I have to get this out of the way first. As a gamer I was a little bit late to the Skyrim party and this is my first review relating to a series I haven’t played at length since Morrowind. That being said, Skyrim is a phenomenal game (on the Xbox) however, I’d be lying if I gave the same praise to the DLC released up until now. I can understand how difficult a task it must be to recreate the brilliance of a game that captured not only our hearts but game of the year honors from every end of the industry. Nevertheless we always expect more from the Elder Scrolls developer, enter Dragonborn. Bethesda has referred to Dragonborn as the greatest DLC Skryim has seen thus far, an understatement to say the least as I believe it is the greatest DLC in the series to date.
If you’re looking to extend your Skyrim experience you’ve come to the right place, as Dragonborn is more of a full blown expansion than just downloadable content. We’re talking a generous several hours of storyline gameplay here, which isn’t including discovery and exploration time, dragon slaying, dungeons and all the other Skyrimmy goodness you encounter in your travels. Not to mention the new zone, Solstheim, is roughly a third the size of the entire province of Skyrim.
The main story in Dragonborn consists of seven questlines and will take players anywhere from 5-10+ hours to complete. Throughout your time in the Dark Elf inhabited Solstheim, you’ll encounter new enemies, return to the realm of Oblivion, and encounter the Daedric Prince, Hermaeus Mora and the mysterious Black Books that draw you into his realm of Apocrypha. Players will be able to continue upgrading their skills by finding books in Apocrypha that add bonuses to your existing perks. One book in particular that you obtain after completing the main story, allows you to reallocate your skill trees in exchange for a dragon soul. In addition, keeping said black book will allow you to revisit the final level of the questline and repurpose your skills at any time you wish.
The content doesn’t stop with the questline either, players will be able to learn new shouts, obtain new weapons and armour as well as the new rare material Stalhrim with which to craft. There are a total of four new shouts you can learn. By far the coolest being Bend Will, which allows you to “bend the will” and therefore tame/control dragons. Riding a dragon allows you fast travel across the map, including Skyrim, and also attack enemies on the ground. I don’t think I need to further explain how awesome this is but I will say all those giants that played homerun derby with my skull, it’s payback time.
Naturally the DLC is plagued by the same bugs and annoyances of the main game, but it’s not even really worth mentioning. Let’s be honest here, is it something that stopped you from playing Skyrim in the first place? Exactly, so it won’t stop you here. The point is, Dragonborn has just so much to offer. With a story line that rivals that of Skyrims main story, nothing here feels like a grind. Instead it’s a whole new experience set in a world we already know and love. Bethesda really redeems itself for the previously disappointing DLC we’ve encountered in Skyrim, it’s an expansion that truly captures the essence of and extends the experience of one of the best games this generation has to offer. It’s goes without saying that, for Elder Scrolls fans, Dragonborn IS the best 1600 Microsoft Points you’ll spend this year.
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