Home Is Where The Skyrim Is...

I’m one of those RPG addicted morons who crave time consuming, open world titles, so last year’s release of Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim has really delayed any kind of personal or emotional growth for months.

A close friend was rightfully addicted to the title for a month, slavishly playing the game for two hours a night, but our Skyrim bond ended after the birth of his first child.

Having no kids of my own or enough gold to build a hearth for my imaginary soulmate, I will continue to live (at least part-time) in the Skyrim universe, thanks to today’s release of the Skyrim add-on Hearthfire on the Xbox 360.  For 400 Microsoft Points, gamers can create their own homestead and loving family.  Whether it’s purchasing property in Hjaalmarch, the Falkreath forests, or the wintery reaches of The Pale (the area’s capital is one of my favorite Skyrim locales…Dawnstar), Hearthfire offers players the chance to create a simple cottage or construct an imposing compound.

Kitchen Confidential Skyrim style....

Getting the chance to adopt children, own pets, raise (and hopefully devour) slaughterfish in a fish hatchery and grow plants in a greenhouse all appeal to my suburban side, and it’s the main reason I’m downloading Hearthfire before the previously released, vampire themed Dawnguard. I’ll eventually end up playing both add-ons after I’ve actually completed Skyrim.

Protecting one’s family is also a huge part of Hearthfire, as players will try to keep out giants, hungry skeevers, and marauders from eviscerating their loved ones.  Followers can be be turned into faithful stewards who place the family’s welfare before their own.

The beauty and pain of Skyrim is that there are too many caves, cities, and villages to explore, and running through the game in an expedient and altogether roughshod fashion defeats the purpose.  It takes months, or in my pathetic case, close to a year, to fully appreciate Skyrim’s world (It was voted Game of the Year at this year’s GDC Awards).  Hopefully I’ll find a new home in Hearthfire, even though building my own family outside Skyrim seems daunting, even for a highly revered Thane of Whiterun.


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Posted by Greg Srisavasdi: @Gsrisavasdi