The Elder Scrolls 5:
Skyrim
Words I couldn't make out from images = ...
Words I am unsure of have a (?) next to them
Anything new that I added will be bold and italicized
For Bethesda Game Studios,
Skyrim is a new beginning. The
previous four numbered entries and their many expansions and
offshoots told the story of the end of
Tamriel's third era and the fall of the
Septim dynasty of emperors. For the
fifth numbered entry, Bethesda is taking
its fans two centuries in the future.
Skyrim isn't a direct sequel in the traditional
sense, but rather the next major chapter in
the prophetic Elder Scrolls, Similiarly, The
Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim gameplay takes new
chances while staying rooted in tradition. A
rugged beauty, A thrilling new combat dynamic encourages
flexibility and creative ability combination.
A rethought of user interface abandons the cumbersome
menus of yesteryear, And a new way of presenting
interactive storytelling aims to reinvent the way players
experience role-playing.
Names
To Remember
Alduin
Also called the World Eater, this
massive dragon's return was foretold
by the prophetic Elder Scrolls.
His triumph will mean Tamriel's
destruction.
Dragonborn
Called "dovahkiin in the language of
dragons, these rare individuals are true
dragon hunters. As the game begins,
your hero may be the last one left.
Esbem
One of the few surviving Blades,
Esbem is a sort of mentor to the
game's hero. He's been following the
prophecies, and knows that the world
of Tamriel is in serious trouble. He is
voiced by Max von Sydox (Minority
Report, Shutter Island).
Greybeards
These mysterious old men live atop a
high retreat called High Hrothga(?); at
the top of a mountain called the Throat
of the World. They are highly versed
in the power of dragons, and the
dragonborn hero will need to climb the
7,000 steps it takes to reach them and
be trained.
Skyrim
A rugged northern nation in the larger
continent of Tamriel. The king recently
died, setting off a potential civil war
between those who wish to secede
from the Empire, and those who want
to remain.
Weapons of Choice
The bandits close in from multiple directions, and you drop
into a combat stance. You draw a long steel blade into your
right hanad, and pull the weel worn shield from your back
only moments before the highwayman's hatchet glances off
its surface instead of your arm, you manage a deftswing taht
catches your opponent off guard, and blood blossoms across
his midsection undauned. He rears back for a powerful slam
hoping to overpower your guard, you take a moment to bash
forward with your shield, sending him staggerng. By now, his
companion is almost upon you. Abandoning your shield, you
turn towards the new opponent as a whirling current of ice
ignites within your palm. You fling the spell into your foe's path.
Bethesda is well aware that players are need for something
new out of the Elder Scrolls combat system,
Skyrim's ... approach to fighting ...
to the ... action ... of previous entries while
streamlining weapon and ... ... and deepening
the way that opponents can affect each other in battle.
The ... ... is the addition of a two hands two(?) options
approach to combat. Every weapon or spell in the game can be
equipped to either hand at any time leading to limitless combination
of attack options. Dual wield two of the same weapon, or
... ... dagger in ... hand and .... in the other. Fight defensively
with a shield on your left arm and a crackling ball of electricity
in your right. Set two completely different spells in either hand,
or put put the same spell in both hands ... you combine the spell
to extraordinary effect. The choice is yours.
If you want to change you tactics in mid-battle you can ...
that were and abilities with a touch of a button. Rather than
offer(?) you ... eight choices on the directional pad. Bethesda
implemented a ... ... menu to quick select your
favorite spells and items as its extremely easy to
swap your loadout in a single battle with only a momentary pause
in the action.
No matter your choice of gear the way you fight your opponents
shapes your character in the world. "You are what you play,"
Howard ... several times during our visit. ...
is the ... class system of earlier games(?) in its place ... an
... leveling system that rewards experience for everything
you do in the game and has safeguards in place to limit exploits
Use one-handed weapons and your skill with them will improve.
Cast ... of illusions and your abilities within that school of magic
will be amplified. "The main thing is that you don't pick ...
... are ... so you in the beginning." Howard ..., "In
Oblivion, you would just play for a while, and after a while the game
would ask you; What do you want your class to be? Which was
really a ... of ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
past that point, those are the only skills that affect your leveling.
There's no way to give you a good idea. In the final ... what's
important on a game of this scale, we've tried ... don't ...
there's a way to do it."
As any given ... in Skyrim's ..., it contributes yo your
overall level growth. The higher the skill, the more it contributes
to leveling. "Passing(?) one skill from 34 to 38 is going to level you
faster than raising one from 11 to 12," Howard says. Thus, specialization
in a few(?) ... skills is advisable, but not required. The
more skills you choose to advance, the more you delay your progression
to high levels.
Those ever-ascending levels will be highly ... . Each level
comes with an automatic boost in health, and then a choice
to further advance your health, or to improve your magicka or
stamina, the other two primary in-game resources in a ... for
Bethesda's other role-playing universe, Fallout, each level also
brings the choice of a perk, one of ... of special power ups
tied to the 18 skills. These perks may increase damage of
your dagger during stealth attacks, or allow your mace to ignore
enemy armor. Each choice further ... your ... form every
other player's choices.
Leveling is stretched across a wider field, ... more
choices for players to shape their character over time "Oblivion
and Fallout were more like leveling from one to 25. This is one
to 50," Howard shares, "But it's still a similar playtime so you
level up ... in the beginning. Part of the reason for that was
number one, it's more fun, and number two, with the way ...
... ..., there's a lot of them, and it's really the way to
define your character. It is the way to get power. So you ...
more of them early on." Even after level 50 players will be able
to continue gaining new levels, but the process will dramatically
slow. "We want to support ... . There are the combat
guys, the magic guys, the stealth guys. But most people play
some mix of that. And ... just ... to make that ..."
... ... .
2nd Page
The Feel of Combat
[Can't read block of text]
Alchmey 30
Illusion 24
Conjuration 26
Destruction 56 - The School of Destruction cover the harnessing of elemental energies. This skill makes it easier to cast spells like Firebal, Ice Spike, and Lightning Bolt.
Restoration 24
Alteration 21
Enchanting 27
Here There
Be Dragons
The dragon roars, and dives in to attack. Flame pours
from its gaping maw. It cries out a word of power in
draconic, strengthening it for the battle to come
in your search for the missing golden claw, you've
ascended to a tumbling ruin of nor buildings for a
time. The scaled mythical beast seemed to blend, statue-like
into the stone before spreading its wings and
calling out its anger. Now, you're cornered against the
wall with the dragon ready to dive bomb. You scramble
back deeper into the ruins and beyond a fallen pillar.
You spy into your best hope for escape. A tiny passage opens
into the hillside, descending into the dungeons below
even as the dragon lands and rears back to strike, you
dive for the opening and hurry into the darkness below,
outside the wyrm bellows in fury as its prey slips away.
Amidst any discussion of what sets Skyrim apart
from its predecessors, dragons are at the very
heart - as is how your character is tied to them.
Though the Elder Scrolls video game franchise
has been around since 1994, dragons have
never been a part of gameplay. That's because the fiction
has been clear on the point that dragons were banished from
the world thousands of years ago. Until now.
The Elder Scrolls have professed the return of dragons.
In fact, the signs that the dragons would be returning
were clearly laid out in the predictions(?). The shattering of
the Staff of Chaos (The Elder Scrolls: Arena), the appearance
of Numidium (Daggerfall), the volcanic Red Mountain
(Morrowind), and the opening of the Oblivion gates (Oblivion)
all heralded their arrival. The last sign is the citizens of
Skyrim turning agains each other in civil war, an even that
is unfolding as Skyrim begins. Already, lesser dragons are
flying free across the world. Eventually, the dreaded Aludin
will return - a godlike dragon destined to devour the world if
left unchecked.
Long ago, a force existed that expelled the dragons
individuals called dragonborn wield the same mighty power
as the dragons themselves. "The dragonborn can battle
the dragons on another level." Howard describes, "They're
anointed by the gods. That's why they can light the dragonfires
to become an emperor. They kind of help make the
world whole." These powerful figures were supported by the
dragonguard, also called the Blades. After the dragons'
retreat(?) the Blades eventually came to guard on ancestry of
dragonborn individuals, the Septim emperors. Unfortunately
for the world, that line of rulers has now been wiped out,
and the dragonguard has been hunted down and nearly
destroyed. No dragonborn has been seen in decades until
you arrive - a dragonborn with the potential to stand against
the tide.
"Part of the big mystery is, why are the dragons back?" H
Howard tells us. "How have they come back? How do we
stop this? And what is the player's role in that as the dragonborn?"
Dragons won't be some legendary concept
left dangling before players until the end of the game. Dragons
are real and regular threats in the game world. They fly into
battle at unexpected times. They ravage towns, they wield
awesome power. And you'll have to face them repeatedly in
single combat.
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Details:
* Third person view has been improved
* 5 massive cities, more variation in caves and underground stuff.
* There is an option for no HUD.
* On Conversations: Conversations aren't done in a zoomed in static shot anymore.Start a conversation with some and they will act like someone would in real life, looking at you occasionally and walking around a bit and also continue doing a task if they were doing one while talking.
* On Weapon smithing: Go to a forge and carve a new weapon out of red hot metal.
* Dual-wielding: you have two hands now in combat and you can wield anything to both hands. You may assign a dagger on left hand and use a mace with right hand. The choice as they say is yours.
* Duel: You may duel any NPC on the streets western style.
* Inheritance: When you kill a shopkeeper, his/her family member will inherit the shop and will be angry about you, but stil give you missions.
* Level-scaling: It is coming back
* 18 skills: supposedly even less skills to play with?
* No mysticism
* Perks: Rumored to be in Skyrim. I may have understood it wrong.
* Boosts: Pick stamina, health, magic boosts on level up.
* Enchanting: This skill makes a return.
* "Radiant storytelling" or Level Scaling 2.0: "The game eventually logs a huge storehouse of knowledge about how you've played, and subsequently tailors content to your capabilities and experiences. Entering a city, a young woman might approach you and beg you to save her daughter from kidnappers. The game will look at the nearby dungeons you've explored, automatically set the mission in a place you've never visited, and designate opponents that are appropriately matched to your strengths and weaknesses."
* Fast-Travel: As you probably expect, you can instantly travel to previous locations with a tap of the button
* Sprinting: You can now sprint about!
* Town visiting: You may do more in towns, like tailor weapons, cooking, farming or mining. Not much details about this or how detailed they are as jobs.
* Dynamic Shadows
* Improved Faces/Improved Models Example: Faces have been dramatically overhauled. Characters now exhibit more emotion show of distinctions between different races and just plain looks better.
* Radiant AI
* Updated Engine Snow falls dynamically (not as a basic texture on the ground)
* Trees and branches move independently with the wind
* Water flows
* Randomly generated quests
* Beards
* You can't run backwards as fast as you do forward.
* 10 races to choose from
* Confirmed creatures: zombies, skeletons, trolls, giants, ice wraiths, giant spiders, dragons, wolves, horses Elk, mammoth, saber-toothed cats
* Presumably open cities (as dragons can attack)
* Hud-free first-person view and improved third-person perspective
* Very unique landscapes! Also unique dungeons! In other words, lots of uniqueness!
* Character creation improved, body features customizable
* 2-handed weapons and duel wielding confirmed.
* Finishing moves, unique to each weapon and enemy you fight.
* Dialog will pop up when you approach an enemy
* Cooking/farming/mining/woodcutting/blacksmithing
* Perk picking at every level-up
* 5 Magic Schools Destruction Alteration Conjuration Restoration Illusion.
Source: Game Trailers
Edited by DarkRuler, 11 January 2011 - 01:25 PM.
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