Preview from ripten.com [translation]
Time in "Skyrim" Finally Made Me a True Believer
Dave Oshry
08.25.2011
Believe.
Oh, Sheogorath, my lord and guardian… Why did I doubt Your madness? Did I lose my mind? Did I truly think that the gray demo from E3 represented the game? Oh, how wrong I was!.. Can you forgive me?
Maybe.
As many of you already know, I wasn't too impressed with the E3 demo of "Skyrim". In fact, both Stefiroth Gutovsky and I were so horribly disappointed with what we saw that we awarded the game the "Most Brutal Disappointment" award.
We were terribly wrong.
Yes, I still believe that the E3 demo of "Skyrim" was trash and that the best RPG there was "Reckoning", but after playing "Skyrim" for an hour behind closed doors, I am extremely happy to report that I now sincerely believe in the fifth installment of the main series from "Bethesda". And you should believe too.
You see, I am a very tough critic on this matter. As many of you know, I am an old-school PC RPG player and a fan of the "Elder Scrolls" series.
I left Mantella for myself in "Daggerfall". I dumped everything I could in the artifact museum in "Morrowind"… and then stole it back. I closed all the gates to Oblivion and collected all the treasures in Cyrodiil, and then I had to make a mod for extra shelves in my Skingrad mansion. It just wouldn't fit! And what was it all for? No one will ever visit my houses in "Elder Scrolls", see my priceless collections and artifacts, but I did it anyway. And I am not the only one.
Need… more… shelves…
Perhaps you also have a "Pelvis of Elvis" lying above your fireplace in one of the houses from "Oblivion"… but I digress. I simply play "Elder Scrolls" like that. I live for immersion in the game, escaping reality, the beauty of a completely unique world, unlike anything you can see around us. For freedom, for choice, and often, for the consequences of that choice.
And even being this biased, I ridiculed many critics who called me crazy after E3. I wrote that they were just schoolkids who wouldn't learn the world history even under the threat of beheading by a daedric scythe of the Dremora! I considered them blind fans, for whom "Elder Scrolls" started with "Oblivion". These kids had no idea about "Daggerfall" or "Morrowind"! They had never modded anything in their lives and had not even heard of "Nehrim". They were wrong. I was right, just like that, you brats!
But they were not wrong. I was the one who couldn’t believe.
Dave, I am disappointed.
So, after playing "Skyrim" for a full hour without any limits except for time, and enjoying every minute of those sixty, I want to apologize.
Apologize to the readers, apologize to friends, apologize to "Bethesda", and even apologize to the schoolkids who believed in the Scrolls even when I lost faith. I'm sorry.
But you didn't come here for the tears, did you? You want to hear about my adventures in "Skyrim", right? Well then, let's proceed.
In the deluxe suite I entered, there were several gaming media representatives and a bunch of "Xbox 360" consoles along with widescreen TVs. Pete Hines and Todd Howard from "Bethesda" told us that the player starts the demo as a prisoner in a cave and that he can go wherever he wants. They only told us that; that's all I needed to know.
Character creation in "Skyrim" is as detailed as in "Oblivion", if not more. Just look at this wealth of options! But I had no time to fiddle with such a complex system; there was only an hour to play.
So I quickly tossed out the basics: Bosmer… tattoos… mohawk… that’ll do. Let’s go!
Behold my first character in "Skyrim"!
Freeing myself from shackles, I dashed through the cave at full speed, opened the door to the outside, stepped onto the vast Skyrim meadows, and got a solid dose of sunlight to the face. Ready, I arrived. It was time to begin the adventure.
But where to start? So much time had passed since my last game that felt this free, I didn't even know where to go or what to do! Looking at the compass, very similar to its counterpart from "Oblivion", I noticed a small camp to the northeast. That’s where my Bosmer headed.
As I made my way through the woods, he stumbled upon three guys in leather armor standing around a campfire, surrounded by tents. I had no idea whether they were hostile, so I had to wait for them to charge at me waving weapons.
Grrr!
— Holy crap! — I cursed, remembering that I still hadn't chosen armor and weapons. And there was no clarity on spells either. Quickly pausing the game, I summoned the new improved menu. Spells were indeed there! Excellent. Weak fire in the left hand, weak healing in the right. Done. Time to unpause and fry some bandits.
A stream of flame shot from my outstretched left hand. The stupid bandits cooked well. Even at my low level, they offered little resistance. “This is a bit too easy,” I thought. But there was no time to be astonished; deadlines were approaching. Quickly rummaging through the corpses, I watched them slide down the slope, just like in a typical series manner. I assure you, there’s nothing better than the “Take All” button. I took everything from these bandits, even their pride.
Calling up the menu again, I started sifting through the loot. The inventory had also been improved. The game clearly informs which items are better than those you already have and which of them are the best. No more looking at stats trying to determine what’s better; it’s all presented at once. Moreover, you can easily assign favorites to switch weapons, armor, and spells with just one click. Delightful!
Light it up!
Since I was a Bosmer wishing for a ranger career, I took light leather armor, a hatchet, and a bow. It seemed I could handle it all. Time to set off. Nonetheless, those bandits had set up a nice camp. Should I take a quick nap?
YOU CANNOT SLEEP IN ANOTHER’S BED. Damn, it’s still "Elder Scrolls". I had to move on.
Stumbling upon a lake, I decided to take a swim. The swimming animations had improved, but the water was, to put it mildly, murky. While the character was swimming in circles, I noticed Billy Shibley from "Machinima", who was watching my aquabatics with a smirk. It reminded me once again that there was little time left and I was just wasting it.
I had to crawl ashore and finally use the map to figure out my destination.
Where to go and what to do?
Upon pressing the button, the camera soared high into the skies. Now, that’s an in-game map! The map in the game represents the entire world! You can survey all of Skyrim from a bird’s-eye view. Now that’s what I call horizons! A magnificent view perfectly capturing the scale of the game. You are insignificant, and Skyrim... Skyrim is vast. I spotted a city not far off and decided to stroll in that direction. However, shortly after, a woman ran up to me, being chased by another group of bandits.
She asked me to help. I accepted the quest just as the bandits approached, so it was too late to draw my bow. I wanted to pull out my hatchet but hit the wrong button (damn consoles) and switched to third-person view instead. “Oh crap…” — I thought. “Now this is really bad, I’m done for.” But there was no time to grieve. I dodged one bandit and sliced the second. Soon, they were all dead, and I spun the camera around, inspecting the bodies, and jumped for joy. “Wait, wait, wait,” I thought. “The jumping animation is not disgusting, and… wow, I just took someone down in third-person!” And I actually enjoyed it a lot. Can I declare that "Skyrim" in third-person mode is not only playable but also enjoyable?! Is that even possible?! Did "Bethesda" really keep their promise and make an "Elder Scrolls" game that can be played without first-person view?! It seems so. I was impressed.
You’re welcome, baby.
The woman thanked me and asked me to escort her to the city. Remaining in third-person mode, I did just that, hoping she would invite me to her place. I would then show her how the Wood Elves have fun back home in Valenwood.
Unfortunately, she did not invite me home, but that’s fine. I reached the settlement. It was time to take on quests. This is an RPG, after all.
Wandering through the streets and exchanging a few words with passersby, I entered an inn. There, a bard was singing… actually singing! Not mumbling some verse like in "Oblivion"; his song had a melody! Indeed, even the patrons were swaying to the beat!
Rumor has it that if the bard sings long enough, everyone will get drunk and pass out, making them ripe for looting.
I approached a man with a bottle in his hand. He looked me over and grimly asked, “What do you want, traveler?”. I instantly recognized that voice. Jim Cummings! I nearly screamed in the room. I even beckoned Todd Howard over. “Jim Cummings!”, I told him. “I’m a big fan; it’s so cool he’s in the game!”
Todd put on a clueless expression.
— In "Oblivion", there were about a dozen voice actors. In "Skyrim", there are over seventy… and soon we’ll release a press release with the full list.
I smiled, but thought to myself, “You sly bastard, I recognize the actors, you could have just said ‘yes’!” But I digress...
After taking a couple of quests in the inn, I set off to accomplish the first of them. One of the villagers asked me to steal something from someone’s house. A diary, perhaps. In my rush, I didn’t read the quest text and just dashed toward the guiding arrow, broke the door lock, and snuck upstairs. Already having grabbed the diary and reached the exit, I caught the eye of one of the guards.
We’re not from around here…
“Damn,” I thought. “Bribe or cut down?” Luckily, I didn’t have to choose. The demo was running on an alpha build, so the glitchy guard simply walked away as if nothing had happened. \_\_\_ However, I swore to avoid making that mistake in the final version of the game.
After handing the diary to the employer, who, damn it, was voiced by Jim Cummings, I received my reward and set off for the next quest. Its target was a bit further away.
First, I searched the local shops to ensure I had enough supplies. Armor in pristine condition, bow and hatchet at the ready. Even a decent shield. Full battle readiness… and twenty-five minutes to utilize it.
Ready for battle… I hope.
I went where the quest arrow pointed. Not wanting to tread worn paths, I soon found myself face-first in the slope of a thirty-meter mountain. But the arrow pointed right at it! Of course, I could go around, but this is "Elder Scrolls", screw everything!
So I did what any self-respecting PC gamer would do: exploited a bug and hopped right up the slope, quickly arriving at a snowy path. The weather was quite different from in the village. The sky had turned gray, snow was falling all around. Moreover, just as I familiarized myself with the surroundings, a draugr charged at me! I readied my shield and hatchet. “Well, you’re about to get wrecked!” I whispered, catching Billy’s amused look at my nerdy rage. The vile undead rushed forward; I shielded myself and took a step back. A normal strike, a power strike! He lunged forward with his sword again, and I blocked with my battered iron shield. This time the blow was weaker, so with a quick shove I knocked him off the cliff. The draugr smashed to the ground.
Well, you’re about to get wrecked!
Wait. What did I just do? Knocked a draugr off a cliff with my shield? I pressed that same button again. Damn, now I can do that?! I suppose a regular swordsman would call it parry, but here in Amurika, it’s called a shove. Now you can shove opponents. Cool. Another draugr lunged at me. No time for fencing! A quick shove with my shield and this corpse was sent off to follow the first! Hahaha, this is marvelous!
Good job, "Bethesda", such pleasant tidbits make the combat in "Skyrim" much better. And a proper animation isn’t a drawback.
In short, after sending a few more draugrs, skeletons, and wights face-first down, I arrived at a large door in the mountain slope. The quest arrow was pointing right at it, so I assumed either the target was inside the mountain, or on the other side. It was cold outside anyway, so I went in.
Guys, do you mind if I sit here?
Stepping through a narrow icy corridor, I heard the sounds of the undead nearby. “No worries,” I thought. “They’re beneath me.” Beyond the next door awaited the warm interior of the mountain and a shining pile of dust, in which a pair of worn leather boots and a sword lay. Not just any sword, but a huge, silver two-hander imbued with FIRE. I snatched it up since the inventory helpfully indicated it was about 9000 times better than my rusty hatchet. “Wow, look at that,” I said to myself, “just right.”
Armed with my new trusty blade, I ventured deeper into the cave. The heart of the mountain contained a sizable hall. A spiraling staircase climbed from the floor to the ceiling, where I stood. If I went down, I’d probably get lost, so my Bosmer trudged upstairs in search of all sorts of cool stuff. Alas, instead of cool loot, he found the undead, which, however, were much easier to slice with the awesome two-hander. The dead writhed in agony, catching fire under the blows of the Blade of Victory! The stairs above were broken, so I had to head back down. More undead. I sent them one by one into Oblivion with the new sword. Too easy.
Suddenly, a fireball flew toward me. “What the hell, where did that come from?”. I heard laughter. Vampires! A couple of vile creatures had settled at the foot of the mountain near some statue. Should have guessed sooner. Those bastards weren’t kidding; their spells were rapidly draining my health. I ran and held the powerful attack button, hoping it would finish them off. And boy did it finish them! With one blow of fire and steel, I chopped them both down.
— Take that, kids from "Twilight".
After looting the bloodsuckers, I realized I was overburdened and couldn’t run. Why am I always overburdened? Ugh… I had to throw away a couple of rusty swords and scraps of leather before I could get past the vampires’ lair and exit the mountain. The quest arrow was still aimed ahead. At least I was moving in the right direction.
Forward!
— Five minutes left, — we were warned.
Damn, only five minutes. A mounted guard galloped by me. I tried to talk to him, but was met with “I don’t have time to chat with you, stranger.”
“Really?!” — I pulled out the flaming two-hander of death and cleaved the son of a bitch along with his horse, like a hot knife through butter. The horse caught fire and plummeted to the ground, while the guard… ahem, he soared into the heavens at a speed of one hundred sixty kilometers per hour and vanished into the clouds. My God, how I love alpha versions…
But then something truly magical happened.
As I looked up, everything around froze. Day turned into night and over the snowy lands and ice-covered trees of Skyrim spread the aurora borealis across the sky. The sight was magnificent, mesmerizing… and console-like.
Pete Hines saw the expression on my face and asked:
— Beautiful, right?
— Uh-huh… — I responded. — Unbelievable.
That was the last straw; they had bought me outright. I realized then that I had to take back my words about "Skyrim" that I had uttered after E3. And now that’s precisely what I did.
If "Bethesda" could convince even a jaded "Elder Scrolls" player like me to believe in the game, then what can you possibly put up against the world of "Skyrim"? I think, nothing. You’ve already believed and are just glad that I’ve come to believe too.
Think about the time you will spend in it when "The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim" comes out on 11.11.11.
You are not ready.
Translation is original.
Thanks for the materials — Condottiere.
Thanks for proofreading — Soth and Kavem.
Thanks for the support — Sinmara.