This review is basically my take on a timeless classic, but with the addition of a few mods that I believe greatly improve the beauty and immersion of the game.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is already acclaimed as one of the greatest RPG titles ever. It just won yet another Steam award, for "Standing the Test of Time." I couldn't agree more; I'm still loading up my modded save once a week or so to complete one or two of the myriad of side-quests I've yet to play through. It is uniquely engrossing even now, with so many years under its belt, with an atmosphere that just has to be experienced to be understood.

The Civil War questline was at first one of my favorite parts of the game, but even after replaying it for all possible outcomes left I felt like there was a bit of unexplored potential. (there are ultimately only two outcomes, not counting the option of simply ignoring it, even if the player negotiates the truce while playing through the main questline.)
However, the main questline was seamless from start to finish, even at the places where it touches the Civil War questline, and it literally left me staring at the screen, mouth agape, uttering alout to myself an awed "Wow." Perhaps not everyone felt the same, but that's why there's a review button for every player. :whiterun: The final location could perhaps have been a little more played-up, but it was more than enough to drop my jaw during my first playthrough.

The DLCs, which I have completed, were outstanding examples of what a paid expansion should offer: Entirely new gameplay mechanics, enough added content to make the buyers feel like their money was well-spent, and enough added gameplay hours of campaigning to satisfy plot-hungry fans. I was especially engrossed in the two DLC alternate dimensions: Dawnguard's ghastly Soul Cairn and Dragonborn's twisted Apocrypha tomes. Bravo, Bethesda.

I played vanilla Skyrim for roughly 35-40 hours before deciding to begin modding. By the time I started playing, the Skyrim Nexus was already teeming with so many great mods that there were at least five different choices for every fix or change, oftentimes many more. Thus, as the game is now, modding is about personal taste. My game is different from everyone else's, because it's seasoned to my own tastes both aesthetically and mechanically.

However, everyone starts somewhere, and if there are a few people out there who have not modded their Skyrim yet, I urge you to look up a brief beginner's guide (I believe the one that got me started was on Rock, Paper, Shotgun) and then take a look at my, or a friend's, list of other more in-depth choices. I'll include a few of the ones that satisfied me most here.

• Seasons of Skyrim ENB[www.nexusmods.com]. This is the pivotal ambiance that defines your mod setup. There are many, many presets, but SoS is, in my opinion, the prettiest.
  
• ELFX[www.nexusmods.com] for a complete indoor/dungeon lighting overhaul. You'll actually need to use that torch if you're not a Khajiit.
  
• aMidianBorn Book of Silence[www.nexusmods.com] for 2k weapon and armor textures.
  
• Superior Lore-Friendly Hair[www.nexusmods.com] to replace every NPC's ugly plastic do's with far more realistic, high-texture hair. (I'd also recommend using other mods for real NPC facelifting but those are legion and entirely up to the user's taste.)

Thanks for reading!
P.S. Death to the Stormcloaks!

This review is basically my take on a timeless classic, but with the addition of a few mods that I believe [b]greatly[/b] improve the beauty and immersion of the game. [h1]The Game Itself.[/h1] The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is already acclaimed as one of the greatest RPG titles ever. It just won yet another Steam award, for "Standing the Test of Time." I couldn't agree more; I'm still loading up my modded save once a week or so to complete one or two of the myriad of side-quests I've yet to play through. It is uniquely engrossing even now, with so many years under its belt, with an atmosphere that just has to be experienced to be understood. The Civil War questline was at first one of my favorite parts of the game, but even after replaying it for all possible outcomes left I felt like there was a bit of unexplored potential. (there are ultimately only two outcomes, not counting the option of simply ignoring it, even if the player [spoiler]negotiates the truce while playing through the main questline[/spoiler].) However, the main questline was seamless from start to finish, even at the places where it touches the Civil War questline, and it literally left me staring at the screen, mouth agape, uttering alout to myself an awed "Wow." Perhaps not everyone felt the same, but that's why there's a review button for every player. :whiterun: The final location could perhaps have been a little more played-up, but it was more than enough to drop my jaw during my first playthrough. The DLCs, which I have completed, were [i]outstanding[/i] examples of what a paid expansion should offer: Entirely new gameplay mechanics, enough added content to make the buyers feel like their money was well-spent, and enough added gameplay hours of campaigning to satisfy plot-hungry fans. I was especially engrossed in the two DLC alternate dimensions: Dawnguard's ghastly Soul Cairn and Dragonborn's twisted Apocrypha tomes. Bravo, Bethesda. [h1]My Modding Reccomendations.[/h1] I played vanilla Skyrim for roughly 35-40 hours before deciding to begin modding. By the time I started playing, the Skyrim Nexus was already teeming with so many great mods that there were at least five different choices for every fix or change, oftentimes many more. Thus, as the game is now, modding is about personal taste. My game is different from everyone else's, because it's seasoned to my own tastes both aesthetically and mechanically. However, everyone starts somewhere, and if there are a few people out there who have [i]not[/i] modded their Skyrim yet, I urge you to look up a brief beginner's guide (I believe the one that got me started was on Rock, Paper, Shotgun) and then take a look at my, or a friend's, list of other more in-depth choices. I'll include a few of the ones that satisfied me most here. [list] [*][url=http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/23812/?]Seasons of Skyrim ENB[/url]. This is the pivotal ambiance that defines your mod setup. There are many, many presets, but SoS is, in my opinion, the prettiest. [*][url=http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/27043/?]ELFX[/url] for a complete indoor/dungeon lighting overhaul. You'll actually need to use that torch if you're not a Khajiit. [*][url=http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/24909/?]aMidianBorn Book of Silence[/url] for 2k weapon and armor textures. [*][url=http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/36510/?]Superior Lore-Friendly Hair[/url] to replace every NPC's ugly plastic do's with far more realistic, high-texture hair. (I'd also recommend using other mods for real NPC facelifting but those are legion and entirely up to the user's taste.) [/list] Thanks for reading! [spoiler]P.S. Death to the Stormcloaks![/spoiler]