When Skyrim first came out, I was midway through my psychology degree at university. I really didn’t need the distraction but there it was. And can you believe it, I had never heard of the Elder Scrolls up to that point! To say I was naive is an understatement.
I fell in love with Skyrim. Around the same time I was playing a ton of Fallout: New Vegas, too. I loved how the NPCs felt real, the dialogues were funny and not so fluffy generic. For Skyrim, I was amazed at how pretty the game was, along with a soundtrack to boot. It was relaxing and just the escape I needed during university.
At this time I was also grieving the death of my father, who died very suddenly and I was very close to him. I think Skyrim was perfect timing for helping me get on with life, though I can’t help but know that he would have loved seeing this game (and series in general).
Initially, the things I loved about Skyrim were:
- Soundtrack
- Beautiful world and details
- I could be an assassin/thief/archer cat! What!
- If I didn’t want to go into the scary dungeons, I didn’t have to. I could spend all day picking flowers if that is what I felt like doing.
- DRAGONS
- Shadowmare
So, pretty typical girl gamer stuff going on there. But that’s ok. I enjoyed myself and that is all that matters!
So, fast forward ten years. I’ve played a bit of Morrowind and Oblivion (love them), and here we are with a new Anniversary Edition.
At writing, I am level 34. I chose an Argonian this time and named her Athena. Major skills are two handed, smithing, archery, light armor, restoration, sneak, lockpicking, speech, and a bit of conjuration. My battle style is to summon a fire atronach ahead of me, then either use a bow or a two handed axe to destroy my enemies. Restoration magic is preferred for healing. I’m also a werewolf.
This time around I am getting more detailed about things. The difficulty level I am playing at is “adept” which isn’t super hard but not super easy either. It is comfortable if you are playing to relax and not be overly challenged.
So, what do I think about the new features?
Fishing
Total waste of time. It is easier and more enjoyable to just go underwater and click on the fish to collect them. I was stoked for fishing and it really underwhelmed me.
DLC — Hearthfire, Dawnguard, Dragonborn
This part is new to me and I am enjoying it. My boyfriend plays at the same time on his tv (we are both in the same room) and right now he is going through Dawnguard stuff. I pause my game and watch his dialogue bits and I do quite like it. For Hearthfire, I have a homestead and it is cute. I like the option to build your own house. I loved seeing Solstheim in its newer state, so connecting that to Morrowind was pretty neat in my books.
Creation Club Content
I haven’t noticed too much of this. Since I was pretty vanilla about the first time I played through, it is hard for me to distinguish what was already in the game versus added through the Creation Club. The few things my boyfriend has noticed did look neat though.
I think the addition of the wild horses and pets was part of this, too. I got really excited about that part and have collected all the pets. I found my first one by chance and haven’t looked back.
Saints and Seducers Content
There are a couple of new groups and I got attacked by both, plus involved in their questlines. I really liked this aspect. I had the Dark Seducer armor on my Argonian and it was wrong in all the right ways.
Other Thoughts
Well, the game still glitches. I just finished the Stones of Barenziah quest and got my reward but the game glitched so it isn’t showing up. That quest should really be an achievement/trophy in my opinion, by the way. What a pain in the ass that was. Quest items can’t be removed from your inventory and each stone weighed 0.5lb so that was carry weight that my light armour character didn’t need.
The graphics are beautiful, the new horses and pets were a really fun addition (I prefer the fox), the quests are just as fun as I remember, and I am no longer scared of the skeletons in the dungeon. I am getting much more out of this game now than I did the first time around, so having these extra perks is totally worth it.
This time instead of marrying Aela, I went for Muiri. She runs an alchemy store, so she is handy to have around for that too.
I was able to get the Anniversary Edition for half the price that I paid for the original version 10 years ago. Funny how that works. I don’t play to escape life anymore but it is still fun to immerse yourself into a rich fantasy world. There are so many quests and places to discover, it feels like the game that never ends. And I am totally okay with that.