My title is not sarcastic nor is it ironic. Bethesda has truly taken the time to please both the mass market of consumers as well as devoted fans of RPGs, devoted fans of TES games, and the modding community. In the hype leading up to the game and during my first 20 hours I felt as though the game had lost its identity as a Elder Scrolls title and was falling into many of the same traps as current blockbuster titles and western RPGs as a whole. Not to say that these things were not great, I loved the epic feeling of dragon battles and dragon shouts, the main quest took me to unique and interesting locations, the combat felt fluid, cinematic and ,dare I say that infamous buzzword, visceral. But for a while it lacked that sit down and get lost in the world feeling that ES has evoked in the past. I felt like the game would not allow me to spend hours upon hours decorating my home or hanging around the marketplace. I thought that Bethesda had passed over these little moments for sake of that blockbuster,non stop action feel. Then I came upon several things which blew me away. A bandit fort that I had cleared repopulated as a legion fort filled with their armory, a random camp that had a unique forge which allowed for the creation of powerful weapons on certain cycles of the moon, the most awe inspiring dungeon I have yet to see in a modern RPG, and yes precious books, this time with a hidden secret that brought upon a quest for a great weapon. All of these touches evoke that classic ES feel and I am pleased to say that Bethesda has suceeded in crafting an experience that is enjoyable whether you play it for 30 hours or whether your play it for 330 hours. Few games these days allow you to play it in the way you desire but I am happy to see Skyrim fulfull its promise.

Please note any other features you have found that are just little touches that you appreciate as a fan of the series or as a gamer who likes to take it slow...