The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (PC) - Part 2

Click the highlighted text if you'd rather be reading part one.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (PC) - Part 1

Today on Super Adventures I'm finally done with that awkward 22nd letter of the alphabet, and the last 'V' game I'll be taking a quick look at this year is... Elder Scrolls: V (also known to some as Skyrim).

Released in 2011, five years after Oblivion, Skyrim is the fifth of the main Elder Scrolls series, and the first to sound like it's a James Bond movie title. This theme music on the other hand sounds more like what you get when 90 people chant their own made up lyrics to the Elder Scrolls theme introduced in Morrowind... it's basically amazing. Here have a youtube link, may it make your day just that little bit more epic.

I sank a considerable number of hours into this game a considerable number of months ago, so I'm not coming into the game blind, but I can't remember any of it in any kind of detail. As always I'll be playing it utterly unmodded, like a fool, to give you the most authentic screenshots possible. I'm not really a fan of mods to be honest, as I don't like the idea of tweaking a game to suit my tastes. For me it's a bit too much like getting out the red pen and scribbling edits over the pages of a novel I'm not liking. Once I've tasted the power of godlike power of an author I can't immerse myself in the experience in the same way.

(Click to view images in an astoundingly modern 1280x720 resolution. Actually I've just upgraded my PC at bloody last, so this time I've thrown in a few at 1920x1080 for you to enjoy. That's 125% extra pixels, free!)

Elder Scrolls Online (PC) Beta - Part 3 - Guest Post

Welcome to the final part of an epic early look at the latest Elder Scrolls game, where guest poster Jihaus reveals his experience of the game from a MMO player's point of view. I explained why we're both writing about the same game in back in part 1, and if you want to see the game from the perspective of an Elder Scrolls fan, you might want to read what I thought about it in part 2 as well.

Today we get to take a different look at the beta of the upcoming Elder Scrolls Online, because this is going to be the first Elder Scrolls game I'll have played in my life. I have a passing knowledge of the series from various friends, but otherwise the series is new to me. I have however played other MMORPGS, with World of Warcraft and Final Fantasy XIV clocking the most hours, so that's the perspective I'll be coming from.

This being an MMORPG it's a slow burn experience, so you'll be seeing a lot more time compression in this article than you're used to from SAG. Ray and I played this beta for about three days, which for an MMO is actually not far in at all.

We begin of course by logging in, which comes after the lengthy installation and setup that precedes most any MMORPG. I'm greeted by a short placeholder video that consists of text on a slideshow that tells me that my character is some poor schmoe who gets taken to an underground ritual site and carved up, and then wakes up without a soul in Oblivion, which as far as I know is hell. Then we get to see what our soulless protagonist looks like.

(Click the screenshots to view the 1024x786 resolution originals.)

Elder Scrolls Online (PC) Beta - Part 2

Congratulations, you have chosen to read part 2 of Super Adventure's epic three part Elder Scrolls Online beta event, where I take a look at the game myself. I wasted a page explaining why ESO is getting so many pages page back in part 1 and you can read an alternative view of the game from MMO fan Jihaus in part 3.

To be honest I'm kind of dreading the game. Part of it is that I'm very fond of Elder Scrolls and I don't want to play a shoddy MMO imposter dressed up in its mythology developed by a new developer who doesn't quite get the point. But also I don't much like the idea of being forced to co-ordinate with complete strangers just to make it through dungeons.

In fact the whole idea of being forced to be online for the whole game really puts me off, because I don't really want my embarrassing attempts at figuring out basic things for the first time to be on full display to crowds of people. But then I basically do that twice a week for this website so I should just get over it and play the game already. I mean it took forever to download all 30GB of it so I might as well.

(Click the images to expand them to an exotic 1265x786 resolution. Not what I set it to, but it'll do.)

Elder Scrolls Online (PC) Beta - Part 1

Today's B game is... the Elder Scrolls Online Beta! Yeah it's a stretch, but when I was offered a chance to play it I had to take it. Only a fool would let opportunity slip by just because it's alphabetically inconvenient.

I'm pretty sure that one of the M's in MMO stands for multiplayer, so I'll be joining up with a friend on this one. Not only are we going to be playing together, but we're each writing up our own opinions on it as well. He knows nothing about Elder Scrolls and I know nothing about MMOs, so between us we've got every angle covered.

So you've got two full articles here to choose from this time, from two different perspectives:

Ray Hardgrit plays the Elder Scrolls Online Beta.
I'm coming into this as basically a total MMO newbie and one of last people left on Earth who hasn't played World of Warcraft, though I'm very fond of the Elder Scrolls series. I've played all the PC and console games from Arena to Skyrim (yes even Battlespire), and I'll be comparing Elder Scrolls Online to them constantly.

Jihaus plays the Elder Scrolls Online Beta.
The guy has never touched an Elder Scrolls game and wouldn't know the difference between a Dunmer and a Dwemer, but he knows his shit when it comes to MMOs and will be able to analyse how Elder Scrolls Online measures up to the competition.

Pick the one that sounds the most interesting to you, or read them both if you feel like it. Then leave comments! Amazing, witty, inspiring comments.

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (PC)

A super-sized look at the fourth game in the main Elder Scrolls series! No mods, no graphical enhancements. Just pure, straight out of the box Oblivion.

I have played this one before, but I never did finish it. If I remember right I mostly hid out in the Arena until I ran out of enemies to fight, then got bored with it.

(Click the pics to make them big.)

The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind (PC)

In Elder Scrolls: Arena my bow broke and I was murdered by skeletons. In Daggerfall I roamed the land for days on foot, never finding out how to start the main quest. In Battlespire I got stuck in a bloody Battlespire... but this game I've played before. So hopefully I'll at least remember how to get to the plot.

And I'll be playing it 100% UNMODDED! Not even a graphics mod, this is vanilla Morrowind in its purest form. Click the pics for a super huge version. Well, 1280x960... slightly huge.

An Elder Scrolls Legend: Battlespire (MS-DOS)

Battlespire is the third of the Elder Scrolls games, but it's a side story, not part of the main series... and that's pretty much all I know about the game.

The Elder Scrolls: Daggerfall (MS-DOS)

This is the second game in the Elder Scrolls series, and it definitely has a more stylish logo than poor Elder Scrolls - Arena. Also you travel to a place called Daggerfall in it so the title has some connection to the game this time.

The game is now free and can be download from the official site. This is the version I'm going to be playing.

The Elder Scrolls: Arena (MS-DOS)

(*May not actually include an arena.)

This is the very beginning of the Elder Scrolls series, which seemed like a sensible point to start from. The game is available for free from the developer's website, and that's the version I'll be playing.