The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition Review
Skyrim
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By Leif Johnson
Updated: May 2, 2017 6:15 pm
Posted: Nov 1, 2016 10:22 pm
Rigid and coarse, Ralof’s hair looks like a piece of dust-caked banana Laffy Taffy I once found under my couch. It’s the first thing I saw in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition as we rode in the cart toward our execution, and it didn’t leave the best first impression. But soon after I’d spy rich foliage carpeting the floors of dark fir forests and light bouncing off choppy waters on Lake Ilinalta, and these sights would kindle a homesickness for this made-up world I explored for months five years ago, but the inconsistency of the graphics upgrade leaves Skyrim in a strange place. The Nordic homeland looks better here, no doubt, but never quite good enough to let it pass for a modern game, and it lacks any new content or behind-the-scenes features to make it feel fresh for a returning adventurer. Much as the prophets over at Bethesda Game Studios foretold, the Dragonborn has returned to us, but it’s certainly not the second coming. Skyrim’s Special Edition recaptures and beautifies the original game, but leaves a lot of room for an even-more-special edition down the road.
[Editor’s note: This review covers the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions. For the PC version, see our Skyrim Special Edition PC review.]
I spent the vast majority of my time with the PS4 version of Skyrim Special Edition, because who could forget how the PS3’s 2011 version suffered from muddy graphics, load times so long I could write and shoot off important emails before the next map appeared, and major frame rate issues that became worse as the size of your save increased? For any other PS3 owner who lived through that, this version is special indeed: load times while fast-traveling now breeze by in about the time it takes to recite the infamous line about taking an arrow to the knee, and for all my sourness over Ralof’s taffy hair, it’s never looked better on consoles. It’s also complete, in that it includes the substantial Dawnguard, Heathfire, and Dragonborn DLC expansions.
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The Special Edition doesn’t make sweeping character model and animation overhauls.
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I struggled with this realization at first: in my memory, it always looked much like this, with the woods around Riften alive with detailed vegetation. (I’ve also spent almost all of my roughly 400 hours with Skyrim on PC, where naturally I stuffed it with graphical enhancements.) But a side-by-side comparison with the original version quickly unmasks the considerable differences. The Special Edition doesn’t go for sweeping character model and animation overhauls like I and many other players had hoped, but it does enhance the world’s occasionally meaningful details. The star in this regard is the volumetric lighting, which managed to leave me in awe all these years later as I stalked through Falkreath forests where moonlight dropped in ghostly shafts through the trees. Then there are the new dynamic depth-of-field options, which add some subtle focus to conversations (and which the Special Edition introduces with over-the-top intensity in the opening dragon attack).
Textures are improved as well, with generally sharper detail everywhere you look.
I personally never had much of a problem with 2011 Skyrim’s grim color palette — I found it well-suited to the northern setting and story — but I can’t deny that I admire the way the improved color saturation adds a striking intensity to sunny days around Whiterun, which is further improved by greater draw distances. PC mods have allowed these kinds of things for years, of course, but the enhancements here deliver the version of Skyrim the PlayStation and Xbox always deserved. They’re certainly not significant enough to warrant a second purchase for the graphics alone, but they’re enough to elevate this into the best entry point for new console players.Loading
What’s disappointing is that Bethesda chose to use to the power of the current consoles to make Skyrim look prettier at the expense of making it run better. Special Edition maintains a fairly smooth frame rate around the 30-per-second mark with occasional dips, but never approaches the 60 frames per second you’d hope for in a remastering of a previous-generation game.
Some of the simplest improvements bring the most convenience.
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The Special Edition’s best improvements, though, deal with the little things — mitigating the myriad annoyances that sometimes made the original a chore to play. You’ll see those faster load times, for one, but there’s also a handy new quicksave. These features combine to move the story and action along at a faster pace than we saw at the beginning of the decade. Plus, you no longer have to sift through each save file to figure out which one belongs to each character, as the Special Edition takes a welcome cue from Fallout 4 and sorts them by character. Some of the simplest improvements bring the most convenience, such as the ability to auto-run across the tundra with a single tap.Loading
And yes, mods are great!
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And yes, there are mods for consoles now. And yes, mods are great! They’ve helped keep the PC version high on Steam’s most-played list for years now, whether through wacky ones that turn dragons into Randy Savage or others that cobble together entirely new areas and even new games based on Skyrim’s frame.
You can get a fair taste of that bottomless pit of content with the Xbox One version – not all of it, by any means, but a fair smattering – but the PS4 is more limited. Sony finally allowed Bethesda to implement mods after long negotiations, but only on the condition that they take up minimal space and use only in-game assets, as opposed to doing things like replacing dragons with Thomas the Tank Engine (who, sadly, is not in the default game files). The end result of all this is that, at the time of this writing, the PS4 has a mere 103 mods compared to the 254 available for the Xbox One. They’re also simpler, with some of the more exciting ones amounting to little more than streetlamps and additional signs along roads. At least some still let PS4 players partake in the grand modder’s tradition of cheating if you wish, as in the case of a ring that grants almost unlimited carrying power or a chest stuffed with all the available crafting components.
And underneath all of these improvements is a game that remains one of the finest RPGs ever made.
(Go back in time and read our review of the original version of Skyrim here.) True, Skyrim’s combat remains relatively simplistic and AI interactions are prone to unintentional comedy when NPCs end up making you listen to a cleaning lady sigh about her problems in one ear while gruff jarls shout out history-making pronouncements in the other. Some bugs remain (and likely always will) although many of them can produce bizarre and unexpected behavior that be dismissed as part of a Bethesda game’s charm. The number of bugs of the actual game-breaking variety has been much diminished from what we first saw in 2011. To this day, few other RPGs so perfectly capture the experience of trotting out to the wilderness to carve out adventures with any approach you want to take. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt may have better stories and better character models, but you’re always Geralt. In Skyrim, it’s myself I remember going into the forests and into crumbling keeps to forge my destiny.
(Now, where’s the Morrowind remaster?)
If you’ve never experienced Skyrim, the Special Edition is certainly an adventure you can’t afford to miss.
It still includes many of the original version’s bugs, ugly character models, and weak combat animations, but the memorable world benefits hugely from improved lighting and effects. There’s also some appeal here if you’ve played before and want to relive Skyrim with the current generation systems, but you’ll be best served by picking up the Xbox One version over the PS4 because of superior mod support. However, there’s no new content on the disc to entice you back if you’ve already played all the DLC, only a new coat of paint.
In This Article
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Bethesda Game Studios
Rating
ESRB: Mature
Platforms
PlayStation 5Xbox Series X|SNintendo SwitchXbox One
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition Review
great
Skyrim: Special Edition recaptures and beautifies the legendary RPG, but leaves room for an even-more-special edition.
Leif Johnson
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The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition
- Remastered art and effects, volumetric god rays, dynamic depth of field, screen-space reflections, and more
- An open-world fantasy reborn for you to explore
- Play any type of character and do anything you want.
You have the freedom of choice. - Hundreds of weapons, spells, and abilities to choose from. Play the way you like and define yourself through your actions.
- Battle ancient dragons and learn their secrets to harness their power for yourself
Winner of more than 200 Game of the Year Awards, Skyrim Special Edition brings the epic fantasy to life in stunning detail. The Special Edition includes the critically acclaimed game and add-ons with all-new features like remastered art and effects, volumetric god rays, dynamic depth of field, screen-space reflections, and more. Skyrim Special Edition also brings the power of PC mods to consoles. New quests, environments, characters, dialogue, armor, weapons and more – with Mods, the possibilities of what you can experience are nearly endless.
Skyrim Special Edition Includes:
- The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
- Dawnguard
- Hearthfire
- Dragonborn
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, the 2011 Game of the Year, is the next chapter in the highly anticipated Elder Scrolls saga.
Developed by Bethesda Game Studios, the 2011 Studio of the Year, that brought you Oblivion and Fallout 3. Skyrim reimagines and revolutionizes the open-world fantasy epic, bringing to life a complete virtual world open for you to explore any way you choose.
Dawnguard
The Vampire Lord Harkon has returned to power. By using the Elder Scrolls, he seeks to do the unthinkable — to end the sun itself. Will you join the ancient order of the Dawnguard and stop him? Or will you become a Vampire Lord? In Dawnguard, the ultimate choice will be yours.
Hearthfire
Purchase land and build your own home from the ground up — from a simple one-room cottage to a sprawling compound complete with an armory, alchemy laboratory, and more. Use all-new tools like the drafting table and carpenter’s workbench to turn stone, clay, and sawn logs into structures and furnishings. Even transform your house into a home by adopting children.
Dragonborn
Journey off the coast of Morrowind, to the vast island of Solstheim.
Traverse the ash wastes and glacial valleys of this new land as you become more powerful with shouts that bend the will of your enemies and even tame dragons. Your fate, and the fate of Solstheim, hangs in the balance as you face off against your deadliest adversary – the first Dragonborn.
| Product ID | 127314 |
|---|---|
| Brand Name | Bethesda Softworks |
| GameStop Exclusive | No |
| UPC | 093155171251 |
| Number of Players | 1 |
| Online Multiplayer | Yes |
| Genre | RPG |
| Publisher Name | Bethesda Softworks |
| Developer Name | Bethesda Softworks |
| Franchise | The Elder Scrolls |
| Product Height | 0.55 |
| Product Weight | 0.21 |
| Product Length | 6. 71 |
| Product Width | 5.37 |
General
| Brand Name | Bethesda Softworks |
|---|---|
| GameStop Exclusive | No |
| UPC | 093155171251 |
Gameplay
| Number of Players | 1 |
|---|---|
| Online Multiplayer | Yes |
| Genre | RPG |
Fandom
| Publisher Name | Bethesda Softworks |
|---|---|
| Developer Name | Bethesda Softworks |
| Franchise | The Elder Scrolls |
Dimension
| Product Height | 0.55 |
|---|---|
| Product Weight | 0.21 |
| Product Length | 6.71 |
| Product Width | 5. 37 |
Ratings & Reviews
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Top Customer Reviews
Brilliant remaster
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0 out of 5
Egghead55
4 months ago
Brilliant remaster, timeless game, bla bla bla, and will GameStop please check into that clickbait crap I’ve been running into while picking out games, I click on a game that I want to purchase, it says verify address, I verify the address, and it says currently unavailable, last time it took hours to find some good games with a splitting headache, it should show unavailable at the beginning or maybe a filter to exclude all the useless listings before clicking on it, this is getting extremely frustrating, annoying, time consuming and time wasting, tried to send feedback about it but couldn’t find it anywhere, unless I might have overlooked it, but please fix this horrendous issue.
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4 months ago
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Emason
Verified Purchaser
8 months ago
Great game after all these years! Graphics upgraded!!
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skyrim speical adtion
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rated 5.0 out of 5
brattygurl
Verified Purchaser
9 months ago
i love the game and so much u can do i can spend hours on it but i wish it came with the aniversary add on
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Skyrim is amazing!
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rated 5.0 out of 5
Bluedreamer01
Verified Purchaser
10 months ago
Skyrim draws you in. Not just the graphics but the storyline and game play. Its the perfect game if you love games that have side quests and a storyline.
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The ultimate open world freedom game.
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rated 5.0 out of 5
Verified Purchaser
11 months ago
The Elder scrolls series always delivers. Skyrim is no exception. It’s the ultimate in open world freedom. Amazing gameplay, graphics, and story. There’s a reason it’s been around for so long I’m so many platforms, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. This is a MUST PLAY for any fantasy enthusiast gamer.
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Questions & Answers
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Top Questions
Q
:
I would like to know, so we just reload our last save to stop vampire attacks?
lilace14 years ago
A
:
I normally re-load change the difficulty to the lowest setting so none of the NPC’s die and then after I get rid of them I turn it back up to my regular setting.
SupChuck2 years ago
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Q
:
If you buy a pre owned version do you still get all of the dlc?
Charles8254 years ago
A
:
I brought it brand new and the game does come with a code for a mount in Elder Scrolls online.
However, there is no code for the DLC content it self in Skyrim.
Ap00074 years ago
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Q
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Do the dlc’s come with disks?
Jason073 years ago
A
:
Yes it does.
numbbuns3 years ago
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Q
:
is this 1st and 3rd person?
squirrel371 year ago
A
:
You are able to switch between both!
GameStop GuestCare1 year ago
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Q
:
Is there any difference between the Legendary Edition on PS3 and the Special Edition on PS4 besides graphics?
KyleMM1 year ago
A
:
The special edition of this game on the PS4 comes with all the DLC!
GameStop GuestCare1 year ago
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The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim — Special Edition: Homecoming
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim «Special Edition» was released on PC, Xbox One and PS4, but is only sold on consoles.
There are several reasons for this. The first is related to the fact that Skyrim was, is and will be on computers. What to do, platform features.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim «Special Edition» is out on PC, Xbox One, and PS4, but is only sold on consoles. There are several reasons for this. The first is related to the fact that Skyrim was, is and will be on computers. What to do, platform features. There is no change of generations, there is no need to update the collection of games. Buy once and use until you get bored.
Secondly, for the PC version of the famous role-playing game, so many modifications, including graphic ones, have come out during this time that players are no longer surprised by anything, especially with such superficial changes that are observed in the Special Edition. Thirdly, the PC platform now acts as a mod donor for the console versions of the game.
Yes, mods are now available on PS4 and Xbox One.
If you have already purchased Skyrim on PC, then the «Special Edition» will automatically appear in your Steam collection. When you start the game, you will see, in principle, the same thing. The colors have become brighter, volumetric lighting has appeared, shadows have improved, the developers have reworked some locations, added details, and increased the draw distance. But if you do not compare head to head, then you are unlikely to notice the difference. The wooden animation of the characters survived, as did their angular models. The plot scenes are still annoying with a simple production. In general, the miracle did not happen. It’s the same Skyrim as five years ago, with a couple of new graphics options.
But console users have much more reason to rejoice. For starters, they finally got their hands on a PC version of Skyrim with sharp textures, high 1080p resolution and stable 30 fps. Because of this, the game on PS4 looks and feels much better than on PS3.
Another undoubted advantage is access to modifications, of which enthusiasts have already prepared hundreds. True, there are about twice as many of them on Xbox One than on PS4. Developers from Bethesda have not been able to cope with the limitations of the closed PS4 platform.
Skyrim was, and still is, one of the greatest RPGs ever made. Here, it is not the storyline that pulls forward, but random adventures, the search for new meetings, missions, dungeons, dragons. You absorb the history of the world through books and conversations with characters, through the exploration of fortresses and temples, visiting cities and towns.
Pulls forward and flexible, deep role-playing system, which opens the abyss of opportunities for self-improvement. You can easily create a master of all trades. For example, an archer-thief, a bit of a magician who is excellent with a sword. Of course, you can focus on one thing, but the game itself pushes you to explore new horizons.
Despite the fact that Skyrim was created for the last generation of consoles, it still amazes with beautiful panoramas. Snow-capped mountain peaks, dense forests, frozen tundra where giants roam. Particularly successful were the cities and ruins that hide secrets and treasures. In addition to battles, the game offers simple puzzles, the dungeons are full of traps, so be careful there!
The music is amazing, the title theme of the game is one of the most memorable and expressive.
The «Special Edition» includes all previously released add-ons for Skyrim: Dawnguard, Heathfire and Dragonborn. Whether you want to connect modifications to it or not is up to you. However, even without them, the game can captivate for hundreds of hours.
Diagnosis
The miracle did not happen, the «Special Edition» differs from the original with slightly improved graphics, and its main value is that PS4 and Xbox One users finally got access to Skyrim and hundreds of modifications, and PC users — a slightly modified version and a reason to return to their favorite game after a long break.
It is clear that people who have trampled Skyrim far and wide, deep and high, will not find anything new for themselves here. But those who missed the game at one time or did not pay enough attention to it can now discover a wonderful new world and … an abyss in it.
Pro:
- Re-release on PS4 and Xbox One of one of the best role-playing games
- Skyrim Console Finally Gets Custom Mod Support
- PC users who bought Skyrim got the «Special Edition» for free
- Slightly improved graphics
Contra:
- Simple character models, animations and staging remain unchanged
2016-11-03 21:23:00
Vitaly Kazunov
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition
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The pros and cons of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition — it’s worth coming back, but later
Very strange things are happening with the Skyrim remaster: in some moments it is clearly better than the original, in others it sags. Do I need to drop everything and start playing right now? Is it worth playing at all? To answer these questions and more, we’ve highlighted the strengths and weaknesses of Skyrim Special Edition.
The graphics are noticeably better
Bethesda ported The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim to the latest version of its proprietary Creation Engine, which runs Fallout 4.
DirectX 11 support, new weather effects, background blurring in dialogs — all these are trifles, the main thing — redesigned lighting. It immediately catches the eye and looks cool. Of course, it is possible to achieve a similar result with mods, but the picture will still not look as harmonious.
Some familiar places on the map of the Nordic province began to look completely different — for example, sunsets in the central part of Skyrim fill the entire screen with crimson, before there was no such beauty.
The sound is much worse
It’s very strange, but the sound effects in the remaster suffered due to too much compression. This happened while converting files from the original game to the new compact format. To notice the difference, you do not need to have an expensive speaker system and hearing, like Mozart — the quality is really very poor. How did Bethesda let this happen? Thank you for not even converting Jeremy Soule’s music.
The first sample is from the original game, the second is from the remaster.
The Soundcloud website where the comparison is uploaded also slightly degraded the quality of the original sounds, but even so the difference is clearly noticeable.
You can transfer old saves
After the announcement of the remaster, it became known that old saves will not work in Skyrim Special Edition, but this is not true — they work. Saves are generally transferred without any problems. The only condition is that you need to “clear” the old save from mods, if any. That is, disable all third-party files, go into the game, save again and only then transfer the save. Of course, this only applies to PC players — on consoles, you will have to start a new game.
Very few mods and not all of them will appear on consoles
And this is probably the main drawback of the Special Edition at the moment. Mods for The Elder Scrolls series are something native and very necessary (especially if several years have passed since the release of the game).
The modding community is already fully porting their work to the new version of the engine, but it will be some time before we can make a selection of the most necessary and interesting modifications.
Some mods will never appear on consoles because they use additional programs that extend the capabilities of the Creation Engine, and such software can only be run on a PC. Moreover, there will be even fewer works on the PlayStation 4 due to restrictions imposed by Sony.
Complete Edition with all DLCs
Skyrim is already a big game, and with the three expansions that come with the Special Edition, it has so much content that you can drop out of life for a couple of months. This is convenient for new players who for some reason missed Skyrim, and the owners of the original game with all the add-ons received a remaster for free. True, the last point again applies only to PC players — on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, in any case, you will have to buy the game for the full price.
