As a dedicated fan of the Elder Scrolls series since the first entry, Arena, there are very few games that excited me as much as this release. Sure there were other games I wanted to play this year but nothing got me as excited as opening up my favorite websites only to find a new Skyrim trailer or developer diary greeting me. When the game finally ended up in my hot little hands I couldn't wait to tear that bad boy open and dive on in.

It has been glorious.

The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim follows a character that you create on his journey to navigate the political intrigue that is tearing Skyrim apart. While dealing with agents of a foreign Elven power and a civil war between natives loyal to the Empire and a rebellion there's the small matter of dragons reawakening throughout the land. Alduin the World Eater, a God of death and destruction to the Nord people, has awoken. As his name might tell you this is a big problem that can only be solved by you, the Dovahkiin.

Your innate gift allows your character to act as the perfect Dragon slayer. Harnessing the same magic that the dragons use to breathe fire and ice or even cause storms the Dovahkiin can use his Thu'um, also known as The Voice or Shouts, to battle the beasts. By using the captured souls of dragons as well as absorbing the knowledge found in mystical sites across Skyrim, areas known as Word Walls, only he (or she) can stop this threat.

While the dragons are the main story here the political plot is actually incredibly interesting. In a lot of ways the plot is similar to that of Dragon Age 2 except, ya know, done well. Neither side is portrayed in a very positive light; the Imperials coming off as almost jingoistic types quick to execute their enemies over religious or political differences and the Stormcloak rebels are serving a man who seems awfully self-serving, having killed the High King of Skyrim in an attempt to take his throne.

In a lot of ways the land of Skyrim feels very much like Cyrodiil did in Oblivion. It's very vibrant and alive with lots of native animal life, both hostile and neutral, gorgeous views and lots of crap to find all over the place. But where Cyrodiil was eventually overtaken by Oblivion gates here you have the pleasure of dragons getting more and more common as the story goes on. Random villages are attacked, they fly by the gates of cities, start fights with Giants and Mammoths and attack while you're trying to explore. This makes the adventure incredibly tense as there's the nagging threat of winged death at all times.

Many changes have been made to the gameplay, some of which are likely to anger longtime fans of the series. It's a pretty long list that you can find online with some searching but we're going to touch on the important ones.

Perks have been brought in from Fallout 3 but they are used differently, granting you passive bonuses (such as being harder to detect with Sneak or doing more damage with One-Handed weapons) or special skills. These will dramatically change your experience since even two of the same type of character could be crafted differently by using different perks. Since each type of character has its own benefits this makes character customization feel much more open and flexible. Your two-handed warrior may play totally differently than your friends which add a nice feeling of ownership to your character.

Skills have once again been streamlined. Mysticism has been removed, its spells being wrapped up into other schools of magic to streamline the amount of skills you need. Athletics and Acrobatics are gone completely but in their place is the ability to sprint at the expense of your stamina. Speaking of Stamina you no longer use it up when attacking enemies. It is now only being used when you sprint or use special abilities like shield bashes. This frees you from worrying about Stamina unless you're using it purposefully, leaving you to focus on your health in the now chaotic fights.