I tried to like this game. I really, really tried to like this game. I bought it not long after launch and only a few days ago I installed it again for maybe the 6th time.
But every time I play it I keep exiting after an hour or so. It doesn't capture me in any way. It does not give me any incentive to keep playing. The only reason I already gave it 100 hours (according to Steam) is that I keep hoping it will get better. But it doesn't.
And yes, I tried many mods as well. But it does not make a difference.
So, let me be more specific as to why.
The story and characters are terrible. The writing is terrible. The voice acting is terrible and I keep hearing the same voices over an over again.
The quests should give you the incentive to go exploring but they don't. They are mostly the same. Lead you to dungeons that all look the same. Let you fight a very poor variety of enemies (mostly bandits and Draugrs) and the reward? Some useless junk or gold to buy more useless junk.
But at least the world is beautiful right? No it isn't. I find the graphics very lackluster. The textures are bad, the character models are horrendous and the animations are not good either. And yes, there are mods to spice things up but to be honest, I do not see much of a difference.
But my biggest problem with the graphics is the art style. The Nordic landscape just does not appeal to me. Moreover, it is just too realistic and therefor boring. Yes, the world is big and you can go exploring. But where is the incentive to explore when there is nothing worthwhile to discover. The world is just not interesting at all and you keep running into the same kinds of enemies and the same kind of dungeons. There is no variety whatsoever.
The interface is also terrible. One of the worst I have ever seen in a game. Fortunately, there are mods that at least fix this part of my gripes rather well.
And finally, the combat. Also very basic as it always has been in The Elder Scrolls. Also, the game is incredibly easy. At least without mods. With mods you can make it more challenging but that does not fix the game for me. I really need more to have fun with this then just an extra challenge.
I need an exiting interesting world where I can immerse myself into. I want meaningful characters with interesting stories to tell. If I go on a quest I want the reward to be worthwhile. Skyrim offers none of those things. There are much better games in this regard. Maybe this is all just the problem with the sandbox RPG genre. I have yet to play one that offers the above. But for now I am done.