It’s been six year since The Elder Scrolls V Skyrim originally hit store shelves and
though I’ve tried multiple times to love it there was some kind of barrier holding
me back.
Turns out it was the TV.
Taking the freeing world of Skyrim outside of the shackles of its restrictive setup was
the best thing that ever happened to it and enjoying this adventure on the tiny Switch
makes it feel like it’s brand new again.
We’ve come a long way from The Elder Scrolls Travels: Shadowkey on the Nokia Ngage.
So what version of Skyrim is this exactly?
Well we put together a comparison video and the results seem to suggest it’s somewhere
in the middle of 2011’s vanilla version and last year’s special edition.
You have the new water shaders, lighting, faster loading and new assets of the Special
Edition
But that lighting is still paired back considerably at specific times of day and the draw distance
can feel more in line with Xbox 360.
Last year’s Special Edition wasn’t exactly rolling in new features but quick saving has
made its way over to the Switch and I couldn’t be more thankful.
Skyrim doesn’t autosave all that often and losing precious moments of open world exploration
can really sting.
Of course the big selling point of special edition was mods and sadly they’re nowhere
to be found on Switch.
You’ll have to ask yourself if portability is more important to you when choosing between
both versions.
So there are some compromises but the end result is a well-made version of Skyrim that
rarely ever seems to slowdown both Docked and Undocked.
In fact it may even run better than its PS4 counterpart.
This is an outstanding port and even with it being a six year old game this is one of
the titles I would show people when asking what the Switch is all about.
It’s a massive high quality AAA game in the palm of your hands and it’s never felt
so good.
The Elder Scrolls it the closest video games have come to creating a living breathing game
of dungeons and dragons.
For instance if you enhance your character’s speech skills you’ll sometimes be able to
avoid combat all together or you can focus on being a dark mage who crumbles the world
with their powerful magic.
Everyone starts off as a blank slate and it’s up to you to decide how your character grows
and who they are as a person.
That alone makes every playthrough unique but the real draw of Skyrim is that it never
really ends.
I mean there is a main questline which finishes in a rather anticlimactic fashion but it’s
not about beating Skyrim.
Skyrim is an escape.
You can be commuting back from a hard day of work, slide out your Switch and all of
a sudden be wisped away to a second life.
With the included expansions of Dragonborn, Hearthfire and Dawnguard it’s easy to see
how people can spend a thousand hours with this game.
That’s not to say it’s perfect though.
Skyrim is jack of all trades but master of none.
The first person melee combat feels pretty weak with its floaty flails, you’ll run
into small slopes that are just a tad too high to run up, you’ll get physically stuck
when trying to climb up mountains and while the world and its character are engrossing
things can at times feel robotic with stiff animations and your run of the mill Skyrim
glitches.
Picking apart specific parts of Skyrim highlights tons of areas for improvement but miraculously
few of them really matter in the grand picture.
When I reflect on my time with Skyrim I think of battling sprawling dragons and convincing
guards that I didn’t steal a coin purse even though they looked me in the eye and
saw me steal that coin purse.
It’s janky, yes, but the world building is unparalleled.
You can even make significant political impacts along the story that really change the social
dynamics of towns.
You feel important as a character in Skyrim regardless if you’re following the main
quest line or just existing in this vast open world.
And for Nintendo fans not only does Mr Mario himself, Charles Martinet voice a dragon but
you can also wield the Master Sword, Champions Tunic and Hylian Shield with and without amiibo.
If you wanted you could name your character Link and use nothing but the Zelda gear and
a bow.
May as well call it The Elder Scrolls V: Breath of the Wild.
Speaking of bows, Skyrim on Switch now has optional motion controls and while waggling
to swing your sword is something you’ll probably only does once, aiming with gyro
controls is here to stay.
It’s so much easier to line up quick precise shots and it’s really going to benefit those
who build their archery skill tree.
I’m thankful that the Switch version of Skyrim has finally allowed me to appreciate
this game for everything it does well and for those in the same situation as me I think
it could very well do it for you too.
That being said if you’ve already put hundreds of hours into other versions should you still
pick it up on Switch?
Well I think playing it in handheld mode is a real game changer and is something both
fans and newcomers will appreciate but keep in mind that it’s pretty much the exact
same game just with minor tweaks here and there.
Though I had some issues with Skyrim in general I liked it a lot.
The Switch port is near masterful and there are few games that bring so many different
mechanics together in harmony like Skyrim.
Sure it’s not all perfect but whether you’re trudging through the snowy mountains or riding
horseback across a vast field it’s hard not to lose yourself in the vast world of
Skyrim.
Thanks for watching and be sure to subscribe to GameXplain for more on Skyrim and other
things gaming too.