Leann Back's review of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Date last edited: 12-06-2024 at 04:30PMClick here to view trailer
Rating: Mature 17+
Review:Title: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Developer/Publisher: Bethesda Softworks
Genre: Role-Playiing
ESRB rating: M
Your rating on a 5 star scale: 4
Primary audience: adults
Year of release: 2011
Platform: PlayStation 3,Windows, Xbox 360
https://youtu.be/JSRtYpNRoN0?si=AF9N2N0jNy6ahCSc
The video game the Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is a role-play game in a fantasy world in which the players enter a land called Skyrim. The main premise of the game is to defeat the dragons, in which the player is known as the Dragonborn and can consume their souls, destroying them once and for all. Throughout the game there are many side quests the player can embark on while still following the main quest. This creates an individuality to the players own experience and allows for everyone’s gameplay to be different. Overall, the game can be a little vulgar and has many adult themes to it. However, I do also think there is good to this game and that it can promote a sense of creativity and awaken virtues within a person, if played wisely. So, I have challenged myself through this review to reveal to you that the Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim can help in cultivating virtue by looking at it through these seven media keys.
The Seven Media Keys Applied to Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
The First Media Key: Balance
When understanding the first media, which is balance, and The Elder Scrolls video game, one must look firstly at its target audience. It states that it is for adults, not children and it I rated M for a reason. This must be taken into account, and one must understand that there will be adult themes used within the game. When playing the game there is often violence used throughout, however you are never required to kill anyone and it is very clear that it is a fantasy world. In terms of balance, the virtue of temperance must be used in all aspects. The game is full of lots of fun adventures, sure there is violence here and there, but it is not the main premise or point of the game to simply reek havoc and be violent. The game also offers a variety of choices when playing which provides a balance of choices, if one does not want a violent game they may choose to play it differently.
The Second Media Key: Attitude Awareness
According to the Book Infinite Bandwidth, the virtue prudence is the best used when applying this key. When looking at this game we must have an awareness of what it is trying to teach and what its values are. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim role plays a hero who is supposed to help defeat the dragons who are destroying villages and cities. The game allows for you to choose wether or not you will be the good or bad guy who saves people or causes distraction. All of its side quests allow for your roleplaying to be unique to you, and if used with prudence can encourage strength and help you understand the weight of your choices.
The Third Media Key: The Dignity of the Human Person
Within the game you play as a character who helps destroy the dragons that are causing death and harm to the human person. The storyline is about the war against the dragons and how you are the chosen one destined to end the war and bring peace. It also includes punishments and such if you steal or kill a citizen within the game. If you are to commit a crime and enter a city you will be caught by a guard, put in jail, and fined for the crime you have committed. These aspects of the game help to build up the dignity of the human person and allow for the game players to have an understanding of the importance of lives.
The Fourth Media Key: Truth-Filled
When applying this media key to Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim we must note that the game does not claim to be a real-world game. To put it simply, it is a fantasy game that allows the players to role-play in a second world with the help of the games story. However, this does not mean it cannot be truth-filled or contain the virtue fortitude, which is associated with this media key. Clearly the game is an imaginative game, but it does have aspects of truth buried within. Referring back to the paragraphs above on attitude awareness and its respect for the dignity of the human person, we can note that these things highlight how it can be truth-filled. There is not a God in this game, however there are gods, higher powers that help guide you and promote goodness and encourage perseverance. There is a sense of the truth of the real world here because your character growth can be done with fortitude.
The Fifth Media Key: Inspiring
This video game can be incredibly inspiring and bring a sense of hope. Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim allows for you to grow in your creativity. Your character can have many different traits. For example, you can choose at the very beginning what kind of “race” you are and depending on that you have different trait or aspects about your character that help you throughout the game. If you were to choose to be an imperial your combat would be better than most and you would be able to become an imperial soldier and help fight in the war. This example can inspire a sense of courageousness or valiance within the player. It also encourages the player to grow through the leveling up system. The more you practice the better you can get, inspiring not just the game play but hopefulness of real-world situations.
The Sixth Media Key: Skillfully Developed
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is skillfully developed not just because of how wonderfully made the graphics are or how thought out the storyline and side quests are but because it has a sense if faith. This faith is built on every little detail within, from the building up of your character levels, to the adventuring on the main quests to reach the end of the game, to all the side quests that allow for your own individuality. The entire game is skillfully developed to bring players into a world that allows for faith in true things such as the dignity of a person or the building up of oneself.
The Seventh Media Key: Motivated by and Relevant to Experience
Throughout the game you meet many people along the way and build up a small community of characters that you know and trust. One of the main characters beside you is your thorn Lydia who helps you fight all your battles and go on your adventures. This builds a sense of charity within your heart. The game also allows you to buy a house and even adopt an orphan child. You also meet side characters that come along with you and you must protect them or help them out with their situations. Although it is clearly a fantasy game it does not complexity deviate from truth but is in fact relevant and motivated by genuine experience.
Conclusion
The game Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is a fantasy world that does promote goodness and virtue despite being violent. It teaches its players a sense of what it is like to fight hard battles and persevere. Cultivating virtue is definitely not what the creators had in mind when when making this game, however clearly there are many aspects within it that do so. The game inspires one to be brave, to be prudent, to have faith, to be hopeful, and have fortitude, especially in the real world when facing difficult problems. Through its difficulty and in its heroic end it teaches players these things.
Seven Keys:Balanced:
Attitude:
Personal:
Truth-filled:
Inspired:
Skillfully Made:
Experienced:
Overall Rating:
7/35
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