» Fri Jun 08, 2012 11:54 pm *Casts Wall of Text*
Began the game as a Dark Elf named Shademehr, knowing that my background lie in thievery and stealth and the use of the bow. As all of you who've played know, the beginning is a bit 'on the rails' so I went with it, full well knowing it was going to open up like all previous Elder Scrolls games do. So I did the Riverdale quests and then it was off to Whiterun where I hopped on the main quest just enough to help the guards with the you know what. I picked up a fellow Dark Elf follower, although she cost me 500 gold initially, it was well worth it in the long run. After becoming the Thane, I was done with the main quest and want to explore, and explore I did. Like an onion where you peel a layer, only to reveal another layer, and another, so was this game, except instead of the onion getting smaller, it got bigger,. Before I knew it, I had 20+ side quests and 5+ major quests not including the main quest and every time I tried to close a quest, it opened another one or more....like the following...
I would get a bounty to bring the head of a bandit chief in a nearby lair. Janessa (my dark elf companion) and I would infiltrate and I would unsheathe the daggers (one orcish and one dwarven) and ask her to wait near the entrance as I scouted ahead. I would quietly tiptoe ahead until I heard voices and see two bandits sitting down at a table, backs to me, eating and talking about their bounties and their last score. Quietly, I would sneak ahead until I was in striking range and *THUNK* both daggers would sweep in opposite directions and then plunge in the back of the bandit while the other would jerk up and begin to get out of his chair and then *Swoosh! THUNK* I would do the same to him and in one blow each (15x dagger damage) I took care of the sentries. Off to find this chief,,,
Grabbing Janessa, we went ahead to the next area in this underground lair and I asked her to wait at the entrance to this room as it opened up and a dark passageway lay ahead on the opposite side. Perfect for my trap. I crept ahead, this time with the bow out and as I approached the passageway on the other end I heard voices again. Closer I crept until I saw the unmistakable markings of the chief speaking to a subordinate from beyond the passage. I crept away and pulled back on the bow and fired a shot at a hanging pot in this room. *CLANG!* "Huh? What was that?" , came the sound of the chief as he came to investigate with his giant sword unsheathed. Likewise, both my daggers came out as I waited patiently to the coming footsteps...
"There she is! Kill her!" The bandit chief shouted as he came out of the passageway and ran towards Janessa, 2-handed sword back in striking position. He didn't see me and focused on Janessa, who brought out her shield and sword and prepared for the worst. One on one, we couldn't take this guy down alone - he was too skilled and far out-matched us, but as I crept closer to their battle, I would even the odds,,, Janessa only parried one or two blows before I was in range and *THUNK!* came the all too familiar sounds of my daggers plunging into the back of this chief and down he goes. Still hidden, I move back in the shadows and we make similar quick work of his henchman who followed moments later.
...and it is moments like this that just scratch the surface of how amazing this game is. So epic in scope, that having only been to two 'major?' towns, I'm so inundated with quests, tasks, adventures, and things to do that I need to take a break and collect my wits. So detailed is this game world that I can honestly see how one couldn't finish it as there are just so many things to do, and that's just it...the things aren't boring. Not in the slightest. Found a book about a legendary flaming sword and after reading the book and looking over my map I discerned where the tomb of its warrior might lay. Should I desire, I could plan a campaign and go after it, but I'm having too much fun skulking around at night and doing breaking and enterings for Vex from the Thieves Guild. Only on one such task do I enter an estate where I'm to retrieve an heirloom do I come across a strange jewel. Well, who am I to leave such a trinket alone - it needs companionship! So I take it, and bam, that leads to another adventure of finding an appraiser, and then after that someone else which tells more of the story about such gems...and there would appear to be hundreds of these such quests....
So, my hat is off to the developers, designers, and makers of this game. This literally is The SIms: Skyrim, and there is no limit to the end of what you can do. Bravo!
