A friendly WRPG
This seems to be the game that everyone was talking about last December. Skyrim, the new entry on the Elder Scrolls franchise. This game seems to have quite a big cult following, with fans defending it to the death and a pretty good RPG for people who are new to the genre.
The combat is fluid, much better than Oblivion's and Morrowind's, the scenery is well-designed, but far from perfect, there were much better aesthetically pleasing games in 2011 (Alice: Madness Returns) although granted, given the size of Skyrim's world, it's understandable, but it's still something they could have improved over. The music is... okay, although this is more opinion based than anything. Personally I think Jeremy Soule is a very talented composer, but I'm sick and tired of classical music in videogames, specially western RPGs. This is something that JRPGs usually do better (Persona 3 is an RPG with an HIPHOP soundtrack).
The writing is awful. Everyone in this game seems to have the same, bland personality, apart from some exceptions. It's just a top notch better than Oblivion's writing. Writing is more important in an RPG than most things, Skyrim however doesn't shine in that part. It shines on it's exploration and... well, I don't see anything else. There's also a shortage of quests in this game. Specially in the guilds. It's a short game, unless you like to complete everything. Personally, I couldn't find the motivation, the rewards are not that great, and the dungeons are lacking in intuitive innovation, it's all about going forward.
Skyrim is a game that shines on it's exploration and it's rich world. It's a great world in which the communities that live on it are interesting, but the individuals themselves are not. It has a lot of problems and there´s a big lack of features that weren't implemented in the game for various reasons (see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9e5D2EAGCZM&t=1m20s) that could have made it much better. Most people use mods as an excuse, but it's only an excuse, nothing more. All in all, Skyrim is above average. If you look past it's flaws it can last you for months, if not, you'll have two weeks of fun, like me. If you haven't played a WRPG before or if you're new to the Elder Scrolls, definately start with this one.
