The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition

You create a character and enter Skyrim as the Dragonborn, amid the return of dragons. The open-world fantasy setting lets you follow the central story or set out on your own path.

Explore towns, wilderness, caves, and ruins; take on quests and join factions; and fight with weapons, magic, or stealth. Dragon shouts add abilities tied to the Dragonborn, while encounters and side adventures can pull you away from your original plans.

Develop your character by improving skills such as archery, magic, alchemy, and smithing, and choose how to approach combat and exploration. The Special Edition includes the game’s add-ons, remastered visual features, and support for Creations that can add quests, places, characters, gear, and more.

Players often appreciate the freedom to shape a character and pursue quests, exploration, or a self-directed role in the world rather than sticking to the main story. Reviews also repeatedly praise the atmosphere, music, and sense of discovery, along with the variety of character builds and the ways mods can expand or alter a playthrough. Some players criticize persistent bugs and dated combat, while several mod users object to updates they say disrupt their setups.