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My first day in Skyrim...

At the time of writing, I have clocked up my first twenty hours on The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, which entitles me to present to you this brief summary of a day in the life of a Dragonborn- 

(Some minor spoilers ahead)

 

  • Almost got executed. Dragon appeared. Didn't get executed.
  • Went into giant cave. Found ancient Dragon word. 
  • Found Whiterun, the first city you encounter in the storyline. 
  • Killed a dragon because it was there. 
  • Learned how to Shout because I absorbed the Dragon's soul. 
  • Promptly spent a good half hour Shouting at townsfolk until a guard appeared and nervously asked me to pack it in. 
  • Was made Thane of Whiterun, given a flame axe (Catch!) and a bodyguard who I pretty much just told to stay home. 
  • Walked up a huge fucking mountain. 
  • Shouted at an old man. 
  • Joined a rebellion, helped said rebellion attack and take over Whiterun, got told off by the Jarl who was ruling it beforehand. 
  • Heard one Dragon calling another worthless and wondered if workplace bullying was commonplace in their society. 
  • Killed the worthless dragon and then felt bad, then realized I could use its soul to Shout at time. 
  • Shouted at time. 
  • Got bored of killing dragons, wandered off into the "Miscellaeneous" quest section.
  • Killed an old woman.
  • Got kidnapped in my sleep and inducted into the Dark Brotherhood. 
  • Killed a woman with a bow and arrow at her own wedding. Felt awesome for about two seconds before her husband came over and stabbed me in the face a few times. 
  • Decided to try my luck with one of those big mammoths. Got hit by a giant and flew clear across the map. 

It's all been one giant "ooooh, what's this?". The main storyline kept my attention for maybe five hours or so but then I just went and lost myself in the huge amount of content on offer. Sure, I'll wander back to it eventually, but for now, I'm just enjoying the meticulously crafted, beautifully realized game world, which, despite being filled with freezing mountains and cold plains, is more alive than any world Bethesda has forged beforehand. 

It's easy to see how their experience with other games has changed Skyrim. Even minor stylistic elements like the interface - which, by the way, is super streamlined and amazingly intuitive - and the way names of discoveries scroll atop the screen remove any possibility of distraction. Nothing ever tries to pull you away from the game. It pauses while you change weapons, spells, and armour, but the game in front of you is still very clear. It allows you to do what you want with minimal distraction, and it's awesome

Bear in mind this isn't a proper review. I'll get one of those written up when I've actually finished the main story line... say at around the 50 hour point? 

See you then!

-L