My first eight-hundred hours in the world of Skyrim were spent on a cheap HP laptop without a mouse. Using the trackpad to explore this humongous landscape wasn’t something I’d recommend, but it was better than nothing–my first foray into the Elder Scrolls franchise was something wrought with a rare excitement that kept me from attending important college courses and had me up for multiple sleepless nights.
The game was instantly applauded for the sheer amount of ridiculous things you can do–I can specifically remember an article written entirely about the ability to put a bucket on your companion’s head. For all the ‘arrow to the knee’ memes and countless YouTube poop to follow Skyrim‘s initial release ten years ago, I think it’s vital to remember those early days spent in the wintery landscapes. They were special, and though Todd Howard is intent on releasing the title for every electronic device under the sun, it’s those early days that can never be replicated.
Hindsight is 20/20, and it’s easy to complain about specific aspects of Skyrim in 2021. The NPCs didn’t offer a ton of variety, the Dragonborn wore too many hats, the vanilla graphics are now dated. For those who keep those early days close to their hearts, however, these things are visible through a different lense: those NPCs were so plentiful and offered so much lore, the Dragonborn was capable of anything and everything because the world was so open and free, and those graphics seemed too good to be true in 2011. Jeremy Soule’s soundtrack still provides the perfect background music for the daily grind, and those tracks still make these now too-familiar locales seem mysterious and hidden.
Skyrim, despite turning ten today, still has magic hidden within it–but to discover it, a person needs to shed their jaded outlook and go back to those early days. Remember how it felt to wake up in the Dark Brotherhood’s clutches, or how your heart pounded beneath Riften seeking out the Thieves Guild. Maybe we can’t go back in the same way because we’ve already explored Skyrim top to bottom. But is that so bad? All it means is that Skyrim is home now. And with the Elder Scrolls 6 years away, we better settle in for a few more years in the snowy tundra. I don’t think that’s such a bad place to be.
