It represents a total paradigm shift in the scope of what RPGs can and should be...
Graphically, it's just superior to anything else you're likely to find on the XBOX short of Arkham City and maybe -- MAYBE -- Mass Effect 2. The gameplay, while perhaps a bit convoluted if you're new to the series, is as crisp and accessible as it can possibly be for a game of this magnitude. While the inventory interface could be somewhat more streamlined and the inventory tags should be revisited, it's really a cinch to do just about whatever you want to do whenever you want to do it.
The soundscape is truly a paradigm shift in quality from Morrowind and even Oblivion. This is one of the finest orchestral soundtracks this side of a LOTR film. The sound effects and ambient noise (anyone hear that Nirnroot and those crickets?!?!?!) just add to the surreal quality of the whole experience. And quite frankly, the vistas are better -- sometimes -- than real life. The first time I rounded the slope to see the statue of Azura standing against the brilliantly clear night sky, I just stood in awe.
I can only BEGIN to imagine the experience high end PC-rig owners must be having. They must spend hours just weeping over their keyboards at the sheer beauty of it all.
Yeah, yeah, some folks will knock the fact that it IS a less free-form experience than something like Morrowind. But gaming today is about mass appeal and in the case of Skyrim some adjustments were necessary to sell those 10 million shipped copies -- for example, PLOT ARMOR. I applaud Bethesda for not allowing you to kill EVERY SINGLE NPC in the world. Prior to that, in a game like Morrowind, it was entirely possible to accidentally kill a vital quest-breaking NPC and not realize it for MANY hours although a warning always popped up -- in the heat of a serious fight, it's difficult to track these sorts of things.
Anyway, in short, this game is the sort of game that converts NON-GAMERS. It's the sort of game that causes Madden-only gamers to broaden their horizons -- it's a once-in-a-generation experience for console gamers, and even PC gamers, I think, would be hard-pressed to deny the fact that it might be the greatest masterpiece of its software generation....