Games You Should Be Playing: Skyrim

Jen Kirchner· December 05, 2011· [games]

I've been playing video games since the day my parents brought home an Atari 2600. My brother and I made forts in the den, rolled out our sleeping bags, and played Pac Man all night long. From that day on, I was hooked. The fact that I became an avid gamer at such a young age still astounds me because my parents have always been technologically challenged. Case in point, they only got cable television five years ago.

Get with the times, Dad. Internet TV's where it's at.

There's a widely held misconception that women don't play video games. That's crap. I have a lot of cool female friends (who aren't ugly toads, virgins, and/or live in their parents' basement) who play video games. We're rare, I'll give you that. There are few things funnier than being the only girlfriend who is invited to the boys' all-night gaming party.

Don't worry. I'll bring the beer and kick your ass.

As times have changed, I've noticed more women are open to video games but they don't know what to buy. Girls want different things in video games than boys do: We want to feel rewarded early on, we want to be able to play for shorter spurts and still get things accomplished, and we want an avatar who isn't a gross exaggeration of our sexual features. Most importantly, we want to kick ass, too. But games are generally marketed to men -- how will we know where to start?

Let me help.

Skyrim is a game that would have caught your eye in the store or with online ads, except that their logo shows a big hairy man surrounded in mist, clad in armor, and covered in dirt. And maybe all the boys get excited about a big hairy, dirty dude. I don't. So I went and made us an avatar that we might be a little more excited to play:

I named her "Awesomesauce". No, really. That's what I named her. She shoots fire and lightning bolts from her hands. In fact, here's a shot of her lighting everyone on fire! Sadly, that includes the guy who is helping her escape. I was still working on my aim:

And in case you're wondering, my level 20 warrior is named Pumpkin. She kills dragons. Bad ass.

In Skyrim there are lots of races and you can choose to play either a male or female character. What's funny about the character creation is that there are a plethora of customizable options -- one could spend hours creating a custom avatar, but in the end you're going to stick a big hat on their head and you'll mostly be looking at them from behind. So don't waste too much time on it.

The game starts out in this long, exhausting sequence where you discover you've been captured and are being sent to the chopping block for execution. As you get down on your knees and the axe is lifted, a dragon shows up.

The dragon starts breathing fire all over the town and, naturally, no one is concerned with you anymore. You get up and run for it. This is where your story begins.

If you haven't played a lot of video games and you're worried about your skill level, let me assure you: modern role-playing games have implemented systems so that you always know what to do. If you have a quest, an indicator will float above someone's head so you know to talk to them. If you are on a journey, a map indicator will tell you where to go. In that regard, Skyrim is no different. So if you're an experienced gamer or a novice, Skyrim will help you along.

In the screenshot below, you're still a prisoner and need to escape the town and the dragon. Notice the indicators above both doors (yellow circles are mine). Here, you have a choice to make: escape with the soldier or with the resistance.

Two options! Compared to games of old, this seems like a lot! Back in the day, games only gave you one choice! (And get off my virtual lawn, whippersnappers!) But to be honest, this is as restrictive as Skyrim gets. Once you leave the town, you are given the opportunity to continue the game's main quest line...

...or you can forge your own path.

No, really. That's not just a tagline. The world is immense and open. There are dungeons, towns, quests, stories, books, trainers, guilds, giants, monuments, treasure chests, etc. in every direction. In fact, you should forget all about the main story and do whatever the hell you want. Just pick a direction and start running. You'll bump into fifty other things to do. Skyrim dungeons are so different from one another that you'll never get bored. There are times when I feel as if I've entered the ruins of Atlantis, or I'm Indiana Jones in search of lost treasure. As you go, you'll increase your skills and level up. You could decide to be a warrior mage or a thief who wears heavy armor so you can take a beating in combat. The talent trees allow you to customize your character any way you want.

It's called an open world, and they mean it. You could become an assassin AND a notorious thief AND a hero AND a skilled tradeskill master AND a bard...

...and apparently a vampire. And I'm not talking the kind that sparkles. I should probably get Awesomesauce to a shrine and get this fixed, but I'm curious to know what will happen next -- which is the most exciting aspect of Skyrim.

The bar for open world RPG's has been raised. Girls, if you're looking for a game that you can sink your teeth into from time to time, pick up Skyrim and create your own tale.

Your boyfriend can go get his own damn copy.