There I was, killing time on social media and checking out random posts, when I noticed Captain Marvel star Brie Larson’s Instagram story. It seems that the actress is still playing Switch games, which is great, and she’s about to dive head-first into Bethesda’s Skyrim.
Honestly? Good for her. I hope Brie Larson has a great time with the open-world RPG because it never really clicked with me.
Before fans get their pitchforks and start professing their love for the Bethesda RPG, the appeal of Skyrim is easy to understand. Seeing an RPG that doesn’t hold the player’s hands and lets them do whatever they want is an admirable trait. Depending on the playstyle, players can follow the story or go on a different path and become vampires.
Yes, you can become a vampire.
click to enlargeWhile all that freedom is tempting, it’s too much for me. Being able to stock up on quests with very few time limits can be intimidating, especially since there are so many of them. Plus, there are so many things to miss out on that I’ll feel FOMO is better than other players who play this game religiously.
I know what you’re thinking: “If Skyrim’s open world is too intimidating, why don’t you just play through the main story?” Well, dear reader, I don’t enjoy the gameplay at all.
Despite players' freedom in this open-world RPG, the gameplay doesn’t hit that sweet spot for me. Combat is a chore, and killing enemies never feels satisfying. Since I’m one of those weirdos who need some form of fighting in their games (it’s a problem), it was disappointing not to enjoy stabbing dudes and beasts alike.
Unlike Cyberpunk 2077, Skyrim lets you switch between a first and third-person camera, which is appreciated. Sadly, changing perspective doesn’t improve things, as combat remains dull. Brie Larson better be playing this for the adventure because fighting just isn’t fun in this game.
Exploring would also be better if this Bethesda game wasn’t so ugly. That is a pretty harsh thing to say about a game that came out in 2011, but I can’t help it. Character models are dated, and many environments are dark or filled with brown colors, which was the style at the time. Recent re-releases have made this game a bit more colorful, and mods should help with that, but this just isn’t appealing to me.
I respect Skyrim and Bethesda’s methods of making games. Their lack of polish can be troublesome, but the fact that they risk bugs to give players freedom is a good thing. Sometimes, we just want to get lost in a big fantasy world, even if the combat stinks.
Hope you have a good time, Brie Larson! More than me, anyway.