The End of Skyrim

I'm done. Well, nearly done. I've finished out the main story line for Skyrim. I've defeated the evil dragon Alduin and all is better with the world. Not well with the world, mind you. There's still a civil war and vampires are preying on villagers and other unpleasantness, but the threat of destruction of the world no longer looms. I'm winding down, starting to play through some of the civil war quests, but I'm more or less done. My goal was to finish the main story line so I could move on to other pursuits (Mass Effect 3), but I can't let go quite yet. The main story finish seemed sort of anti-climactic. I was so strong the last battle was over in seconds. I just flanked the dragon and hacked away with my super awesome, double-enchanted glass war axe. And that was that. I wasn't sure if I had actually won, since I had beaten him before but he had run away. So I need a little more Skyrim to unwind.

I think the next time I play a game, I'm not going to spend all the time becoming awesome that I did in Skyrim. I'm so overpowered now that I don't even think about just wading into battle and letting people hack on me. I had even stepped away from the game at one point without pausing, and while I was away some bandits started attacking me. I came back midway through the attack and blew the bandits away, and I had barely suffered any significant damage. If I make more of a beeline through the game, I'll face more of a challenge and probably enjoy it more, even if I'm frustrated at some points. I think that'd be more satisfying.

All in all, I am amazed at Skyrim and how much stuff they've packed in there. It's a great game and does so much, I can forgive the common glitches and quest bugs. The main thing that still bugs me are the characters being so shallow and repetitive. Having kept the same companion throughout the whole game, I'm a bit frustrated that whenever I heal her she still asks me "A healing spell? Are you a priest?" No. No I am not. I have been dragging you all over the country and we've done battle together against countless foes and this is as far as we've progressed in our relationship? Ugh.

There's still so much to explore. There's still a major city in the game that I've never been to. Maybe I'll do one last tour of this beautiful country before I leave; a nice victory lap to say farewell.