9 Reasons Skyrim Is Still One Of The Best Video Games Of All Time

Nov 1, 2016 November 1st, 2016

1. Some Of The Best Environmental Storytelling In Gaming

Here's something I bet you didn't notice or appreciate as much first time round (mainly because 'walking simulators' like Gone Home hadn't ushered in the age of scouring the environment for as much detail as possible): Just how impeccably well told Skyrim's background lore is.

Right at the very beginning you're very much playing as yourself (albeit a beefier, weapon-wielding variant), but if you keep an eye out during the opening escape sequence, you can actually pick up a book detailing the history of 'Dovahkiin', or the 'Dragonborn'; who you're destined to be. Right there and then, the whole game's central narrative is there to be ingested, providing you want to take the time.

Books are plentiful across Skyrim, and they cover everything from short stories to spells, cooking recipes to alchemy formulae - you can literally visit a library and spend hours reading up on the history of any given thing.

Not only that, but the realm of Skyrim is ravaged by an ongoing civil war - one you're free to ask all you come across their opinions of. Peasants and farmers will break down the effects of the Imperial's treaty with the goblin-like Falmer on their day-to-day lives, whereas higher-ups will tell of how it 'had to be done' and what it's like living in the various kingdoms of the land, looking down on what would be 'the 99%'.

You'll eventually turn the cogs on this over time (Stormcloaks FTW), but the sheer amount of depth given to all aspects and consequences of the conflict is unmatched.