Skyrim retrospective - a mammoth analysis of the entire game and all its DLC's

[belegost]

Patrician TV on Youtube made a 20h Skyrim analysis video titled "A Quick Retrospective", where he disassembles the whole game to pieces and puts every faction, and every questline under the microscope. For context, he previously made an 8h Morrowind and a 12h Oblivion analysis videos. A lot of interesting facts, points and debunked theories in this one. Seems like a lot of research went into it. If you have a few weeks to spare, here are the links:

 

Part 1:

 

Part 2:

 

Edited November 20, 2022 by belegost

[Pamatronic]

Why would I need a few weeks? its only 20h...

[belegost]

1 hour ago, Pamatronic said:

Why would I need a few weeks? its only 20h...

Assumption is an hour a day at most is all some can do. Less if there are power problems. Make of it what you will.

Edited November 20, 2022 by belegost

[Heroine HoneyCrotch]

12 hours ago, Pamatronic said:

Why would I need a few weeks? its only 20h...

 

Crack or Tweak?

 

Spoiler

 

 

Edited November 20, 2022 by Heroine HoneyCrotch

[Heroine HoneyCrotch]

I tried watching a little, kinda boring.  

 

@OP you want to watch a skyrim video this one is a mod review video for LE and I personally enjoyed watching it, fun commentator 

 

 

[pinky6225]

13 hours ago, Pamatronic said:

Why would I need a few weeks? its only 20h...

 

Number of times you'll fall asleep watching it, spend ages finding the space that happened at and then restarting

[Darkpig]

I was not able to see the second video due it being age restricted. What happened? Did they show a nipple?

 

In the first video I found it weird that the narrator of the video thought the Companions was the most poorly written when the Thieves Guild was worse.

 

For starters the Companions at least got the theme right. You go out with companions to fight baddies... at least half the time they do. Each guild has some plot twist which I'll go over in spoilers.

 

For example in the Companions:

Spoiler

You are given the promise of power in the form of a werewolf which fits the theming of being a warrior strong enough to fight baddies. Mechanically the wolf form is meh but they have the spirit down. 

 

The Thieves Guild on the other hand:

Spoiler

You stalk an argonian, join a cult and return a key. An all powerful key that can unlock any door and even the depths of your mind. This does not fit the theme of a thief as you don't do any thieving during those three events. In a perfect world we should be assisting Mercer in stealing the Skeleton Key.

Also the Thieves Guild claims to be a secret organization despite everyone knowing who they are. I would say there was so much wasted potential with the Thieves Guild but there is so much they did wrong maybe it would be better just to rewrite it from scratch.

Edited November 25, 2022 by Darkpig

[belegost]

2 hours ago, Darkpig said:

What happened? Did they show a nipple?

There's a brief moment where an image of LL forum is superimposed over the video when he discusses Serana in Dawnguard section. It is very subtle, there is no nudity, nothing is even mentioned by name but I guess maybe someone thought it was inappropriate, reported it and the video got restricted by automation.

 

Just a guess though, its a long video, there may be something else which I did not notice since I mostly listened to it. I never had a problem with age restriction in my region on any video to begin with so I wouldn't even know it was restricted if you hadn't mentioned it.

 

I think his problem with Companions comes from the fact you can not choose not to be werewolf if you want to progress it. Which is true, the whole questline locks up until you obediently return to Underforge and fall in line like a good doggy. Weird, but I never actually thought about it this way for a decade until he pointed that out. But that would explain why Companions was my least favourite faction. Werewolf mechanics in Skyrim do suck hard and I  just preferred to not bother with the whole thing at all. Now I know why. Had you been given an option to refuse transformation but be able to continue that might've felt better.

Edited November 25, 2022 by belegost

[Captain Cobra]

Patty-Chan on LL!!!

[Darkpig]

12 hours ago, belegost said:

There's a brief moment where an image of LL forum is superimposed over the video when he discusses Serana in Dawnguard section. It is very subtle, there is no nudity, nothing is even mentioned by name but I guess maybe someone thought it was inappropriate, reported it and the video got restricted by automation.

 

Just a guess though, its a long video, there may be something else which I did not notice since I mostly listened to it. I never had a problem with age restriction in my region on any video to begin with so I wouldn't even know it was restricted if you hadn't mentioned it.

 

I think his problem with Companions comes from the fact you can not choose not to be werewolf if you want to progress it. Which is true, the whole questline locks up until you obediently return to Underforge and fall in line like a good doggy. Weird, but I never actually thought about it this way for a decade until he pointed that out. But that would explain why Companions was my least favourite faction. Werewolf mechanics in Skyrim do suck hard and I  just preferred to not bother with the whole thing at all. Now I know why. Had you been given an option to refuse transformation but be able to continue that might've felt better.

At least you get a buff to disease resistance. In the Thieves Guild you had to pledge your soul to a Daedric Prince in promise of 'power' to defeat Mercer. Where is my goddamn power Karliah?! It is only after you defeat Mercer and return an all powerful key to said prince that she gives you a once a day power easily outdone by illusion magic. What was the point?

[Heroine HoneyCrotch]

3 hours ago, Darkpig said:

What was the point?

 

I use to enjoy holding on to the key for awhile, and the armor,sword, and bow were all pretty cool too.  The given power, never  played with that much.

 

If I got choose best faction I would say dark brotherhood, they're all mostly meh to outright annoying though

[Miauzi]

Vor 23 Stunden sagte belegost:

Es gibt einen kurzen Moment, in dem ein Bild des LL-Forums über das Video gelegt wird, als er in der Dawnguard-Sektion über Serana spricht. Es ist sehr subtil, es gibt keine Nacktheit, nichts wird auch nur namentlich erwähnt, aber ich schätze, jemand fand es unangemessen, hat es gemeldet und das Video wurde durch die Automatisierung eingeschränkt.

 

Nur eine Vermutung, es ist ein langes Video, es könnte noch etwas anderes geben, das mir nicht aufgefallen ist, da ich es meistens angehört habe. Ich hatte in meiner Region nie ein Problem mit der Altersbeschränkung bei einem Video, also wüsste ich nicht einmal, dass es eine Beschränkung gab, wenn Sie es nicht erwähnt hätten.

 

Ich denke, sein Problem mit Gefährten kommt von der Tatsache, dass man sich nicht dafür entscheiden kann, kein Werwolf zu sein, wenn man Fortschritte machen will. Was stimmt, die ganze Questreihe bleibt stehen, bis Sie gehorsam nach Underforge zurückkehren und sich wie ein braves Hündchen anstellen. Seltsam, aber ich habe ein Jahrzehnt lang nie so darüber nachgedacht, bis er darauf hinwies. Aber das würde erklären, warum Companions meine unbeliebteste Fraktion war. Werwolf-Mechaniken in Skyrim sind echt scheiße und ich habe es einfach vorgezogen, mich überhaupt nicht mit der ganzen Sache zu beschäftigen. Jetzt weiß ich warum. Hätte man Ihnen die Möglichkeit gegeben, die Transformation abzulehnen, aber weitermachen zu können, hätte sich das vielleicht besser angefühlt.

The mod authors who extended the romance with Serana incorporated this contradiction as part of their story...
..Serana is even present at the ritual and verbally freaks out at Aela!

I actually only do this quest series to get to the word wall at Ysgamor's tomb or to the gem in the room of the "Herald"

But also the thing with the twilight grave and the forced connection as "nightingale" is complete cheese if I have decided to become a vampire (vampire lord) in order to be able to penetrate the "soul grave".

After my death, how many Daedra Princes still claim my soul?

Also, I can become the "Prime Champion" of ANY Daedric Prince...
..nee - MolagBal doesn't mind at all that the champion of Bohethia sacrifices their priests at his altar and now also becomes their champion with the mace.
Nah - the two Daedric Overlords have been in an epic feud for millennia, and a mortal is simultaneously the champion of both.
huh? What?
So much bullshit in one heap - unbelievable.
And of course as a player you've known and accepted all this for 10 years - collecting these absolutely useless artefacts is much more important...
..yes of course I also ran after this carrot!

[Darkpig]

On 11/25/2022 at 6:54 PM, Heroine HoneyCrotch said:

 

I use to enjoy holding on to the key for awhile, and the armor,sword, and bow were all pretty cool too.  The given power, never  played with that much.

 

If I got choose best faction I would say dark brotherhood, they're all mostly meh to outright annoying though

There is a simplicity to it and it is one of the few evil factions in Skyrim. Okay I say evil but I felt nothing for any of my targets. First one is an old lady who ruthlessly beats children though I doubt she is the only one in a medieval fantasy setting. Then it is a shady Khajiit, a nasty woman and an adventurer that bit off more than he could chew all inside a shack for slaughter. After that it is one contract after another of people who either deserve it or just need to be put out of their misery. Didn't even feel anything for Nilsine Shatter-Shield. I don't know who in the Shatter-Shield family had Muiri kicked out of Windhelm and into the care of a crazy old potions lady but the moral of the story is that tough luck affects even rich families. Of course I say this to piss off Skyrim story theorists on youtube.

 

I really do like the simplicity of the Dark Brotherhood. You hunt down a target usually in relatively safe environments where you need to find the least conspicuous spot and method to murder them sometimes with a catch. The guild does a good job mixing it up so that things don't get too repetitive. One day you're killing a begger, the other you're ruining a wedding, the next you're infiltrating a ship to kill an emperor. Oops spoilers.

 

Anyway it isn't without its flaws. One of the things that didn't get mentioned in the video is that one side objective during your quest to kill an elite officer is to steal his schedule which is an unnecessary risk. We need it in order to track him down but why steal it in the first place? Why not just read it and memorize it? I mean I kind of do that anyway but the fact that they suggest it shows a lack of foresight by the developers. Besides a missing schedule for an officer of that caliber is a red flag that something is amiss and could hinder any future operations for the Dark Brotherhood which is bad since they really want to kill that emperor. Yeah I get that memory is fallible but that is why you write it down elsewhere dummy.

[t.ara]

A next example of some special sorts of "content":

 

Youtube is in between only a big trash can full of videos, wasting time and electric energy.