Chapter 795 - 795: Rich Content

Of course, Ben didn't feel too strongly about the fact that the game's main character was essentially a fetch errand runner.

After all, in most RPGs, the protagonist is pretty much the same.

Whether it's The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Red Dead Redemption, or titles from other game developers,

Running errands is completely commonplace.

Especially in some formulaic, cookie-cutter open worlds, where you'll be sent on errands to the ends of the earth, just to make sure you know how big and open their game map is. They'll have an old lady in the next village ask you to deliver a letter to Old Man Li, sending you from the east side of the map to the west.

And in The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim, even though Ben complained a bit about the fetch quests, his actual gameplay experience wasn't bad at all.

After learning about the Greybeards and High Hrothgar in Whiterun, he began the main story quest.

It was from this point on that Ben truly felt the rich content of The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim.

After a long journey to the foot of the mountain and the town of Iverstead, Ben then saw the mountain path with the 7,000 steps that the Jarl had mentioned.

Whether there really were 7,000 steps, Ben didn't know, but the only thing he knew was that this mountain was far bigger than any he had seen before.

The mountainside was still lush and green, but as he climbed the steps, the mountain path was quickly covered in snow and ice. There were even countless snow trolls living there, and it took Ben a lot of effort to kill them.

When he finally reached High Hrothgar to meet the Greybeards, Ben learned about the deeper aspects of Dragon Shouts.

All Dragon Shouts are made up of three words of power, and the more you master each rune, the stronger the Shout becomes.

Then, under the guidance of the Greybeard masters, Ben learned the second rune of the Unrelenting Force Shout: "Roh."

And a new Shout: Whirlwind Sprint.

"This is perfect for traveling!"

Watching his in-game character shoot forward like he had a rocket launcher strapped to his backside after using the Shout made Ben's eyes light up.

After learning this new Shout, the Greybeards gave the Dragonborn a new trial: to go to Labyrinthian and retrieve a horn.

This dungeon was located in the northwest of Skyrim, and it was a long journey.

Players could take a carriage from the Whiterun stables to Markarth, and then travel there on foot.

This was also the second city players would visit through the main questline.

The quests in The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim are different from those in Red Dead Redemption.

Players are not forced to complete only the quest objectives during a mission.

Instead, like in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, you can wander around anywhere.

This design choice effectively softens the sense of urgency in the game's story.

The biggest advantage of this is that it allows players to better explore the game world.

It's important to remember that The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim is a game that emphasizes background and lore, not a game that emphasizes its story.

The main quest is just one part of the entire game.

This is another feature that sets it apart from Red Dead Redemption.

Because in the latter, the world is built around the game's story.

And The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim, like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild,

The world came first, and then the story.

This also dictates the overall tone: the story is just one part of the game.

Exploring Skyrim, exploring this world, is the core of the game.

So, when countless players started their free exploration, they felt like they were back to playing The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and the Dark Souls series,

Exploring a completely unfamiliar world step by step, learning about the customs and traditions of this world.

The only difference is that in The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim, you don't have to explore nervously like in the Souls series, worrying that a slight mistake will lead to your death by Boss Lucas's machinations.

In The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim, if you're not looking for a challenge,

If you set the game difficulty to the lowest, you can freely explore the countless rich content of Skyrim at your leisure.

There's even an official cheat tool: the console.

And beyond the rich exploration, in terms of gameplay, The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim can't offer as many quirky playstyles as The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

But it does have a world-building and plot as vast as Red Dead Redemption and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.

Richness, that's what all players recognize The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim for.

There are countless quests in The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim.

Just like Ben now, he's just walking around wanting to see the customs of Skyrim, but before he knows it, he's picked up a few quests.

As for freedom, The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim's gameplay is actually not that free.

If you kill a chicken at the start, you'll be beaten half to death by the angry villagers.

Later, after killing a dragon and earning the title of Companion, if you steal something in the street, you'll still be caught by the guards and severely reprimanded.

The first time they might let it slide, seeing your Companion status, but the second time, it's either pay up or go to jail, they won't be lenient again.

It can't be as unrestrained as Red Dead Redemption, where you can be a rampant outlaw, nor can it have the varied and imaginative gameplay of Breath of the Wild.

But it does give players a sense of a realistic world, making them feel like every NPC is incredibly alive.

Occasionally, you'll find a regular NPC who died at the hands of beasts or bandits, and from them, you'll uncover a unique story.

When you carelessly kill an ordinary civilian NPC, get thrown in jail, and then released, you'll find their grave and their grieving family.

It's not like those formulaic open worlds that litter the map with countless question marks.

But as long as players want to explore and talk to other NPCs, they'll unknowingly trigger all sorts of quests.

If in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, players forget about Princess Zelda waiting to be rescued in the castle because there are too many fun things like Shrines, Korok Seeds, and messing with monsters,

Then in The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim, it's because the world is so rich, with countless places waiting to be explored.

You've participated in the civil war between the Empire and the Stormcloaks, learned about the honor of the Companions, focused on spellcasting at the College of Winterhold, and then, as an elderly Dragonborn, you return to Whiterun, and only when you hear the guard at the gate complaining about taking an arrow to the knee do you remember that there are still a few old men waiting for you at High Hrothgar!

(End of Chapter)