» Tue Sep 27, 2011 5:29 pm Lore/Politics
- There are Eight Divines again. Worship of Talos, the God of Man is now banned throughout the empire (!) I could hardly believe my eyes when I read this, is this confirmed elsewhere? The Divines are definitely Eight again now, regardless of the status of Talos.
- The Empire only managed to end "The Great War" against the Aldmeri Dominion with the Concordat of White Gold
- Thalmor, agents of the Dominion are found throughout Skyrim. Some have been found with prisoners, one claims that they are merely there in peace, to help Skyrim through this period of transition (Possible foreshadowing of the main quest?)
- A fellow called somethingorother Stormcloak (sic?) has killed the high-king of Skyrim right at the start of the game. This happens in Solitude, Skyrim's capital, and it appears he himself has a claim to the throne due to the ancient rights of the Nords.
- Some holds have already pledged their alliegence to the Stormcloaks
- Windhelm now has a Dunmer population, who are looked down upon by some of its citizens
- All of the Daedric Princes seem to have returned, including Sheogorath. Some, such as Azura and Meridia are described as being not inherently evil.
- Bosmer are described as heralding from the eastern forests of Valenwood, suggesting they may have been pushed out of the Aldmeri Dominion, or at the very least there is some political divide in Valenwood.
- Each city in Skyrim has a cult of Arkay devoted to the respect of the dead
- Draugr are suggested to possibly have been Nords who betrayed mankind for the Dragons in a past war
Places
- Windhelm, the old capital of Skyrim mainly consists of ancient ruins, with newer buildings also present
- The College of Winterhold is a huge castle that overlooks the town, resembling something between Sadrith Mora's Wolverine Hall and the Mage's tower from Dragon Age Origins.
- Solitude, Skyrim's current capital is a large, regal castle town, something like a grander Ebonheart as seen in Morrowind.
- Falkreath is made of similar buildings as found in Riverwood, and has no loading screens for entry. It is surrounded by deep forest.
- Dawnstar is, well, blizzardy. The weather was too much for me to be able to make out much, but it seemed to vaguely resemble a seaside Bruma.
Quests
Spoiler
- There is a spree of murders in Windhelm
- A guard is being publically executed for helping the Stormcloaks in Solitude
- The residents of Dawnstar are being plauged by bad dreams
- There is a rivarly between two female mages in the College of Winterhold
Other Stuff
- Windmills now rotate the right way(!)
- Some cities, such as Solitude and Windhelm are walled, others such as Falkreath are not. Those that do seem to have more buildings outside their walls than in Oblivion.
- I received the impression that the stock accent for the Nords appears to be Scandinavian, though not all Nords have this accent. Wonder Woman is back.
- It seems the Thieves Guild is joined in the same way as in Oblivion.
- Some NPCs, such as Thalmor, are too powerful for a Level 1 player to take on.
- Mudcrabs are baaaaack, and offer Mudcrab Chitin when killed. Craftable Chitin Armour? Let's hope so.
My impressions of the game generally where overwhelmingly positive. If graphically it isn't much better than Oblivion, it seems a lot more attention to detail has been given, from the design of the cities (far more logically set out, and different from one another not in a superficial way as in Oblivion but in a way that makes sense). The voice acting, in particular the use of Nordic accents makes a big difference here too. I very much felt like I was traveling through a place with a strong sense of identity (or more many places with several different identities), ala Morrowind. Really the game feels like a sequel to Morrowind set in Oblivion's engine (only with far better realised NPCs!). If anyone has any questions, or has played the game themselves and can help/correct me on anything please feel free.
