The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim ($19.99 at Humble Bundle) is a sprawling open-world RPG to be reckoned with, even five years after its initial release. The world is overwhelmingly massive, and is chock full of monsters to slay, quests to undertake, dungeons to raid, and beautiful vistas to take in. Skyrim Special Edition improves the visuals, and makes the jump to 64-bit architecture, resulting in a slightly prettier and more stable video game than the original release. Unfortunately, Bethesda, the game's developer, made zero changes to the gameplay, interface, or presentation, so the same wonky AI, wooden NPCs, and laughable animations also appear in this game. To complicate matters, the 64-bit jump means that many of the complex, script-heavy mods created for the original release don't work in Skyrim Special Edition, leaving PC players with essentially a prettier version of the base game. Make no mistake: Skyrim is a great game, but it is probably not worth buying a second time; at...
Skyrim is still a rock-solid RPG that's worth purchasing if you missed vanilla Skyrim. That said, if you already own and mod the original game, Skyrim Special Edition has nothing fresh to offer.
Offers dozens of hours of open-world adventuring; Includes previously released DLC; Boasts improved stability and subtle graphics improvements; Satisfying RPG development systems; Lore-heavy universe is immersive and fascinating
Too much handholding; Skyrim Special Edition doesn't offer anything PC players didn't already have via the modding community; 64-bit support limits mod accessibility, crippling the greatest appeal for playing Skyrim on PC