Despite being a game that is over 10 years old, Skyrim is still a game that is loved by many. It may not have the most engaging story, the factions have little to no depth to them, and most of the characters feel incredibly dull. So what are the reasons players keep coming back to this game after 10 years?

10. Character Creation

Skyrim gives the player a vast amount of options to decide what their character looks like. Due to the number of slider options you can create some really cool or crazy-looking characters. This is even expanded upon with mods like “Racemenu”. Skyrim’s character creation lets us pick a variety of races and different looks which lets us make the perfect character for a certain playthrough. This brings us to our next point.

9. Role-playing

Skyrim may not be the most hardcore RPG game out there but its simplified version of it is what makes it appealing to a large audience. You have the freedom to play as any race to suit your ideal character in mind, immersing yourself in role-playing as that character. You want to maybe play as a stealthy wood elf assassin? Sure. A dumner wizard or an axe-wielding Nord? Why not. Skyrim’s sandbox gives the player the freedom to play as any build and any character they come up with.

8. There is always something new 

With the sheer size of Skyrim, after 12 years it feels like there is still something undiscovered hidden within the game. From quests, characters, and just tiny details hidden around, there is always something small that after all my years of playing, I have not seen before. It might even be a tiny segment of dialogue but it is always a pleasant surprise to find it. 

For example, only recently I have discovered you can summon the dremora pirate Velehk Sain, as seen in the picture above. If you help him, he will give you a unique treasure map. 

7. Bugs

What would any Bethesda game be without its bugs? Apart from many bugs which can break the game, you can also find dozens of bugs in Skyrim that are just hilarious, such as giant chickens, a cow, or a mammoth just floating in the air, to a giant riding on the back of a dragon. 

6. Exploits

As I have mentioned in the earlier point, Skyrim is not the most polished game even so many years after its release. Due to this, players have found numerous ways to cheat and exploit the game allowing them to craft insanely powerful items. There are still many players who dedicate many hours just to find new ways to break the game.

5. Different ways to play

No playthrough in Skyrim ever feels the same. There are always new things to do and different ways to approach the game. Maybe this time you will be a mage? Maybe you will destroy the Dark Brotherhood instead of joining them? Or maybe this time you just want to have the most ideal playthrough you can have. This is one of the things that leaves players coming back again and again.

4. There is no rush

In Skyrim you are never rushed to do anything. You can take every quest at your own pace allowing you to relax and very easily enjoy the game. This allows the player to get lost in Skyrim’s world since there is no rush to get something done. You might be coming back from a quest and see a cave, you decide to go in, and next thing you have another quest. You follow that quest and then totally even forget about the quest you were initially after. 

3. Atmosphere

One thing that Skyrim does right is the atmosphere of the game. Jeremy Soule has composed one of the most beautiful soundtracks that perfectly fits into the world of Skyrim. It is such a memorable experience walking through the plains, watching the aurora and listening to the song “From Past to Present” or walking into Whiterun right during a sunset, the sky in a pallet of orange and hearing “The Streets of Whiterun”. With its music, world, and pallet of colors, not many games can quite capture the emotions Skyrim can.  

2. Freedom

As mentioned before, freedom is what makes Skyrim the game that it is. It is incredibly versatile what you can do in this game. Maybe you want to run around like a maniac and just kill random NPCs or you just want to pick up crops or shout Lydia off a cliff for no reason. You can hire a dog to follow you around and explore the world. Sure, the dog is useless but it is the fact that the option is there. There are very few limits to what the player can do in Skyrim and this opens the door to so many possibilities. 

1. Modding 

Skyrim at its core is a fantastic game but its open and versatile sandbox has allowed players to put their own creativity into the game. It is easily one of the main things that have kept Skyrim so relevant to this day. With mods, players can make Skyrim into the game that they want to play and add hundreds of hours of content. Mods can literally change the way you play the game and with hundreds of mods being released every week there is always something new to try out. With the help of mods, you can turn Skyrim into basically a next-gen game.