Skyrim: Game of Every Year-- Since 1911

Not my character, but a pretty cool one, its his.

You thought I was done, didn't you? WRONG! I'm here to continue on about my impressions about the greatest game of all time, beating up Arkham City pretty hard by so far winning both the Inside Gaming GOTY award and now Spike TV's GOTY award.

Seems like my brother's prediction's may be a bit off, eh?

In any case, I want to continue on talking about some of the features in Skyrim that just makes it well, better. Its taken huge strides since Oblivion, and feels like a completely new game. 

But is this necescarily a good thing?

So, on my main account I've logged around 63 hours. I have 19/20 shouts (and 47 out of 60 words), I've destroyed Alduin, stopped a civil war, killed an emporer, become the archmage, and become a werewolf. 

Not to mention the 37 or so dragon's I've vanquished, or the 17 poor defenseless bunnies I've slaughtered, or the 76 nirnroots I've mindlessly plucked from the ground. I've spent a miniscule amount of time in Skyrim compared to Oblivion, but here I am, done with 3 major quest-lines, and close to done with 5. The game moves fast, which is something I like, but I still find it irking that I have only so little time put into it and I've accomplished so much. I'm only level 36, what will I be doing at 47?

Now, it is true that I have been really only focusing on doing questlines, I will admit, I finished the Alduin quest in 4 days because I rushed it. But, that doesn't mean that it couldn't be longer. I have ten and a half million misclaneous quests, but the main dragon story is only 10 hours long? Seems a little obtuse. When am I ever going to actually remember to bring that mammoth tusk to that one guy? Or find gold ore? It just builds. I'll get to them when I have absolutlely NOTHING left to do. I'll probably have all of the crimson nirnroots by then, god forbid. 

The other problem (which is true with every game put out by Bethesda) is bugs. I've been stuck on one part of the Thieves Guild quest for so long that I just gave up and made a new character. It just wasn't worth it. There are other points where I cry with laughter, like using revive on a dragon's skeleton. IT's really quite hilarious. Although these quirks are nice at times, the pro's do not outqeigh the con's.

Overall, Skyrim truly is a remarkable game, that pushes everything to preform a little bit better to keep up with the status quo. It does deserve game of the year because of its changes, but it shouldn't be hailed as perfect since it isn't, but no game ever has, or will ever be. But, until then I have Skyrim. And TF2. And League of Legends. Toontown...

Until next time,

--Santa

THE POWER WITHIN (Skyrim)

Ladies and Gentlemen, it IS time for my opinions! Get ready, you know that I've got my soapbox out.

11.11.11. Best day ever

So, I was waiting in live with these two bros when I got my game. At midnight. 21 days ago. I got the Xbox version, and begged my friend for his statue. My statue of Noble Team is getting lonely, and I forgot to get the special addition of Arkham City. I even offered him 60 bucks, but no, he claimed that he wanted does. What does he think I'm made of, deer? I'M NOT.

So, I get home at 2 am, and install the game onto my Hardrive and wait. 10 seconds later, I launch. By this time I'm already falling asleep, and turn up the volume of the opening cut scene. So, I get to the point of character building, and my life purpose becomes clear.

So of course one of my favorite things about Oblivion was making people horrendously ugly. It wasn't quite as easy to do this in Skyrim.So, there I was. Sitting at ease in m La-Z-Boy, just about ready to fall asleep when  I pushed myself together! Who was I to sleep when there was Skyrim to play? I MUST PUSH ON! 

And so I did. As I looked onto my options, I decided that I was going to do an Imperial. I'm not quite sure why, but I did. Don't judge me. I then decided to make a chick, something that I somewhat regret. But, there I was, sitting with my Female Imperial, and all I needed was a name. A name stupid enough to roll together the Imperial-Female combo. And so, Virginia was born.

Going through the main tutorial, almost being executed and dodging fire blasts from that horrible monster Alduin, Virgina got to the point where she could choose her own destiny. Well, I chose it for her, she wasn't the brightest bulb on the Hanukkah Tree. But, I went to bed. It was 3 am, and I was horribly tired.

I woke up the next day with a horrendous disease, and found myself unable to attend school. To regain my strength, I had to keep playing Skyrim, I knew it was the only cure. I found this world: wide open with many possibilities, and all in 1080p. I found myself cured in no time. 

So, some big changes from Oblivion to Skyrim is the lack of a class system-- everything is equal. Every level goes toward your next actual level up. Leveling up now occurs up to 50 times, and comes with a cute little. you also get a health point, mana, or stamina boost, and stamina will also boost your carrying capacity.  All of this together makes leveling up easier, and more enjoyable. It also makes minor skills less. Finally, I can level up just by making 27,083 Iron daggers! My dream come true! However, I don't like the new pickpocketing skill. Talk about a waste of time and effort. It'll take me years to train. That level 50 achievement is a doozy.

the new combat system is a dual wielder's dream. Taking a cue from Bioshock 2 they've made it so your spells can be continuous, or you can place traps. You can still use giant balls of death if you so choose. There are two handed weapons, swords, shields (which you can now bash with) and staffs. Don't even get me started with the wonders of Wabbajack, it'd take me hours. They have also added shouts. Like fire breath. Frost breath. Force breath. Get the point? You use your voice to kill people. It's like when someone has a knife up their sleeve when you're playing poker and they draw it on you.. Except you have a flamethrower in your mouth! Yeah, nice job, Mr. Knife. Ha!

A lot of nice little small changes have happened too. Like voice acting. The guards share like 3 voices, but its better than what they used to do. Normal NPC's are very different, and you find that it gives the game a lot more range. There are a lot more easy-ish side quests. Your favorite guilds are back, and Shadowmere is one bad-ass horse. Yeah, there are dragons, too.

The two main quests revolve around the Civil war in Skyrim, and stopping the evil dragon Alduin. Alduin is the guy who just hates everything, but ironically saves you from being executed for whatever reason. He probably wouldn't save you again, seeing to the fact that its your job to literally eat his soul, but I won't give away too much for those of you who are slow at quests. The other revolves around the Imperial Legion and the Stormcloaks, who I have dubbed the "Shitcloaks." You can guess who I've sided with.

So when playing Skyrim I only have one problem with it: its addicting. Seriously, it was bad timing for it to come out right before finals, I had to really fight myself to study. But, finals are over, and I have another term to completely screw up! So, until then, I'll keep up on Virginia, for all of you out there playing along side me, power to you. Keep slaying dragons. I have more souls than I can keep up with finding words, but I'll get there.

--Santa

PS- FUS RO DAAAH

Updates- The Thanksgiving That Santa Forgot

Okay, so maybe I basically forgot about blogging over Thanksgiving. I'm human, I forgot. Okay, I lied again. I totally knew about doing blog posts, I just didn't WANT to do them. I was playing Skyrim. And League of Legends. Arkham City.
And Toontown.
But that's besides the point. The point was video games. And I played them. A lot. But, I have a few announcements!
Guess who bought Graves on LoL and hit level 30? This guy. Now I spend all of my time banning trolls on the Tribunal. I'm just that great.
I finished the Dragon quest on Skyrim. And the Civil war quest for the Empire, and then I killed the Emporer. I can now safely say that I can review this game.
It's pretty much the best game ever.
Yeah, I'm saying it, I'm dethroning TF2. I didn't think it was possible, I mean really, there are hats in TF2. BUT THERE ARE HATS IN SKYRIM TOO. Thats why! Skyrim has everything I've ever wanted.
Hats.
Swords.
Fireballs.
Dragons.
Killing.
And wood cutting!
That's right, kiddos, you can do ANYTHING you want. Well, except fly. Okay thats not true, YOU can't fly, but DRAGONS can. And that's everything I've ever asked for.
Dynamic questlines, good voice acting, the retun of Sheogorath, not to mention improved Wabbajack. Oh yes, Wabbajack. From turning people into chickens, to making them explode, I have found the reason I like Skyrim so much. Randomness.
And now, I can only imagine putting Wabbajack on different items.
Thanks for sitting next to me, kid.
Well, until next time kids, remember to eat your vegetables. I know I enjoy my pizza too.
--Santa

Blargument: The rise of New Ideas, and Games

All right, ladies and gentlemen! I have a new idea, and it’s so stupid, it may actually work. My brother and I play a lot of videogames. But, we do not always agree. So, with a name given to me by a good friend, I will start a new series, occurring every now and then, simple called Blarguments. Inside of these simple little ideas, he and I will duke out ideas, and decide who is most right. Winner gets the satisfaction of knowing he won. I will be marked by Santa: and he will be by R.

Question: What will be the game of the year, 2011?

R: I think it will be Arkham City, and you’re lucky I think that too, otherwise your plan wouldn’t work out quite well.

Santa:  Well, I sure am glad that you think so, but it will be Skyrim.

R: It’s not going to be Skyrim, I can guarantee you. Anything that Skyrim will offer, AC will offer as well.

 Santa: What about the uber character customization?

R:  While it is true that AC will not have customization, you do have Batman and Catwoman who are very diverse characters. You will be able to speak in AC, and will be able to have big, glorious cutscenes which are impossible in Skyrim.

Santa: I was more referring to the ability to completely BUILD everything! You build their face, make their class, and build their skills; you don’t get better than that.

R:  While it is true that you can build a huge relationship with your own self-made character, Batman is special too. He is so strongly against killing, that he is completely different. You just can’t re-create a Batman. Catwoman is special too. I can’t wait to see the difference between them, and the new representations of weapons.  Batman will go anywhere, breaks laws, and private property but he won’t break his one rule, probably not even in self defense! He’s just that cool of a guy. He’s a dark vigilante who isn’t afraid of anything.  Not even one of my favorite characters, L, is willing to kill to use it to his advantages. Batman is truly uncorruptable.

Santa: You’re more referring to the building of the lore of Batman. But I find this a bit odd. You do have to realize that your guy just doesn’t get the chance in Skyrim, and to refer to Oblivion, will only get a slight back story. But, in return, you make your own. You decide. You are the judge, jury, and prosecution, similar to Bioshock or Fallout: New Vegas, but with more control. Yeah, you got interesting points in AC, but you can’t beat the wide aspects of freedom in Skyrim, you will have to end up doing the story in AC, there are millions of other adventures in Skyrim.

R: Not at all! It’s broken its shackles of Arkham Asylum. It’s a CITY! Think of the Riddler challenges. Took me hours, and I did it legitimately, even after being quite tempted by the internet.

Santa: There will be only one ending to AC; you will get multiple choices in Skyrim. Oh, by the way, how many hours did you put into Oblivion?

R:  With my one true character, which I did do everything on. I spent around 300 hours. But to be fair I spent over 500 hours in the original Bioshock. I’ll do the same with AC, bumping up the difficulty.

Santa: Do you really think you can beat out Skyrim for gameplay hours? If it’s anything like Oblivion, I will be spending around 1000 hours in the game.  I spent a huge amount of time in Oblivion, and while you will have your bigger world in AC, you’re missing the point that there are factions, guilds, dungeons, the main quest line, and, oh yeah, DRAGONS in Skyrim. Dragons man. How can you say no to Dragons? Imagine flying on one!

R: I am not saying no to dragons! But, Batman can fly! Gliding around the city, you’ll be like a dragon. Batman’s superpower, as we all know, is money. And with that, he will of course have to get out all of his millions of gadgets. You have new villains to get! Riddler challenges to do! We have two worthy games that deserve this GOTY award. You got big bad bosses in AC. The Joker. Mr. Freeze. The Penguin. Who do you have?

Santa: Dragons.

R:  Dragons are big-winged creatures that fly around and go pew-pew with fire breath. Oh no! They’re nothing compared to the villains of AC. They’re more classy, and dangerous.

Santa:  I disagree; some dragons will be able to shoot lighting and ice, too. And they will land and scratch you. They can also eat you, if they so desire too. But, the point is me trying to convince you that Skyrim will win over the AC is like telling a Mormon that you don’t want to hear the good news. Can we at least agree that it won’t be BF3 or MW3?

R: Without a doubt. This will be a battle to the death. I love both Rocksteady and Bethesda to death, and I guess only time will tell.

Santa: Thanks for talking to me today, let’s go eat some Enchiladas.

A special thanks to my brother for putting up with my slow typing.  More debates are to come, and there are games to be played, until next time.