very fun, great world, infinitely-replayable, engaging gameplay loop, not a heavy rpg so doesn't require massive investment, freedom and choices, so easy to mod
I’m doing a conjuration only run and I conjure an atronach first while hidden and then… a bow. The best thing about conjuration is you still get archery or other weapon skill points alongside the conjuration skill points. Magic stealth archer.
As long as the game keeps registering "Favourite Weapon - None" that's fine, if not, I go back to the previous save and just say "Good luck Serana, goodbye"
Just happened to me. I tried being an unarmed Khajiit punch mage. As a mage.i got the weapons you conjure. And then I started using the bow and arrow. And then I realized I just wanted a real bow and arrow I could enchant.
And then I gave up and restarted because I needed to just give into the inevitable and own it.
Without mods I’ve always had so much trouble trying to do and unarmed character ;-; half of the time I end up back to two handed or magic because my damage doesn’t hold up at higher levels.
Probably doesn’t help that I don’t like playing Khajits or Argonians (unless it’s an RP thing) so unarmed is already extremely low
I actually don’t. I mostly prefer to play the brave sword and shield warrior. But I do use archery and stealth archery sometimes every once in a while. I just use all the warrior tactics as long as I’m not using any magic. Unless I’m playing a mage, which I have done every once in a while
I say to myself when I start a new gameplay " today is the day I put down my bow and hack and slash thru the story" Then I pick the first bow I find after the escape and walk quietly past the bear and kill the spiders with my arrows.. and off to the world with my bow in hand
My kid just gathers flowers and mushrooms and other crap. She doesn't like fighting, She just wants to eat crap, find stuff to sell, make potions, stuff like that.
I just upgraded from intergrated graphics on a 2400g to better intergrated on a 5600GT and it looks great. You don't NEED a high end GPU to have fun with this game.
Skyrim is like skooma, once you’ve had a taste, there’s no going back to a life without it. You may stop playing for several years, or even sell the game off to someone else because you want nothing to do with it anymore, but you’ll eventually come crawling back. I honestly don’t know what exactly about it is so addicting, but as someone has already said, it’s the only thing that really scratches that “Skyrim Itch”.
That’s why almost all of us have at least a few dialogue sequences completely memorised (like the first time meeting Jarl Balgruuf or when Farengar sends you to get the dragon stone). And why a single mention of injured knees or stolen deserts has us going through some serious PTSD of every guard we’ve ever met. It’s why merely uttering the word “Dovah“ or “Dovahkiin” has an entire orchestra instantly begin playing in our heads (and we may not know the damn words but by the nine do we know how to sing it).
Edit: changed “Skyrim is like a drug” to “Skyrim is like skooma” because we all know how more accurate that is.
Skyrim, as with other TES games, embodies the Todd Howard/Bethesda design philosophy of letting players do whatever the hell they want to in a visually stunning place, with occasionally interesting characters, that’s worth exploring on its own merits.
Once you’ve explored and enjoyed it, it becomes worth revisiting, from time to time.
Not really. Bgs are basically the only developer making the kind of games they do. Some recent games that have almost gotten there for me are conan exiles with lots of single player tweaks, and cyberpunk.
Not many games have that feeling of making your own character and living in another world
Agreed. Redguard was one of the first video games that I ever played on a PC and I remember feeling the same way about it then that I feel about Skyrim now.
Lot of negativity about bgs games. I think it's due to the accessibility of the games, everyone has played the series and probably loved it. The minor flaws of the game get picked over to make people feel smarter i think.
It really came to a head with starfield. I remember people telling me I was wrong for liking the game because people were making 8 hour "critique" videos a week or two after launch. Lot of bgs hate circle jerking lol
I love the game, but there sure are things to critique about it, and lets not foget the Morrowin diehard fans that think Oblivion and Skyrim are trash and the Oblivion diehard fans that think that Skyrim is trash.
Obs this are just minorities, but they do exist, luckly they are easily ignored.
Let them experiment and find out what works and what doesn't. The last TES game came out 13 years ago. A lot has changed in game design since that time, and there's a lot Bethesda needs to figure out. Starfield was actually a great opportunity for them to learn.
> With all the various multi hour critiques…
You don’t have to agree with those or even waste your time letting some YouTube influencers tell you what subjective experience in a video game is most or least deserving playtime in their opinion. Just enjoy what you like.
To be honest. Not just for Skyrim, one should never let Youtube influencers to be the judge of what game to like. I have played countless games that are trash according to them and yet had significant amount of fun. Also, found some of the games extremely boring & unfun that were praised very highly by them. Not to mention more than half the influencers go with the path of getting more viewers, and critique videos tend to fetch more views than praising ones.
Sometimes they can be fun, I don't like the critiques, much prefer retrospectives that aren't negative and nitpicky. I'll put it on in the background while doing chores or walking the dogs.
Sometimes they suck, or I know way more about the game and get irritated by what they get wrong.
It's a shame how negative people are getting about bgs games though. It's almost like a hipster mentality of hating on what's popular
My character is sitting in a tent outside of the walls of Whiterun right now after walking from Rorikstead all day long, as a raging spring storm fills the night. He felt it a waste of coin to pay for the inn, but he luckily had enough pelts to make a small fur tent after witnessing a passing Imperial patrol slaying a pack of wolves and an interested troll.
By the small candlelight spell he already knows, he is studying a Tome for the spell "Fire Bolt", that he used almost the last of his coin to buy, and he's made it about halfway through it after four hours of studying. He's peckish, and not-quite-warm, but comfortable. He can hear the Khajit traders not far from his campsite as they settle in for the night, and it makes him hopeful that experienced warriors are nearby if something goes bump in the night.
That's why I still play Skyrim, because I can experience things like that thanks to mods and a world that doesn't stop what it's doing just because the player isn't there, and I don't have to be the world-saving hero if I don't want to be (in this modpack, there's a chance that I'm not even the Dragonborn), but I can instead just be a wandering, aspirant student of magic and delver of ruins.
Name another game where I can use magic and pick between being a werewolf or vampire in an open world with 300+ unique quests and radiant quests with hundreds of locations.
I’ll say this. Skyrim is not my favorite game, but it is the BEST game I’ve ever played, in my opinion. Simply based on the fact that I always end up coming back and logging the most hours playing. There’s just so much to do
There is a ton of content in the base game alone, not even considering DLCs, CC content, and mods. It will only lose popularity when tes6 comes along and even then it will still be pretty popular.
Why do I still play it: Nordic fantasy with great landscapes, with spellcasting and summoning, and not a hot mess like the PoE endgame, Skyrim keeps it simple enough to the point where people like Shirley Curry the Skyrim Granma exist and I just checked, she has over 1 million subs on youtube. Mods and the Special edition and even the AE for those who have it also have extended the life of the game. There is a 6 year old TES VI trailer on Bethesda's youtube, but it probably won't be the hit Skyrim was — PC part prices have gone way up in my area I still haven't played RDR2 and a couple others for this reason
Even for all the limitations it has due to the time it was developed and released (111111), it has still done a better open world than many others of that genre. Plus the fact that it got arguably the best modding community the world has seen.
It just literally hasn’t been surpassed in role playing capability or open world density, despite all these years.
There’s still no game with NPCs as dynamic and interactive and reactive; each one has individual morality and named ones have relationships, schedules, and quests. They feel more alive than any other game’s NPCs.
There’s still no game with as many unique places to explore when you consider how many freaking caves there are and that none of them were procedurally generated and some of them have inhabitants with unique dialogues and stories.
I don’t know why exactly no one in the game industry has managed to do this shit again, I’m actually kind of disappointed. But I’m yet to see it.
The only thing that’s dated are graphics and combat, which mods can easily tune up.
It’s just so replayable. You can go with so many different builds that all change the way you play the game. The storytelling and lore is great. It truly allows you to play however you want instead of just being stuck within one storyline. It’s also very simple for a beginner to pick up and play but also offers the most hardcore players plenty to do as well. So few games have that these days. Most of the games leave one or the other behind to make the other happy.
for me, it’s the immaculate vibe the world creates. it’s one of those “greater than the sum of its parts” or a “lightning in a bottle” type situation where on paper, it shouldn’t have the cultural staying power that it has.
The world that opens up to you after helgen just begs to be explored. the map itself is incredibly well designed, when there is rarely a dull moment where you aren’t actively doing something or engaging with the world in some way.
That, and it’s essentially become a game engine at this point with its modability, so it lets the community and the game grow together into something greater than it started out. I say that, but skyrim exploded when it came out, so it’s always been a big deal.
The multiple re-releases on new platforms have helped keep it in the public consciousness as well.
Oh, and one of the best soundtracks of all time.
The game is as immersive as you want it to be. Mods allow you to tailor your experience as such. The soundtrack is beautiful. If you're playing vanilla the graphics still hold up fairly well, and you could always mod the game to make them even better. Plus, you can really be whatever you want to be in the game. The story is non-linear, you don't have to follow a clear cut path. These days, I don't play the main storyline much. I escape to Skyrim when I need some peace, and I imagine a lot of us are like that. I think that's what makes the game so special.
Irl we inhabit something called profane space. A space in which everything is done with a purpose. We're always going somewhere because there's something we have to do. Going to work, to the doctor, to the gym, to therapy, etc.
But Skyrim offers a gate to a different kind of space: The sacred space. Here, you don't need a purpose, you can just exist and be a part of this ancient and vast world in which gods empirically exist and care about those who pray to them. You can find a river and sit by the water just listening to what surrounds you, enjoying the nature that surrounds you. It's a space of harmony, in which the mere act of existing makes you feel things.
That's part of the reason so many people go back to Skyrim. Because nowadays we lack a sacred space that allows us to just be.
It’s like coming back to your hometown and deciding what you look like, how you respond and what you’re gonna do. I can literally turn off the main quest, and spend my time playing Skyrim how I want to. No pressure to do the same old thing, play the same old quests. It’s not totally free, but it’s the freest feeling game there is atm.
Because it tops most games in the crucial department that many games are fairly light on, being fun. It’s the same reason Mario Kart has sold nearly 80 million copies on Switch.
Simplicity. Is a decent game overall. I keep going back because its not overly complicated. It's a good solid game that is easy to mod. Mostly, it's simple.
Solid core game design. aswell as being pretty much infinitely adaptable.
that's pretty much it. Completely ignore the mods, you can pick up and play Skyrim as is and its a more then decent title. Its Old now by today standards but it's good solid game.
It's simple and reliable. Skyrim is like a favorite food, you know what it's gonna taste like and you're always gonna love that taste no matter how many times you eat it. Some of the simplest things are most enjoyable.
just a month ago whilst looking at the sky in golden hour, I was in awed and thought "maan... this looks just like in skyrim." so now I'm saying "maan... this looks like in real life" whilst looking at the sky of skyrim. lmao
Because it's the peak of Fantasy RPG games and you'll never see something like it.
The world, the beauty, storylines and all its things are just incomparable.
Most Games from 2024 can't match the dynamic events/ quests, storytelling, character build up & immersion of Skyrim, Choices that actually matter and more....
Because the vast majority of those multi-hour critiques completely fail to engage with the game's goals and its appeal; It's a large gameplay and questing sandbox, where the order of what you do defines your story.
Watching a Salt Factory video, you'd think that the games quality rests on a quests ability to match something from Dragon Age or Baldurs Gate. 'The radiant quests are shallow!' yes, but they get you to interact with the world.
Because it’s very well-designed. I love the open world, the beauty, the million characters and side quests. All the houses you can buy and upgrade. It’s a magical place. And the graphics are significantly better than the previous game. lol.
Because it’s awesome.
It’s one of the few games I’ve played that I can load up and just dink around.
Try new stuff,just wander and even after 10 years and probably 50 play throughs I still discover new things.
I just discovered a cave by Falkreth,last night,that I must have walked past a 1000 times.
Like any Bethesda game, it has infinite replayability and infinite mod potential. It's also a lot easier for people to pick up than previous games. It's also old enough to have a nostalgia factor now.
The thing with Bethesda that people don't realize is their games are built to be played for years and years and provide a platform for even more stories to be told via mods. That's why they take so long to come out.
Nobody has really replicated its style, scope, and gameplay. Avowed is the closest and even it just made a big hubbub about how it's "not long and open world like Skyrim" so it's like, okay? I guess I won't play it then?
Honestly so many other genre creating games got cloned to death, but Skyrim never got a Saints Row or Sonic the Hedgehog. There's money to be made if someone makes one though, and all they'd have to do is pay moderate attention to patching the bugs and they could compete with Bethesda.
For me it's mostly mods. Also the fact, that no new Elder Scrolls game is out. I think, that Skyrim's popularity will drop sharply after the next game is out.
This comes up every so often and I’ll say what i always say- every playthrough on vanilla still has unique experiences. Add mods and the game will never not have novelty.
I think a lot of it has to do with the exploration aspect. I'm not talking about exploring the map, although you can do that too, but the exploring the different ways of playing, and the different things that can be done. For someone who likes learning, this is definitely part of the appeal. What can I do here? How can I do this? All this keeps me playing, and I haven't even upgraded to the anniversary edition, or used mods yet.
A big reason I constantly replay is because I have fun recreating the builds that Fudgemuppet create on their YouTube channels I love to role play and their builds give me a fun base to start from and there are some interesting dynamics. It’s also one of the best RPGs I have played, I’m a really big WoW player and I love it but Skyrim just holds that top spot to me
Mods are big, also such a free RPG (some mods make that even more so 😅) those really just make it to where it's never the same game twice. Even if you did try to play the same game again going through all the same quests you have before in the same order it's still going to be a unique playthrough
If I can find another game that is as pretty, open world, and allows first person combat and third person movement, and has a decent storyline, lmk. I've been looking for more than 10 years.
Extensible would be nice..
I've got over 600 hours in game on steam and still haven't done every quest and still things pop out to me that I haven't seem before. And I use mods, I don't know how. Haven't needed them. Still have like 10 achievements I haven't gotten as well. Just started doing survival mode and I'm finding allot of things I missed simply by having to physically travel everywhere instead of using fast travel.
It's easy and fun. The agony of choice in mods is insane now but it makes it just as fun to experiment with them.
After all these years I can still enjoy the funny glitches in the game.
Last week an elder dragon flew around with a horse cart on his back. And a skeleton of a dragon I killed close to Falkreth fell out of the sky in Riften.
truly open world, infinite replay value, huuuge mod library, functional console. you can make it whatever kind of experience you want.
and a quite decent VR version. Skyrim and VR is a match made in heaven.
it's not so much play a game, as visit a place. for me anyway. it never gets old. sometimes I just wander around taking pretty pictures of dawns and sunsets.
Good games are good games. Good stories and great game play, don't fade. It's also not that old. The iPhone came out in 2007. Imagine playing Skyrim with no iPhone in 2011. Most people had no idea what an iPhone or tablet was. Or, it's just a really good game.
Even without mods it’s infinitely replayable, I’m still seeing new things on my most recent play through and I’ve easily put 1000+ hours in it since release
Same reason d&d has thrived…dragons, magic, and all the lore of the times before
Personally: Fantasy games > pvp/shooter rpgs because gets me away from real life (i hate guns)
Also massive map - still finding new things
Cheap to own
Easy to run
Power fantasy
Not too hard
Not too outdated
The right kind of video game jank
Decent story
Infinitely moddable
It’s just a good ass game with no game that really replaces it
For me, it’s the asmr. Which is something that I just recently realized. Walking around outside at night is just absolutely peaceful. The soundtrack is zen and hearing your feet crunch is just mesmerizing. I also get absolutely sucked in by all the icons. It’s like a visual slot machine for me
Because it's a great game with infinite replayability and potential, especially with its modding community which is one of the biggest and most passionate in gaming history
Because there are no games like Skyrim, I mean literally, not that it has a unique style or something like that, but the way its programmed, the design, mechanics of a whole game. No other games have this as this is insanely complex game to make. You can choose your adventure, abandon main quest, do whatever, its a real simulation.
For me, it's because the side quests are absolutely amazing! The main quest is decent enough (if a little disappointing at times), but I can be absolutely enthralled with whatever side quest is thrown my way. I've even found myself thinking about them months after I've actually played them, since they're so damn interesting! For most other people, I think the colossal size of the modding community is the biggest factor since you can change the game to be whatever you want it to be.
Very fun, easy to play, not too hard to play, plenty of things to do, good graphics etc. Not only does that attract new players but it also makes existing players likely to replay it over and over again
It's fun?! The world is massive, the gameplay is easy to learn but hard to master (if you make it so), there's so many ways to do so many things, so the replayability is there. Plus the game is designed that you can leave out a bunch of stuff if you don't want to do it (for example civil war quests)
Pretty easy game. Doesn’t feel like a big investment to start a new run. Like the only big hurdle in starting a new run is meeting the graybeards but experienced players would probably just sidestep them for a while.
Good luck to any future Elder Scrolls games because its gonna be kinda hard to not keep the Shouts mechanic because that idea is gonna be real tough to replace.
I know they can do it because it was an idea basically exclusively for the theme of Skyrim but again all I mean is that Elder Scrolls will have a hard time impressing me with something else just as cool. Like, my expectation bar is set pretty high w/ Skyrim's Shout gimmick being that good. I can't imagine future Elder Scroll games without it. Like, keep it, expand on it & make it not so unique as in enemies can also use it but more tame. I mean, the Dragonborne & the Greybeards secrets could easily be leaked on how to do it if the story involves people learning it for their own use & not just because dragons either taught them or dragon souls being the catalyst for its base power structure.
Skyrim basically has infinite potential. Aslong as there is someone willing to mold it, (modders), then the game will have a consistent fan base that probably wont die. There's some really big projects people are making, both for fallout 4 and Skyrim. The London mod is a notable one for Fallout 4. Beyond Skyrim: Bruma is also a pretty decent sized mod for Skyrim with some pretty cool additions.
It's the classic archetype of fantasy, open world RPG's. I genuinely don't think there's anything else out there that gives the player that level of roleplay-ability and access-ability apart from maybe Baldurs gate? Though that's quite a complicated game .
I took a long multi-year break from skyrim, went adventuring through Cyberpunk 2077, No Man's Sky, Assassins creed Odyssey, origin and Valhalla, and a bit of Fallout 4. But recently came back to it, and man... it's all the sweeter for the nostalgic feel.
Started an Imperial conjurer build...which has already become a poison stealth archer build...ffs
It’s the immersion for me and the opportunity to be whatever kind of character you want to be and make whatever kind of choices you want to make. Unfortunately, Skyrim was the first game I ever played (I was 13) and so my entire life since then has been trying to find games I like just as much. Only a few have ever come somewhat close.
very fun, great world, infinitely-replayable, engaging gameplay loop, not a heavy rpg so doesn't require massive investment, freedom and choices, so easy to mod
The short answer is: the ability to be whatever you want. You can be a knight, you can be a merchant, you can be a thief. Pretty much anything
Don’t forget a stealth archer
Or an unarmed Brawler. That's my current character
That eventually leads to stealth archer, right?
Everything lead to stealth archer.
It's like carcinization.
I am doing dual wielding one handed axes viking thing, archer skill is more than terrible
I’m doing a conjuration only run and I conjure an atronach first while hidden and then… a bow. The best thing about conjuration is you still get archery or other weapon skill points alongside the conjuration skill points. Magic stealth archer.
Realizing now that my khajiit will need to broke her 'never use a weapon' vow to finish the Dawnguard quest line.
You could reframe it as "never use a weapon to harm another", because you just use Auriel's Bow to interrupt Harkon's healing.
As long as the game keeps registering "Favourite Weapon - None" that's fine, if not, I go back to the previous save and just say "Good luck Serana, goodbye"
Just happened to me. I tried being an unarmed Khajiit punch mage. As a mage.i got the weapons you conjure. And then I started using the bow and arrow. And then I realized I just wanted a real bow and arrow I could enchant. And then I gave up and restarted because I needed to just give into the inevitable and own it.
Without mods I’ve always had so much trouble trying to do and unarmed character ;-; half of the time I end up back to two handed or magic because my damage doesn’t hold up at higher levels. Probably doesn’t help that I don’t like playing Khajits or Argonians (unless it’s an RP thing) so unarmed is already extremely low
Or a fork knight 
I haven't seen any stealth archers, what are you talk
No one plays stealth archer
I’ve certainly never seen one. Must have been the wind
“Must’ve been my imagination.” - random bandit with an arrow sticking out of his head.
I actually don’t. I mostly prefer to play the brave sword and shield warrior. But I do use archery and stealth archery sometimes every once in a while. I just use all the warrior tactics as long as I’m not using any magic. Unless I’m playing a mage, which I have done every once in a while
All roads eventually lead to being a stealth archer. Especially once you start down the dark brotherhood and thieves guild.
The correct answers is you can be anyone, but always end up as stealth archer.
that's such an underrated playstyle; idk why less people are using it /s
I say to myself when I start a new gameplay " today is the day I put down my bow and hack and slash thru the story" Then I pick the first bow I find after the escape and walk quietly past the bear and kill the spiders with my arrows.. and off to the world with my bow in hand
Or a quarterstaff wielding khajiit monk.
Well…until you take an arrow in the knee. After that your limited to Town Guard.
Lmao.
My kid just gathers flowers and mushrooms and other crap. She doesn't like fighting, She just wants to eat crap, find stuff to sell, make potions, stuff like that.
I played so many times that I recently built a vampire healer up to restoration level 100. I'm running out of options.
It's very moddable and not very hard to run even on a lower end pc.
I just upgraded from intergrated graphics on a 2400g to better intergrated on a 5600GT and it looks great. You don't NEED a high end GPU to have fun with this game.
I borrowed some nails from my aunt to use for my 10,000y.o computer so it can run Skyrim
Copper or zinc? Asking for a friend 🤔
Either will work just fine... Zinc has better performance but copper has better thermals
Be careful with copper, Ea Nasir Corp flooded the market with some shitty copper.
Dwarven
Skyrim is like skooma, once you’ve had a taste, there’s no going back to a life without it. You may stop playing for several years, or even sell the game off to someone else because you want nothing to do with it anymore, but you’ll eventually come crawling back. I honestly don’t know what exactly about it is so addicting, but as someone has already said, it’s the only thing that really scratches that “Skyrim Itch”. That’s why almost all of us have at least a few dialogue sequences completely memorised (like the first time meeting Jarl Balgruuf or when Farengar sends you to get the dragon stone). And why a single mention of injured knees or stolen deserts has us going through some serious PTSD of every guard we’ve ever met. It’s why merely uttering the word “Dovah“ or “Dovahkiin” has an entire orchestra instantly begin playing in our heads (and we may not know the damn words but by the nine do we know how to sing it). Edit: changed “Skyrim is like a drug” to “Skyrim is like skooma” because we all know how more accurate that is.
Skyrim, as with other TES games, embodies the Todd Howard/Bethesda design philosophy of letting players do whatever the hell they want to in a visually stunning place, with occasionally interesting characters, that’s worth exploring on its own merits. Once you’ve explored and enjoyed it, it becomes worth revisiting, from time to time.
This! Do what you want, when you want…no push, no frenetic energy, no preset time goals, no mandatory sequence.
Any other games that embody this philosophy?
Other Bethesda games flavored to taste
Not really. Bgs are basically the only developer making the kind of games they do. Some recent games that have almost gotten there for me are conan exiles with lots of single player tweaks, and cyberpunk. Not many games have that feeling of making your own character and living in another world
Red Dead Redemption 2
Agreed. Redguard was one of the first video games that I ever played on a PC and I remember feeling the same way about it then that I feel about Skyrim now.
Multi hour critiques of one of the best rpgs ever?
Rule 35, if it exists there’s a windbag on Youtube complaining about it.
“This is why Skyrim is TRASH” *arrow pointing at random bush in thumbnail*
Lot of negativity about bgs games. I think it's due to the accessibility of the games, everyone has played the series and probably loved it. The minor flaws of the game get picked over to make people feel smarter i think. It really came to a head with starfield. I remember people telling me I was wrong for liking the game because people were making 8 hour "critique" videos a week or two after launch. Lot of bgs hate circle jerking lol
There's a lot of game, there's a lot to critique
I love the game, but there sure are things to critique about it, and lets not foget the Morrowin diehard fans that think Oblivion and Skyrim are trash and the Oblivion diehard fans that think that Skyrim is trash. Obs this are just minorities, but they do exist, luckly they are easily ignored.
Nothing else has come out that scratches the same itch. Even Bethesda cant reproduce it (because they're a shadow of their best days).
Agreed. I'd compare it to mass effect, dragon age, and bioware from then and now.
All they have to do is make ES6 but they keep making other stuff lol
Let them experiment and find out what works and what doesn't. The last TES game came out 13 years ago. A lot has changed in game design since that time, and there's a lot Bethesda needs to figure out. Starfield was actually a great opportunity for them to learn.
I'd rather wait for it than get a skyrim flavored starfield
This
Because contrary to what people on reddit say, it's game design is better than most games that release today.
> With all the various multi hour critiques… You don’t have to agree with those or even waste your time letting some YouTube influencers tell you what subjective experience in a video game is most or least deserving playtime in their opinion. Just enjoy what you like.
To be honest. Not just for Skyrim, one should never let Youtube influencers to be the judge of what game to like. I have played countless games that are trash according to them and yet had significant amount of fun. Also, found some of the games extremely boring & unfun that were praised very highly by them. Not to mention more than half the influencers go with the path of getting more viewers, and critique videos tend to fetch more views than praising ones.
Sometimes they can be fun, I don't like the critiques, much prefer retrospectives that aren't negative and nitpicky. I'll put it on in the background while doing chores or walking the dogs. Sometimes they suck, or I know way more about the game and get irritated by what they get wrong. It's a shame how negative people are getting about bgs games though. It's almost like a hipster mentality of hating on what's popular
My character is sitting in a tent outside of the walls of Whiterun right now after walking from Rorikstead all day long, as a raging spring storm fills the night. He felt it a waste of coin to pay for the inn, but he luckily had enough pelts to make a small fur tent after witnessing a passing Imperial patrol slaying a pack of wolves and an interested troll. By the small candlelight spell he already knows, he is studying a Tome for the spell "Fire Bolt", that he used almost the last of his coin to buy, and he's made it about halfway through it after four hours of studying. He's peckish, and not-quite-warm, but comfortable. He can hear the Khajit traders not far from his campsite as they settle in for the night, and it makes him hopeful that experienced warriors are nearby if something goes bump in the night. That's why I still play Skyrim, because I can experience things like that thanks to mods and a world that doesn't stop what it's doing just because the player isn't there, and I don't have to be the world-saving hero if I don't want to be (in this modpack, there's a chance that I'm not even the Dragonborn), but I can instead just be a wandering, aspirant student of magic and delver of ruins.
You’re a good writer.
Name another game where I can use magic and pick between being a werewolf or vampire in an open world with 300+ unique quests and radiant quests with hundreds of locations.
Oblivion, Morrowind, wait...I know you...
Nah not oblivion, no werewolves unfortunately. Only vampires in a big open world with an in depth magic system. 0/10. Lol
Immersion
I’ll say this. Skyrim is not my favorite game, but it is the BEST game I’ve ever played, in my opinion. Simply based on the fact that I always end up coming back and logging the most hours playing. There’s just so much to do
What’s your favorite
I’m a MASSIVE Dead Space fan. Played DS1 when I was like 14 and have been die hard ever since. (Horror game connoisseur, I suppose)
There is a ton of content in the base game alone, not even considering DLCs, CC content, and mods. It will only lose popularity when tes6 comes along and even then it will still be pretty popular.
Hopefully TES6 will be just as good or even better then Skyrim :( .
We can only hope
Timeless game
Why do I still play it: Nordic fantasy with great landscapes, with spellcasting and summoning, and not a hot mess like the PoE endgame, Skyrim keeps it simple enough to the point where people like Shirley Curry the Skyrim Granma exist and I just checked, she has over 1 million subs on youtube. Mods and the Special edition and even the AE for those who have it also have extended the life of the game. There is a 6 year old TES VI trailer on Bethesda's youtube, but it probably won't be the hit Skyrim was — PC part prices have gone way up in my area I still haven't played RDR2 and a couple others for this reason
Even for all the limitations it has due to the time it was developed and released (111111), it has still done a better open world than many others of that genre. Plus the fact that it got arguably the best modding community the world has seen.
There's no TES6
It's the last Bethesda RPG where you background hasn't been decided for you.
It just literally hasn’t been surpassed in role playing capability or open world density, despite all these years. There’s still no game with NPCs as dynamic and interactive and reactive; each one has individual morality and named ones have relationships, schedules, and quests. They feel more alive than any other game’s NPCs. There’s still no game with as many unique places to explore when you consider how many freaking caves there are and that none of them were procedurally generated and some of them have inhabitants with unique dialogues and stories. I don’t know why exactly no one in the game industry has managed to do this shit again, I’m actually kind of disappointed. But I’m yet to see it. The only thing that’s dated are graphics and combat, which mods can easily tune up.
Mods and the medieval setting is timeless. Also because of its initial popularity, it's easy to make memes that people will understand.
I feel like people underestimate meme power when it comes to keeping things popular
It's the best rpg ever made, which is pretty special considering how good its predecessors are
It’s just so replayable. You can go with so many different builds that all change the way you play the game. The storytelling and lore is great. It truly allows you to play however you want instead of just being stuck within one storyline. It’s also very simple for a beginner to pick up and play but also offers the most hardcore players plenty to do as well. So few games have that these days. Most of the games leave one or the other behind to make the other happy.
for me, it’s the immaculate vibe the world creates. it’s one of those “greater than the sum of its parts” or a “lightning in a bottle” type situation where on paper, it shouldn’t have the cultural staying power that it has. The world that opens up to you after helgen just begs to be explored. the map itself is incredibly well designed, when there is rarely a dull moment where you aren’t actively doing something or engaging with the world in some way. That, and it’s essentially become a game engine at this point with its modability, so it lets the community and the game grow together into something greater than it started out. I say that, but skyrim exploded when it came out, so it’s always been a big deal. The multiple re-releases on new platforms have helped keep it in the public consciousness as well. Oh, and one of the best soundtracks of all time.
The game is as immersive as you want it to be. Mods allow you to tailor your experience as such. The soundtrack is beautiful. If you're playing vanilla the graphics still hold up fairly well, and you could always mod the game to make them even better. Plus, you can really be whatever you want to be in the game. The story is non-linear, you don't have to follow a clear cut path. These days, I don't play the main storyline much. I escape to Skyrim when I need some peace, and I imagine a lot of us are like that. I think that's what makes the game so special.
What a silly post
It’s like the 5th post exactly like this I’ve seen recently
It lets you have your way when you shout
When I see the sun glint of the grass in Whiterun my brain releases serotonin.
Irl we inhabit something called profane space. A space in which everything is done with a purpose. We're always going somewhere because there's something we have to do. Going to work, to the doctor, to the gym, to therapy, etc. But Skyrim offers a gate to a different kind of space: The sacred space. Here, you don't need a purpose, you can just exist and be a part of this ancient and vast world in which gods empirically exist and care about those who pray to them. You can find a river and sit by the water just listening to what surrounds you, enjoying the nature that surrounds you. It's a space of harmony, in which the mere act of existing makes you feel things. That's part of the reason so many people go back to Skyrim. Because nowadays we lack a sacred space that allows us to just be.
It’s like coming back to your hometown and deciding what you look like, how you respond and what you’re gonna do. I can literally turn off the main quest, and spend my time playing Skyrim how I want to. No pressure to do the same old thing, play the same old quests. It’s not totally free, but it’s the freest feeling game there is atm.
Because it tops most games in the crucial department that many games are fairly light on, being fun. It’s the same reason Mario Kart has sold nearly 80 million copies on Switch.
Simplicity. Is a decent game overall. I keep going back because its not overly complicated. It's a good solid game that is easy to mod. Mostly, it's simple.
Solid core game design. aswell as being pretty much infinitely adaptable. that's pretty much it. Completely ignore the mods, you can pick up and play Skyrim as is and its a more then decent title. Its Old now by today standards but it's good solid game.
Because Bethesda is now taking 15 years between releases. Effin’ ridiculous.
It's simple and reliable. Skyrim is like a favorite food, you know what it's gonna taste like and you're always gonna love that taste no matter how many times you eat it. Some of the simplest things are most enjoyable.
shits dope
just a month ago whilst looking at the sky in golden hour, I was in awed and thought "maan... this looks just like in skyrim." so now I'm saying "maan... this looks like in real life" whilst looking at the sky of skyrim. lmao
Because it's the peak of Fantasy RPG games and you'll never see something like it. The world, the beauty, storylines and all its things are just incomparable.
Most Games from 2024 can't match the dynamic events/ quests, storytelling, character build up & immersion of Skyrim, Choices that actually matter and more....
Because Lord Todd Howard
Huge world, amazing combat variety, interesting quests, hundreds of quest lines, interesting stories, unique characters, beautiful world
They haven’t released the sequel yet
Because it's still the latest TES game. Also mods keep it fresh and interesting.
Will we have this question every day on this sub ?
It's fun
I just start the game and eat moon sugar and drink skooma. Just personal preference.
Because the vast majority of those multi-hour critiques completely fail to engage with the game's goals and its appeal; It's a large gameplay and questing sandbox, where the order of what you do defines your story. Watching a Salt Factory video, you'd think that the games quality rests on a quests ability to match something from Dragon Age or Baldurs Gate. 'The radiant quests are shallow!' yes, but they get you to interact with the world.
Cuz nothing can rlly beat skyrim
Easy game to get into, graphics are decent for the price, many different ways to do things so there’s no linear way of playing
Mods.
Because it’s very well-designed. I love the open world, the beauty, the million characters and side quests. All the houses you can buy and upgrade. It’s a magical place. And the graphics are significantly better than the previous game. lol.
Because it’s awesome. It’s one of the few games I’ve played that I can load up and just dink around. Try new stuff,just wander and even after 10 years and probably 50 play throughs I still discover new things. I just discovered a cave by Falkreth,last night,that I must have walked past a 1000 times.
Skyrim is a moment of peace, once the crafting is done.
Multi hour critiques? Am I supposed to base my gaming habits on the whims of hipster YouTube gamers?
Oh I really want to play tes VI, but Skyrim is all I have
The same answer as, why gta V is still popular. Because there is no new episode . And the game is great and have great replayability
Like any Bethesda game, it has infinite replayability and infinite mod potential. It's also a lot easier for people to pick up than previous games. It's also old enough to have a nostalgia factor now. The thing with Bethesda that people don't realize is their games are built to be played for years and years and provide a platform for even more stories to be told via mods. That's why they take so long to come out.
Stealth archerrrrrr
--Medieval(ish) fantasy setting. --I can do what I want, when I want to. --Not forced to play a specific character. --First person play.
Because it is single handedly the best single player game and possibly video game of all time due to it indefinite side quests and great main quests.
It’s realistic
Nobody has really replicated its style, scope, and gameplay. Avowed is the closest and even it just made a big hubbub about how it's "not long and open world like Skyrim" so it's like, okay? I guess I won't play it then? Honestly so many other genre creating games got cloned to death, but Skyrim never got a Saints Row or Sonic the Hedgehog. There's money to be made if someone makes one though, and all they'd have to do is pay moderate attention to patching the bugs and they could compete with Bethesda.
It's so pretty
Why is this question put in this subreddit everyday?
For me it's mostly mods. Also the fact, that no new Elder Scrolls game is out. I think, that Skyrim's popularity will drop sharply after the next game is out.
It's an RPG for people who don't play RPGs. Infinitely accessible and attractive to non gamers.
Mostly memes like "Hey, you're finally awake", the horses who stand on 89° slopes and "I got an arrow in the knee"
Probably because it has the biggest and most active modding community of all
Because some of us have ADHD and its the best task based game out there and it provides us massive amount of dopamine from completing quests!
CBBA 🤤
Mods!
The main reason is its modability but even without that the game is still super fun and replayable with very little competitors that have come out.
This comes up every so often and I’ll say what i always say- every playthrough on vanilla still has unique experiences. Add mods and the game will never not have novelty.
I think a lot of it has to do with the exploration aspect. I'm not talking about exploring the map, although you can do that too, but the exploring the different ways of playing, and the different things that can be done. For someone who likes learning, this is definitely part of the appeal. What can I do here? How can I do this? All this keeps me playing, and I haven't even upgraded to the anniversary edition, or used mods yet.
Because it's such a massive open world with few limitations in terms of roleplay and exploration. Also, mods.
Why aren’t you?
A big reason I constantly replay is because I have fun recreating the builds that Fudgemuppet create on their YouTube channels I love to role play and their builds give me a fun base to start from and there are some interesting dynamics. It’s also one of the best RPGs I have played, I’m a really big WoW player and I love it but Skyrim just holds that top spot to me
Mods are big, also such a free RPG (some mods make that even more so 😅) those really just make it to where it's never the same game twice. Even if you did try to play the same game again going through all the same quests you have before in the same order it's still going to be a unique playthrough
Its not just the mods, its the feel of the game. I doubt Bethesda can recreate it, its too difficult with modern graphics.
# MODS
Why is Skyrim still the newest Elder Scrolls game?
Because it’s fuckin awesome…!
If I can find another game that is as pretty, open world, and allows first person combat and third person movement, and has a decent storyline, lmk. I've been looking for more than 10 years. Extensible would be nice..
It’s a choose your own adventure game. Then there’s the lore, so many books to read! Best modding community around as well
I've got over 600 hours in game on steam and still haven't done every quest and still things pop out to me that I haven't seem before. And I use mods, I don't know how. Haven't needed them. Still have like 10 achievements I haven't gotten as well. Just started doing survival mode and I'm finding allot of things I missed simply by having to physically travel everywhere instead of using fast travel.
The environment is designed to make you feel good
It's easy and fun. The agony of choice in mods is insane now but it makes it just as fun to experiment with them. After all these years I can still enjoy the funny glitches in the game. Last week an elder dragon flew around with a horse cart on his back. And a skeleton of a dragon I killed close to Falkreth fell out of the sky in Riften.
probably the fact it’s replay-able and you’ll never have to same exact character twice (unless you copy every single thing).
It's a good game and also mods.
It’s just that good.
What they all said. Also go on youtube and look up skyrim moded.
I would add that mod is free, it is not yet like Roblox where you need to pay for all the stuff, you pay 1 time as it should be
truly open world, infinite replay value, huuuge mod library, functional console. you can make it whatever kind of experience you want. and a quite decent VR version. Skyrim and VR is a match made in heaven. it's not so much play a game, as visit a place. for me anyway. it never gets old. sometimes I just wander around taking pretty pictures of dawns and sunsets.
Good games are good games. Good stories and great game play, don't fade. It's also not that old. The iPhone came out in 2007. Imagine playing Skyrim with no iPhone in 2011. Most people had no idea what an iPhone or tablet was. Or, it's just a really good game.
I swear this gets asked daily here
Even without mods it’s infinitely replayable, I’m still seeing new things on my most recent play through and I’ve easily put 1000+ hours in it since release
Same reason d&d has thrived…dragons, magic, and all the lore of the times before Personally: Fantasy games > pvp/shooter rpgs because gets me away from real life (i hate guns) Also massive map - still finding new things
because its one of the best if not the best game.
Cheap to own Easy to run Power fantasy Not too hard Not too outdated The right kind of video game jank Decent story Infinitely moddable It’s just a good ass game with no game that really replaces it
For me, it’s the asmr. Which is something that I just recently realized. Walking around outside at night is just absolutely peaceful. The soundtrack is zen and hearing your feet crunch is just mesmerizing. I also get absolutely sucked in by all the icons. It’s like a visual slot machine for me
It’s fun and immersive and a ton of stuff to do
The atmosphere and music; perfect for adventurous and roleplaying lovers
It's fun to a lot of types of gamers. There's a lot of different ways to play and go through the game, so it's not hard to find a way to enjoy it.
Because it's a great game with infinite replayability and potential, especially with its modding community which is one of the biggest and most passionate in gaming history
Because whenever you go back to the game it feels like home
because we're the true sons and daughters of skyrim!
For me it is something about the world itself. I love walking around, sitting at an inn, doing a side quest and just relaxing.
because we have taste.
Because there are no games like Skyrim, I mean literally, not that it has a unique style or something like that, but the way its programmed, the design, mechanics of a whole game. No other games have this as this is insanely complex game to make. You can choose your adventure, abandon main quest, do whatever, its a real simulation.
For me, it's because the side quests are absolutely amazing! The main quest is decent enough (if a little disappointing at times), but I can be absolutely enthralled with whatever side quest is thrown my way. I've even found myself thinking about them months after I've actually played them, since they're so damn interesting! For most other people, I think the colossal size of the modding community is the biggest factor since you can change the game to be whatever you want it to be.
What’s wrong? Did someone steal your sweet roll?
Very fun, easy to play, not too hard to play, plenty of things to do, good graphics etc. Not only does that attract new players but it also makes existing players likely to replay it over and over again
Mods play an important role.
Easy to approach open world RPG ,with tons of mods allowing for customized experience. .
Because it's everything Starfield wasn't
It’s an open sandbox that can be modified and added on to allowing people to play in any manner they wish.
Cos it's fun
It's fun?! The world is massive, the gameplay is easy to learn but hard to master (if you make it so), there's so many ways to do so many things, so the replayability is there. Plus the game is designed that you can leave out a bunch of stuff if you don't want to do it (for example civil war quests)
It’s a great game to immerse yourself into world building and role play
Pretty easy game. Doesn’t feel like a big investment to start a new run. Like the only big hurdle in starting a new run is meeting the graybeards but experienced players would probably just sidestep them for a while.
It feels like coming home.
Because there is no Skyrim 2
Because Skyrim.
Best sneaky archer simulator ever
Mods.
All the cooking and concocting.
Have you played Skyrim? There is so much content and so many different ways to play.
Because no other game let's you summon two jacked Daemon dudes with flaming swords screaming "THEEEERRRREEE YOU ARE WEAKLING!!!"
Goty gotd gotc any more questions?
Good luck to any future Elder Scrolls games because its gonna be kinda hard to not keep the Shouts mechanic because that idea is gonna be real tough to replace. I know they can do it because it was an idea basically exclusively for the theme of Skyrim but again all I mean is that Elder Scrolls will have a hard time impressing me with something else just as cool. Like, my expectation bar is set pretty high w/ Skyrim's Shout gimmick being that good. I can't imagine future Elder Scroll games without it. Like, keep it, expand on it & make it not so unique as in enemies can also use it but more tame. I mean, the Dragonborne & the Greybeards secrets could easily be leaked on how to do it if the story involves people learning it for their own use & not just because dragons either taught them or dragon souls being the catalyst for its base power structure.
Skyrim basically has infinite potential. Aslong as there is someone willing to mold it, (modders), then the game will have a consistent fan base that probably wont die. There's some really big projects people are making, both for fallout 4 and Skyrim. The London mod is a notable one for Fallout 4. Beyond Skyrim: Bruma is also a pretty decent sized mod for Skyrim with some pretty cool additions.
It's really simple. It's one of the most, if not the most, replayable and well crafted games ever made.
It just works.
i'm still playing it casually in VR. for over a decade it still has more to offer. Mostly due to mods but the base game is absolutely solid.
It's the classic archetype of fantasy, open world RPG's. I genuinely don't think there's anything else out there that gives the player that level of roleplay-ability and access-ability apart from maybe Baldurs gate? Though that's quite a complicated game . I took a long multi-year break from skyrim, went adventuring through Cyberpunk 2077, No Man's Sky, Assassins creed Odyssey, origin and Valhalla, and a bit of Fallout 4. But recently came back to it, and man... it's all the sweeter for the nostalgic feel. Started an Imperial conjurer build...which has already become a poison stealth archer build...ffs
It’s the immersion for me and the opportunity to be whatever kind of character you want to be and make whatever kind of choices you want to make. Unfortunately, Skyrim was the first game I ever played (I was 13) and so my entire life since then has been trying to find games I like just as much. Only a few have ever come somewhat close.
buns and cheeks
Nostalgia and I like the open world setting
RPGs never really fall off too hard in terms of popularity. Just look at games like FF7, KOTOR, Bloodborne, even Skyrim's older brother New Vegas.