Oooh boy. Skyrim. One of my personal favorite games of all time and Bethesda's "magnum opus". I will try to prevent this from being too long. I will start with pros and end with cons and more of my thoughts on this game.
Pros:
1. For being a 10 year old game, it still holds up graphically, especially with SE. They are a bit dated at times (the trees at a distance are like the ones from Oblivion) but overall, the game still looks really good.
2. The weapons have cool looking designs, and the armor, while simple, looks pretty nice.
3. Skyrim (the province) is fun to explore at times and with the beautiful environments, it's a lot of fun.
4. The soundtrack for the game fits what Skyrim is. A northern land full of the Viking-like Nords and a lot of the songs utilize drums and chanting. The story to the game is also a lot of fun to read, however this is just my personal taste since I enjoy reading lore.

With all these good things, this game must be perfect right? Right? No. Skyrim is a fun game, but it is very flawed.
Cons:
1. The main quest line is essentially a chosen one story. Only you, the player can defeat Alduin and save the world! Yeah, it's been done to death. You even have your own prophecy, and it's exactly as you think.
2. Every damn quest line sends you to a draugr dungeon. Draugr are the zombie-like monsters that inhabit every dungeon in the game. Main quest line? 2 draugr dungeons. College of Winterhold? 2 dungeons. Thieves Guild? You know, stealing stuff? Draugr dungeon. Companions? Draugr dungeon. The frigging Civil War has a draugr dungeon! This game seems to have an affinity to draugr dungeons, even when they're super out of place. The Civil War quest line which has you decide who controls Skyrim shouldn't have a dungeon where you find some stupid crown!
3. There is a lack of variety with Skyrim. Those quest lines I mentioned are all a result of it. In the world, you fight wolves, spiders, bears, sabercats, and dragons. Those are the ones you find the most. I am going to get crapped on for this, but Oblivion had you fighting minotaurs, goblins, ogres, and in that game, not every quest line sent you to a draugr dungeon. Don't get me wrong, Skyrim is a good game, but there are a bunch of flaws and it feels like a step backwards from Oblivion.
4. Bethesda keeps trying to shove the Creation Club in our faces and while you can just ignore the mods, if you download a mod from a site like Nexus, you can't have achievements unless you get a mod which enables it. Even if it's one that makes the game look better, you still need it to have achievements. It feels like Bethesda bastardized Skyrim by re-releasing it over and over again and now with them unlisting the original version from the Steam store, that feeling is pushed ever more.

So what are my main thoughts on this game? Even with my 800+ hours on this game and excessive lore reading, I still think that the cons outweigh the pros. However, with the way that Bethesda's going, those flaws are going to stay. Oh, and the bugs. But I'm not talking about the bugs since this review (which I have tried to keep a little shorter) would be a full on 5 paragraph essay. Now, I know this was a critical review, but I did enjoy this game. I got a ton of use out of it, and there will be a day where I look upon this game with joy. Don't let my review dissuade you from buying this. Look at my hours, if this game was total garbage, I wouldn't have played this so long. Hell, 10 hours were spent on the first day I got this.

Oooh boy. Skyrim. One of my personal favorite games of all time and Bethesda's "magnum opus". I will try to prevent this from being too long. I will start with pros and end with cons and more of my thoughts on this game. Pros: 1. For being a 10 year old game, it still holds up graphically, especially with SE. They are a bit dated at times (the trees at a distance are like the ones from Oblivion) but overall, the game still looks really good. 2. The weapons have cool looking designs, and the armor, while simple, looks pretty nice. 3. Skyrim (the province) is fun to explore at times and with the beautiful environments, it's a lot of fun. 4. The soundtrack for the game fits what Skyrim is. A northern land full of the Viking-like Nords and a lot of the songs utilize drums and chanting. The story to the game is also a lot of fun to read, however this is just my personal taste since I enjoy reading lore. With all these good things, this game must be perfect right? Right? No. Skyrim is a fun game, but it is very flawed. Cons: 1. The main quest line is essentially a chosen one story. Only you, the player can defeat Alduin and save the world! Yeah, it's been done to death. You even have your own prophecy, and it's exactly as you think. 2. Every damn quest line sends you to a draugr dungeon. Draugr are the zombie-like monsters that inhabit every dungeon in the game. Main quest line? 2 draugr dungeons. College of Winterhold? 2 dungeons. Thieves Guild? You know, stealing stuff? Draugr dungeon. Companions? Draugr dungeon. The frigging Civil War has a draugr dungeon! This game seems to have an affinity to draugr dungeons, even when they're super out of place. The Civil War quest line which has you decide who controls Skyrim shouldn't have a dungeon where you find some stupid crown! 3. There is a lack of variety with Skyrim. Those quest lines I mentioned are all a result of it. In the world, you fight wolves, spiders, bears, sabercats, and dragons. Those are the ones you find the most. I am going to get crapped on for this, but Oblivion had you fighting minotaurs, goblins, ogres, and in that game, not every quest line sent you to a draugr dungeon. Don't get me wrong, Skyrim is a good game, but there are a bunch of flaws and it feels like a step backwards from Oblivion. 4. Bethesda keeps trying to shove the Creation Club in our faces and while you can just ignore the mods, if you download a mod from a site like Nexus, you can't have achievements unless you get a mod which enables it. Even if it's one that makes the game look better, you still need it to have achievements. It feels like Bethesda bastardized Skyrim by re-releasing it over and over again and now with them unlisting the original version from the Steam store, that feeling is pushed ever more. So what are my main thoughts on this game? Even with my 800+ hours on this game and excessive lore reading, I still think that the cons outweigh the pros. However, with the way that Bethesda's going, those flaws are going to stay. Oh, and the bugs. But I'm not talking about the bugs since this review (which I have tried to keep a little shorter) would be a full on 5 paragraph essay. Now, I know this was a critical review, but I did enjoy this game. I got a ton of use out of it, and there will be a day where I look upon this game with joy. Don't let my review dissuade you from buying this. Look at my hours, if this game was total garbage, I wouldn't have played this so long. Hell, 10 hours were spent on the first day I got this.