Product Description:
The next chapter in the highly anticipated Elder Scrolls saga arrives from the makers of the 2006 and 2008 Games of the Year, Bethesda Game Studios. Skyrim reimagines and revolutionizes the open-world fantasy epic, bringing to life a complete virtual world open for you to explore any way you choose.
Product Details:
- Alduin Statue. Created in conjunction with the IP Factory, this collector's only statue stands 12" tall and is made of high quality PVC. Modeled from actual in-game 3D digital files, it showcases Alduin, the World Eater.
- The Art of Skyrim' Official Art Book. Featuring over 200 pages of striking, full-color illustrations, sketches and models, this stunning 9 3/8" x 12 1/8" coffee table book showcases the characters, creatures, environments, and weaponry of Skyrim.
- The Making of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim' DVD. This documentary DVD contains exclusive, behind-the-scenes footage, including interviews with the Bethesda Game Studios team.
Customer Reviews:
Detailed info on the Collector's Edition By VictorVUSA
There are already many reviews that cover the game and what's good and bad. The "fun" rating in this review, separate from the product rating, is related to the performance of the game on the PC platform including the results seen after the recent forced code patching. However, Amazon isn't accepting the change to the "fun" rating as I submit it. My current opinion is not 5 stars.
This product review is about the physical observations of the Collector's Edition product. I've broken this up into comments on the PACKAGE, the GAMEDISC, and the CONTENT VALUE associated with this product.
THE PACKAGE
Amazon already publishes the dimensions of this package, but for those who have difficulty visualizing geometry, the size can be described as follows using a CD for reference:
The Skyrim CE box is:
3.25 CDs from left to right
2.75 CDs from front to back
3 CDs tall
I have uploaded a photo to Amazon for reference.
The wraparound slip cover to the cardboard box is so long that it could honestly be unfolded and framed for use as an extra-wide wall poster, were it not for the creases.
The actual box itself is matte black cardboard, with no markings. The slip cover is attached to this box with rectangular seals. When my shipment arrived, two of the seals had already dislodged, as though the adhesive was not strong enough. The entire package is naked in the shipping box. It is not wrapped in cellophane. The slip case in my copy did not have scuffs.
Immediately under the top cover is a matte black cardboard tray holding the shrink-wrapped thick paper game case, with the art book above it, wrapped in plastic. The map is in the game case, made of textured, thick paper, blank on the opposite side of the map. If you have any experience with very nice stationary, then the map feels comparable to that.
The dragon statue box within is a glossy black box with no markings except for the Skyrim dragon sigil on top and the Chinese manufacturer name (The IP Factory Limited) on the bottom. The box top has two circular transparent stickers acting as seals. The styrofoam holding the dragon statue in place has the Skyrim logo embossed atop. The dragon statue paint lives up to the pre-release photos provided by the press.
THE GAMEDISC
The installer is SETUP.EXE in the root folder of the DVD. I logged on to Steam prior to allowing the setup executeable to start. I do not have autorun enabled, but the AUTORUN.INF simply starts SETUP.EXE with no parameters.
Once the activation code is accepted by the installer program, then it immediately began to install by using the files on the DVD media. The installer even displayed text on screen to that effect. I had launched Task Manager before hand and checked it on occasion to verify that there was no network activity while I started this review in Notepad. I did this to verify that the game files themselves were not downloading from Steam instead of using the DVD media.
Use of the activation code inside the box gives the following product in the end user's Steam library:
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (US)
The Steam library does not appear to distinguish between the available editions of Skyrim installed by end users.... only by country of origin for the purchase.
A day one patch immediately began to install thereafter. I did not note how large the patch was.
THE CONTENT VALUE
I posted this originally to an Amazon discussion for Skyrim prior to release. I looked at it with this breakdown of assumed fair cost for the included items:
$ 45 - GAME, discounted since it's not a plastic clamshell but still brand new. And also, some people found preorders for regular edition that were this cheap, by some nifty good fortune. The instruction booklet is full color, but does not have the edition printed on the cover, so the booklet's between editions are interchangeable. The embossed slipcase also does not describe the edition, and neither does the installation disc. The Bonus Material DVD does not say "Skyrim" (not even in the legalise), but it is full of the Elder Scrolls runes as decoration.
$ FREE - MAP, free since the initial release of the other edition came with the same document. I don't know how truly accurate the map is yet.
$ 40 - BOOK, it's 200 pages, and it's not small like the artbook in Deus Ex HR European Action Figure Edition, Mass Effect 2 CE, Killzone 3 Special whatever edition, etc.
$ 20 - VIDEO DVD, 19.99 seems typical for a low print run DVD for a small, hardcore segment of the buying public. The "Behind the Wall" documentary is roughly 40 minutes long, has an animated chapter menu and subtitle options for English, French and German. Choosing a language also shows a localized/translated version of the title screen during view. Along with minor spoiler game play footage (introduction sequence and many dragon fights), the documentary has some nice product gestation details (both triumphs and failings) revealed in interviews, brief snippets of design meetings, white board views, motion capture lab tests, voice studio footage, and orchestra / choir sound studio footage. No hidden files from what I could see. I suggest watching the DVD after you've played Skyrim for several hours.
$ 45 - STATUE, for it's size, it would be much more expensive than $ 45 if the dragon statue sold by itself. I looked over similarly sized (1 foot high, including mountain perch) science fiction/fantasy painted plastic statues on ebay and some collector's stores and I think $ 45 makes sense. This is taking into consideration the nice paint job and details of the statue. Again, the dragon statue paintjob lives up to the pre-release photos provided by the press.
I still think Bethesda was a bit cheap to not include an associated free item DLC or something given the heavy cost. I privately lamented the lack of an included soundtrack CD, but now that it is known that the soundtrack takes up 4 CDs, I don't mind purchasing that separately given the amount of content.Husband's early Thanksgiving gift By B. Murphy
I bought this collector's edition for my husband, a huge video game nerd, as an early Thanksgiving gift. We plan on framing the map that came with it and have Alduin and his wall displayed on the top of our bookshelf in the living room. My husband absolutely adores this game and the coffee table book and all the extras. I was proclaimed "best wife ever" for buying him this as a surprise! I enjoy watching him play it - the characters are awesome, the story is really interesting and I absolutely love the dragons. The coffee table book is beautiful and very informative about the game story and characters. I'm so glad I bought this!38 of 53 SKYRIM WILL CONSUME YOU WITH THE FIRE OF ALDUIN By NeoTristan
((INTRO))
Do you like CRPG? Are you a CRPG fan? If you are, you've most likely been eagerly waiting for Skyrim, even if you didn't like Oblivion or Bethesda games in general. Does Skyrim deliver?
Let me begin by saying "Move over Oblivion, the new Emperor arises to the throne."
A long, painful wait for the most anticipated CRPG of my life is finally over. The new era of CRPG is upon us and the reign of Skyrim begins.
((NEW ENGINE / PRESENTATION))
New proprietary 'Creation Engine' created by Bethesda doesn't improve graphics by night and day when compared to Oblivion and Fallout 3, however, it is specifically tailor-made for Skyrim and all the future TES and Fallout world, and improves just about everything related to gameplay, combat, animation, magic and lighting effects, shadow effects, textures, character models, facial models, graphical fidelity and the world in general.
Gone are the instability and limitations from Gamebryo Engine that shows the cracks at the seam of the massive gameworld from Oblivion and no more god-awful SpeedTree that made vanilla Oblivion quite sterile and often mundane to explore. People and monsters do not look like they got the ugly stick treatment. Facial and character models are the most impressive upgrades from Oblivion. Animations are no longer stiff and awkward and much more fluid, realistic and natural animations boost the feel and flow of movement and combat. The details of textures are very impressive. You can even see things like hair on the skin, scar, vein on human body.
The game world is all hand-crafted and hand-placed; no more auto-generated bland plants and environment. There are 5 major cities and a dozen or so minor towns, villages and settlements along with over 100 points of interest. Every dungeon is hand-crafted and has its own unique looks and layouts, similar to Nehrim. The size and number of variation of dungeons are so impressive with contents and details. Many dungeons have a puzzle or two to solve, hidden traps to avoid, unique boss-type enemy at the end waiting for you with better loots to claim, like in Nehrim. There are over 130 dungeons in Skyrim and many many of them are absolutely gigantic.
The environment effects are much more natural and realistic. Weather and water effects are dynamic. Trees, plants, flowers and leaves are also dynamic. Birds, butterflies, animals and fishes are everywhere. Everything in the game looks more organic rather than synthetic. Skyrim is rugged and mountainous region, generally covered with snow and ice but divided into several different environment zones that will make the game much diverse to traverse and the world feels larger than it already is in style of Morrowind. The world feels so much more organic and less synthetic. Skyrim is one heck of a beautiful and lively place to get lost in.
Overall, details, density and natural fluidity are the main focus in the presentation department over simple graphical fidelity, which by the way is handsomely improved over Oblivion and Fallout 3.
Jeremy Soule composed once again all the scores in the game and the third iteration of his mysterious and melodic Morrowind main title theme is transformed into rousing, heart-pounding Skyrim title theme. A couple of tracks from Morrowind and Oblivion also returns. The dialogues are done by over 70 unique voice actors.
((DRAGONS))
Were you tired of close-shut the gates of Oblivion? Will you be tired of dispatching dragons, plenty of them in different abilities? They are mighty difficult foes you will face to level up and gain new powers to finish the main quest. They are non-scripted dynamic creatures hovering around the world of Skyrim, looking absolutely menacing yet gorgeous to look at. Conquering the legion of the dragons headed by Nordic god of destruction-reincarnate in a gigantic draconic form, Alduin, is basically your main questline in a nutshell. Something tells me you'd rather mingle with these dragonlings than daedra from Oblivion in Cyrodiil or Dagoth Ur and his followers in Vvardenfell.
((CHARACTER PROGRESSION))
This will be hugely controversial among some of the fans of the previous entries but you only create your character but not the class. The class will be dynamically formed over time by how you play your character, like in Gothic Trilogy and Nehrim. Character progression in TES series has always been 'more you do better you get' as opposed to more traditional xp-based level-up; you level up by gaining experience points on your major skills that improve when you use the skill more. Only now the whole thing is completely dynamic.
Skills have been reshuffled and condensed. There are 18 skills available, 3 shorter than Oblivion (mysticism, athleticism and acrobatics removed and absorbed into other skills to chop off the redundancy) and merged into warrior, mage and thieve skill sets. You don't pick any specific class anymore and no birth sign. You now become who you play. You play with sword and shield, you'll become proficient in being a warrior. You play with magic, you'll become proficient in being a mage. If you play with sneak attack and range weapons, you'll become proficient in being a thief. This is indeed a superior system over the traditional 'choose your class' at the beginning that could in turn royally screw you for picking up the wrong skill sets that hinder you from leveling up properly.
Minor skills have been completely axed, but instead perks are implemented into each skill set that encourage you to focus on specializing smaller area of your chosen skills. There are over 270 perks available but you'll be lucky enough to get one third of them during single playthrough.
Perks, somewhat similar to the ones we had in Fallout 3, are here to make leveling up interesting and diverse that will ensure additional replay value in creating different character in the subsequent playthrough. Bethesda chopped up all the redundancy and reshaped the skills with actually more depths to each skill with perks. You now have full active control of leveling up your character throughout the game rather than simply choosing limited number of set skills in the beginning and passively watching your progress till the end.
There are also three attributes strength, stamina and magika.
((MENU / INTERFACE))
Now this also will become quite controversial among PC gamers crying foul that menu system has been watered down toward consoles. This time, Skyrim is indeed made for consoles first, therefore all the interfaces are tailor-made toward gamepad. For gamepad, the new menu and interface system are quick and intuitive. It works very well.
What Bethesda has done with the new menu system is that everything is now fully 3D and visual. Skills, magic, items and map interfaces are all fully navigatable in 3D. Every item, weapon, armor, tool, plant, flower, cloth in your possession can be inspected by zooming in / out and rotating in 3D. Skill tree looks quite similar to those of FFX, XII and XIII. What the new menu system offers is a quick, easy access to any part of menu like i-Phone GUI.
However, these changes benefit only gamepad. Navigating menu on keyboard and mouse needs quite a getting used to and frankly even clumsy and cumbersome at times. Fortunately, hotkey functionality and customizations are available for PC and once inside the menu, you can freely use mouse pointer, but using menu on PC with keyboard and mouse can cause some backlash from the PC community. I got used to it in the end.
Map in Oblivion looked generic?; no problem, we'll give you the entire topographical world map that works like Google Earth and your in-game journal is accessible in the map menu. Items and magic look generic in the inventory menu?; we'll make every single item and magic in 3D model you can toy around and admire. You want stats? Look up, stats are everywhere, literally up in the sky, in the form of ultra cool-looking constellations. HUD is very minimalistic and infos shown only when necessary then disappeared again.
((GAMEPLAY))
3rd person view is no longer mere vanity mode where you check out your cool gears but now a viable and capable combat alternative to TES signature 1st person mode. And combat in Skyrim is more visceral than Oblivion. Melee, magic and stealth combat all got nice improvement and shooting hundreds of arrows while backpedaling your way in 60 mph are no longer possible. The combat is now more dynamic and tactical with 5 different combinations of your weapons and magic abilities in each hand. Magic effects are finally more than slow trails of orange and blue balls, and they are actually fun to use this time. Each magic has different type of manifestation that enact different effect, and they are much useful here than in Oblivion. Combat move is more articulated and has more weight behind it. You have some cool-looking random finishing moves available depending on the weapons you use and the types of mobs, shown in slow-motion like in Fallout 3.
New Radiant Story System and newly improved Radiant A.I. make the game much dynamic and enhance the open-endedness (not open world-ness) only TES has been known for. To make things more interesting, the game will keep track of your activities and dynamically link all the non-main quests and dungeons to your level and progression, directing you to more appropriate and fitting locations with matching enemy types and loots. Each location is unique but how and where you are directed to is now completely unpredictable, meaning more replay value. NPC interactions with the world and to one another are much more dynamic, lively and realistic. The shortcoming of Radian AI in Oblivion was ironically from AI that was way too smart and hyperactive, Bethesda actually had to turn down the level of AI significantly. Here you can see all the great random encounters and activities done by NPCs in much more refined way than they were in Oblivion. No matter how lame and awkward some of them might look, the beauty of Radiant A.I. is non-scripted events you just don't see in any other games. Interaction with NPCs feel more natural and realistic and reactions from NPCs can vary based on their dynamic disposition toward you. NPCs have detailed daily routines, they react to you and the world in more natural ways. Some NPCs might even join you on certain quests and you can even hire different companions to travel with, like in Fallout 3.
Anything not nailed down on the surface can be picked up, moved and even manipulated in many cases. You can even make lots of these items from scratch by engaging in various activities such as smiting, crafting, cooking, hunting, woodcutting, farming, milling, mining, enchanting, alchemy or any activity you see other NPCs perform, similar to Gothic Trilogy or Nehrim. Yes, these jobs can be the source of your income. Skyrim now has dynamic economic system that can be affected by your action. Crafting and alchemy systems are robust and very useful. While weapons and armors do not degrade anymore, crafting and upgrading your equipments add new layers to enhancing your character.
Quests have multiple ways to tackle them and each dialogue with NPCs offers you more choices. Some dialogues will only be available if you are met with certain requirements such as character disposition or when you trigger certain events.
Level-scaling makes the return but it won't hinder you from feeling the general character progression for they are divided into zone rather than tied directly to your own level, similar to Fallout 3. Dungeons get level-locked to your level when you initially enter them.
Morrowind fans can rejoice as Skyrim is full of Nordic culture and own unique lores. It has richer civilization and much more rugged and barbaric than the world of Oblivion. Lores are littered throughout the world in forms of over 300 finely-detailed books. Skyrim is in civil war caused by the vacuum of power in the Tamriel Empire, so the warring factions dynamics are in place and there are many joinable factions such as The College of Winterhold, The Companions, The Thieves' Guild, The Dark brotherhood, The Stormcloaks, The Imperial Army and some non-joinable factions are also in play. There are Dwemer ruins and inside you will find some of the old foes from Morrowind. With a travel theme from Morrowind in the background, you will find that old feeling again.
You can travel instantly to places only after you already have discovered and none will be available in the beginning, not even any major city. You can use public transportation like Morrowind.
There are other elements such as buying properties, getting into romantic relationship or even married. Lock-picking is now similar to that of Fallout 3. Physics come into some realistic gameplay with puzzles and traps. You can actually set fire on oil and some objects can be damaged. There are hidden caves, ships and secrets in the water. There are special item sets to collect. You can become a vampire or a werewolf.
There are so many games these days that adapt open-world gameplay but TES series are the only true nonlinear, open-ended, free-form game available in the market. Unlike other open world games that are absolutely linear outside reckless destruction and mayhem, you get to do actually anything anytime anyway in any order you want. You want to save the world as quickly as possible? You want to forget about the prophecy and walk the Earth and solve others' problems? You want to join any faction and move up? You want to ignore story entirely and simply emerge yourself into dungeon crawling and treasure hunting, collecting items and decorating your place? You can visit anywhere anytime doing any quest in any order barring the main quest, You can be whoever you want to be and play however you want to play. The freedom you are given is absolutely mind-boggling and the amount of contents included here is nothing short of obscene.
((DOWNSIDES))
It's a long tradition of sort when it comes to bugs in Bethesda developed games for their scopes are impossibly gigantic. The first patch is already available on the release day. I've been very fortunate enought to have never really been affected by any sort of bugs with TES series since Daggerfall, but there are already many bugs and glitches widely reported.
The companions still get in the way of combat and there is no real easy access to commanding companions like the one in FONV.
While handsomely improved, the animations and character movements are still relatively stiff and awkward when compared to other top notch games of the current generation. Lip-synching is not that accurate.
The most disappointing to me is that there are not many branching paths and choices like Fallout 3. Bethesda made it clear that TES will always have less branching paths and choices like Fallout games but it will be even more impressive if Skyrim offers the same amounts and depths of choices like Fallout games.
Finally, the template of TES remains the same; essentially the same game retooled 5 times since TES Arena. Not that it is a bad thing by any mean (exactly what we want) but if you didn't like the previous one, there's nothing new here that will change your opinion toward Skyrim.
((MODDING COMMUNITY))
Skyrim is an intimidatingly long game that will easily offer minimum 100 hours of gameplay (Bethesda claims over 300 hours), jam-packed with contents (well before any future expansion pack), but that's not all. PC version is fully compatible with the outstanding modding tool.
We have the newest iteration of TESCS called Creation Kit.
TES modding community is the most active and creative modding community bar none. Bethesda has been impressed with many mods (over 20000 mods for Oblivion and over 2000 mods for Morrowind at TESNEXUS) and even scouted several talents for the company. Expect the same enthusiastic and long-lasting support from the most unique and talented modding community for Skyrim.
You need more quests, places to explore, items and gears, NPCs, textures, skins, models, animations? No problem. If you somehow don't like what's in the game, you can change them.
((STEAMED))
Yes, it is Steamed.
((COLLECTOR'S EDITION))
Buy it only if you are truly into nice 200 pages quality coffee table book and a cool-looking PVC dragon statue. While both are nice and appropriately priced to individual equivalent market price, vast majority of people won't need these for extra $90 on top of the $60 game, regular one will do.
The only reason I reluctantly purchased this is to complete my TES collection that includes Arena, Daggerfall, Redguard, Battlespire, Morrowind and Oblivion and I cannot stand so-called 'eco' case.
The package itself is humongous and it contains world map, Alduin statue, 200 pages art book and slick custom-made slip case very similar to Oblivion CE with game disc and extra disc containing 'The making of Skyrim'.
((OUTRO))
What Bethesda has achieved in Skyrim is the concept of Black Box in programming term; you don't have to understand the mechanical parts of automobile to drive one, meaning you don't have to understand the underlying CRPG mechanism to play Skyrim. But if you do, it will only enhance the experience even further and make it much more rewarding.
Skyrim is the logical next step in the evolution of CRPG. Bethesda thoroughly deconstructed and digested the CRPG elements, and reconstructed them into a new paradigm with plenty of improvements and added depths. Culmination of TES series has been crystallized into a CRPG that harbors the essence of classic CRPGs such as Ultima series and reaches the zenith of old school CRPG.
Skyrim is the CRPG that will make hard-core CRPG fans taking vacation to play the game and even the casual gamers digging the old CRPGs from GoG upon completion. It offers all the depths and elements of hard-core CRPG and the accessible charm for the non-RPG gamers. It offers exciting combat in both 1st person and 3rd person view. Skyrim instantly reminded me all the nonlinear freeform experience and interactivity of Ultima VII, dungeon crawling of Ultima Underground, huge open world of Might and Magic series, NPC interaction of Gothic Trilogy and everything in between TES I and TES IV, all without blending and deluding CRPG genre toward non-RPG crowds. Also Skyrim is the most refined game yet developed by Bethesda with the most depths and contents.
Any game this successful both critically and financially would normally spawn tons of clones in the market but the very fact that few even dared (Gothic Trilogy and Two Worlds series) to imitate the template of TES series, even in much smaller scales, is the ultimate testament that only the most talented and determined group of developers with time, resource, knowledge, patience and passion toward CRPG and the history of CRPG on their side can realize the feat. The members of Bethesda bring their top-notch game in Skyrim. Bethesda has been on uncanny developmental winning streak from Morrowind, Oblivion and Fallout 3 to now Skyrim. Expect Skyrim to be the biggest financial success in the history of CRPG with countless GotY awards.
As much as I love 'Fallout 3' and FONV, it's great to return to the land of more traditional CRPG of the fantastical medieval setting. It's still not a perfect game. Bethesda still bites far too much than they can possibly chew just as they always have since TES Arena, and not everything is fully and successfully realized. But given the scope and sheer amount of contents, everything is good, for now. I am dreaming of the ultimate The Elder Scrolls: The Tamriel Empire in the scope of Arena and Daggerfall, jam-packed with contents in Skyrim quality. Until then, thank you Todd Howard and the team for your continuing effort to realize the ultimate holy grail of CRPG. See you in Fallout 4 and TES VI, and get me some expansion packs.
*********************************ADDENDUM*******************************
((THE ELDER SCROLLS FORETOLD IT))
Skyrim is the fifth installment of the long running TES franchise and one of the most important CRPG (next to the classic Big 3 CRPG, Ultima, Wizardry and Might and Magic series, the most influential CRPGs that put the cornerstones for every single CRPG, Action RPG and Light RPG out there) that will once again redefine CRPG and raises the bar for the genre.
The series started with Arena, originally a gladiatorial action game in which a team of warriors from the various parts of Tamriel Empire fight in arena, dungeon and wilderness against other teams to become the ultimate champions of the Tamriel Empire. Then they started to add lores, story and quests, then instead became a full-fledged CRPG played similar to the classic CRPG like Ultima and Might and Magic series. Only Arena had solo 1st person real-time combat (inspired by Ultima Underworld), which at the time thought impossible by other CRPG developers who dared not venture outside team-based, turn-based combat. As the final product came out, only the title, original poster and box art for the game package remained intact from the original inception. The idea made a nice fun arena sidequest in Oblivion. Arena was a surprise hit in 1994.
Then armed with Bethesda's first proprietary engine XnGine, Daggerfall came out in 1996 jam-packed with size, ambition, features and ideas that could not be fully realized at the time due to the limited technology and weight of the insurmountable amount of bugs. It was a tremendous undertaking, noble failure and still a hit. (So buggy, dubbed as 'Buggerfall'. Anyone old enough to remember the patch you had to pick up at CompUSA?)
When classic CRPG developers like Origin (Ultima), SirTech (Wizardry) and New World Computing (Might and Magic) all ceased to exist around the turn of the century not being able to cope with the rapidly changing industry, Bethesda was also struggling with 'Battlespire' and 'Redguard', dress-rehearsals for then upcoming Morrowind that nearly sank the company. The company moved on to the next TES shortly after reinvigorated from near extinction by ZeniMax, finally gaining financial muscle to stride for the big time with full creative freedom still intact, the kind of dream scenario for ambitious and talented developers all over the world who want to maintain artistic integrity, like 'id'.
Bethesda hugely scaled down the size but amplified the contents with Morrowind and it became a bona-fide CRPG hits on PC and the original X-Box in 2002 as SirTech filed for bankruptcy on the same month, signaling the end of the Classic Golden Era of CRPG. Bethesda, being the only surviving members of the bygone era, started to carry the torch from the now defunct big 3 of CRPG and have since continued the lineage of CRPG pretty much all by itself. Believe it or not, there were just as many angry Arena and Daggerfall fans complaining about Morrowind back then too in the same manner Morrowind fans complaining about Oblivion. But Morrowind is where TES finally moved out of the shadow of classics like Ultima Underworld and Might and Magic and came to its own.
Oblivion became even bigger hit than Morrowind on PC, PS3 and 360 in 2006 with much enhancements on presentation, combat and flow of gameplay without ditching any CRPG elements. Many Morrowind fans cried foul with the changes that were ironically the direct reflections of fans' suggestions about the downsides of Morrowind and Bethesda implemented them only to enrage the fans from the other side of the spectrum. But truckload of GotY awards, over 5 million copies sold and over 20000 fan-made mods later, Oblivion became a legend itself.
Every TES entry gained not only a financial success but huge critical acclaim.
After acquiring 'Fallout' property from Interplay, Bethesda successfully resuscitated the dead franchise in Fallout 3 that became Bethesda's biggest financial success yet selling over 6 million copies in 2008, and set the stage where Bethesda tried many new possibilities.
((IS SKYRIM A ROLE-PLAYING GAME?))
RPG is a video game genre that has become very hard to define due to misusage of the term and the emergence of hybrid RPG.
Video game RPG is originated from and influenced by analog D&D Pen and Paper RPG but not limited to D&D traits. In fact, both P&P RPG and Live-Action RPG purists will disregard CRPG as abomination for CRPG have to focus largely on combat and limited by the confinement of single package video game over character interaction and endless possibilities of story and quests by dungeon master. TES series definitely focus as much on meaningful character interaction, story and quests than any other CRPG.
In 1979, Richard Garriott aka Lord British made Akalabeth, a precursor to his Ultima series (1980-1999), in attempt to simulate P&P RPG as his personal hobby, and it has been considered as the first Computer RPG (CRPG) ever.
A year after the first Ultima was released in 1980, Wizardry series (1981-2001) took off. (The last of the Big 3 was Might and Magic series (1986-2002), which started as a Wizardry clone but quickly surpassed in both popularity and depths.)
Both are universally considered as the two founding fathers of CRPG that laid the cornerstones for every single video game RPG has ever been created.
Due to the limitation of technology and the heavy influence and its origin from P&P RPG, the combat was handled in turn-based mode in the early days.
In 1992, Ultima Underworld utilized first-person real-time mode using mouse and keyboard, something deemed impossible for the RPG genre at the time. Two years later, Bethesda released TES Arena using the similar first-person real-time mode. The rest is history.
As the technology improved, the genre splited into more traditional turn-based RPG and real-time RPG depending on combat mechanics. Casual-friendly Light RPG, aka console RPG and / or JRPG was born on consoles from more traditional western CRPG, aka PC RPG. Dragon Quest (1986-present) and Final Fantasy series (1987-present), two most important Light RPG series, were heavily influenced by Ultima and Wizardry series.
Diablo single-handedly spawned Action RPG genre in 1996, in which sole focus of the gameplay is combat and everything in the game exists to facilitate combat. Diablo, in turn, with the help of Ultima Online (1997), opened a new era of MMORPG.
The term 'action RPG' has long been misused to identify real-time RPG, and it has also been misused to identify action / RPG (action slash RPG), a hybrid action game with many RPG elements (primarily character stats and inventory management) like Deus Ex, Mass Effect 2 and Bioshock.
While MMORPG and hybrid RPG have been strong for the better part of the last decade, CRPG has been on a life support yet Bethesda has developed only CRPG such as Morrowind, Oblivion, Fallout 3 and also published FONV in the past 10 years and has maintained their CRPG root since 1994.
TES series have always been traditional western real-time first-person non-linear, open-ended, free-form CRPG series that are firmly rooted in Ultima and Wizardry lineage and Skyrim is no exception.
The very minimalistic black cover design of Skyrim is reminiscent of Ultima VII, and the Opening segment is somewhat reminiscent of Ultima VIII.
Recent research indicates that TES has the greatest franchise engagement over any video game including Zelda, Halo and Call of Duty series.
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