Tales from the Crypt. Review of TES V: Skyrim - Dawnguard

Recently (hi, fellow!) I finally conquered the first expansion for TES V: Skyrim - Dawnguard. What can I say? There are significantly fewer vampires in the gloomy Skyrim. [cut]

Father and daughter. Bon appétit?

The Dawnguard storyline narrates the confrontation between the vampire-hunting order of the Dawnguard with a clan of particularly dangerous ghouls, who intend to realize some murky prophecy, allowing the bloodsuckers to hold a dominant position in Tamriel (and everything will be just like in real life).

...and then some Fool suggested joining their cult.

You can either assist the vampires in their claims or thwart them; there's a clear inequality at play: the helper and sycophant are immediately endowed with special powers, abilities, and the grotesque appearance of a poorly shaved flying monkey, while the monster hunter receives a hearty kick in the butt from the main bloodsucker - Harkon, honorary membership in the vampire hunters club, and the opportunity to construct a super crossbow according to Dwarven specifications.

Frozen drama featuring a crossbow

The crossbow, by the way, is quite good - it charges exploding bolts; only the bow made from dragon bone hits harder. Since the developers allowed weapons to be made from this material, I am in the process of reforging my entire arsenal, since for a true Nord-min-maxer, even additional damage points are an excellent reason to hunt flying creatures.

He had mere seconds left to live.

As for the new vampire abilities granted to the freshly minted vampire lord, it should be noted: they activate only along with the grotesque visage and wings on the back. However, you won't be able to swing your lovingly forged Daedric sword: your hands will be eternally occupied with "blood magic" - sucking energy, resurrecting the dead, summoning gargoyles, and other filth; the higher the number of bitten victims - the broader the arsenal of techniques. Using them with a high-level character capable of killing a dragon in three hits is pointless - unless it's just for fun.

In the Dawnguard castle, you can acquire an emotionally unstable, but armored troll. It tears vampires to shreds so that it's a pleasure to behold.

If you forget about blood magic and certain dietary preferences, you might not even notice a difference when playing through the storyline as a vampire or the Order; even the mortality of ghouls is weakly dependent on the chosen side. Whether you are a lackey of Harkon or a boy on errands for the Dawnguard, in the global sense, the tasks presented are essentially the same: both "bosses" mostly seek the same artifacts with the help of the same NPCs in the same locations. To some extent, this is even a positive: you can confidently choose any of the factions without fear of missing some illicit spot, relying solely on your moral compass. Love bloodshed? Go ahead. Don’t like those who love bloodshed? By all means.

In the favored Falmer underbellies, some corals grow, and glowing deer abound. As if one had landed on Pandora.

There are plenty of locations where you can actively express your civic stance; the expansion has presented more than enough: the Dawnguard castle, the ancestral lair of the vampires, some ancient temples, and forgotten valleys; at a certain moment, we may even learn a bit more about the irretrievably fallen Falmer and the complex fate of the man whose soul was trapped in stone.

Goth skeletons

All this, combined with gargoyles, water-dwelling dragons, and Harkon's friendly daughter - the vampire Serana. This partner flatly refuses to marry, shattering the protagonist's dreams of an eternally young wife with eternally firm skin. However, in battle, for instance, she strikes enemies with lightning, drains their life force, and prompts fresh corpses to attack newly arrived foes. You can watch this endlessly.

The gargoyle takes a beating from a skeleton that has been killed and resurrected twice.

By the time the final act of the local vampire play was drawn, the Steam counter, accounting for the time spent in Skyrim, indicated that it had taken about 25 hours to complete the expansion. In this regard, I would like to note the following: one can criticize Bethesda for bugs in games and delayed releases, lament over armor for a mare costing the price of a bottle of beer and other "transgressions", but nowadays, it is practically the only company releasing full-fledged "old-school" expansions under the guise of DLC - that is, just what a true fan of the series needs. For that, thank you.

Rating: 9 out of 10

Ima firing my lazors!