Skyrim: A world to get lost in

Skyrim. A game that came out nearly 12 years ago, and still to this day captures the imaginations of everyone who plays it. I often ask why I like this game so much, and it comes to down to a few answers.

First answer comes down to how big the world of Skyrim is. It was massive at the time of its release and is still holds its own nearly 12 years later. A massive world means you have many quests to go on, towns to explore, and people to meet and help out. While some quests or jobs seem similar, it can be rewarding at times.

Second answer is the story of the game. The main story is awesome and can suck you right in it. Discovering the power of using your Dragonborn shouts and finding different walls of power to increase the number of shouts always finds me wasting hours scouring the massive map.

Not just the main campaign, but the different guilds also have intriguing stories as well. You can help lead the warrior guild of the Companions to glory, find magic books and items in the Mage guild, steal items and cause problems for the Thieves guild, or taking out targets by joining the Dark Brotherhood. Each guild has unique characters and missions to do, and while some are longer than others, most of them can easily add an additional few hours of gameplay.

Then there is the civil war between the Stormcloaks and the Empire. This war has divided the people of Skyrim, due to the Empire banning the worship of Talos. The tipping point was the death of the High king Torygg at the hands of Ulfric Stormcloak. This war has the player choosing one side in the war, and in my opinion, is one of the most difficult choices in Skyrim.

Lastly the opportunity to roleplay is endless. Not only can you make armor and weapons, but potions and poisons as well, which very few games have. This is done so well, experimenting with different ingredients to make potions, or finding different ingots to craft different armors or weapons. You can even use dragon bones and scales from the dragons to craft your own armor!

The skill tree is also done really well! From different spell trees to weapons and even armor, each skill tree is unique in the way when your character levels up, you get one skill point to put towards a particular skill. While you have to have certain proficiency in order to get that point accepted, the more you use that skill, the more likely that skill point will be added to your character. All of that adds to the replay ability to the game, as you can always change what skills or weapons each different character is great in.

My first Dragonborn was a wood elf named Carn, who defeated Alduin (the main villian,) and then searched the entirety of Skyrim, looking for the legendary Dragon Priests masks. Using his Werewolf abilities, his Thieves guild armor, spells he learned from the Mage guild, and using the Blade of Woe from the Dark Brotherhood, he accomplished that mission, then he settled down in Solitude, the Capital of Skyrim, where he lived out the rest of his days in peace. And that was only about half the game, there was still lots of quests to do.

In conclusion, every time I open up Skyrim, I jump into another world, a feeling I don't get very often, and that allows me to fully enjoy the game. And when a game does that, you get my vote as an awesome game, and one I will always come back to.