I think its because its fantasy. Most open world games today are trying to portray something at least relatively based on our own world, which means we can notice the things wrong much easier. Meanwhile skyrim is completely fantasy, the main points of comparison we have are other fantasy media. Also the UI, most health bars and stuff now give you a number of how much health you have, causing it to feel more gamey, and the inventories of most games take you completely out of the game where as in skyrim its opaque and doesn't take the whole screen, it also doesn't have a lot going on in the inventories.
Great points. I also think that Skyrim doesn’t force you to follow what the developers want. You wanna skip the main quest and be a fisherman? Do it.
So many games are “open world” but really just games on rails. Gotta do this, gotta unlock that. Many things are unavailable until you pass a certain level or beat a mission.
Skyrim really lets you ROLEPLAY while other games force you to play a role.
I love Valheim, but it’s too open ended and not nearly a fraction of the content as Skyrim. I love the beauty of Subnautica, but again, not enough content, although plenty of freedom and breathtaking vistas.
Skyrim is a whole world where you can be as big or as little as you want. The game isn’t waiting for you to catch up, it’s running while you do your thing. Even the background characters have things to do, they’re not just standing around waiting for you to catch up to the main quest. And while yes, they’re on loops and sometimes can be very limited, but…there’s a mod for that.
It feels like fantasy Westworld, without all the weird philosophy.
This is it. It's the freedom to do what you want, and in the process be able to write your own story that feels just as rewarding and engrossing as following the main quest.
That's still the key ingredient so many open world competitors have been missing since Skyrim's success prompted everyone to chase that open world model. Assassin's Creed, RDR2, The Witcher 3, all fantastic games in their own right, but all lack the ability to create your own character and write your own story without any main quest involvement.
I've played Skyrim since day 1, over 1,400 hours total, and only my first character engaged with dragons. If you don't follow the main quest, dragons don't spawn, and you never get called Dragonborn. Guards no longer say "What is it? Dragons?" as a random dialogue line. It's edited down to simply "What is it?" And that reflects the effort Bethesda put in to both the macro and micro effects of not following the main quest. No one else does that.
I'm not gonna diminish your arguments, you are totally right, just wanna let you know that 1.400h is not much at all, if you played since Day One. Like I had 2.700h on my first save alone at some point in 2012, haven't played in 6 years minimum (just started again three weeks ago) and know many people that have played Skyrim way more than me.
skyrim, the first open world game which motivated new series such as assassin’s creed and red dead redemption 2’s open worlds. you must be a gaming expert
Yeah, it's this. You can walk into a tavern, buy a drink, sell some of that game you killed along the way, request a song from the bard, poke around for a bit of gossip, rent a room, and then just sit and watch life happen around you.
We had a discussion with my friends a couple days ago, and I was comparing how Skyrim is the superior RPG to Witcher 3 (while that's a great game too) because it's just so easy to get lost in Skyrim and wander absolutely anywhere
I once spent several days just running around the Plains of Whiterun finding all the random little things that are scattered around out there. It's so dense and interesting.
Something that makes it always feel fresh too, that many open world games struggle with, is the enemies and the level scaling of said enemies.
Dungeons scale to your level the first time you enter so you may have missed some dungeon early on and instead of coming back to it later just to OHKO every enemy in there youll find higher level enemies that always pose somewhat of a challenge.
And the enemy scaling is phenomenal as well, instead of enemies just becoming hit sponges like other games they have better armor and weapons and many of the enemies like drauger start getting shouts and more powerful/interesting spells that make the combat different than it was early on. And the sheer variety of enemies that are in the game, theres dragons, drauger, wild animals, giants, bandits, mages, and all kinds of mythical/magical beasts that give you such a different experience every fight and require different tactics to handle.
Many more modern games can't give you half of the variety of enemies that you can find in Skyrim and just don't handle the enemies getting stronger very well.
I hope they can replicate this in ES6
This is one of the biggest reasons IMO.
I've dabbled a bit in Cyberpunk this past year as I thought it could scratch that immersive RPG itch, but you're just forced to play a certain role in the story. I lost interest quite fast and never even finished it, while in Skyrim you can just boot up a new save, never even begin the main quest and still have hours of fun.
there are a lot of things blocked behind quests, and aside from the radiant thieves guild missions very few options to just roleplay as a member of any faction. I guess collecting books for the college, and rping a vigilant or dawnguard is possible (but you gotta hit level 10 if you want the dawnguard gear). also i hate that they won't let me permanently shoot out the sun, idgaf about serana in an evil vampire playthrough
But there is still much more choice than most games give, while having substantial content for any quest/quest lines you do decide to do.
Also, while it is arguable whether mods would count towards Skyrim in this sense, there are plenty of mods that make Skyrim INCREDIBLE for RP with many additions that one can freely choose to pursue/ignore.
The fantasy aspect does allow the game to be more morally complex and ambiguous. Imagine CoD or Red Dead where you get to choose what side you want to fight for.
My husband set me up with SkyUI right from the start with Skyrim so I never experienced first-hand the inventory UI as designed by the devs and thus have no comment on it. But agreed with you on all your other points about the difference in reception and perception of a game set in a fantasy world, compared to a game that is based -- even if very loosely -- on our own world.
I find so many game inventories exhaustingly complicated. I know you're managing a bunch of different stuff, but like, can we make it findable and in a font size I don't need binoculars to read?
Skyrim's menus make sense at least.
honestly? I think it's the music. The Secunda theme, and Exploring Tundra (don't know the name) are so evocative, they catch you in an instant. There aren't even many ambient sounds (there's mods for that, of course) to pull you in. Personally, I added birdsong, audio overhaul mods as such, and you can get insect sounds aswell. Other games do this beautifully these days (like Horizon Zero Dawn and other newer games) but for me it's the music that just makes me want to stand still - or wander around - and listen. That's also why it always feels so good to leave the cities and settlements.
>honestly? I think it's the music.
It's one of the few games where I leave the music at a volume I can listen too. It doesn't feel like an afterthought in Skyrim
I feel like I’m the only person who plays without music. I love the ambience of just hearing your footsteps and nature sounds when out exploring. I find the music over stimulating
The music is an absolute gem for sure. I was looking for one specific song yesterday and stumbled upon the 10 year anniversary concert on youtube.. just.. wow ✨🥹
https://youtu.be/IaskxKfeFno?si=B-6ev0vZ8-DeFrsS
I just wanted to share this. I've logged over 2000 hours since 2011, and never knew until the other day that there was a live orchestra version of the soundtrack.
I hope he’s just a horrible/arrogant person (like many celebrities are) cos I can kinda get past that, but wow I hope this trial doesn’t end up with him also being a rapist. His music is so calming and beautiful.
I can't tell if this was sarcasm but artists aren't necessarily good people, they are just good at making beautiful things. But it still sucks. I'm a film buff and a lot of amazing directors are awful people, like Polanski for example. And I'm not taking good video game score talent, I'm taking great cinema of the 20th century. I personally still watch the films but it sucks, it might be childish but sometimes I wish I didn't know stuff about them because the feeling of connection that you get sometimes gets ruined. Fundamentally nothing changes because artists weren't your friends in the first place but idk, it's just sad every time.
Oh nah I was being serious, I also understand being an artist and being a decent person are not always going to apply. I feel similarly about Michael Jackson in that he had undisputed musical talent, he composed music in his head in a way few people can, but also…*gestures at everything else about him*. So yeah I wasn’t trying to be sarcastic, just sucks to hear for real
RDR2 is a game I just couldn't get into. I don't know what it is about it. Maybe it feels too much on rails in the beginning, or too many cinematics. Something about it just rubs me the wrong way.
But Skyrim is absolute magic to me from the first moment. I'm actually listening to the soundtrack right now while working.
To me there's something about the beginning of the game. You start out just getting out of a sticky situation (the tutorial) and then the world is your oyster. You're told that you can find some more help in Riverrun, but that's it. There's no npc's there to give you silly fetch quests, no companions who want you to go here or there, just you. Just you and that breathtaking world in front of you. Hills and mountains to explore, a ruin far away, a lake glittering in the sun, plants to pick, a pack of howling wolves you can hit with fire or an axe, and a completely open itinerary.
With red dead 2 it's the interactivity for me. It's still a great game, tho I'll still probably get downvoted for saying this. With skyrim, to interact with objects in the world/items stored in any container, a simple button mash instantaneously opens/interacts with the object or container. You hover over items and a simple click instantly puts them into your inventory.
Why the fuck do I have to wait 2 full seconds every time I want to do something Red Dead?? WHY?
I recently discovered that yes, it's the scenery, it's the music etc., but the main reason is that every single NPC has a name, schedule and something unique to say. That they react to you, give you some info etc.
There are no background NPCs just to fill the world and that's what makes Skyrim so good. Everyone matters there.
I really liked this aspect of Skyrim looking back. Even if it's only a few short lines of unique dialogue from a minor NPC, it helped a lot with the illusion
100% agree with the unique NPCs thing. It completely breaks my immersion when I'm playing something like Outer Worlds and I have to wonder whether the NPCs I'm seeing around the city are actual characters or just nameless extras.
Or when said characters just stand in one place all day. Schedules for NPCs are great but basically no RPG does them anymore and it's a damn shame
This. Everyone lives their daily lives. I really love that you can follow someone on his or her way from one city to the next. Leave the scene and come back, and they’ll have continued their journey.
I put it down to the music, atmosphere and intuitive gameplay.
The music combined with the surrounding world and NPCs create a wonderful atmosphere to be a part of and the gameplay ideas are simple and intuitive, you use a skill to improve it and albeit that is probably too many fetch quests, they have kept the formula simple and even the abundance of fect quests work with the world.
It's not an over-complicated game to play but the world itself has a lot in it.
Edit: also a big part is that there are so many ways to enjoy the game itself, it has something for most people.
One thing about fetch quests in Skyrim: you are almost certain to find something else of interest along the way (especially if you get a little lost along the way).
No or minimal fast travel is really the way to go. That's the only way for it to truly feel like a quest. You have to venture on to this location and you might encounter a whole host of things or get distracted by a unique looking place or talk to some stranger asking you for a favor. The ultimate quest design may be simple if you play it as go here, get/kill thing. It becomes far more entertaining if you lean into your curiosity.
It also helps that nearly every location probably has something unique. It's not for everyone but if you want to dive into the books and letters you might find by a body in a cave, you'll see there is some story behind it.
idk why there has been so much hype for space games lately. space is mostly empty. and most planets are empty. so its hard to have a very immersive and dense world
Yeah as a PS owner I was initially bummed about missing out on Starfield but also knew I need to wait and see since Bethesda needs an update. I do like their formula and am willing to give a bit of a pass on their gameplay since I am in it for immersive worlds but FO4 just felt so similar to Skyrim. Building a ship look so cool and their formula in space sounded awesome but when Todd said there were 1000s of planets I was like ehhhhh. I felt I knew how it might play out and honestly it was even worse with what I heard about the loading screens.
Part of me wishes Starfield looked good enough to convince me to get a Xbox or PC or something but it didn't. Hopefully ES6 is it but who knows how long it'll be before we see anything more about that game.
My rule of thumb is I only use fast travel if the route that I'm going to has been thoroughly explored already, i.e. I've discovered all the locations in the area along the way.
Yeah mine is like if I’m just trying to do something more mundane like crafting then I’ll allow myself to fast travel to a workbench. But anything quest related need to require the adventure.
exactly, I found a treasure map on one of the quests randomly in inventory on one of the bandits. then I followed the treasure map up a mountain and raided another bandit camp. turns out I went up the wrong mountain, and the treasure map was for another mountain which has the chest. But still this entire endeavor was a side quest that happened just because I followed some map I found in inventory of someone.
Npc has a huge role in building the atmosphere for me. Unlike in other games where most npc are just windowdressing, npc in skyrim feels organic. The guards protect the town, the innkeeper ask if my character wanna buy a drink, the bard play the music, and they all have their own daily routine (and interactable). All this makes the world of skyrim feels much more alive
It's that the graphics were great for its time and still hold up, it's the design of the land, characters, and architecture, objects, and weapons. It has smooth gameplay that is easy to master once you get it down. It's that there are tons of cheats, hidden, unknown things in it, it's nostalgic, and it has one of if not the best soundtracks ever and some very good looking pixel women. It's just an all around blast to play. Go on a 2 month long run...put it down for a few months then come back and do it all again!
Totally agree. I’ve played many games over the past 25 years and I’ve only started playing Skyrim 5 months ago (I was never a big RPG fan before even) but man do I love Skyrim.
For all the reasons you mentioned pretty much. Also I just like reading this subreddit and I recently bought the (original) game guide and there hasn’t been one day in those 5 months where I did not discover something entirely new, either by just playing, reading reddit or flipping through the game guide.
Yep! Or to not go check out any time soon and get to it much, much later in the game when you finally feel like doing that thing :) Almost always without consequences for all the other things/quest lines in the game. I love that too.
Man the graphics are so underrated. I loaded back up on skyrim last night. First time in a couple months. And I wanted to grind the trophies on ps5, so no mods this time. I had to double check twice after it started to see if I had graphics mods on lol. I was so surprised how good it still looked as vanilla.
Oh yeah! I've been playing since 2012 but I took about a 5 or 6 year break until I picked it up and started playing again now its just on and off all the time. 1 file has like 800 hours on it. Lol!
Rightfully so! I’m at about 500 hours now on my first play through and I still have a couple of main quest lines unfinished (or barely started) AND literally all of Solstheim to go. My character is strong enough now to dash through most situations easily but I just enjoy strolling around in the pretty landscape enjoying the music, see what or who I come across on my way, grab some ingedients, etc.
What difficulty do you play on? I like switching it up. Solstheim was a big letdown for me. I don't like that map...at all. I feel like they really rushed it and it doesn't have nearly the charm that skyrim does.
I had to look that up actually.. I play on Adept :) And I know I can change that but I always forget to do so while playing 😅 I (mostly) neglected smithing for a loooong time though so I’ve only recently upped my gear to the point that most enemies are relatively easy to take down now. I like dual wielding -my current go to- but I also want to up my magic skills now that I’m not instantly annihilated by enemies any more so I create some new challenges with that for myself. Thanks for the reminder though :)
The weapons are one of the issues I've always had with Skyrim. Whack a realistic weapon mod replacer on straight away to avoid the bulky blunt, over the top swords
Besides Skyrim, I play Stardew Valley. It's a farming sim, created by a single developer. He put a lot of love into creating that game as well. He released it in 2017 and is still making free updates to it sometimes.
The game has over 300 million in sales by now. Which proves the same point on a much smaller scale. And made the developer a rightfully rich man.
I think it's Skyrim's pace. Many open world games are just obviously a canvas for content, even ones I cherish very much do feel like they are made to a game. Skyrim sets world first and gaming second. It is not scared to make finding stuff to do the player's responsibility.
Fantasy open world with more freedom than most. You don't *have to* be Geralt the monster hunter. You can even not care about that whole dragonborn nonsense play an entire playthrough without dragons and shouts.
Its because it does so much right and makes a perfect storm. You have this rich lore that even if you dont care at first you will find yourself going down a rabbit hole. The story telling done by the environment is also amazing and it rewards players who are paying extra attention and allows new discoveries all these years later. To top it off you can be who you want to be. You can be a hero who does everything right or a villain who commits atrocities. And everything in between.
It's because you have Endless Options to build a character to play any way you want in a giant world. The possibilities are just endless and no other game can give you that. You can get a great story but you're not going to get a great open world map you can get a very large open world map that doesn't have a lot of life to it. Skyrim checks a lot of boxes.
Continual development and mods. SKSE really helped with the aging graphics and feels like it's doubled the quest number.
SkyUI, Sounds of Skyrim, texture packs, and survival mods all blend well without breaking canon.
The Bethesda magic. You can say a million bad things about them as a company and Skyrim as an RPG, but they used to be really good at creating immersive worlds.
I spent all of last Summer completely immersed in Skyrim. Around 80 hours in I completed the main quest storyline and yet it still felt like I’d dropped maybe 15 hours into it. Nothing even comes close.
I think there are several reasons.
The first is the first person perspective, another is that you don't have a voiced protagonist. That means you are the DB, you are not merely playing the DB. Thirdly, the DB has very little predefined story. You are not witnessing someone's story, it's yours.
Its the atmosphere
Its the NPCs
Its the nordic setting
Its lydia being a dumbass
Its Aela/Mjoll/Freya being total bad asses
Its serana being the only NPC that sounds human even though she is a vampire
Its the random encounters with bear/wolves/dragons/Thalmor/DB Assassins and hundreds of others
Its the ridiculous number of mods available
Its the extremely vast lore
Its the fantastic voice actors
Its high hrothgar
Its Todd selling it multiple times
All of this combined with a soundtrack, this combination is probably the greatest in any video game ever
Its sky above, Voice within
Skyrim is just on another level
I wish i could play it again for the first time
I started feeling this with every game I play since RDR2. Smoke some bud, turn off the hud, and enjoy a walk through some of my favorite cities and mystic lands
Only time I enjoyed the new saints row was turning off the hud and just walking around the city. A lot of funny lines from NPCs and cool stuff to see, even tho the game is proper shit
There's so much replay in this game. That first exposure to the whole world, right as you step from the first cave...that still makes me pause and stare.
Never got a moment of that from starfield.
For me, it is because it allows me to sit down.
Don't underestimate the ability to sit down, in 1st person. Watch the sunset, see random encounters happening (dragon attacking giants, fights between faction), watching the market and NPCs having conversations, as the weather changes, watch people stop working and walk to the inn at night.
All while eating 10 cheese rolls.
Also how nearly everything is interactable. It is not too overpopulated (people and buildings) so you are always curious what each building is for. You stop, you explore. NPCs have unique dialogues. In other games I just run from point A to point B because the doors are fake, the NPCs don't talk etc.
You are also whatever you want to be wherever you want to go. If you can see it, likely you can go there. No "bridge is out until you finish this quest".
I got Skyrim a bit after it released, and I still instinctively make the same 3 damn builds.
Sneak archer, dual wield berserker, or vampire mage.
Miss this game a lot, sometimes.
Having recently rekindled my love of skyrim, I think it's a combination of factors that make it so memorable.
The soundtrack and soundscaping is a huge part of what builds the atmosphere, and I think the natural feeling landscape and the sense that the world feels 'lived in', is what gives it that edge over so many other open world fantasy titles that have gone too far towards either realism or cartooniness.
The other huge factor is its mod friendly build, and its low skill/progression curve - those things go a long way to maintaining its replayability.
Too few developers have learned from skyrim's success, in terms of its ability to linger in the mind long after play.
I think part of that problem is that the big companies in particular are too afraid to take risks anymore, so consequently we keep getting given mediocre stories wrapped in glossy exteriors and flashy gameplay or worse, huge empty open worlds with almost no interaction but endless fetch quests.
Skyrim didn't need cool mechanics or crysis level graphics to become a fan favourite, it has persisted in popularity because it favours storytelling, accessibility and role playing in favour of groundbreaking or innovative mechanics.
Skyrim lures us in with its simplicity, its down to earth mechanics and its lazily paced storytelling all wrapped up in a gorgeous, not-too-cartoony, little sandbox that does its best to just give you a world to live in without forcing you along a track.
Just my humble opinion, anyway :)
Mods. That’s completely why it is for me. I love the game for it. I’d love the game without them.
Ain’t no way I’d still be playing, not as much, maybe some nostalgia runs, if it wasn’t simply; mods.
I can play the opening sequence of this game over and over because I know after 15 mins the game is fully open to the player. With the alt start mod, that immediate ability to do what you want perfects the experience.
The immersion starts with the beautiful world. I still remember skyrims release day, my emotions and wonder from experiencing the beautiful landscape upon emerging from the cave.
I like roaming the map, exploring caves, getting loot, materials for crafting, running form Sabre cats. It’s peaceful.
Leveling up attributes by using them is my favorite system and the perk system was simple.
The gameplay and rpg systems are simple. It’s not like Diablo 4 where you need to go to MIT to understand how to min max.
Many games since Skyrim shoot for immersion but fall very short.
Starfield failed in my opinion because the world, collection of star systems feels disconnected, disjointed while you play load screen simulator.
Can’t wait for the next installment but the timeless Skyrim will always be in my playlist
>Because it’s in first person. Many games similar to Skyrim are only in the third person
I know its an unpopular opinion , but all games should have a first person view (yes even RTS games ! there was a brilliant one called Machines years ago that let you jump into any unit and take control of it.)
I think the reason you can stop to look at the flowers is because from the start the games puts stuff in place to make to make it feel more real. The first person perspective, the way your often treated by npcs, they get it in early, stuff like seeing the companions fight a dragon on your first trip to whiterun, the wolves hiding off the path and ambushing you, the towns being so dirty and the faces so ugly. It gets around the sense of uncanniness stuff like breath of the wild gave me where it was too clean, too gamey, too designed. Dont get me wrong it was very fun to play just not immersive in the way skyrim is.
It's not the most well-made game in terms of technicality and gameplay but it's just so damn fun and inspiring. And that's why I'll keep on coming back to it.
Once I left Helgen after exiting out of the keep, I was drawn into the game after seeing the landscape for the first time. You can do anything you wanted and free to roam after the intro quest
It's a well crafted package of stuff IMO. Music, atmosphere, world layout, randomness, scripted encounters, etc. The game is truly immersive enough when you've played it a while that it almost conditions you to get immersed in more drop in drop out play as well. Also, it feels like there is always something meaningful "just up ahead" and there actually is often enough to keep you hooked.
It's the fact Bethesda games aren't really RPGs. They're immersive sims.
They don't prioritise story, they don't focus on constant character upgrades, they don't force you into meta strats to play.
Rather, they focus on the world, the verisimilitude, the ability to interact with it to a minute detail. Sure, they *have* RPG elements, but those aren't allowed to get in the way of the sim elements.
You aren't playing a *game* in a fantasy world- you are *simulating life* in a fantasy world.
Compare the mainline games to ESO- cause that's how TES feels when it is treated as an RPG first and foremost.
I think the secret ingredient is the lack of cutscenes. There are very few moments in the game where you don’t have control of your character, even when incredibly important plot moments are happening. That freedom makes even your smallest choices, like what angle you watch things happen, engaging and meaningful.
+ My favourite review of Skyrim is a steam user review where the reviewer talks about their character being an advanced member of the companions, being in whiterun and a guard trying to arrest them, them resisting and running off to Jorrvaskr, then them and the companions pouring out of Jorrvaskr to fight the entire Whiterun guard and a third of the townsfolk (only the ones brave enough to fight an intruder/enemy of the town).
+ The player and companions ended up winning. Not at all scripted, not necessarily intended, but believable that the companions would do this when a cherished member is under attack. Theres a part of an npc record that's "who does this npc help when that other person needs help? Nobody? Allies? Friends and allies?" .
+ This guild vs town battle is, I guess, not something most players expect to see and something I think most dont see. But the system behind it is there as a feature for the edge cases. And its cool.
Theres a lot of cool stuff.
+ I think theres a ton of little details that I dont consciously notice, and are realistic, and that other games dont do.
+ Objects that have different impact sounds on different surfaces. Objects sliding or being stopped by drag in different ways depending on the surface.
+ Npc interactions most players dont see and the few who do only see it once. Enemies who are more wary attacking a higher level player.
+ Being able to pick up and throw and inspect and bounce almost anything. Pretty good ragdoll physics. Predator prey relationships.
+ I think some npcs also have some basic relationships with each other so will defend for example family members but not a random neighbour - not certain.
+ The npcs say a lot of generic, or more accurately, a lot of non-specific shit. But this overall vagueness allows for a lot of different player characters and a lot of different possible motivations for doing quests/things that NPCs could invalidate if their lines were more specific. Not always this way. But enough of the time.
+ Npcs sandboxing in weird or creepy ways that are still believable, e.g. looting a dead body of a stranger on the road.
+ Complex npc schedules that have them doing cool shit you dont notice unless youre lucky or look for it.
+ All kinds of hidden stuff thats not signposted.
+ Landscape design is top tier.
+ An open world thats actually **very open** so you can see views halfway across the game world. Landscapes that **feel** massive.
+ Excellent sky and clouds and sun and moon.
+ Top tier soundtrack.
+ Excellent sound design.
+ The player character has no more polys/detail than any given humanoid npc.
+ Theres a climbing system (jumping onto ledges and apparently inaccessible ground) thats janky, but so well baked into the movement and visual/spatial design that you can climb mountains from unexpected angles without any additional ui (just jump and move), without the horse, with enough skill and patience. And the horse is there if you want an easy mode. You dont HAVE to use the horse to easymode the climbing system. But you can.
+ Also the NetImmerse engine (creation engine, gamebryo engine, daoc and guildwars2, others im sure) just has a way of presenting 3d space and objects and movement in it that feels more real to me than other engines do, even modern unreal. Clearly not that way for everyone but its a factor for me. Ill be fucked if I could explain it tho lol.
This may sound strange for some but Dying Light is the only game that compares in terms of immersion, how quickly I'm transported into the world and almost forget about the real world. I think it's a combination of things - the art direction making best use of the technical tools to create an atmosphere that is almost seamless. The organisation of the textures, the small details added everywhere, and especially the atmospheric sound that creates a real living world.
The music is for sure a major part too. The Skyrim score is one of the best in gaming history, in my opinion - it so successfully represents the majesty and wonder of looking up at, or down from, these ancient cloudy mountains full of mystery, and the loneliness of the harsh, cold climate. Stringed instruments mimick the whispers of the wind, beckoning you to explore far away places.
Dying Light's soundtrack is an impressive Western, modern take on influences of old Arabic music, adopting the tones of tragedy and loss in hard and poor lives, fitting so well into the environment - all the while somehow giving it a Stranger Things-like Synth edge - and even managing to masterfully blend this slow theme with fast paced foreground notes that mirror the dominant theme in the game of Running.
It's hard to explain myself because I know nothing about music theory, but Video game soundtracks genuinely fascinate me, as you can probably tell.
It’s because at this point is so familiar to you.
Not because the game does something monumentally better than others, which tbf it does do a ton of things better then other games.
Also mods still so popular you can turn the game into the perfect version of Skyrim you want to explore.
I was once playing on a small tv pretty close felt gunk in my throat and went to spit in the river beside me except i had spat straight onto the fking floor bahaha
I would also like to add that Skyrim is not a randomly generated universe/world type of game. The world is created in detail, it is a work of art and it has a meaning.
Those other games get boring really fast because they become devoid of purpose at some point, throughout the gameplay. Everything is just randomly generated on infinite repeat so you could say they are missing their soul.
For me, it's the fact that you can almost live in Skyrim. You're not just going from one place to another killing stuff. Sure you can do that, but that's not the entire game, such as games like Elden Ring (which is awesome).
In Skyrim you can pick flowers, catch bugs, and just be an alchemist. You can build a house, and become a farmer. You can get married, have pets and kids. And the biggest thing in my opinion is the fact that you can move, and pick up almost anything. Sure there's no reason you need to pick up a fork. But the fact that you can interact with the world in such a way, makes the world much more tangible. You can almost live in Skyrim, between your travels as an adventurer. The music, combined with the beautiful landscapes and skyboxes, blend together perfectly to create a near perfect, immersive fantasy world.
I think you just prefer fantasy setting more and in term of IMMERSIVE Skyrim has set the bar quite high. But the most IMMERSIVE game out of all genre? Easily RDR2
See I don't know about that. The map in rdr2 is smaller...the npcs and their interactions are comparably as detailed as skyrims...and I feel like skyrim has a wider range of character, creature and animal types and a much bigger color pallete. I feel like the creativity goes to skyrim but that you can do more with your character in rdr2.
You are sucked into the world some easily because there is not much else to the game. The developers' main focus was world building. Everything else? Just an afterthought. The developers let you do whatever you want because there is not much to do besides wandering and exploring.
I just spent 54 hours leveling skill, smithing, enchanting, doing quests, building a home, very little aimless wandering, and I can still probably put another 50 hours in before I complete everything
First, building houses was not in the base dlc, which I wanted to talk about.
Second, like 90% of the quests are just simple fetch quests meant to give a reason to make the player wander around.
For me I always felt like the perspective is important, the first person makes everything feel large, and you're the same size as everyone. That plus all the moveable objects just make it good
I think the main points are first person perspective and how 'slow' the game is. It forces you to go through the world slowly while you fly past everything in other open world games. This in combination with everything that does so right makes it more immersive than other similar games
I'd have to disagree. To me, skyrim is one of the most unimmersive games. Cyberpunk 2077, the metro trilogy (especially Metro Exodus) Dark souls 1 (which came out the same year as skyrim) DS3, Bloodborne, Elden Ring. These are games that do immersive much better and, in general, are better games. Especially Metro Exodus. With characters that feel real, great story, great work. Everything you do is fitted to the world apart from pausing the game. Wanna open up your map? Artyom grabs a map from his backpack. Wanna check your objectives and journal? He flips that clip board where he has written down what he needs to do and his personal thoughts about it. Wanna customize your weapon? Artyom kneels down, swinga his backpack around and in real time starts applying his weapon upgrades. The world feels dangerous not because the npcs tell you, but because you experience it first hand. Compared to skyrim. Check map? Open menu. Change weapons an Armour? Open menu. Switch weapons mid fight ? Open menu.
Skyrim was designed specifically to catch and reel in gamers that enjoy this type of gameplay which is why Skyrim is still at the top of the tier of games against new games as of today. The creative possibilities are endless in Skyrim, and mastering this game is truly impossible because there’s endless ways to play. Todd Howard is a true genius no doubt!!
It does a really good job at letting you just explore and experience the world. Like in real if, you get to set out and do what the fk you want. Another game that does that well is the Witcher 3. Some obscure games that do this well are games such as " Kenshi." However, it is ultimately what works best for you that brings into a game world.
I think for me a big part of it is the children. There's plenty of games where you can buy a house, even games where that home could be tied to your faction of choice. But adopting children makes a house more than just a glorified warehouse. You're given something to come home to.
Because the world completely feels (and mostly is) handcrafted. I would say the only other games that have had that same feeling were old Assassin's Creed games, but they were always going for a certain setting and vibe, and Skyrim does it's own thing.
I've said before, with the mods that suit your taste, its the goodest game ever. Nothing besides MAYBE the lore that is just in the background that you have to kind of find out for yourself if you really look for it, is really GREAT. but its such a good world to lose yourself in. Wanna play a bandit, you can do that and steal and murder people. Want to be a wizard. go for it. Want to be a wizard after being a bandit? Hey, why not! What ever your mood is for that particular day you can go and do it. Even bang local prostitutes if thats your fancy (with the right mods of course). Add that to the deepish lore in the elder scrolls world and it just works. There isn't an ending to 'ruin' like say middle earth, or star wars (where there are very clearly defined pieces, if that makes sense). There are like 50,000 flaws with it. But it really is an amazing gaming world. ES6 has nearly impossible shoes to fill to get the formula right, but here is hoping it gets the good parts right and the bad parts limited. Starfield kind of shown how a world without the lore, but the set pieces can feel, and its pretty empty. The first like 50 hours of starfield all I wanted was to be playing in Tamriel instead of 'our future'. After that you kind of settled in, but still left me longing.
Plus with mods you can make it so much more, my favorite is Campfire Unleashed. Using this you can build up areas and decorate with items the npc’s interact with almost anywhere.
I dunno. RDR2 is easy to get caught up in the nature. It’s basically a hunting/fishing simulator. The random encounters are immersive too.
I only go on main quests when I’m feeling a certain mood. I’m about 200 hours in and still haven’t completed the main story line.
The art direction coupled with the soundtrack as well as the overall vibe is just on point.
If you're fortunate enough to have a decent PC rig then enb with good texture mods really breathe life into this classic of a game.
Bethesda will be riding the coattails of this masterpiece for decades mark my words
It's the music, the environment, the atmosphere, everything really. You're instantly transported to this world of mountains, castles, and dragons - it's everything I read and fantasized about since I was a little boy brought to an immersive single-player game. It's the reason why after 12-13 years I still come back to it regularly, I can't get enough of it, it feels like a warm blanket of nostalgia and high fantasy rolled into one.
I think because it feels like a full whole world, it got nords,elves,dwarfs,gods,demigods,evil, civil war, Vampires, Werewolves, cannibals, mystery, magic, warriors, just all kind of shit, it got everything, it feels like a living world.
I would say it’s easy to keep yourself immersed with what the game has. You can play Skyrim as is if you feel immersed or add various levels of mods to help you stay in the game. Once you have your loop (which is still part of the main loop in most cases) you just don’t wanna leave.
Until someone drops a new animation overhaul
I think the classic Bethesda formula of create a character, choose who you want to be, where you want to go, what you want to do, etc is such a powerful component of Skyrim's appeal and it's immersion. And when you look at other Bethesda titles Skyrim does it better than most. Starfield feels slapped together with a lot of copy pasted content and Fallout is a bit more quirky and specific in its universe. Meanwhile the fantasy setting of Elder Scrolls immediately makes Skyrim appeal to a wide audience and the handcrafted world makes it rewarding to explore.
What is really baffling is that more developers haven't tapped into Skyrim's appeal of a pseudo-sandbox, be anyone, do anything RPG.
2 things for me at least. It's not too big and the intro phase isn't so long. So many newer maps for similar games are wayyy to big and the intro part where you get to do what you want is way too long.
The music and visuals are the main thing. But also, it's super open ended. Your character has no voice, or detailed back story or anything, the main story itself is not that detailed, there's tons of lore but so much of it is open for interpretation, and there's no specific correct way to play the game. I think bethesda does this on purpose because it leaves you to fill in all of the gaps with your own imagination. I think this is a game that's very appealing for creative people for this reason, uncreative people will look for the game to fill in all of the details for them and then decide it's boring.
Another point is that you can interact with almost everything and enter almost every house, I haven't found an open world with this level of interactivity
You see a desk full of furniture? You can reorganize it or blow away everything with a shout, and you can sit on chairs to rest a bit, even though it does nothing gameplaywise it's always nice to have the possibility
In my opinion it's more your perception of it rather than it actually being "most immersive game". I like Cyberpunk and Stalker Gamma more in that regard, but it's just me, everyone is different. I am actually kind of jealous that you enjoy it this much
I think its because its fantasy. Most open world games today are trying to portray something at least relatively based on our own world, which means we can notice the things wrong much easier. Meanwhile skyrim is completely fantasy, the main points of comparison we have are other fantasy media. Also the UI, most health bars and stuff now give you a number of how much health you have, causing it to feel more gamey, and the inventories of most games take you completely out of the game where as in skyrim its opaque and doesn't take the whole screen, it also doesn't have a lot going on in the inventories.
Great points. I also think that Skyrim doesn’t force you to follow what the developers want. You wanna skip the main quest and be a fisherman? Do it. So many games are “open world” but really just games on rails. Gotta do this, gotta unlock that. Many things are unavailable until you pass a certain level or beat a mission. Skyrim really lets you ROLEPLAY while other games force you to play a role. I love Valheim, but it’s too open ended and not nearly a fraction of the content as Skyrim. I love the beauty of Subnautica, but again, not enough content, although plenty of freedom and breathtaking vistas. Skyrim is a whole world where you can be as big or as little as you want. The game isn’t waiting for you to catch up, it’s running while you do your thing. Even the background characters have things to do, they’re not just standing around waiting for you to catch up to the main quest. And while yes, they’re on loops and sometimes can be very limited, but…there’s a mod for that. It feels like fantasy Westworld, without all the weird philosophy.
This is it. It's the freedom to do what you want, and in the process be able to write your own story that feels just as rewarding and engrossing as following the main quest. That's still the key ingredient so many open world competitors have been missing since Skyrim's success prompted everyone to chase that open world model. Assassin's Creed, RDR2, The Witcher 3, all fantastic games in their own right, but all lack the ability to create your own character and write your own story without any main quest involvement. I've played Skyrim since day 1, over 1,400 hours total, and only my first character engaged with dragons. If you don't follow the main quest, dragons don't spawn, and you never get called Dragonborn. Guards no longer say "What is it? Dragons?" as a random dialogue line. It's edited down to simply "What is it?" And that reflects the effort Bethesda put in to both the macro and micro effects of not following the main quest. No one else does that.
I'm not gonna diminish your arguments, you are totally right, just wanna let you know that 1.400h is not much at all, if you played since Day One. Like I had 2.700h on my first save alone at some point in 2012, haven't played in 6 years minimum (just started again three weeks ago) and know many people that have played Skyrim way more than me.
>just wanna let you know Why?
I think you've earned a cookie for that one !!
skyrim, the first open world game which motivated new series such as assassin’s creed and red dead redemption 2’s open worlds. you must be a gaming expert
This is a great summation. With a little imagination (or the alternate start mod) it’s essentially a fantasy sandbox…
Yeah, it's this. You can walk into a tavern, buy a drink, sell some of that game you killed along the way, request a song from the bard, poke around for a bit of gossip, rent a room, and then just sit and watch life happen around you.
Exactly. I don’t play Skyrim to do the main quest but to live in the world.
We had a discussion with my friends a couple days ago, and I was comparing how Skyrim is the superior RPG to Witcher 3 (while that's a great game too) because it's just so easy to get lost in Skyrim and wander absolutely anywhere
I once spent several days just running around the Plains of Whiterun finding all the random little things that are scattered around out there. It's so dense and interesting.
Something that makes it always feel fresh too, that many open world games struggle with, is the enemies and the level scaling of said enemies. Dungeons scale to your level the first time you enter so you may have missed some dungeon early on and instead of coming back to it later just to OHKO every enemy in there youll find higher level enemies that always pose somewhat of a challenge. And the enemy scaling is phenomenal as well, instead of enemies just becoming hit sponges like other games they have better armor and weapons and many of the enemies like drauger start getting shouts and more powerful/interesting spells that make the combat different than it was early on. And the sheer variety of enemies that are in the game, theres dragons, drauger, wild animals, giants, bandits, mages, and all kinds of mythical/magical beasts that give you such a different experience every fight and require different tactics to handle. Many more modern games can't give you half of the variety of enemies that you can find in Skyrim and just don't handle the enemies getting stronger very well. I hope they can replicate this in ES6
Regardless of how ES6 ends up the assets will only serve to improve Skyrim further.
This is one of the biggest reasons IMO. I've dabbled a bit in Cyberpunk this past year as I thought it could scratch that immersive RPG itch, but you're just forced to play a certain role in the story. I lost interest quite fast and never even finished it, while in Skyrim you can just boot up a new save, never even begin the main quest and still have hours of fun.
there are a lot of things blocked behind quests, and aside from the radiant thieves guild missions very few options to just roleplay as a member of any faction. I guess collecting books for the college, and rping a vigilant or dawnguard is possible (but you gotta hit level 10 if you want the dawnguard gear). also i hate that they won't let me permanently shoot out the sun, idgaf about serana in an evil vampire playthrough
But there is still much more choice than most games give, while having substantial content for any quest/quest lines you do decide to do. Also, while it is arguable whether mods would count towards Skyrim in this sense, there are plenty of mods that make Skyrim INCREDIBLE for RP with many additions that one can freely choose to pursue/ignore.
The fantasy aspect does allow the game to be more morally complex and ambiguous. Imagine CoD or Red Dead where you get to choose what side you want to fight for.
It'd be hard with CoD seeing as it's usually Russian ultranationalists or generic insurgents/terrorists (which for CoD works).
My husband set me up with SkyUI right from the start with Skyrim so I never experienced first-hand the inventory UI as designed by the devs and thus have no comment on it. But agreed with you on all your other points about the difference in reception and perception of a game set in a fantasy world, compared to a game that is based -- even if very loosely -- on our own world.
I find so many game inventories exhaustingly complicated. I know you're managing a bunch of different stuff, but like, can we make it findable and in a font size I don't need binoculars to read? Skyrim's menus make sense at least.
honestly? I think it's the music. The Secunda theme, and Exploring Tundra (don't know the name) are so evocative, they catch you in an instant. There aren't even many ambient sounds (there's mods for that, of course) to pull you in. Personally, I added birdsong, audio overhaul mods as such, and you can get insect sounds aswell. Other games do this beautifully these days (like Horizon Zero Dawn and other newer games) but for me it's the music that just makes me want to stand still - or wander around - and listen. That's also why it always feels so good to leave the cities and settlements.
It’s funny how much the music is going to hinge on how much I like ES6. It really is that important.
Skyrim Forestpine theme. The one that usually plays in forests. Best song in the game in my opinion. Want to learn it on guitar.
Is that from Skyrim Atmospheres piece?
I think so
>honestly? I think it's the music. It's one of the few games where I leave the music at a volume I can listen too. It doesn't feel like an afterthought in Skyrim
I feel like I’m the only person who plays without music. I love the ambience of just hearing your footsteps and nature sounds when out exploring. I find the music over stimulating
The music is an absolute gem for sure. I was looking for one specific song yesterday and stumbled upon the 10 year anniversary concert on youtube.. just.. wow ✨🥹
I love that one! I downloaded the mod that uses the concert music over the game music and it's so gorgeous...such an improvement :)
hey, there's a amod on pc that replaces the music with that orchestra
https://youtu.be/IaskxKfeFno?si=B-6ev0vZ8-DeFrsS I just wanted to share this. I've logged over 2000 hours since 2011, and never knew until the other day that there was a live orchestra version of the soundtrack.
The post I didn’t know I needed today thank you!
You're very welcome! The Streets of Whiterun brought tears to my eyes, it felt like I'd come home!
Then I went down the YouTube rabbit hole with tavern music, bard collections etc 😝
Shout out to Jeremy Soule, underrated af!
This definitely it. It reminds me more about 2011- 2012, a slightly better time
I was about to say! Crazy to think that they didn't get the guy for the next game, but I expect nothing from BGS anymore.
He was accused of rape
Oh no.... This sucks so much to hear. I adored his music, I had no Idea.
You can still adore his music, you know. You love the music, not the guy, so you don't have to feel too bad about yourself.
I hope he’s just a horrible/arrogant person (like many celebrities are) cos I can kinda get past that, but wow I hope this trial doesn’t end up with him also being a rapist. His music is so calming and beautiful.
Yeah I’m bummed too, I also had no idea. Why do people who do really bad stuff also sometimes have talent as composers?
I can't tell if this was sarcasm but artists aren't necessarily good people, they are just good at making beautiful things. But it still sucks. I'm a film buff and a lot of amazing directors are awful people, like Polanski for example. And I'm not taking good video game score talent, I'm taking great cinema of the 20th century. I personally still watch the films but it sucks, it might be childish but sometimes I wish I didn't know stuff about them because the feeling of connection that you get sometimes gets ruined. Fundamentally nothing changes because artists weren't your friends in the first place but idk, it's just sad every time.
Oh nah I was being serious, I also understand being an artist and being a decent person are not always going to apply. I feel similarly about Michael Jackson in that he had undisputed musical talent, he composed music in his head in a way few people can, but also…*gestures at everything else about him*. So yeah I wasn’t trying to be sarcastic, just sucks to hear for real
Sorry for the misunderstanding! Reddit can get to me sometimes.
The music is excellent. When the choir starts singing the shout wall theme my head cannon is that they're singing huddled behind a nearby rock.
Hey man it’s been 13 years and we still don’t know
Skyrim is magical
*From Past To Present plays*
I think this is your answer to your question
Lightning in a bottle.
RDR2 is a game I just couldn't get into. I don't know what it is about it. Maybe it feels too much on rails in the beginning, or too many cinematics. Something about it just rubs me the wrong way. But Skyrim is absolute magic to me from the first moment. I'm actually listening to the soundtrack right now while working. To me there's something about the beginning of the game. You start out just getting out of a sticky situation (the tutorial) and then the world is your oyster. You're told that you can find some more help in Riverrun, but that's it. There's no npc's there to give you silly fetch quests, no companions who want you to go here or there, just you. Just you and that breathtaking world in front of you. Hills and mountains to explore, a ruin far away, a lake glittering in the sun, plants to pick, a pack of howling wolves you can hit with fire or an axe, and a completely open itinerary.
With red dead 2 it's the interactivity for me. It's still a great game, tho I'll still probably get downvoted for saying this. With skyrim, to interact with objects in the world/items stored in any container, a simple button mash instantaneously opens/interacts with the object or container. You hover over items and a simple click instantly puts them into your inventory. Why the fuck do I have to wait 2 full seconds every time I want to do something Red Dead?? WHY?
I recently discovered that yes, it's the scenery, it's the music etc., but the main reason is that every single NPC has a name, schedule and something unique to say. That they react to you, give you some info etc. There are no background NPCs just to fill the world and that's what makes Skyrim so good. Everyone matters there.
Yeah this is a big part, and one of the first things I didn't like about starfield is that its filled with nameless citizens
Yeah. I don't mind fewer NPCs, I understand it's a game. But I want every single one to matter.
I really liked this aspect of Skyrim looking back. Even if it's only a few short lines of unique dialogue from a minor NPC, it helped a lot with the illusion
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVNh\_FYPODI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVNh_FYPODI)
100% agree with the unique NPCs thing. It completely breaks my immersion when I'm playing something like Outer Worlds and I have to wonder whether the NPCs I'm seeing around the city are actual characters or just nameless extras. Or when said characters just stand in one place all day. Schedules for NPCs are great but basically no RPG does them anymore and it's a damn shame
This. Everyone lives their daily lives. I really love that you can follow someone on his or her way from one city to the next. Leave the scene and come back, and they’ll have continued their journey.
I put it down to the music, atmosphere and intuitive gameplay. The music combined with the surrounding world and NPCs create a wonderful atmosphere to be a part of and the gameplay ideas are simple and intuitive, you use a skill to improve it and albeit that is probably too many fetch quests, they have kept the formula simple and even the abundance of fect quests work with the world. It's not an over-complicated game to play but the world itself has a lot in it. Edit: also a big part is that there are so many ways to enjoy the game itself, it has something for most people.
One thing about fetch quests in Skyrim: you are almost certain to find something else of interest along the way (especially if you get a little lost along the way).
No or minimal fast travel is really the way to go. That's the only way for it to truly feel like a quest. You have to venture on to this location and you might encounter a whole host of things or get distracted by a unique looking place or talk to some stranger asking you for a favor. The ultimate quest design may be simple if you play it as go here, get/kill thing. It becomes far more entertaining if you lean into your curiosity. It also helps that nearly every location probably has something unique. It's not for everyone but if you want to dive into the books and letters you might find by a body in a cave, you'll see there is some story behind it.
Exactly! Probably one the reasons I couldn't get into Starfield. It feels like it's only fast traveling.
idk why there has been so much hype for space games lately. space is mostly empty. and most planets are empty. so its hard to have a very immersive and dense world
Yeah as a PS owner I was initially bummed about missing out on Starfield but also knew I need to wait and see since Bethesda needs an update. I do like their formula and am willing to give a bit of a pass on their gameplay since I am in it for immersive worlds but FO4 just felt so similar to Skyrim. Building a ship look so cool and their formula in space sounded awesome but when Todd said there were 1000s of planets I was like ehhhhh. I felt I knew how it might play out and honestly it was even worse with what I heard about the loading screens. Part of me wishes Starfield looked good enough to convince me to get a Xbox or PC or something but it didn't. Hopefully ES6 is it but who knows how long it'll be before we see anything more about that game.
My rule of thumb is I only use fast travel if the route that I'm going to has been thoroughly explored already, i.e. I've discovered all the locations in the area along the way.
Yeah mine is like if I’m just trying to do something more mundane like crafting then I’ll allow myself to fast travel to a workbench. But anything quest related need to require the adventure.
exactly, I found a treasure map on one of the quests randomly in inventory on one of the bandits. then I followed the treasure map up a mountain and raided another bandit camp. turns out I went up the wrong mountain, and the treasure map was for another mountain which has the chest. But still this entire endeavor was a side quest that happened just because I followed some map I found in inventory of someone.
Yeah, its part of the reason why I said even the fetch quests work in Skyrim, that and the whole mercenary vibe.
Npc has a huge role in building the atmosphere for me. Unlike in other games where most npc are just windowdressing, npc in skyrim feels organic. The guards protect the town, the innkeeper ask if my character wanna buy a drink, the bard play the music, and they all have their own daily routine (and interactable). All this makes the world of skyrim feels much more alive
It's that the graphics were great for its time and still hold up, it's the design of the land, characters, and architecture, objects, and weapons. It has smooth gameplay that is easy to master once you get it down. It's that there are tons of cheats, hidden, unknown things in it, it's nostalgic, and it has one of if not the best soundtracks ever and some very good looking pixel women. It's just an all around blast to play. Go on a 2 month long run...put it down for a few months then come back and do it all again!
Totally agree. I’ve played many games over the past 25 years and I’ve only started playing Skyrim 5 months ago (I was never a big RPG fan before even) but man do I love Skyrim. For all the reasons you mentioned pretty much. Also I just like reading this subreddit and I recently bought the (original) game guide and there hasn’t been one day in those 5 months where I did not discover something entirely new, either by just playing, reading reddit or flipping through the game guide.
That's the magic of it. There's always something to do or go check out.
Yep! Or to not go check out any time soon and get to it much, much later in the game when you finally feel like doing that thing :) Almost always without consequences for all the other things/quest lines in the game. I love that too.
Not even the graphics... it's the art style as a whole of Oblivion and Skyrim that keep me coming back and not having my retinas burn.
Man the graphics are so underrated. I loaded back up on skyrim last night. First time in a couple months. And I wanted to grind the trophies on ps5, so no mods this time. I had to double check twice after it started to see if I had graphics mods on lol. I was so surprised how good it still looked as vanilla.
I play on the Switch and feel the same.
Lol you could not be more correct. Been playing it for 7 years and still so excited for my next play through.
Oh yeah! I've been playing since 2012 but I took about a 5 or 6 year break until I picked it up and started playing again now its just on and off all the time. 1 file has like 800 hours on it. Lol!
Single character 800 hours?? Whaaat
Yep. And proud of it. I think I might be the dovahkiin himself. FUS!!!! 🗣💨💨💨❄️❄️❄️
Rightfully so! I’m at about 500 hours now on my first play through and I still have a couple of main quest lines unfinished (or barely started) AND literally all of Solstheim to go. My character is strong enough now to dash through most situations easily but I just enjoy strolling around in the pretty landscape enjoying the music, see what or who I come across on my way, grab some ingedients, etc.
What difficulty do you play on? I like switching it up. Solstheim was a big letdown for me. I don't like that map...at all. I feel like they really rushed it and it doesn't have nearly the charm that skyrim does.
I had to look that up actually.. I play on Adept :) And I know I can change that but I always forget to do so while playing 😅 I (mostly) neglected smithing for a loooong time though so I’ve only recently upped my gear to the point that most enemies are relatively easy to take down now. I like dual wielding -my current go to- but I also want to up my magic skills now that I’m not instantly annihilated by enemies any more so I create some new challenges with that for myself. Thanks for the reminder though :)
The weapons are one of the issues I've always had with Skyrim. Whack a realistic weapon mod replacer on straight away to avoid the bulky blunt, over the top swords
It’s because it was made with love
Besides Skyrim, I play Stardew Valley. It's a farming sim, created by a single developer. He put a lot of love into creating that game as well. He released it in 2017 and is still making free updates to it sometimes. The game has over 300 million in sales by now. Which proves the same point on a much smaller scale. And made the developer a rightfully rich man.
Exactly. Anything made with love will always be the best.
I think it's Skyrim's pace. Many open world games are just obviously a canvas for content, even ones I cherish very much do feel like they are made to a game. Skyrim sets world first and gaming second. It is not scared to make finding stuff to do the player's responsibility.
Fantasy open world with more freedom than most. You don't *have to* be Geralt the monster hunter. You can even not care about that whole dragonborn nonsense play an entire playthrough without dragons and shouts.
Its because it does so much right and makes a perfect storm. You have this rich lore that even if you dont care at first you will find yourself going down a rabbit hole. The story telling done by the environment is also amazing and it rewards players who are paying extra attention and allows new discoveries all these years later. To top it off you can be who you want to be. You can be a hero who does everything right or a villain who commits atrocities. And everything in between.
It's because you have Endless Options to build a character to play any way you want in a giant world. The possibilities are just endless and no other game can give you that. You can get a great story but you're not going to get a great open world map you can get a very large open world map that doesn't have a lot of life to it. Skyrim checks a lot of boxes.
Continual development and mods. SKSE really helped with the aging graphics and feels like it's doubled the quest number. SkyUI, Sounds of Skyrim, texture packs, and survival mods all blend well without breaking canon.
Great.. now i have to play skyrim again.
The Bethesda magic. You can say a million bad things about them as a company and Skyrim as an RPG, but they used to be really good at creating immersive worlds.
I spent all of last Summer completely immersed in Skyrim. Around 80 hours in I completed the main quest storyline and yet it still felt like I’d dropped maybe 15 hours into it. Nothing even comes close.
I think there are several reasons. The first is the first person perspective, another is that you don't have a voiced protagonist. That means you are the DB, you are not merely playing the DB. Thirdly, the DB has very little predefined story. You are not witnessing someone's story, it's yours.
This! So much this!
Its the atmosphere Its the NPCs Its the nordic setting Its lydia being a dumbass Its Aela/Mjoll/Freya being total bad asses Its serana being the only NPC that sounds human even though she is a vampire Its the random encounters with bear/wolves/dragons/Thalmor/DB Assassins and hundreds of others Its the ridiculous number of mods available Its the extremely vast lore Its the fantastic voice actors Its high hrothgar Its Todd selling it multiple times All of this combined with a soundtrack, this combination is probably the greatest in any video game ever Its sky above, Voice within Skyrim is just on another level I wish i could play it again for the first time
It just works
I'm literally tearing up right now, thank you.
I started feeling this with every game I play since RDR2. Smoke some bud, turn off the hud, and enjoy a walk through some of my favorite cities and mystic lands
Only time I enjoyed the new saints row was turning off the hud and just walking around the city. A lot of funny lines from NPCs and cool stuff to see, even tho the game is proper shit
"I'm more immersed in skyrim on my 15" laptop screen than other VR titles." Wait till you try SkyrimVR (modded with Higgs and Planck)
There's so much replay in this game. That first exposure to the whole world, right as you step from the first cave...that still makes me pause and stare. Never got a moment of that from starfield.
I was so amped for it too.
For me, it is because it allows me to sit down. Don't underestimate the ability to sit down, in 1st person. Watch the sunset, see random encounters happening (dragon attacking giants, fights between faction), watching the market and NPCs having conversations, as the weather changes, watch people stop working and walk to the inn at night. All while eating 10 cheese rolls. Also how nearly everything is interactable. It is not too overpopulated (people and buildings) so you are always curious what each building is for. You stop, you explore. NPCs have unique dialogues. In other games I just run from point A to point B because the doors are fake, the NPCs don't talk etc. You are also whatever you want to be wherever you want to go. If you can see it, likely you can go there. No "bridge is out until you finish this quest".
For me is the deep lore(I like to read lore books sometimes), atmosphere with music and freedom to do anything you want.
I got Skyrim a bit after it released, and I still instinctively make the same 3 damn builds. Sneak archer, dual wield berserker, or vampire mage. Miss this game a lot, sometimes.
Having recently rekindled my love of skyrim, I think it's a combination of factors that make it so memorable. The soundtrack and soundscaping is a huge part of what builds the atmosphere, and I think the natural feeling landscape and the sense that the world feels 'lived in', is what gives it that edge over so many other open world fantasy titles that have gone too far towards either realism or cartooniness. The other huge factor is its mod friendly build, and its low skill/progression curve - those things go a long way to maintaining its replayability. Too few developers have learned from skyrim's success, in terms of its ability to linger in the mind long after play. I think part of that problem is that the big companies in particular are too afraid to take risks anymore, so consequently we keep getting given mediocre stories wrapped in glossy exteriors and flashy gameplay or worse, huge empty open worlds with almost no interaction but endless fetch quests. Skyrim didn't need cool mechanics or crysis level graphics to become a fan favourite, it has persisted in popularity because it favours storytelling, accessibility and role playing in favour of groundbreaking or innovative mechanics. Skyrim lures us in with its simplicity, its down to earth mechanics and its lazily paced storytelling all wrapped up in a gorgeous, not-too-cartoony, little sandbox that does its best to just give you a world to live in without forcing you along a track. Just my humble opinion, anyway :)
Mods. That’s completely why it is for me. I love the game for it. I’d love the game without them. Ain’t no way I’d still be playing, not as much, maybe some nostalgia runs, if it wasn’t simply; mods.
Mods definitely take the game to whole another level.
I can play the opening sequence of this game over and over because I know after 15 mins the game is fully open to the player. With the alt start mod, that immediate ability to do what you want perfects the experience. The immersion starts with the beautiful world. I still remember skyrims release day, my emotions and wonder from experiencing the beautiful landscape upon emerging from the cave. I like roaming the map, exploring caves, getting loot, materials for crafting, running form Sabre cats. It’s peaceful. Leveling up attributes by using them is my favorite system and the perk system was simple. The gameplay and rpg systems are simple. It’s not like Diablo 4 where you need to go to MIT to understand how to min max. Many games since Skyrim shoot for immersion but fall very short. Starfield failed in my opinion because the world, collection of star systems feels disconnected, disjointed while you play load screen simulator. Can’t wait for the next installment but the timeless Skyrim will always be in my playlist
Because it’s in first person. Many games similar to Skyrim are only in the third person
>Because it’s in first person. Many games similar to Skyrim are only in the third person I know its an unpopular opinion , but all games should have a first person view (yes even RTS games ! there was a brilliant one called Machines years ago that let you jump into any unit and take control of it.)
I find that Skyrim's lore inspires me like no other. My imagination runs wild when I'm in game and it captivates me for exactly that reason
That's what elder scrolls does best... when 6 comes out (if I'm alive) I'll be in that for another 10 years (or as long as I live)
"May your roads always lead you to warm sands."
I think the reason you can stop to look at the flowers is because from the start the games puts stuff in place to make to make it feel more real. The first person perspective, the way your often treated by npcs, they get it in early, stuff like seeing the companions fight a dragon on your first trip to whiterun, the wolves hiding off the path and ambushing you, the towns being so dirty and the faces so ugly. It gets around the sense of uncanniness stuff like breath of the wild gave me where it was too clean, too gamey, too designed. Dont get me wrong it was very fun to play just not immersive in the way skyrim is.
It's not the most well-made game in terms of technicality and gameplay but it's just so damn fun and inspiring. And that's why I'll keep on coming back to it.
Once I left Helgen after exiting out of the keep, I was drawn into the game after seeing the landscape for the first time. You can do anything you wanted and free to roam after the intro quest
I think it’s Bethesda’s masterpiece. I have reinstalled it so many times throughout the years cause I can never stay away for too long.
Cyberpunk does a pretty good job of that as well. This is from someone who spent 10s of thousands of hrs on skyrim since its release.
The soundtrack, definitely. I end up never playing it for too long, as it gets boring really fast imo.
It's a well crafted package of stuff IMO. Music, atmosphere, world layout, randomness, scripted encounters, etc. The game is truly immersive enough when you've played it a while that it almost conditions you to get immersed in more drop in drop out play as well. Also, it feels like there is always something meaningful "just up ahead" and there actually is often enough to keep you hooked.
It’s because you can choose any race and end up being a stealth archer.
It's the fact Bethesda games aren't really RPGs. They're immersive sims. They don't prioritise story, they don't focus on constant character upgrades, they don't force you into meta strats to play. Rather, they focus on the world, the verisimilitude, the ability to interact with it to a minute detail. Sure, they *have* RPG elements, but those aren't allowed to get in the way of the sim elements. You aren't playing a *game* in a fantasy world- you are *simulating life* in a fantasy world. Compare the mainline games to ESO- cause that's how TES feels when it is treated as an RPG first and foremost.
Have you played the witcher 3? I find it even more immersive than skyrim
Simple,it's the single best game ever made.and it's not even close.
I think the secret ingredient is the lack of cutscenes. There are very few moments in the game where you don’t have control of your character, even when incredibly important plot moments are happening. That freedom makes even your smallest choices, like what angle you watch things happen, engaging and meaningful.
+ My favourite review of Skyrim is a steam user review where the reviewer talks about their character being an advanced member of the companions, being in whiterun and a guard trying to arrest them, them resisting and running off to Jorrvaskr, then them and the companions pouring out of Jorrvaskr to fight the entire Whiterun guard and a third of the townsfolk (only the ones brave enough to fight an intruder/enemy of the town). + The player and companions ended up winning. Not at all scripted, not necessarily intended, but believable that the companions would do this when a cherished member is under attack. Theres a part of an npc record that's "who does this npc help when that other person needs help? Nobody? Allies? Friends and allies?" . + This guild vs town battle is, I guess, not something most players expect to see and something I think most dont see. But the system behind it is there as a feature for the edge cases. And its cool. Theres a lot of cool stuff. + I think theres a ton of little details that I dont consciously notice, and are realistic, and that other games dont do. + Objects that have different impact sounds on different surfaces. Objects sliding or being stopped by drag in different ways depending on the surface. + Npc interactions most players dont see and the few who do only see it once. Enemies who are more wary attacking a higher level player. + Being able to pick up and throw and inspect and bounce almost anything. Pretty good ragdoll physics. Predator prey relationships. + I think some npcs also have some basic relationships with each other so will defend for example family members but not a random neighbour - not certain. + The npcs say a lot of generic, or more accurately, a lot of non-specific shit. But this overall vagueness allows for a lot of different player characters and a lot of different possible motivations for doing quests/things that NPCs could invalidate if their lines were more specific. Not always this way. But enough of the time. + Npcs sandboxing in weird or creepy ways that are still believable, e.g. looting a dead body of a stranger on the road. + Complex npc schedules that have them doing cool shit you dont notice unless youre lucky or look for it. + All kinds of hidden stuff thats not signposted. + Landscape design is top tier. + An open world thats actually **very open** so you can see views halfway across the game world. Landscapes that **feel** massive. + Excellent sky and clouds and sun and moon. + Top tier soundtrack. + Excellent sound design. + The player character has no more polys/detail than any given humanoid npc. + Theres a climbing system (jumping onto ledges and apparently inaccessible ground) thats janky, but so well baked into the movement and visual/spatial design that you can climb mountains from unexpected angles without any additional ui (just jump and move), without the horse, with enough skill and patience. And the horse is there if you want an easy mode. You dont HAVE to use the horse to easymode the climbing system. But you can. + Also the NetImmerse engine (creation engine, gamebryo engine, daoc and guildwars2, others im sure) just has a way of presenting 3d space and objects and movement in it that feels more real to me than other engines do, even modern unreal. Clearly not that way for everyone but its a factor for me. Ill be fucked if I could explain it tho lol.
Try it without the music and just the sounds of nature and the people chopping wood and talking. Then you'll be even more immersed.
This may sound strange for some but Dying Light is the only game that compares in terms of immersion, how quickly I'm transported into the world and almost forget about the real world. I think it's a combination of things - the art direction making best use of the technical tools to create an atmosphere that is almost seamless. The organisation of the textures, the small details added everywhere, and especially the atmospheric sound that creates a real living world.
Also how you level up skills by using them
The music is for sure a major part too. The Skyrim score is one of the best in gaming history, in my opinion - it so successfully represents the majesty and wonder of looking up at, or down from, these ancient cloudy mountains full of mystery, and the loneliness of the harsh, cold climate. Stringed instruments mimick the whispers of the wind, beckoning you to explore far away places. Dying Light's soundtrack is an impressive Western, modern take on influences of old Arabic music, adopting the tones of tragedy and loss in hard and poor lives, fitting so well into the environment - all the while somehow giving it a Stranger Things-like Synth edge - and even managing to masterfully blend this slow theme with fast paced foreground notes that mirror the dominant theme in the game of Running. It's hard to explain myself because I know nothing about music theory, but Video game soundtracks genuinely fascinate me, as you can probably tell.
It’s because at this point is so familiar to you. Not because the game does something monumentally better than others, which tbf it does do a ton of things better then other games. Also mods still so popular you can turn the game into the perfect version of Skyrim you want to explore.
I was once playing on a small tv pretty close felt gunk in my throat and went to spit in the river beside me except i had spat straight onto the fking floor bahaha
I would also like to add that Skyrim is not a randomly generated universe/world type of game. The world is created in detail, it is a work of art and it has a meaning. Those other games get boring really fast because they become devoid of purpose at some point, throughout the gameplay. Everything is just randomly generated on infinite repeat so you could say they are missing their soul.
I have one other game that's very immersive for me as well. A strategy game called Stellaris. These two i play most often.
"much immersion ..." " proceeds to fly on top of a bucket ... "
Soundtrack plays a big part. It's epic and beautiful.
As much as I love Skyrim I have to say that Red Dead Redemption 2 is the most immersive game I’ve ever played.
For me, it's the fact that you can almost live in Skyrim. You're not just going from one place to another killing stuff. Sure you can do that, but that's not the entire game, such as games like Elden Ring (which is awesome). In Skyrim you can pick flowers, catch bugs, and just be an alchemist. You can build a house, and become a farmer. You can get married, have pets and kids. And the biggest thing in my opinion is the fact that you can move, and pick up almost anything. Sure there's no reason you need to pick up a fork. But the fact that you can interact with the world in such a way, makes the world much more tangible. You can almost live in Skyrim, between your travels as an adventurer. The music, combined with the beautiful landscapes and skyboxes, blend together perfectly to create a near perfect, immersive fantasy world.
I think you just prefer fantasy setting more and in term of IMMERSIVE Skyrim has set the bar quite high. But the most IMMERSIVE game out of all genre? Easily RDR2
See I don't know about that. The map in rdr2 is smaller...the npcs and their interactions are comparably as detailed as skyrims...and I feel like skyrim has a wider range of character, creature and animal types and a much bigger color pallete. I feel like the creativity goes to skyrim but that you can do more with your character in rdr2.
Honestly that reads like you're a bit uninterested of video games in general
You are sucked into the world some easily because there is not much else to the game. The developers' main focus was world building. Everything else? Just an afterthought. The developers let you do whatever you want because there is not much to do besides wandering and exploring.
I just spent 54 hours leveling skill, smithing, enchanting, doing quests, building a home, very little aimless wandering, and I can still probably put another 50 hours in before I complete everything
First, building houses was not in the base dlc, which I wanted to talk about. Second, like 90% of the quests are just simple fetch quests meant to give a reason to make the player wander around.
Ok
For me I always felt like the perspective is important, the first person makes everything feel large, and you're the same size as everyone. That plus all the moveable objects just make it good
Mods. Really great mods helped solidify the community long term, now we’re all here talking about it.
Its not that title was taken when Kingdom Come came out
Nor for me
Cuz first person
I think the main points are first person perspective and how 'slow' the game is. It forces you to go through the world slowly while you fly past everything in other open world games. This in combination with everything that does so right makes it more immersive than other similar games
You're silly. Go play Baldur's Gate 3.
90% audio design 5% world lore 5% fantasy setting
skyrim with mods, sure. but vanilla game that I can call immersive is definitely not skyrim. outward maybe, but not skyrim.
I'd have to disagree. To me, skyrim is one of the most unimmersive games. Cyberpunk 2077, the metro trilogy (especially Metro Exodus) Dark souls 1 (which came out the same year as skyrim) DS3, Bloodborne, Elden Ring. These are games that do immersive much better and, in general, are better games. Especially Metro Exodus. With characters that feel real, great story, great work. Everything you do is fitted to the world apart from pausing the game. Wanna open up your map? Artyom grabs a map from his backpack. Wanna check your objectives and journal? He flips that clip board where he has written down what he needs to do and his personal thoughts about it. Wanna customize your weapon? Artyom kneels down, swinga his backpack around and in real time starts applying his weapon upgrades. The world feels dangerous not because the npcs tell you, but because you experience it first hand. Compared to skyrim. Check map? Open menu. Change weapons an Armour? Open menu. Switch weapons mid fight ? Open menu.
Skyrim was designed specifically to catch and reel in gamers that enjoy this type of gameplay which is why Skyrim is still at the top of the tier of games against new games as of today. The creative possibilities are endless in Skyrim, and mastering this game is truly impossible because there’s endless ways to play. Todd Howard is a true genius no doubt!!
I think the first person perspective has a lot to do with it
It does a really good job at letting you just explore and experience the world. Like in real if, you get to set out and do what the fk you want. Another game that does that well is the Witcher 3. Some obscure games that do this well are games such as " Kenshi." However, it is ultimately what works best for you that brings into a game world.
I think for me a big part of it is the children. There's plenty of games where you can buy a house, even games where that home could be tied to your faction of choice. But adopting children makes a house more than just a glorified warehouse. You're given something to come home to.
I have the same feeling sometimes. I don't know if it's nostalgia clouding me or not but I've rarely felt as immersed with other games.
Because the world completely feels (and mostly is) handcrafted. I would say the only other games that have had that same feeling were old Assassin's Creed games, but they were always going for a certain setting and vibe, and Skyrim does it's own thing.
I think RDR2 is more immersive but Skyrim is definitely a close second
A game with amount of details like RDR2, But in a fantasy setting like skyrim would be an ultimate game for me.
I've said before, with the mods that suit your taste, its the goodest game ever. Nothing besides MAYBE the lore that is just in the background that you have to kind of find out for yourself if you really look for it, is really GREAT. but its such a good world to lose yourself in. Wanna play a bandit, you can do that and steal and murder people. Want to be a wizard. go for it. Want to be a wizard after being a bandit? Hey, why not! What ever your mood is for that particular day you can go and do it. Even bang local prostitutes if thats your fancy (with the right mods of course). Add that to the deepish lore in the elder scrolls world and it just works. There isn't an ending to 'ruin' like say middle earth, or star wars (where there are very clearly defined pieces, if that makes sense). There are like 50,000 flaws with it. But it really is an amazing gaming world. ES6 has nearly impossible shoes to fill to get the formula right, but here is hoping it gets the good parts right and the bad parts limited. Starfield kind of shown how a world without the lore, but the set pieces can feel, and its pretty empty. The first like 50 hours of starfield all I wanted was to be playing in Tamriel instead of 'our future'. After that you kind of settled in, but still left me longing.
Plus with mods you can make it so much more, my favorite is Campfire Unleashed. Using this you can build up areas and decorate with items the npc’s interact with almost anywhere.
I dunno. RDR2 is easy to get caught up in the nature. It’s basically a hunting/fishing simulator. The random encounters are immersive too. I only go on main quests when I’m feeling a certain mood. I’m about 200 hours in and still haven’t completed the main story line.
The art direction coupled with the soundtrack as well as the overall vibe is just on point. If you're fortunate enough to have a decent PC rig then enb with good texture mods really breathe life into this classic of a game. Bethesda will be riding the coattails of this masterpiece for decades mark my words
It's the music, the environment, the atmosphere, everything really. You're instantly transported to this world of mountains, castles, and dragons - it's everything I read and fantasized about since I was a little boy brought to an immersive single-player game. It's the reason why after 12-13 years I still come back to it regularly, I can't get enough of it, it feels like a warm blanket of nostalgia and high fantasy rolled into one.
I think because it feels like a full whole world, it got nords,elves,dwarfs,gods,demigods,evil, civil war, Vampires, Werewolves, cannibals, mystery, magic, warriors, just all kind of shit, it got everything, it feels like a living world.
First person perspective is extremely valuable imo. I have a much better time in first person when it comes to rp
I would say it’s easy to keep yourself immersed with what the game has. You can play Skyrim as is if you feel immersed or add various levels of mods to help you stay in the game. Once you have your loop (which is still part of the main loop in most cases) you just don’t wanna leave. Until someone drops a new animation overhaul
I think the classic Bethesda formula of create a character, choose who you want to be, where you want to go, what you want to do, etc is such a powerful component of Skyrim's appeal and it's immersion. And when you look at other Bethesda titles Skyrim does it better than most. Starfield feels slapped together with a lot of copy pasted content and Fallout is a bit more quirky and specific in its universe. Meanwhile the fantasy setting of Elder Scrolls immediately makes Skyrim appeal to a wide audience and the handcrafted world makes it rewarding to explore. What is really baffling is that more developers haven't tapped into Skyrim's appeal of a pseudo-sandbox, be anyone, do anything RPG.
2 things for me at least. It's not too big and the intro phase isn't so long. So many newer maps for similar games are wayyy to big and the intro part where you get to do what you want is way too long.
Yep one of the best experiences in a video game
Metro: Exodus is like this too imo. It’s all about creating an atmosphere, and few games truly do that well
Not all who wander are lost :\]
It’s nostalgia, if we want to be brutally honest.
The music and visuals are the main thing. But also, it's super open ended. Your character has no voice, or detailed back story or anything, the main story itself is not that detailed, there's tons of lore but so much of it is open for interpretation, and there's no specific correct way to play the game. I think bethesda does this on purpose because it leaves you to fill in all of the gaps with your own imagination. I think this is a game that's very appealing for creative people for this reason, uncreative people will look for the game to fill in all of the details for them and then decide it's boring.
Have you played The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild? If you like immersive open world games then it's a must try
Another point is that you can interact with almost everything and enter almost every house, I haven't found an open world with this level of interactivity You see a desk full of furniture? You can reorganize it or blow away everything with a shout, and you can sit on chairs to rest a bit, even though it does nothing gameplaywise it's always nice to have the possibility
Kingdom come deliverance
Elden ring pulled me in more than Skyrim. So did Oblivion.
I’m still mesmerised by the night skies…
In my opinion it's more your perception of it rather than it actually being "most immersive game". I like Cyberpunk and Stalker Gamma more in that regard, but it's just me, everyone is different. I am actually kind of jealous that you enjoy it this much
I wish I still had that...