Skyrim, Bethesda’s most recent installment in The Elder Scrolls series has been out for almost one year. With that in mind, let’s take a look at how this title fits into the gaming landscape and what it has to say about the role of single-player games.
We’re being bombarded with games that have terrible single-player campaigns that are tacked on to a better multiplayer option. Call of Duty has shown the industry that they can make incredible profits off of a title with good multiplayer, and the industry will dutifully follow the money. Single player campaigns keep disappearing to make room for better, more polished multiplayer. Skyrim doesn’t give you that option. You are alone in this world. You can take on companions, but they tend to get in the way. I can’t even keep track of the number of times I had to reload a past save because Lydia or my horse were killed by a dragon. I didn’t want their blood on my conscience, so I chose to go alone. It just felt right.
When I wandered through Skyrim, I had nothing to rely on but myself. I would often choose to walk to a location rather than fast travel. Choosing to walk made the world feel bigger, and more beautiful, but it also made me feel even more aware of my solitude. If I died, no one had my back. I faced bears, dragons, spiders, and bandits who were all out to attack me. Everything wants to kill you without reason.
A lot of gamers don’t question this because we’ve been taught to attack things that attack us, or to get in a strike on an enemy we know will be hostile. This idea is important to a lot of Western RPGs. There isn’t a team with different skillsets for you to rely on, making it different from a JRPG. What does this say about WRPGs? What do we believe about ourselves that we’ve learned from our culture? I learned that I must travel alone, since traveling with others only puts them in danger and impedes my progress. I learned that everything will attack me, and I have to be ready for it. I learned that I have to develop a skillset that is both specialized and broad. I need to know how to use multiple weapons for multiple kinds of enemies. I also learned that if I’m brave or willing to explore hostile territory, I will be rewarded with weapons, gold, or armor. Finally, I learned that if I fail, I can just reload my save and pretend it never happened.
There are several things that make Skyrim unique to me. Many games have dragons, beautiful loot, and character customization. What made Skyrim different was the snow and the Falmer. The snow reinforces the concepts behind a WPRG: You are alone and in hostile territory. Nothing makes a character stick out more than running across a pure, white landscape.
The land lets you know that you are alone. It also lets you know that death is around the corner, since snow has a tendency to choke out the last remnants of color from the fall. The snow in Skyrim is beautiful, but it is a reminder of death and solitude. It reminds you that you are in an inhospitable land, that you are far from home. The Falmer are the aggressive elves that dwell in dwarven ruins. The Elder Scrolls has a history of creating involving and complex lore, but the story behind the Falmer is truly sad.
The Falmer were once like any other humanoid race in Skyrim, standing alongside the other elven races as brethren. The Falmer were once known as the Snow Elves, and they lived in the land of Skyrim before the Nords moved in. At first, they got along peacefully. Eventually, the Snow Elves grew concerned with the booming Nord population, so they began to engage in fights that ultimately led to war. The Nords pushed the Snow Elves further and further from their homes, until they had no choice but to hide underground. While underground, they met the Dwemer, who promised to keep them safe and provide shelter.
The Dwemer were as mistrustful of the Snow Elves as they were of the Nords, so they poisoned them, blinded them, and imprisoned them. All that remains of the Snow Elves, their history, and their culture are the twisted Falmer who roam underground in the ruins of their former masters.
This story is just one of many tragedies in The Elder Scrolls world, and is a testament to Bethesda’s mastery over story and their commitment to treating their players like they’re thoughtful enough to understand. There are not really good guys or bad guys in this story, since everyone was hurt because of their mistrust of one another. The mistrust between these groups highlights the fact that you are alone, there is no one who you can depend on, and the land is filled with hostility. The Falmer are the remnants of a once proud civilization that was undermined by war, uncertainty, and slavery. As a player, you constantly shoot, stab, or destroy what is left of this race to sustain yourself, to ensure your survival.
That’s all any video game ever asks you to do. You have to stay alive, and if that means you have to kill some people who tried to hurt you, so be it. That’s all these races were trying to do. They just wanted to stay alive, and they were willing to kill others based on unfounded suspicion. It doesn’t create much stability, but it does allow them and their kind to survive for another day. Just like the bears, and the spiders, and the dragons. They’re all just fighting because the world and its snow told them that they are alone, they don’t have anyone else they can rely on, and the world is cold.
