The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

I am starting this log now after finishing the Oblivion one and I'm scared that this one might be longer than that... But I don't know. I think I'm gonna try to do that on purpose but be even less coherent.

It's a coin toss on whether this will actually be about Skyrim the game or about modding.. I won't know until I finish it.

To start, Ill recall that almost romantic touch I felt when I was given Oblivion. My extremely formative years were spent on Oblivion when people were playing something like Skylanders. I felt like a piece of my soul was given to me like in Inside Out when they have core memories. One of mine is definitely freeform fantasy adventure titles and it is probably criminal I never got to play Fable like my dad did. (But I parasocially absorbed Fable from RTGame so I'm a fan of it from just even that much)

So its sequel was given to me eventually, since I probably had an unhinged number of hours in Oblivion. I think holding Skyrim in my hands was definitely.. something else. I don't think I was interested in it yet, maybe I was too young or the aesthetic was so wildly different that I didn't like it. Although, if any thing was to be the 'odd one out', it would definitely be Oblivion. But I didn't know that, naturally.

My first experience of it wasn't anything I remember. Looking at my dad's achievement logs, what I did was open the game, run around, and then marry someone because I spotted the guide on UESP that day, and then I probably quit it. I don't even know where the disc could be, if we still have it, but I most likely never touched it again. I went back to Oblivion within 24 hours. And it was essentially Skyrim by itself, as well.. I can't even imagine it in retrospect, not getting an attempt on your life by two masked unhinged individuals or going to a gorgeous new aesthetic and meeting Serana.

I might have played some more of the game, I have no idea. If I did, it would be on gamepass? Although I know for sure that in my childhood specifically, I only played Oblivion.

My Skyrim love actually was born on the Nintendo Switch of all things... So I would have been about 11-13 when we actually got it on the console. I got the Switch on release date, I think the first game was the Just Dance of the year, then MarioKart, and then likely Skyrim at some point.

I'm happy to say I have logged just about exactly 755 hours on the switch on my profile over the years of playing it alone. And, more impressively, the bulk of that was just one character, Lucia the argonian. When I was done with her, she was level 65, which is almost unheard of. But, to be fair, I seem to have a knack for leveling characters pretty quickly. I made a joke character on there named Ricky who I used to speedrun the path to the Dawnguard DLC and vampirism. (Just as an aside, I did NOT actively know that that vampirism they have is tied to Molag Baal.. I thought they were just super vampires, but then I played modded on PC with Gore and he was so mad at me I just reloaded.)

Lucia had a very wild life.. she got married to Romlyn Dreth because I thought it would be funny, killed that man because she hated him in the end... Then she moved up near that Hearthfire plot near Falkreath to live alone with Faerandal as her servant (btw is this common choice for the servant spot?) who was constantly abused by her spamming shouts at him and sending him flying into walls or into the woods. And she was a criminal thief, then a murderer, and then killed all the thieves and all the murderers. And then she purged the entire towns, as she was much, much more powerful than anyone she met. She was also a vampire that turned into a vampire lord in public just to kill more people. She was, in no uncertain terms, a complete and utter menace.

Ricky was played for quite a while to the point he just about overstayed his welcome. I literally remember nothing about him though other than it clicked that a lore-accurate way to play the DLCs was a high elf male. I know the games usually default to the race of the region being the default choice/the stand-in character, but you cannot tell me that no one on this design team secretly wanted to put in more hostile/demanding high elf options. Someone out there wanted it, and they were met with 'we will make a special check if you wear Thalmor robes during Diplomatic Immunity'. It was one of the things I modded into my playthrough, the ability to be a full on genocidal racist and classist as a high elf. Maybe they were afraid of the backlash they could get if they leaned harder into that, but I think even gamers themselves really, really don't understand how many people just want to participate in evil chaos for the pure love of the game.

So! Now let's talk about present day. My skyrim install is shot because my GPU is acting up, so until we get a new setup someday, I have to play at 15fps using ENB when I legitimately get 50-60fps with Community Shaders, but a hang is bound to happen. But I have that nice Folkvangr grass and I think I just got A Rose in the Snow mixed with like... that one guy who makes the packs for followers by groups (hirelings, 3DNPC, housecarls, royalty, etc). My last project before that was setting up PBR textures that look great with CS... if only I could play.

My favorite companion is Gore, but before that, since I have my moments, there was a time I ran BWB/IF Kaidan and lurked just a little in the discord before all that ran itself into the ground. Then of course you just have to get Lucien and Inigo, but XELZAZ might just be the most high quality companion on the market. Him and Gore make for excellent playthroughs, but there is almost no roleplay friendly reason to go get both before you start your journey... and they both have early content for the first few quests! And to make the most of Xelzaz, you have to pick him up FIRST!!

Also the Rift is beautiful! It makes exact sense that everyone is corrupt and rich or battered and poor there. I like living in Honeyside because it provides easy access to things, but, oh my god does getting it expose you to the most annoying group of people in the game. Every single NPC that enters and leaves Mistveil Keep is absolutely miserable.

When I mod the Rift, I love the kind of mods that give the place a brighter and more lifted look... I did so again this modlist... if I could just SEE IT.

About the actual game, since I summarized Oblivion, I'll do the same for Skyrim. However, since so much of it is just rabbit holes and fetch quests, it isn't hard.

Essentially YOU are being executed, caught at the border in the midst of an ambush on Jarl Ulfric Stormcloak of Windhelm. You get to Helgen for your execution because of this fact, but then a whole ass dragon (Alduin the World-Eater) comes out of the sky and blows the place up. You can escape with either Hadvar of the Imperial side or Ralof of the Stormcloak side. This changes none of the gameplay other than providing a ripple effect of immersion later on.

From there, you can go straight to Whiterun to report to the Jarl, the Jarl will demote you to fetcher, and you go to a ruin to fetch a stone, and you bring it back. Then another dragon is attacking in Whiterun's hold, so you go kill it. When it's dead, you absorb its soul and are pronounced Dragonborn. The Greybeards pronounce you as such too, so you go all the way up to the whole, spiraling mountain that every follower mod maker loves to make dialogue for the 7000 steps.

When you get up there, it's basically a checkup and they say 'yep, Dragonborn' and send you on the way to recover the Horn of Jurgen Windcaller. But when you go to fetch that, it's missing. So you meet Delphine, who also was at Whiterun in the background when you turned in the Dragonstone. She wants to know if you are a real dragonborn, insults you a few times, and then eventually tells you that she is the last of the Blades and is sworn to protext any Dragonborn. You say ok and want the horn, but she wants to SEE you do it. So you say ok and kill the dragon and then she says ok and gives you the horn.

Next thing you know, because for some reason or another it has to be you, you're shedding your 500 pound bodybuilder weight armor or your DIY leathers as she insults you again (amusedly now) and tells you you're due to go to a fine party as a spy. And there are MORE miserable people at the party itself... literally you can see a DV charge in real time combined with implied rape, so I'm sure this is just the finest company.

So anyway, you can either do what she said or do an hour long lore reading of everything back there, depending on if this is your first time or your fifth. Either way, you can now locate Delphine's long lost friend.

And just let me tell you, if you were charmed by the people in the party? You will LOVE the ratway. Just the finest. Esbern fits right in, for better or for worse. Either way, you escort him back to Delphine, and she says ok and you all go to Sky Ruler Temple in a setting out of an Xbox 360 jungle adventure game.

From there it's pretty much straightforward, you meet Paarthurnax the dragon, learn his lesson, and learn his lore of how he just knows how to stop Alduin. You steal away with another Elder Scroll from the best worst place in the game where you WILL fall down a rabbit hole before you leave, like it or not. After you come back, the scroll lets you see back in time to Alduin's defeat. Then you get to fight him and do a live beta test of the new shout you unlocked and Alduin loses all his dragon credibility when you beat him up.

You then capture the dragon Odahviing, who tells you where Alduin went and offers to fly you there, and you can also unlock him as a mount. I don't know why he complies even after Alduin is dead later, but probably has something to do with self-preservation.

Anyway after you clear the dungeon Odahviing drops you into, you get to go to Sovngarde where you can see the fruits of your labor if you've been doing a bunch of quests thus far. It's one of the most beautiful spots in the game, and kind of like a canon trophy room served best when you only clear it when you're done with a playthrough. I've probably only been in here maybe three times, myself, because the main quest at this point is just comically out of the way of literally everything else you could think of. Plus, unlike Oblivion, you aren't even really logically obligated to do anything they want you to do after Unbound, so take that as you will.

So. you go to Sovngarde, defeat the guardian to the Hall of Valor to which you need to go get heroes that will help you out. Plus, the place is filled with heroes of lore, so it is actually a really, really cool place to wander around. But when you leave, you go out to kill Alduin for good. And you do so, and it's like a more dramatic version of the Ender Dragon because he just melts to death and the skies clear.

When you kill Alduin, your little dragon brothers cheer for you too.. and then if Party is still alive, he will let you know he is going to tame all the dragons for good. The end!