars. Bethesda succeeds in creating another break-taking world. Only if I wasn't so damn depressed I couldn't live there…9.5/10
Musical Score
I'm summing up this section to include the voice acting too and I will make it brief and to the point…damnnnnnn. But in all seriousness, the music in this game creates and adds another layer to the epic feeling you get as you fight a dragon. You feel like you're watching a movie yet you can interact with everyone in it! Maybe you're wondering about the mountain and as you look over the edge of it, onto a small mountain side village, a soft drifting music begins to creep in, making you feel so much more, well, I can't even think of a word, but it never fails to impress me. The music is varied and I do not find myself hearing the same song over and over, which I can also say for the voice acting. Maybe I have not played long enough but so far, so good. I won't say too much but the voice acting is superb, from the random villagers to the main characters, love it. 10/10
Overall
I'm attempting to have the police arrest Todd Howard, because yet again, he has stolen my life from me in a way. Skyrim will keep you engrossed for months, maybe even years, with its vast and diverse environment, captivating story line, and seamlessly endless places, dungeons, and towns to visit. I am surprised I've taken this long to get away from the game! I have yet to encounter any glitches, which is why this game deserves nothing but the most respectful score of 10/10. Now go save the world from Alduin!