You don’t get any major additions to the story or gameplay. If you’ve played the heck out of the original and savored all the expansion content, this is pretty much the same game. The game is also completely faithful in the sense that it does not really add anything new that veteran players have not seen before.

Then you’ve got the character models, which can still look mighty homely, except that homeliness is now, uh, remastered.

Combat, meanwhile, which already felt a bit archaic to me even when the game was new, feels even more dated now. For starters, some of the original’s glitches and bugs make a return. Throw in improved lighting and visual effects, the addition of all expansion packs plus the ability to use mods and you have the definitive edition of the game, especially for console players.īeing a faithful recreation also sheds light on the special edition’s issues as well. Side quests also abound, allowing you to go forth and lose yourself to whatever activity suits your fancy. You still have a nice selection of characters that you can mold, shape and progress the way you want. Featuring a large world that serves as an expansive canvas for many grand adventures, Skyrim continues to be one of the best representations of the Western RPG genre to date. The good news is that Skyrim remains a great game even now.

It does, however, determine which audiences will get more mileage from the special edition - at least depending on their experience, or lack thereof, with the original release. Then again, that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. For the most part, Skyrim Special Edition leans toward the latter. Then you have remasters like the Dead Rising Triple Pack and Assassin’s Creed: The Ezio Collection, which touch up the visuals and resolution but leave things pretty much unchanged. The Legend of Zelda remasters such as Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask for the 3DS and Wind Waker HD for the Wii U, for example, are great specimens for remasters done right, thanks to thoroughly reworked graphics and gameplay improvements.

Skyrim special edition character models