5/5 ★ – bryansbane's review of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

Everything Bethesda had ever done from the early beginnings with The Elder Scrolls: Arena, to Morrowind, to Fallout 3 and more was building to this moment. Skyrim was the result of enough iteration, fine tuning and the tech being right to craft an open world RPG that was as close to perfect as you could expect in 2011. Many aren’t old enough or have simply forgotten that we didn’t always live in an age where every other game in any franchise was “open world”. Bethesda were one of the few who released giant scale games like these and once Skyrim hit the scene and blended all of the elements together so well, everyone else in the industry wanted to do it. Skyrim is Bethesda’s best selling game of all time with many different versions and ports across a variety of platforms. Its legacy remains as relevant today as it did when it released. A vibrant modding scene keeps it alive and the fact that we still haven’t got a new entry in the series 14 years later has had people returning to the well over and over again. Skyrim belongs in the pantheon of the highest tier where the best games of all time reside. As far as the content of the game itself goes, it was a perfect storm. Half a decade after The Lord of the Rings ended and right as Game of Thrones was starting to gain international popularity Bethesda released a gritty, snow covered RPG chock full of skeletons, dragons and wonder. The systems were refined and easier to understand, the graphics and animations were next level compared to Bethesda’s prior works and the theme music pumped blood into your veins like you wouldn’t believe. Quest lines like the Dark Brotherhood, Thieves Guild and the Companions are extremely memorable and massive additions like Dawnguard and Dragonborn doubled down on all the things we loved about the base game. Skyrim has flaws like any other product and I probably would have scored this a hair lower at launch, but the additions, improvements and legacy speaks for itself. This is one of the best video games ever made, I’m so thankful I was there at the peak of everyone’s excitement for it. FUS RUH DAH!!