First Impressions of Skyrim (Not a review)

Skyrim, the fifth -official- Elder Scrolls game came out less than a week ago. The first reviews? Stellar. But what does this mean for the average gamer? Let's break it down, but keep in mind those are my impressions of the game so far, not a review.

It's undoubtedly an Elder Scrolls game, with everything that entails: stunning graphics, an open world waiting for you to explore it, a distinct cultural feel to it. Also, badly-scripted paper-thin NPCs, a cliched story and, from time to time, moments that will have you bang your head against the wall. For example: the first village you arrive in has chickens frolicking around. Harm one of them in any way and the whole village will turn hostile and punish you. With warhammers. and swords. And axes. And daggers. In short, killing one chicken apparently warrants a human being's death. Moments like this seem almost unavoidable in an Elder Scrolls game, and it strikingly resembles the squadrons of guards that would give chase if you stole an apple in Oblivion. Fair enough, I suppose. But here's the kicker: I defended myself, and ended up...um..."silencing" the whole village (which was my first quest hub, incidentally). Then, frustrated, pissed off and in a fit of vindictive rage, I saw another chicken and righteously set it on fire. And I got a message saying that I had killed the last witness and that my bounty was removed. Yes, apparently chickens are witnesses. I'm not a programmer, but my guess is that they bundled human and animal NPCs alike in certain aspects that make no sense whatsoever. This screams sloppy and lazy to me.

Combat system seems improved, but it remains for the most part the same clunky and rather graceless thing it was in Oblivion and Morrowind before that. Half-RPG, where stats are king and half-action, where reaction time is tantamount, it degenerates -again- into a frantic clicking fest in a melee. That being said, the ability to dual wield weapons and spells in a mix-n-match of destruction does give a more personal and interesting note in an otherwise dull affair.

You are again a prisoner, of course. That's all that's enforced to you. Everything else is your choice: race, sex, age, abilities, they all correlate directly to the way you play. Unlike previous games, you don't pick skills at character creation and are stuck with levelling those if you want to level up. The game takes note of which skillset you use more often and levels you as you employ your own personal playstyle. This is a wonderful system for levelling.

What's not wonderful is the console-friendly inventory on the PC version. I'm sitting close to my screen and I can read non-huge fonts on my monitor, Bethesda. There's no need to 3/4 of my inventory to be a 3d model of the item in question, with its stats in huge letters.

Yes, I am biased against Elder Scrolls, having gone through extreme excitement and extreme disappointment with the last two. But let's talk facts: it accentuates almost everything about the previous games. Both good and bad. You like to explore a world and do some questing? Skyrim's for you. You want to play a story, meet characters that feel real, feel alive in that world? You'll hate it, no matter how much your easily excitable heart wants you to like it. I know mine did. I'm not saying this as a reviewer, at least not yet. I'm saying this as a gamer.