The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - Legendary Edition

The digital card-game market is bursting at the seams, but that isn’t stopping Bethesda from diving into the mix with one of its highly recognizable IPs. Daedric nightmares, stealthy Khajiit, burly Nords and legends from across Skyrim and Daggerfall make their appearances in card form in an easy-to-learn format that will be familiar for Hearthstone veterans, but has its own mechanics and flavor to distance itself from Blizzard’s powerhouse.

Players create decks from one or two of the game’s five “attributes,” which sync up with stats from the series like strength, intelligence, and endurance. Even in the core set, you can find plenty of interesting synergies, like building around Breton ward troops that keep giving benefits when their damage shields pop or thieving Khajiit that get stronger each time they hit the opponent.

Gameplay takes place on two lanes, the standard lane and the shadow lane. The standard lane is nothing special, but creatures played in the shadow lane can’t be attacked for a turn, making it the ideal location for frail denizens with powerful abilities or creatures that benefit from directly landing blows on your opponent. You are limited to four creatures in a lane, so choosing where and when to place your units becomes a critical part of strategy.

Elder Scrolls: Legends contains a subset of cards that use something called the prophecy mechanic. These are generally slightly less powerful than cards that would cost the same resources to play, but can be played for free if they are drawn when one of your runes burst.

Each player has runes tied to their life total, and when five points of damage are dealt, a rune is triggered and the player draws a card. This means if you’re taking a lot of damage and falling behind in the life race, you’ll have more cards and potentially free cards to fire off on the board immediately, taking care of major threats or putting up defenses to weather the assault. Whether or not you want to use prophecy cards is an important element of deck-building.

A full single-player campaign that also functions as a robust tutorial, solo and multiplayer arenas, and ranked ladder seasons offer players a variety of ways to obtain cards at a reasonable pace. While cards packs are available for purchase, savvy players will have little issue creating competitive decks at no cost through daily quests, level-up rewards, and campaign freebies.

The Elder Scrolls: Legends is currently available in a “probably won’t be wiped” open beta stage, but it feels like it’s almost complete. There may be some tweaks, balancing, and other things coming before the final release, but now is a great time to jump in if the mix of a digital card game and the Elder Scrolls universe strikes your fancy.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – Legendary Edition is a massive open-world RPG created by the brilliant minds at Bethesda Studios. This all-inclusive version of Skyrim offers the lengthy original game as well as three additional expansion packs and an additional difficulty setting. Set in the cold yet fantastical region of Tamriel known as Skyrim, this sprawling role-playing game offers unprecedented levels of player freedom and progression choice. Whether you choose to forge your path as a brutal warrior or sneak in the shadows as a stealthy archer, there's no shortage of cool gear and interesting quests to seek. Whether you're a seasoned RPG fan or new to the world of The Elder Scrolls, the Legendary Edition of Skyrim is a package that offers undeniable enjoyment.

Main Game Features

• Full original base game plus all official expansions
• Hundreds of hours of RPG questing and adventure
• Dynamic leveling system

Story

The Elder Scrolls V takes place in the fantasy world of Tamriel, full of elves, dwarves, and other supernatural creatures. At the beginning of the game, you take on the role of a prisoner about to be executed alongside a notable rebel leader. Suddenly, a dragon interrupts the execution, allowing you and the rebel to escape. From there, it's your choice whether you pursue the main quest and unlock your inner powers as the Dragonborn, a hero prophesied in ancient tales, or check out the other narrative adventures that Skyrim has to offer. There are various guilds to join, each with an extensive quest-line to complete. Whether you're interested in joining the Dark Brotherhood of Assassins, the Mage's College, or the Thieve's Guild, each faction offers fun and exciting stories. The Legendary Edition of The Elder Scrolls V also contains two lengthy expansions, titled “Dawnguard” and “Dragonborn”. Both provide dozens of hours of unique quests, with new creatures to slay and zones to explore. Generally speaking, there's no shortage of fun stories to uncover.

Gameplay

Like previous games in The Elder Scrolls franchise, players are given complete customization over their hero. After choosing your desired species, you'll craft your facial and body features using a variety of sliders. As you complete quests, defeat enemies, and explore your surroundings, you'll unlock experience points to spend on unique skills. There are 18 different skill-lines, including Archery, Stealth, One-Handed Melee, Block, and more. You are free to upgrade and ignore skill-lines at will, choosing to reinforce your character in your desired way. As you find new gear and take on more intimidating creatures, you might find it worthwhile to switch up your skills. However, if you simply want to smash and bash your way through the entirety of the game as a fearsome warrior, it's completely up to you. After you complete the initial tutorial quest, you're free to explore wherever you want, although some areas might be a bit tough if you're a low level. There's a huge list of unique locations to investigate, each with their own secrets to discover.

You'll find an abundance of caves and dungeons to complete at your leisure, bolstering your arsenal of gear and earning you bundles of experience points. With a seemingly endless amount of content, you'll easily spend hundreds of hours playing The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

Conclusion

Although The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim can feel a bit overwhelming at first, especially as your quests begin to pile up, the level of freedom and immersion is completely worth it. Although many games offer branching stories and a long list of side-missions, few games can compare in both quantity and quality. Thanks to the excellent leveling system, you are never restricted to specific character classes or gear-sets, allowing you to experiment with various sub-classes and cool mix-ups.

Pros

• Hundreds of awesome quests and dungeons
• A deep narrative with tons of lore and world-building
• Customized leveling that lets you play your way

Cons

• Can be overwhelming at times
• Various glitches and bugs