Elder Scrolls fans rejoice! GameInformer has revealed the first Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim details, from the leveling-system, story, combat, graphics, and much more. If you were a big fan of past Elder Scrolls titles, Skyrim will certainly live up to expectations. Bethesda has done quite a few things differently this time around, somewhat veering away from the traditional setup.

Story

Elder Scrolls V takes place in the Nordic land of Skyrim. Veteran Elder Scrolls gamers know that this land is directly North of Cyrodil, where the events of predecessor Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion take place. The game takes place 200 years after the events of Oblivion, but it is unknown as to whether or not we will see references from events 200 years earlier in the game. Past Elder Scrolls titles have kept true to the game’s history and events, so one could assume that a bridge between the events of Oblivion and Skyrim will be established in some form. Players assume the role of the last ‘dragonborn’, who is destine to stop the prophetic return of the dragons. Your mentor in the game is one of the last remaining blades.

In Skyrim, you can find five massive cities. In addition, the game’s dungeons — including caves, underground areas, etc. — will have much more variation than in past titles, where you sometimes felt you were entering the same dungeon each time.

Leveling

There are 50 primary levels in Skyrim. Once reaching level 50, you can still level up further, but gaining experience becomes a much more difficult and time consuming task.

Upon leveling, players receive additional health, and the option of picking one of the following traits to boost: stamina, magic, or health.

Class selection in Skyrim has been done away with. Instead, each skill a player earns will go towards their overall level. When a player levels, new perks and abilities become unlocked. This is a rather big change from the traditional Elder Scrolls system, but is sure to help newer Elder Scrolls gamers to catch on and succeed quite quickly.

Leveling, and each player’s decisions on their focus will play a much larger role in things this time around: “The game eventually logs a huge storehouse of knowledge about how you’ve played, and subsequently tailors content to your capabilities and experiences. Entering a city, a young woman might approach you and beg you to save her daughter from kidnappers. The game will look at the nearby dungeons you’ve explored, automatically set the mission in a place you’ve never visited, and designate opponents that are appropriately matched to your strengths and weaknesses.”

Skills

The number of skills in Skyrim has been cut down. Whereas Oblivion had 21 and Morrowind 29, Skyrim will have only 18 for players to learn.

As the quote in the previous segment mentions, skills will try to accommodate players who try and become masters in one given area. People who focus on being a warrior-type will likely face harder enemies, whereas a mage-type might face enemies the warrior could plow through effortlessly. Despite this, Skyrim still tries to leave room for players who like to keep a balance in their character; being sufficient in all skills.

Mysticism is also gone, but the enchanting skill remains.

Conversations

Although not a massive issue with previous titles, conversations in Skyrim have been improved ten fold. When starting a conversation, rather than zooming in on the character’s face, you will hold the conversation all while the person continues doing whatever it was they were; with the occasional glance. In addition, faces have been improved. If you’re one of many people who thought the faces of people in Oblivion looked horrible, Skyrim will hopefully give you a new opinion.

Combat

Oblivion improved Elder Scrolls combat immensely; making it easier for new players to catch on, and also just making the experience a bit more realistic than its predecessor. Skyrim is raising the bar again. This go around, gamers will have the ability to assign different tasks to each hand. That means while slashing at your enemy with a sword, you can also cast a spell on him (or yourself, perhaps). This will expand the possibilities in combat, in both of what you and your enemies will be capable of doing. Bethesda is also putting a lot of effort into making each weapon handling realistic — in other words, they want the handling of each weapon to be a bit different as in real life.

Quests

Questing in Skyrim has also been improved, and is meant to suit a players level and focus much more than in the past. Depending on the type of player you become, different quests and objectives will become available. For example, if you’re a mage player walking around town, you might be confronted by a mage and given a quest. If you were a warrior player, you probably wouldn’t have been confronted by that mage, but instead of another warrior who needs you to go and deal with some thieves. Quest locations aren’t set in stone, either. Quest locations are commonly set in places you have yet to travel to, and with enemies who are near your level; hence giving you a reasonable challenge upon reaching destination.

Also note that in Oblivion, when dropping a weapon, it would simply rest there for all eternity. Skyrim is looking to make that more realistic, allowing others to interact with it. Perhaps a thief will pick it up and use it to rob a store; or a young boy will pick it up and find you to return it. In addition to many other things, this will improve the realistic sense and variation of player experience immensely.

Engine

Skyrim’s engine is completely new, and very much an improvement upon Oblivion’s engine. With beautifully flowing water, trees that move independently with the wind, and dynamically falling snow, the game should feel much more realistic than its predecessor. Shadows have also been improved.

Additional Notes:

• Improved third-person view
• Ability to remove the HUD (heads-up display)
• Ability to sprint, but still fast travel to previously found locations
• Towns are vulnerable to dragon attack, which means they are perhaps vulnerable to the attack of other creatures
• Ability to duel an NPC western-style

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