Flying with Dragons (on Skooma)

I’ve been pondering what to write about in my next blog for a little while. Blogs are essentially retellings of personal experiences, so I’ve had to accept that I really only have one thing to write about this time. Modern Warfare 3 came out this month. Battlefield 3 came out last month. Batman: Arkham City came out last month. But these games mean nothing to me, each one is eclipsed by perhaps the most colossal shadow of digital entertainment  — that of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

As I mentioned in my last blog, my fiancé and I each bought a copy of the game. We have created a kind of ‘double set-up’, which comprises two LCD TVs, two Xbox 360s, a two-seater couch, and an infinite supply of Domino’s pizza. Taking it in turns to play Skyrim was an alien concept to us. No self-respecting Dark Elf is going to freeze a Breton into a solid block, hack him to death, set fire to his dead body, then stop to watch his fiancé do the very same thing.

Skyrim is a brilliant game. It’s huge and far more believable than its predecessor, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. Two of the biggest flaws with Oblivion were the AI and the repetitive dialogue. But the characters in Skyrim have a lot more depth — each one seems to have more dialogue reserves and the way they behave when around you seems far more organic. The characters and animals also look markedly more sophisticated and believable.

Skyrim itself is beautiful, boasting cities built on mountain sides, waterfalls, and snow-capped mountains. I’ve enjoyed every minute of being in its almost living, breathing province that goes about its business even when I’m not around to witness all the woodcutting and dragon-slaying.

Ah, the dragon-slaying; what fun there is to be had. Watching a dragon fly through the Skyrim sky is for me like watching a living creature fly above a very real and expansive land. Add to this the fact these encounters are randomly generated and you have a very absorbing experience. It’s incredible.

I’ve always played games, so I’m no stranger to feeling this kind of awe and immersion. But it’s these past experiences that make me realise exactly what makes this Skyrim experience so magical. It’s playing alongside my awesome boyfriend; being completely lost in Skyrim’s fantastical world, eyes glued to the screen and ears encapsulated in headphones, then looking over at my fiancé’s screen and seeing what he’s getting up to; seeing if he’s doing part of the main story or a side mission, whether he’s exploring an area that I’ve not seen yet, how many dragons he’s slain, how he’s levelling his character differently to how I’m levelling mine… that’s what makes it such a beautiful experience. I know I go on about the benefits of gaming, but these experiences really underscore the value games bring to my life.