Weekend Gaming – So Much Skyrim!

Another week gone and another weekend coming up! Like millions of other gamers, I have gotten myself sucked into the world of Skyrim. Since the game launched last Friday, I have clocked over 40 hours in the world, but my adventure is still only just starting.

If you haven’t heard of the game before, it falls into a genre known as a Role-Playing Game. You create a character and set off on adventures and quests which give your character experience points – with enough experience points your character gains a level and you can boost your statistics. Higher statistics mean you can complete more dangerous quests. The Elder Scrolls series of games are known for creating vast fantasy worlds where a player not only has an intricate primary story to follow, but is offered a multitude of side quests that branch into their own stories. There is a very rich lore to the world of Skyrim, though you need not have played any of the previous games to enjoy this one.

The game is looking gorgeous on my PC – as I continue to wander through the world, I am taken aback at some of the beautiful scenes I witness. Snowy mountains, lush fields, gloomy caves and bustling towns – at nighttime you can even see the northern lights appear in the sky.

I chose a female Nord as my character and I have been developing my Destruction magic spells. My weapon of choice? A deadly firebolt. If I’m unable to cast the spell, I rely on a Dwarven bow and several types of arrows, depending on the situation. I’ve also purchased a home in the starting town of Whiterun and decorated it so that I have a nice place to rest as well as a place to store the items I gather in my adventures.

The amount of areas to explore and creatures that inhabit the world really add to the feeling that you are in another world. Aside from humans, there are elves, orcs, cat-like people called Khajit or even lizard-like people called Argonians. Among the wildlife are elk, deer, bear, rabbits and a number of fish – and the farms have all sorts of crops like cabbages, carrots, potatoes and leeks. Skyrim has many perilous creatures that will attack you on sight – bandits, humans from other factions, rogue mages, giant spiders and even dragons.

If you can’t tell, I am really enjoying this game and I plan to spend most of this weekend (like I did last weekend) playing it. Are you playing Skyrim too? If not, what are you planning to play this weekend?