Definite improvement over Oblivion. Only criticism is the controls (for PC) - switching weapons is a pain, and I did notice some issues with remapping keys (in order to drop an item, the key indicated on the screen was not the key I had to use, should be an easy fix in a patch). Otherwise, I'm about four hours in, level 6 and having a blast.

Edited to add that I was going to hold off buying this game until it was on sale at half price. The overall positivity on the forums changed my mind. That, and after several months I would've seen a bunch of videos and known much of what was in store. Being able to discover stuff for myself without prior knowledge was enough to push me over the edge.

That actually looks pretty epic. I always like it when the graphical style goes for caricatures rather than realism.

My first impressions are of a rpg the likes only Bethesda can create. Started my third play session around 8:00pm friday night and before i knew it the time was 2:00am in the morning. Thats how addictive and immersive with fun SKYRIM has been for me since picking it up yesterday morning.

Music is dreamlike. It captures so many moods from creepy menacing in dungeons to a peaceful soothing holiday ambience while exploring in the mountains perfect for this time of the year. Combat music is the best i've heard in a Elder Scrolls game with plenty of punch and doesnt give things away since it doesnt always play which adds to the suspense. At one point a Giant was being acttacked but i paused in helping some humans out because i wasnt sure who the bad guys were since the music didnt start up with a dead give away.

A big smile came on my face when i did some weapon and armor smithing as the ui interface told me right away in brighter and darker shades of letter fonts what materials i had and those i may still need to craft a specific weapon or armor.

Books are a pleasure to read and i find myself having to force myself to stop reading so i can enjoy the rest of SKYRIM. The letter fonts look great and are very easy on the eyes.

The 3d modeled inventory is excellent and its fun to move the items around to see what they look like.

Dialogue is very realistic with a fluid natural feel and Npcs will even say things as we're parting company while they're headed in the opposite direction like down a flight of stairs. They're also quite thankful for my help. One has to watchout though not to offer or say the wrong thing which may be taken as insulting ha ha.

The kill animations are adrenaline stimulating adding an extra layer of excitement to battle victories. This was the one thing i was going to miss from FALLOUT 3 but to my euphoric surprise here it is.

Now i can pick up flowers and other ingrediants with them actually disappearing as if picked. Yahoo for glorious immersion!

The choice of foods and how so many help in healing health is a thrill to see. Its also great to see so many real world counterparts in the world of SKYRIM. Using potions and having them take effect right away while still in the inventory is a comfortable thing to see and takes away an unnecessary extra step during combat.

Weapons are lethal and it feels like am actually weilding a life taking sword in my hand with enemies dying so quickly. Excellent execution with no boredom at all. Visually they look fantastic and just gazing upon them i can sense their killing power.

Puzzles are fun to figure out with plenty of visual hints in the environment on what may be the best approach.

Loot is DAGGERFALL and FALLOUT 3 perfect. The most rewarding satisfying system which makes exploring and treasure hunting pure bliss without being overpowering.

Mood,ambience and lore all come together to make SKYRIM come to life stirring different emotions out of me. From creepy childhood stories told by npcs to the delightful singing bards in the taverns this is some deep rpg greatness.

Thank you Bethesda for always pushing the envelope and taking chances to create gaming art.

Have to agreed here sadly. However, many of the cons is cos of the beth being so console centric developer. Way to abandon PC players than made the company so good in the beginning.

My thoughts on the areas in color.

So all things counted up i think the game is nice game for a console RPG. Nothing RPG genre redefining though. It could be way better on many areas. But hey, its a move towards better. Hopefully next time we get a working ui, stats back to actually make a roleplaying game and other things i dont mention here.

7.5 or 8 score from me. Will have to review again when i get better UI from mods or something.

I'll be honest my first impression was that they had streamlined too much of the game and tried to hard to make it like all the other "blockbuster" RPGs that have come out in the years since Oblivion. The set piece at the beginning and what appeared to be a greatly reduced armory as well as leveling way too fast. This feeling persisted for the first 3 hours or so. Then as I got into it the game proceeded to svck up another 15 hours and I'm only level 6. The combat is incredibly visceral and the whole game is simply beautiful, the textures may not be great right now, but the detail of the towns, dungeons and scenic views are incredible.

The moment I fell in love with the game was as I was exploring the Southeast region, I looked at the ground and saw a huge shadow. A dragon was circling above me and I made a break for a nearby cabin, sprinting and hiding from these terrifying beasts is a gaming experience like no other. It is these random moments like these that really evoke that classic Elder Scrolls feel. At first I would have rated the game 8-8.5 but now I would give it a 9-9.5.

In addition to a console version I purchased a PC version but am not playing that until the modding community is established. I am very excited for the prospects of mods for this game, Bethesda has provided an incredible canvas in which to alter the game to our specific desires and I'm sure that with mods this game will become one of my favorites of all time.

After 15 hours I can safely say it's the best game ive ever played.

The game selected high quality for the video after installation, and I must say it's absolutely beautiful. Never seen such detail in a computer game before, and I've been playing games since 1982.

The UI, on the other hand - worst I've seen since 1982. Just to mention one thing, WSAD - A normally turns left; D turns right. Now it's strafe for those keys, and move the mouse to turn to the side. Had to change my mouse settings to accomodate the turning. But, just a minor thing, maybe it will be modded.

I have a question: I have no problem equipping swords - the 2H that is, couldn't equip the 1H and shield, it was either one or the other. Probably did something wrong.

The main problem I have is with the bow. I go into items to switch from the 2H to the bow and arrows. Then I tab out to go back to the game. I hit R so the bow goes into the left hand and aim at the target. Now, I hold the left mouse button to draw the bowstring back for a full attack - nothing happens.

I usually manage to get a few arrows of by left/right clicking, but the target just keeps coming (melee NPC). Obviously I'm not doing a lot of damage, so I keep clicking/holding down the left mouse button to pul the string all the way back but I don't get an indication on the screen that's happening.

Any help is appreciated, I'll check back later.

Thank you.

Thanks for the thought provoking reply Luewen

Yes i agree the ui is console based and still needs a bit of tweaking .Like when trading and getting dropped out of the item screen when switching between say the weapons menu to the ingrediants menu to sell some herbs etc only to end up outside the barter screen and back to the start of the conversation where the merchant is telling me to look at what he has to sell.

Having to go back into the inventory when switching items so i can go back to a one hand magic and one hand weapon setup is also a bit clunky but since one can also do magic with both hands i guess there has to be trade offs. It could also be that the solution is with hot keys but i never use hot keys in any games.

Fortunately with Todd Howard giving plenty of advertisemant to the console based angle they were going with SKYRIM i was prepared for the ui looking the way it is and it has not bothered my enjoyment.

On stats i dont even notice them being gone. At least not yet. Theres so many other things such as perks and the raising of skills by using them getting my attention i just look at it as a different system.

On herbs being picked and visually disappearing from ones view yes it was in OBLIVION but only with mods unless my mind blocked it out due to the horrifying realism of it

Heres hoping the highly talented Modders such as AlienSlof, Corepc etc will make your SKYRIM a reality Luewen.

I've only had the chance to play for about 3 hours at a friend's house since I haven't gotten the game for myself yet, but quite simply, I'm loving the [censored] out of it. For my session I played as a stealthy assassin type with a bow for long range and a longsword/dagger combo for short range. Both systems feel responsive and all around excellent. I particularly enjoyed the dual wielding, especially after the QuakeCon demo made it look boring.

The way NPCs interact is also a HUGE improvement from Oblivion. This was one of the first things I noticed when I entered a side-dungeon for the first time. In Oblivion, the bandits inside would be talking about mudcrabs or some other unrelated something-or-other. In Skyrim, the conversation between the bandits was about whether their lookout would be able to get word of intruders down to them in time (and yes, there was a lookout outside, and no, she didn't), and also provided me with a useful tip: there was a rock trap somewhere in the cave.

The only criticism I have so far is the fact that the interface for maps, inventory, etc. feels a bit awkward, even with a 360 pad.

Some more first impressions.

Loving the armors and how there are different types for each type. Nice to see how changing leather armor just a little makes it look completely different. Heavy armor's appearance is very powerful and painful as if one were to bump into an opponent wearing it the enemy would scream in pain. Plenty of violent character in their design.

Ran across some vampire thralls and the area they were located fit in perfectly with what might be found where they dwell. Quite ghoulish.

Spiders are DAGGERFALL horrifying with their inhuman eyes looking into the darkest fear filled recesses of ones heart. The animations on them are fantastic.

Hearing a wolf's howl in the cold stark mountain winds gets the shivers going as it may signal a sudden acttack by one or more of these ferocious hunters.

The variety of npc personalities is mind boggling. Some are seductive. Some friendly others reclusive and untrusting. SKYRIM is a very alive world and forces one to forget past notions of what was possible in Npc ai and dialogue interactions. Came across a female ruler who has taken in a male wizard and i loved how her voice sounded with classic witch type accent. I started thinking of Morgana from DAGGERFALL.

Nice underground wall carvings that seem to depict what is going on with the Nords of SKYRIM. Reminds me of the mysterious paintings in MORROWIND dungeons.

Using bows and arrows finally feels right compared to past Elder Scrolls rpgs. Now am regularly tempted to use a bow seeing a target in the distance when in previous games the thought never dawned on me most of the time.

To think i just made level 5 for the first time and still have only probably discovered 1% if even that of the world.

My Orc character was alot of fun to create. Love how the mouth and teeth were done this time around aswell as the face paint and tattoos.

Im loving this game, playing on max difficutly i get into deep trouble often. I use 2h and no magic at all.. well sometimes i use scrolls if ireally cant take someone down..

The world feels really alive, from the landscapes to the characters in it. They interract beliavably (in oblivion the NPCs talks would go really weirdly.. wouldnt fit together at all) while in Skyrim its smooth.
And i especially love all the random non quest related stuff such as a farmer going along the roads to sacrifice a cow to the giants, or imperial dogs taking a stormcloak prisoner to his grim fate..

The combat is ALOT better, im actually fighting most of the time in third person as you get a better feel of the weapons weight that way. (i use 3rd person in normal fights, but first person when i go for a sneak attack)

The only problems i have encountered are mobs popping out of nowhere here and there ^^

Oh.. and i absolutelly LOVE how dark and gritty it is this time, now my created character looks like a hardcoe barbarian instead of a anime mothers boy

Aye, hopefully we get modded ui soonish.

And totally forgot the shops screen. Its totally ankward aye. The divider outcome is not very much streamlined. More like wonky and not user friendly.
And the reason i want stats back is that you could fine tune your character even more. Granted it might not be way for the more action way going console game, but stil. I am afraid they remove perks and all skills next time to make game more streamlined and for the masses. Hey its too complex to pick a perk and there is toooo many skills.

It's just the first weekend and only 16 hours in. I think it's really good so far.