Storypost | 2011.11.23

Dog weimaraner viszla playing fearsome couch bark

Everyone made it out alive. No zombie flu, only a few stitches between the lot of us. The food rocked, there was a massive handegg match, dogs were all over the place.

thumbnail Friendsgiving turkey steak thumbnail Friendsgiving table foosball thumbnail Friendsgiving viszla weimaraner football
thumbnail Friendsgiving cleaning turkey
thumbnail Friendsgiving viszla weimaraner football thumbnail Friendsgiving viszla weimaraner play
thumbnail Friendsgiving viszla weimaraner football

Dogs triple flash chau weimaraner trail night

And what's the deal with daylight savings time anyway? It's always dark out, so Shar and Kaf barely got to play.

At least that means it's a good time for Skyrim.

So... Skyrim.

Fallout with swords, as the kids are calling it. For sure the games have a very similar look and play style, but Skyrim does advance the Bethesda formula as you might expect.


The gargantuan map seems more cohesive, where the DC wasteland felt like a collection of landmarks with nothing between.

Skyrim blizzard horse silhouette

The atmospherics are superb - day/night, clear/cloudy, calm/windy, fair/snowing, even light tones vary gradually. Unfortunately the frequent glitches ruin the immersiveness.

Skyrim demon elemental

Menus, you're always going through menus. They're done well (except no sort!), but so much gameplay requires navigating the inventory/magic/level/quest/...

Skyrim destruction shock draugr

In F3 you leveled from kills and quests and thereby gained skill points. In Skyrim you level skills just by using them, and this levels your character (granting you perks). It's better, though it diminishes the value of completing quests.

And there are a million billion quests. They don't quite have the innovation and variety of a GTA game, but they're way better than mining minerals.

Skyrim ebony bow of fire exquisite inventory

Item configuration is pretty deep. There are a number of basic types which you can upgrade with smithing skill, then apply magic abilities. Favorite unique items: Volsung and Sanguine Rose.

Skyrim marauder arrow shot mouth

The combat mechanics are good, if unpredictable from encounter to encounter. The different build emphases seem pretty balanced. My sneaky archer is just fine with a sword and occasionally summons a fire demon.

Skyrim longboat blizzard horse

The Nordic theme is a nice variation on the standard vanilla fantasy realm, but it doesn't hold a candle to the nukapunk, post-dystopic world of Fallout.

Skyrim blood dragon fire

Oh right, and there are dragons. Quite a few, in fact.

thumbnail Skyrim weather blizzard dragon mountain thumbnail Skyrim riding dragon horse thumbnail Skyrim riding mountains dragon
thumbnail Skyrim archer dragon fire breath
thumbnail Skyrim dragon load screen thumbnail Skyrim opening scene dragon tower


THAT SENTENCE HAD TOO MANY SYLLABLES! APOLOGIZE!

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2011.10.30

Prefriendsgiving

Prepping the yard for visitors and trips to DC and Vegas.
2012.01.08

Tapping back in

Twilight Imperium and dog beach.


Related / internal

Some posts from this site with similar content.

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2012.01.08

Tapping back in

Twilight Imperium and dog beach.
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2010.07.28

Kaf and Shar

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2010.12.14

d'Dogs

Some multiple exposure/flash fun at the park with the dog, Shar visits, and fantasy playoffs.

Related / external

Risky click advisory: these links are produced algorithmically from a crawl of the subsurface web (and some select mainstream web). I haven't personally looked at them or checked them for quality, decency, or sanity. None of these links are promoted, sponsored, or affiliated with this site. For more information, see this post.

crpgaddict.blogspot.com

The CRPG Addict: What I Hate Most about Skyrim

A blog in which a dedicated addict plays through all PC computer role-playing games (CRPGs), in chronological order.
Has a preview image link and yet 404 :/
intothespine.com

Stories of 2023 - Into The Spine

71 writers, including Into The Spine contributors and a few special guests join us to discuss 2023 with short stories about and around games.
www.pentadact.com

The Bone Queen And The Frost Bishop: Playtesting Scavenger Chess In Plasticine - a post on Tom Francis' blog


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