Henry Hurst

A major part in Skyrim being so popular with such a wide variety of people was its way of giving the player choices to make. Even before starting the game, the player is given the choice of 10 races; including 4 human types, 3 elves, an orc, cat person, or lizard. This is obviously a very big choice as each has their own straightens and weaknesses and stays the same for the entire play through. Along with this, once a player has chooses their race, they are soon informed through the first mission of the ongoing civil war in Skyrim, and is faced with the second major decision of fighting alongside the empire or the stormcloak rebellion. The number of choices the players are forced to make in Skyrim allows fans to debate with one another about the better races, guilds, or side of the war. The endless possibilities of a Skyrim character make each player feel unique when they play, making the game that much more fun. In order for players to feel like their choices really matter, the world they are in must feel real itself. One of the abilities Skyrim excelled at was its world building. Unlike most video games, quests in Skyrim are not simply given to you, some you will stumble upon or even have to go looking for yourself. As Impact says,“exploration is always rewarded and players who like world building will love the breadcrumbs spread thoroughly in many dungeons, which expand on the secrets of Skyrim”(Penny). The term open world is used to describe this game a lot, meaning players can and are expected to roam around and explore freely, finding things and quests organically. Fans of open world games love how Skyrim incorporates exploration and cite it as one of the main things that make this game so great. Skyrim’s most impressive feat is just how many people are still playing the game all of these years later. Though Skyrim’s use of choices and world building are what made the game so popular initially, Both have been taken to the next level through the modding community over the past 10 years. Even Todd Howard, the creator of Skyrim, admitted that “One of the reasons we’re sitting here 10 years later is because of our modding community and what they’ve done with the game.” (Amenabar). The players sense of free will in Skyrim has been taken to extreme levels with the use of mods, as players have created places added onto the game that are bigger than the original project itself. Skyrim was originally regarded as one of the greatest video games ever created, with its fantastic use of open exploration and player free will, players felt they were experiencing a whole new world at once rather than just a game. On top of this, over the years since its release Skyrim has grown into a something that can be custom built around your preferences using mods to create a Skyrim game built for you specifically. This insane longevity is what truly makes Skyrim such a masterpiece of a video game.