Seb’s Skyrim Journal, Part 1 – The time of the Orc has come

FINALLY played Skyrim yesterday evening (after the “necessary” family time). And boy oh boy has it gotten off to a good start! Anyway, we ARE going to get a review up for Skyrim at some point but I have decided that I am going to regale you with some of the more interesting stories of my adventures through the wonderful world of Skyrim! And this is the first part of my story…

A couple of technical things first… I wanted to say that never before has the X-Box 360 showed it’s age quite so much as it does with Skyrim. Compared to the graphics on the computer versions it’s obvious that they’ve had to downgrade it to be playable on the console. A couple of people actually were slightly pixelated. It’s nothing that will put me off, and the graphics are still gorgeous… But if there has ever been proof that we need new consoles, there it is!

The other thing I wanted to say was that I noticed pretty quickly that there is NO morality system in Skyrim. No “Paragon” or “Renegade”. No “Fame” or “Infamy”. No “Good” or “Bad” Karma. No Good or Evil. And this disappoints me… Obviously in real life nothing is as black and white as that… But I always thought it was good in a game for there to usually be a fairly obvious good and evil side…

In Skyrim you choose between the Stormcloaks and the Empire. Both of which you could join and then defend (quite rightly) as being the “correct side”. The only reason that it’s generally taken that the Stormcloaks are better is that the Empire is going to execute you at the start… Perhaps this is a convincing argument for fighting the Empire, but remember in Oblivion you are going to be left in an Imperial Cell to die and then you go and save the Empire. And I suppose it makes the game more “grown-up” and “realistic” that it’s not so black and white… But I kind of wish there was a clear line of morality…

Anyway! Let’s have a story!

So I’m played through the tutorial as everyone does and my character came into being. I knew what I was going to play from the moment of announcement. I am SABOR! A powerful Orc Battlemage. Striding through foes swinging an axe as big as I can find and shooting fire if you look at me wrong. However I am also a true and noble being. Honour suffuses my being. I would never harm an innocent and I would protect those in need. I’d even laugh if someone made an “arrow to the knee” joke.

I go through the tutorial enjoying myself and marvelling at how awesome Skyrim is and how amazing The Elder Scrolls is and how I want to have Bethesda’s children. And then you are told to follow either Ralof or Hadvar into the keep. I looked around in a little confusion as I could only see one door with the Imperial Legionnaire Hadvar in front of it. So my brain says “Oh… the game must have glitched… I’ll have to go inside this door and then choose to either follow the Stormcloaks or the Empire.” So I follow Hadvar into the keep.

And then we meet some Stormcloaks. And I’m forced to kill them. And I think to myself “Well… that’s annoying… But I bet I can still change sides…”. Long story short, I go through the entire tutorial and get to Riverwood. There I am told by Hadvar that I should go and join the Imperial Legoin.

FUCK… I chose the wrong side…

So then I go through the tutorial… AGAIN… I make sure to follow to follow Ralof this time because in my mind the Stormcloaks have the slightly higher moral ground…

Then I manage to get out into the world of Skyrim ready to explore and do quests! I decide to ignore the main quest and even ignore the Stormcloaks and I am now wandering up towards a place called Bleak Falls Barrow in search of a Golden Dragon Claw!

 

What will happen to our intrepid and slightly hopeless adventurer? Find out next time in Seb’s Skyrim Journals!