I was a magician, tinkering with potions and enchantments. I was a warrioress, busying myself with blacksmithing, until crafting that special armor made from dragonbone. Then I was granted the sword Dawnbreaker and I wielded it against oncoming opponents. It did as its name implied, it broke dawn just as well as bone.
Fans of fantasy and world immersion, don't take a pass on this one. You may not yet know that you are tailor-made for the world of Skyrim. You may not realize what it was that you were missing from life, stories or other RPGs. Your empathic heartstrings will be tingling with joy: because this is the moment you become what you knew you were in your heart all along. It doesn't matter if you play it with or without the Add-On, the experience of being in an open world has never been closer to the dream. And when you're walking in the meadow with your light leather boots and the crickets chirp beside your feet, you will feel it, and breathe it and witness this spectacular world come alive with your own eyes.
And I mean, come on, 30 bucks for living the dream? (And another $ 7,99 if you should decide to go for the Add-On) This is a reasonably priced investment, if you ask me.
What I find fascinating about Skyrim is the nature of its second add-on, Hearthfire, where you can build a house and actually raise a family, adopt children even.
ReplyDeleteWhich is basically a form of second-level virtual cocooning. Not just sitting in your living room playing a computer game, but sitting in your Skyrim livingroom, too. Sure, you could venture out in the wilderness and slay dragons, but a lot of people obviously are content with just sitting on the porch of their seaside house watching the sun set behind the mountains. :-)
The sucess of gaming elements like this, that provide a virtual home for your character (and a lot of games do this: Mass Effect with the Normandy and its personal cabin, even GTA with its safe-houses), is an interesting glimpse into some deep rooted aspirations of gamers, I think. :-)
Hey :) With Second Life being the poster child for virtual simu (at least for a minute or so) I do understand the impulse to make the place you spend a lot of your time at your home. It might even be an interesting way to explore a side of your personality you might not be familiar with for a virtual playthrough.
ReplyDeleteI must admit I find it pretty hard to "bond" with a location like a house, unless something interesting happens there or you have to put in a good amount of hard work to get it. ME gave us lots of time and reasons to bond with the Normandy, not only the cabin but all parts of the ship for having memorable conversations and life-changing events taking place in these confined walls. I firmly believe that the reason why you're there is what makes the location precious and home-like, and what gives meaning to it.
"Home" can even be a shabby shack without a front door (like in Gothic 1), which was a huge climb-up for me after being virtually homeless for a really long time. :) So what I'm saying is that "location" can be a powerful story element in a game, and I think we will see more of this in the future. Thanks for stopping by! :)