Skyrim: The RPG for the Rest of Us
Skyrim: The RPG for the Rest of Us
Editorial - posted by VentilatorOfDoom on Wed 12 October 2011, 11:44:57
Tags: Bethesda Softworks; The Elder Scrolls V: SkyrimEven if you think RPGs are dumb, this is a game that will demand your attention. - says IGN in their latest piece of 6 reasons why The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim will absolutely kick ass even if - or especially if - you think RPGs are dumb.
Like millions of others, the game I'll play more than any other this year is The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. The only reason this is worth mentioning is because I really, really don't like RPGs.
All that leveling up, those tiresome stats, all those dreary fantasy tropes, the endless tinkering with skills and items. Yawn!
Quasi-Medieval fantasy leaves me cold. When I trouble myself to read George R.R. Martin, my eyes roll at his absurd olde worlde lingo. I've never been tempted, not for one second, to actually play World of Warcraft. There are very few people in the world less qualified than me to write about RPGs.
But this Skyrim? This one is different. It's an RPG for the rest of us. It's a land made for you and me; we innocents who care little for warlocks and wizards, guilds and ghosts.
The guys at Bethesda are no mugs. Every single time you see Todd Howard or Pete Hines or Craig Lafferty talking to a journalist, the first thing out of their mouths is the line about Skyrim's accessibility, its universal appeal, its ability to be all things to all men, and women. And this isn't merely a marketing-made dogma shaped for the masses. It's the game's central design principle.
The reason why I can't wait for Skyrim is that it is not an RPG, it's an escape-hatch to another world. All games, especially RPGs, offer this possibility of escape, but Skyrim's detail, realism and the sense of wonder it exudes makes it more tempting for non-RPGers than stat-heavy, graphically-limited rivals.
I leave it to you to read through the reasons.
Like millions of others, the game I'll play more than any other this year is The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. The only reason this is worth mentioning is because I really, really don't like RPGs.
All that leveling up, those tiresome stats, all those dreary fantasy tropes, the endless tinkering with skills and items. Yawn!
Quasi-Medieval fantasy leaves me cold. When I trouble myself to read George R.R. Martin, my eyes roll at his absurd olde worlde lingo. I've never been tempted, not for one second, to actually play World of Warcraft. There are very few people in the world less qualified than me to write about RPGs.
But this Skyrim? This one is different. It's an RPG for the rest of us. It's a land made for you and me; we innocents who care little for warlocks and wizards, guilds and ghosts.
The guys at Bethesda are no mugs. Every single time you see Todd Howard or Pete Hines or Craig Lafferty talking to a journalist, the first thing out of their mouths is the line about Skyrim's accessibility, its universal appeal, its ability to be all things to all men, and women. And this isn't merely a marketing-made dogma shaped for the masses. It's the game's central design principle.
The reason why I can't wait for Skyrim is that it is not an RPG, it's an escape-hatch to another world. All games, especially RPGs, offer this possibility of escape, but Skyrim's detail, realism and the sense of wonder it exudes makes it more tempting for non-RPGers than stat-heavy, graphically-limited rivals.
