Let's Watch - Elder Geek's Non-Violent Skyrim

I am quite the fan of Elder-Geek.com's video game reviews because of their even handed approach to assessing games.  As a bonus, they keep an older audience in mind during the process.  Just the other day, Elder Geek posted a rather fantastic four minute video entitled Non-Violent Skyrim Playthrough.  I am still finishing Meriel's log entry for tomorrow, so in the meantime here is this video for your viewing pleasure.  Enjoy!

TES - Digital Spy's Morrowind Retrospective

Digital Spy has a very brief, but highly nostalgic, Morrowind retrospective that can be found here.  It is no secret that TES III remains my favorite video game to date, and nearly ten years later it still remains the gold standard by which I personally judge all open world games.  Skyrim certainly made very valiant effort to supplant it this year last year, but I simply do not think that it is possible for this very awesome (and very flawed) game to be replaced.  

Happy New Year folks, and I'll see you in a few hours with yesterday's entry in Meriel's story.  Sorry for the delay.  I unexpectedly spent the evening with friends last night and decided that Meriel could wait.

Image: Source

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - Release Day!

The wait has ended, and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is now officially on store shelves! If you are reading this at 12:00am EST on 11.11.11, then know that I am currently at my local gaming store picking up a pre-ordered copy of my very own.  Yes, I know that my poor computer won't be able to run Skyrim and thus there is no point in buying now ... I wanted the physical map that came with pre-orders though.  I'm a sucker like that for gaming maps.

Later this weekend I'll post pictures of the box's contents just in case you care about that kind of thing.  In the meantime celebrate Skyrim's release by watching the game related videos below.

Happy gaming!

Behind the Scenes - A tour with Todd Howard through the offices of Bethesda in Rockville, Maryland.

The Sound of Skyrim

The World of Skyrim

 
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - Demo Part 1

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - Demo Part 2  

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - Demo Part 3  

  Image: Source

Let's Watch - Morrowind's E3 Trailer

I'm just going to leave this here.

Let's Watch - Skyrim interview with Todd Howard

Here is a little extra to hold you over until tomorrow night.  This was a rather insightful interview about how mini-quests will be doled out, a refined magic+melee combat system, and real time conversations.  Between this and the recent news that Bethesda has eliminated the Myticism school of magic, it sounds like a lot of good things will be happening in Skyrim to make game play more natural.  Generally I'm against change for change sake, but it sounds like most of the basic game changes this time around have a very specific purpose that addresses a very specific need.  For instance, I don't really mind the way current Elder Scrolls conversations happen, but the way their new system is described makes a lot of sense from an immersion standpoint.  Bethesda got a little bit sidetracked with Oblivion, but these changes and their decision to remove auto-levelling [YAY!!!] make me feel like the company is reconnecting with their core fan base.  More attention seems to be given those who appreciate Elder Scrolls for its unique role-play experience, instead of spending time catering to an audience who insists on instant relatability and having their hand held.  Bethesda seems to be finding a careful balance that doesn't alienate either side, but lets the role-players know that they have not been forgotten.  If that doesn't thrill you to the bone, then their claim that Oblivion sacrificed what made Morrowind special certainly will.  (Morrowind, of course, being the gold standard to which all Elder Scrolls games should be compared.) Only time will tell how well everything is executed, but the more I hear about Skyrim the more I am excited about its possibilities.  All I know is that I'm going to need a better video card ...

Perra will be taking over very late tomorrow night when she reports back in from the Landsmeet.

P.S. - Can I talk for a moment about how psyched I am that crafting (specifically cooking) will now be in the game?  I do not know if that means that a reality option for eating/drinking will exist (like it did in New Vegas), but I certainly hope it does.  That would be one less mod I'd have to download.  As much as I appreciate those who build the reality mods, hunger mods always seem to wig out on me after a while where food stops being as effective or I'm cursed with perpetual hunger.  Those bugs probably had less to do with the mods themselves though then they did with a possible mod conflict that Wrye Bash/Mash couldn't detect/fix.

Let's Watch - Skyrim Trailer

Ok I know that everyone and their brother is posting this today, but I simply could not resist because it looks amazing!  It has all the things we have come to expect from Bethesda with the astonishingly beautiful scenery (if it was like that in real life I'd spend more time outside) and the beyond beautiful soundtrack. Seriously.  In heaven I believe the angels will be playing TES music.

If you want a special little surprise though, skip to time stamp  1:12.  No you are not hearing things, that really is the Morrowind theme song sounding even better than ever.  This is one soundtrack I will most certainly be purchasing the moment it hits the stores.

Let's Visit - The Imperial Library

I know that all I seem to talk about thus far on L'Épée Magique is the Elder Scrolls series and Dragon Age: Origins.  I swear that I do play other games.  It just happens though that Morrowind is considered by me to be one of the best RPGs ever made.  As a result of my extreme bias, TESIII:MW is the first thing to pop into my head when the subject of gaming comes up, and as a result I still find myself looking for more things to read about it after all these years.  Thankfully if one chooses to read about Vvardenfell and its neighbors these days, one need not go far.  Enter the Imperial Library.  An amazing website that has been around for quite some time, the Imperial Library makes it possible for geeks like me to go back and read in-game books without starting up the actual game and hunting down the volumes.  Any Elder Scrolls devotee will rave, if you have enough time to let them, about the massive amount of text encapsulated in these books.  Now you can catch up on all your lore from Daggerfall to Oblivion with one click of your mouse.  Do you need to freshen up your knowledge of TES geographies & histories, peoples & societies, languages & arts, or religions & mythologies?  Maybe you've always wanted to learn the Daedric Alphabet? The Imperial Library has your back.

I have just ruined any chance you had of being productive for the rest of the day.  You're welcome.

 Image: Destructoid

DA:O - Amusing Oddities 3

Now that the weekend is here I shall be venturing into the Dead Trenches very soon. In the meantime I present you with another edition of Amusing Oddities. Every once in a while I run across things in the game that are slightly befuddling or make me laugh. Below are a few from Orzammar. 

 This post involves very mild spoilerage about the Circle Tower.

Shale I Choose You! - Sure this is neither amusing nor an oddity, but I thought that you might be interested in seeing what Perra's entire party looks like. Thus, I present you with the current party selection screen. For those of you who have played the game before, you will notice that Wynne is not present. Earlier in the game Perra was one hard-hearted Hannah. She provoked Wynne at the Circle Tower and was eventually forced to kill her. That's right, our hero killed an old lady. At this stage in the game I highly doubt that Perra would do such a thing, but at the time she was fresh off her skull-crushing days with the Carta. When you combine her early violent tendencies with the Templars' insistence that the Tower must be cleansed ... well one can see how Perra made the decision she did. Having completed Dragon Age twice before, I must admit that playing without Wynne feels a little odd. She is such a pleasant "old sage" character who really seems to take the roll of Camp Mother seriously. I also appreciate Wynne's hunger for knowledge. If Dragon Age took place in the Wheel of Time, and Wynne was an Aes Sedai, I'm 99.9% sure that Wynne would have been in the Brown Ajah if it weren't for the fact that Wynne is a healer (and thus of the Yellow Ajah). I love the Brown Ajah. Okay, now I'm sad. This screen grab is for you Wynne. RIP.

Bathrooms - For years I wandered from video game to video game blissfully unaware that they all contained one major flaw. Then, a number of years back while digging through Planet Elder Scrolls, I ran across Morrowind house mods by the venerable Princess Stomper. Perhaps one of the most skilled Elder Scrolls modders around, Princess possesses one famous pet peeve. She is bothered by the fact that video game homes do not have bathrooms. As a direct result of this, everything she mods features a bathroom or washroom of some sort. Years of playing her mods have stripped me of my ignorance, and her pet peeve has since become mine. Imagine then my glee when I realized that Orzammar homes have washrooms! I do not know if Bioware has been listening where Bethesda has not, but either way it is clear that civilization has finally reached the dwarven halls. It's rather funny when you think about it, because Oghrin is the only in-game companion to resist bathing and cleanliness. Granted, he's also an unrepentant drunk ... a dwarf so deep in his cups that even other dwarves shun him for his habits. Maybe his lack of hygiene, like his drinking, do not speak for the whole of his race.

Appreciated Trespassing - Well before Perra met with Bhelen for the first time, she and her gang roamed freely through the Royal Palace. The ability for strangers off the street to meander unsanctioned though royal property is peculiar enough. Consider then the case of a thieving expedition, which had tunneled through the palace's floor, that was thwarted by our heroes. Not only did the palace guard arrive late to the fight (read: all the thieves were already dead), but afterwards he let Perra and Friends continue their wanderings unchallenged. There was no "What are you doing here Brand" or "You don't belong here Brand." Nope, instead the guard thanked Perra for her help and let her party continue on it's merry way. That is some tight security Bhelen has going on there.

Vengeful Spirits - Remember my issues with the sarcophagi in the Elven Ruins? Well I for one was glad to see that Bioware did not repeat the same mistake in the Deep Roads. Instead, Perra & Friends ran into at least three waves of restless spirits guarding their crumbling thaigs. For historical accuracy, some of them even commanded stone golems in battle. The spirits came in multiple classes - Forgotten (former casteless), Indignant (former rogue bards), and Enraged (former 2H greatsword warriors). Perra has yet to meet the fourth class of Legion Spirits (former Legion of the Dead). You know I've always wondered how Perra can fight spirits of the dead with weapons. Why doesn't her ax sweep harmlessly through them? Aren't spirits non-corporeal by nature? Yet, like their flesh and blood comrades, these spirits bleed when struck. Unlike their living counterparts though, they disappear into thin air when defeated. You know what? I'm not going to think on it too hard. I simply appreciate the fact that the undead haunt these abandoned halls.

I openly admit that the Deep Roads have an excellent story arc, but sometimes this leg of the game feels like it goes on forever. It probably feels like that, because it does. That said, Bioware really did right by the dwarves. From bathrooms to avenging spirits, they left no ancestor blessed stone unturned.

Let's Visit - Morrowind: A Fool's Tale

"Oh, and that ridiculous hat ... I immediately put it on my own head."

Back when Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind was new to me I wish that I'd thought to keep a journal of my first character's exploits. Don't get me wrong, journaling is still a possibility since the game continues to be an adventure and deep role-playing experience. Even so, I fear that I've been exposed to Vvardenfell for too many years now to look at it with fresh eyes. Some people do not seem to have that problem though. Proof of this is the short-lived 2009 blog series A Fool in Morrowind. Sadly the author Alec Meer dropped his journaling after eleven entries. Thankfully, those eleven entries are so full of humor and nostalgia that they'll have you reinstalling the game on your PC in seconds flat. If you have half an hour or so I highly recommend you give Fool in Morrowind a look.

Image: Rock, Paper, Shotgun

Let's Visit - falling awkwardly's "Metaphysics of Morrowind"

The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind is without a doubt my favorite video game ever. I could talk about this beloved game until the cows come home, which one day I might actually do, but today I want to highlight falling awkwardly's four part series on the Metaphysics of Morrowind. Very informative and very analytical, anyone with an interest in the Elder Scrolls series or Morrowind should check it out. This series is a perfect example of how thought provoking and involved RPGs can be when people take the time to understand the lore behind the game. Below is Kateri's statement of intent and links to the series' four parts.

Some time ago, I was asked by David Carlton if I was interested in assembling a Critical Compilation on The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind for Critical Distance. I liked the idea, but research appeared to confirm my initial suspicions that, despite its rampant popularity, reams of fanfiction and endless debates about the lore, there is relatively little critical writing on Morrowind that has survived the vicissitudes of the internet since its release in 2002. This made me sad, so I thought I’d better write some!

- Kateri, falling awkwardly

Part 1: Introduction
Part 2: How to Break Your Dragon
Part 3: Divine CHIMistry, or: How Vivec Accessed the Construction Set
Part 4: Final musings on metaphysics in Morrowind