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Comments
The game does a good job of stringing you along, and Skyrim is an excellent narrative game -- in that it narrates itself superbly -- but there's no particularly strong storyline. It would be nice if there was a narrative force behind the main quest beyond player curiosity and promise of power.
"Dragons are resurrecting and will eventually kill everyone if no one stops them and you are granted by the gods a gift that allows you to permanently kill said dragons and absorb their powers for your own" isn't a narrative force?
It is, but it's very external. There's nothing that approaches inherent emotional investment in that setup, which juxtaposes it directly with popular, long-lasting works of literature and cinema. For instance, The Lord of the Rings spends time building the Shire as an idyllic combination of a medieval and Romantic-period English town, with gentle, kindly inhabitants. It then forces a protagonist established alongside that setting from his home, where his choice is to lure a powerful evil to his homeland or take a perilous journey to rid himself and his beloved home of said evil.
Basically, Skyrim's initial narrative drive is too vague and impersonal for it to make a wider impact on an audience. No-one will remember the game for the emotional imperative to slay all the dragons. They'll remember it for its narrative strengths certainly -- primarily how it's structured to make even "random" events dramatic to some degree -- but no-one will talk about it the same way they talk about the loneliness of Metroid or the warmth of Zelda. Emotional investment isn't the strength of TES and isn't the strength of Skyrim. They're certainly very narrative in a good way, but not in a way that pertains to plot or character interaction.
Ok, I can see where you're coming from there.
I think that's one of those things that come with the decision to make the player character a "blank slate". Personally I like it the way it is (coming up with the background of each character I create which helps me decide what quests appeal to them), but I understand what you're getting at.