Forbes has some initial thoughts about what it is like to go back to Solstheim for those who have been there in Morrowind.
Shortly after booting up Dragonborn, the new DLC for Skyrim, I cautiously took a longboat out to Solstheim the (sort of) new island for the game. As soon as I pulled up, there was a familiar, if bizarre, white structure off in the distance. I recognized it immediately – a House Redoran building from the old days of Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind. Off in the distance there was a giant mushroom serving as a mage’s tower. It’s nice to be back.
Skyrim missed the mark on its previous DLC, Dawnguard. Instead of a whole new world to explore, we got a series of linear quests, a few new items and a scant number of new enemies. That’s not the case here. Dragonborn gives us more of what we fell in love with in Skyrim in first place – caves and crags to explore, fancy items and monsters to kill them with. The landscape is mostly what we remember from Skyrim – frozen wastes and barrows, anybody? But everything else feels new, and it’s a welcome change. It took a little while, but it looks like we finally have a proper expansion pack for one of the best games of 2011.
Kotaku thinks it is pretty good, and much better than Dawnguard. But notes that the problems of Skyrim are also present in Dragonborn.
More importantly, Dragonborn re-evokes that feeling of excitement, that rush of untapped whimsy that massive open-world games like Skyrim and Fallout: New Vegas are so good at offering. A new map brings with it new places. New dungeons. New quests to discover and rewards to unearth. It's an explorer's wet dream.
Sadly, with a game like Skyrim—and consequently, with its Dragonborn DLC—the potential is often more exciting than the results. Unlock a particularly tough door, for example, and your only reward might be a couple wheels of cheese and a chest with some worthless armor. You might find that an enticing-looking fortress holds nothing but a bunch of generic bandits. Quests might end abruptly and unceremoniously.
The main quest's conclusion is similarly underwhelming, but in that as in all of Dragonborn, what matters is the journey, not the reward. It's the little moments of joy when you find a new location, or when you're exploring a corner of the map that nobody else would even bother exploring, only to find a hidden treasure or easter egg that you know the designers threw in just for you.
Eurogamer thinks it is expansive, and provide some details about the things that people can look forward to doing when it is available for PC (or when they buy the Game of the Year Edition and get all the game add-ons in one go).
There's a secondary quest line, almost as large and important as the primary one, that finds you investigating a plot against the Dark Elf family that rules the island. There are mines full of Draugr Deathlords and hidden “black books” that lead to yet more Apocrypha realms to explore, each one a navigational puzzle in itself. There's a treasure map and several archaeological expeditions to tag along with. If you're a werewolf, there's something just for you up in the mountains. Thieves Guild membership pays off in another quest. Even something as esoteric as knowing about The Lusty Argonian Maid can lead to fresh content, if you rummage in the right place.
There are new creatures to fight, such as the eerie floating Netch which resemble Mass Effect's Hanar, lumbering Bristleback boars and the fearsome Ash Spawn, who attack en masse with heavy melee attacks and fire magic. There are new crafting materials - Heart Stone and Stalhrim, a tempered ice that can be used to make armour and weapons. There are even new plants and ingredients to add to your recipes.
Any game that demands hundreds of hours from the player must build a long-term relationship, and relationships must remain fresh if they're to endure. With discoveries around every corner, Dragonborn just gave Skyrim fans the perfect excuse to lose themselves in the wild for another winter.
Spears are in, but if you pick them up then they turn into big arrows >:.
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A moderator has closed this comment topic for the time beingGaming journalism is a bad joke.
Also in the Hearthfire trailer it was referenced that HF was addon content or something. not DLC
second. aha dragonborn. juhu the same s#*! like dawnguard when i play the first time without mods or patches?
I was so starved for content that when the DLCs came out I got them the first day every time.
Then I got the PC version, I got so busy enjoying the games amazing mod community (particularly The Fallout 3 Nexus) that I barely touched the DLCs again.
When Dawnguard came out I was really hyped for it but was in California seeing my Grandma on vacation.
It wasn't out for PC yet but I still had a Xbox copy and my little brother had already played and beat the Dawnguard by the time I got back.
When it came out on PC I bout it first day, I was very excited by the new content.
I haven't really played it yet, I got to when you first approach the castle at the very beginning of the DLC then lost interest and went to play more of the AWESOME quest mods the community here was made.
I'm okay with waiting a little while for the DLC because I only really buy the DLC at this point for the mods the community makes for them.
Instead of playing this I'm leveling a new Character (Khajiit) to play through the Elsywer Mod.
The only really real difference between the official DLCs and the quality mods is that they are official content
Enjoy the mods we have (THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS OF THEM) and wait patently for the DLC guys
Banned - link spam
Bben46