Love/hate #22 - The Elder Scrolls V Skyrim Special Edition unfinished? Spoilers

Hoo boy. I first played this on the Xbox 360 maybe at Christmas 2012 or 2013 and it was fine. I tried to play as a sneaky character but I just couldn't hack the game. My daggers were terribly useless, my bow was disappointing, my sneak attacks were not to be relied on. Every enemy would kick my ass sooner or later. I'd go a little too long without saving and then get killed. I just couldn't get into the plot or quests at all. I forgot about Skyrim.

I returned to it a year or three later and tried to just plow through the plot. I got reasonably far, maybe halfway or more but just got fed up with it again.

Skip forward to late 2018 I just said fudge it and booted up the Special Edition on my PC and aimed to go all the way through.

This game is really pretty.

Ellyn succeeded Caflena Bloodtear, my Drow on the 360. Ellyn is a Breton, for that sweet magic resistance.

I made sure to get Lydia as I always do. She would accompany me for much of the game. Much like my Fallout 4 review, companions have really fallen in stature. From the absolute kick ass Boone's and Rex of New Vegas to glorified meatshields. It did help lower the difficulty a bit.

Trolled.

This poor bastard.

Many dragon souls were devoured.

I love the Khajiit never played one.

I loved dual wielding axes.

I only cast restoration magic.

Heavy Armour was my jam for the most part.

I always hated the Aldmeri Dominion. But I like the idea of it.

Horse #1. Stolen from a military camp.

Nothing to see here.

I had to kill a lot of these. That and the Draugr.

I like these little death cam shots.

I like the Daedra!

I liked the Pelagis quest. One of the few.

Such pretty sights. Found Castle Volkihar long before I started the actual DLC.

More Daedra!

I did enjoy all the little upgrades to my armour.

So badass.

Of course this place has Northern Lights!

Buh oh.

This is fine.

Time to go full rogue and try the various guilds.

Le Dark Brotherhood.

It took me forever to figure out these puzzles. When I found out where to look for the solution I was amazed the denizens of Skyrim never figured it out.

Tragic Horse #2.

Shit.

HE MUST HAVE ATE TOO MUCH MAMMOTH CHEESE

Ah that's good.

So pretty. So brutal.

I got really really into Smithing. Just like Fallout 4 and the Settlements mechanic. I just had to travel to every smith, buy all their stuff and smith to my heart's content, then sell back. Repeat.

I love maps. I like the map of Skyrim. I do not like using the map feature here. It's fine, but it could have been better?

One swerve followed another. I'm glad he survived that clash.

So I finally became a werewolf.

Adventures in Dragon Plate with Dual Dragon Bone Axes.

I really liked Parthurnax. I refused to kill him initially but way way way after the main quest was over I went back and murdered him just to close out that quest. Sorry!

I love this kind of shizz. It almost saved the main story for me.

Poor guy. He was very gracious to help me get to Alduin.

Off to kill King Dragonjerk with this lot.

Ah the Falmer. The other enemy I love to hate.

As a fan of Call of Cthulhu I ADORED the aesthetic of the Solstheim DLC. Was a great change after beating the main.

There were various times I'd have to wield Pickaxes, or dual wield them.

I ditched One Handed Weapons for Two Handed late in the game - way slower and less satisfying but added a layer of challenge in a way. Dragonbone Warhammer, of course. Later a Stahlrim one for the craic.

Returning to Skyrim proper to kick ass and ride dragons

Ha. Forgot to move Ulfric after I murdered him. I sided with the Empire because at least they weren't fecking racists like the Stormcloaks.

Lydia actually died on me so I console commanded her back to life, but she was no longer my wife so she just wasn't the same person. I sacrificed her to continue this Daedra quest...

Built three houses all by myself! Forgot to furnish the insides though...

The Dark Brotherhood quest was pretty good.

Killing the Emperor twice and getting my final horse, Shadowmere, was cash.

I just had to visit this place.

The Dawnguard DLC was considerably less fun.

I kind of liked the Mages Guild quest but mainly used my sword and dagger to charge through it.

OK this was pretty cool.

My final set of armour after going back from Light to Heavy and levelling my Smithing up for the third time. Get some Trolls to beat you up to practice your skills! Every piece of the Daedric Armour plus my ring and necklace were double enchanted and refined to the max.

My final set of weapons. Right handed Dragonbone Sword, no enchantments so I could get the benefits of the godlike Shout, Elemental Air. Left hand, Dragonbone dagger with dual enchantments, Soul Trap (my fave) and Health Absorb, for the craic hey.

My final achievement: Getting to Level 78 and getting one of these Legendary Dragons to spawn randomly. I spawned a few via console commands but just couldn't find one in the wild. Finally found one and killed him in seconds. All 75 achievements in over 100 hours, been playing on and off since late 2018. I can finally move onto something else!