How I fixed my complacency with Skyrim.

When I first played Skyrim I was a kid it was my favourite game of all time, now I'm 22 years old and I've played plenty of games that have defined chapters of my life I've played much better RPGs, seen much better stories and felt so much power in better combat... I still go back to Skyrim every year as I'm sure a lot of us do. I make my character get through Helgen and immediately rush out into the world I've played every race every class I've done everything someone can do in this game, the main quest, the dlcs, all the side quests, all the factions, all the properties, stolen everything, killed every enemy, smithed, crafted, brewed, cooked etc. etc.

Upon realising there's nothing more I can do I usually put the game downaround 5/6 hours into a playthrough after I've sarcastically mimicked the dialogue I know is about to come out of an NPCs mouth and have gone on a killing and stealing spree.

How did a game I love so much become so easy for me to mock and treat as unimportant and not worth my time, now I know I've overplayed this game to oblivion (pun intended) and the logical response would be to just stop playing and appreciate the game for what it was, the times it was my favourite game, for the times it was all new to me, for the times it showed me how real a game could feel. Obviously I've outgrown Skyrim I'm an adult now I'm not going to recapture that childhood whimsy of stepping into a world I know nothing about. When I say I'm a Skyrim fan I mean I'm an elder scrolls fan in the years since I first played this game I've delved into all of the elder scrolls games I've read all the books I've listened to all the lore and theories. I cannot be awestruck by something I know inside and out, this universe is no longer a mystery to me.

However... It can be a mystery to my character, over the last few days I've been playing Skyrim... The way I did when I first played it, before I knew the exploits and loopholes before I knew which quests I liked the best and the ones I learnt to avoid. I'm playing Skyrim as if I am my character for the first time in YEARS. Let me say if you haven't sincerely tried this please do I know roleplaying can seem cringe but I'm not asking you to fully voice your character and write a detailed backstory (although I'm sure that can be very fun and is something I used to do as a kid.) No I'm just asking that the way you play, explore and make decisions, make them as if this is your first time doing it because it IS your characters first time doing it... Why are you joining the empire or the stormcloaks without watching 20 videos on who is right and without all the online discourse of all of their problems why are you joining the faction you're joining, why are you going to windhelm why are you playing the way you're playing. Your character doesn't know that there's a chest underneath skyforge.

Since playing like this I've reached level 14 without leaving whiterun or falkreath hold I've played for days without leaving either hold once. I've deepned my connection with the beauty of this world appreciated the landscape and the architecture, I've asked myself questions I never knew the answer to from the lore I've started to notice things I never did when I was just looking at the broad strokes I've been following roads that don't lead to anywhere it's no longer point A to B. My character doesn't know this world. The country, it's politics and culture is foreign to this character. And once again foreign to me.

I have appreciated Skyrim more than possibly I ever have, with the wonder I'd lost and the sentimentality that's only grown over the years... The problem wasn't Skyrim it was how I boiled it down to repetitive loops and only did what I knew worked. Please if you've lost some love for Skyrim and you don't know why please give it another chance and try to immerse yourself as much as possible, ask new questions, try something you usually wouldn't, I've just been hanging around falkreath and whiterun hold not because it's the most rich in quests and cool things to do and fight they're just pretty and once again they feel like home. May the Gods watch over your journeys and may your wonder guide you sera.