Postcards from Skyrim

I've been back in the gaming lately.

I have a few names which I've started recycling around characters when I'm gaming. Most of them are girls names, because - hey, given the choice wouldn't you want to be looking at something gorgeous all game ? That also goes for the voice acting. When it comes to a Mass Effect play through, I'd much rather listen to the silky tones of Jennifer Hale than the alternative, Mark Meer.

One thing about Skyrim is that while there's quite a bit of voice acting in the game, the main character has no voice. Not in a Gordon Freeman strong but silent hero (from the Half Life games), you can talk to people but it just comes up as text. There's no sound with it.

Names. What names do I use ? I've settled on a small selection :

Mages/Wizards get called Iceangel. I feel that's a strong but cold name.
Warriors are Bashara. As in, "Bash" plus a bit of trollification. Or "Ba - sher - a" as one Scandinavian accent said it. (Hello Cloudberry!)
Hunter types get called Finlay, after a myth. Thought it was a cool name, it just happened to have an appropriate myth attached to it.
(that's actually the true test - does it sound cool)
Keela - is the name for my priest/cleric characters. This was chosen randomly by a D&D character creator programme and I liked it enough that it became my Eve character name.

And there's a couple more character names too. My Sith sorceror got called "Morrd". Stealthy characters use "Nocimi".

Wait - this was supposed to be a picture post to tide me over while it was too hot to think straight :

That's Bashara, deciding whether or not to investigate* a strange outpost in the middle of the Skyrim countryside. Skyrim is a massive game. You'll be running from A to B or town to next quest location. But on the way ... what's that over there ? Let's go have a look shall we ? This is no on-the-rails RPG like Deus Ex HR or even Mass Effect. It's a completely open world filled with :

Curious strongholds to investigate*
Interesting people to say hello to
And lots of dead bodies to loot

*(yes - Investigate is usually followed by "why you try to kill me?" followed by aggressive negotiation a la Jedi. If they don't want visitors, they should put up "No soliciting" signs !)

I got a little bored with Bashara though. I couldn't really get into the melee combat system. It's more player skill orientated than I believe a RPG should be, with it being more luck than judgment too.

Definitely beware. That would be Iceangel, who is an entirely different can of whoop ass. She uses bunnies as target practice. (They're tricky little critters ! They bounce all over the place)

This scene was a good example of the voice acting. It's not often that voice acting goes as far as singing. Yet in Skyrim there's a good few minstrels around that prop up the inns.

Oh and the Skyrim Iceangel also snipes birds off statues.

I've been rather enjoying Skyrim since restarting as the mage.

PS Clicking on the pictures will hopefully get them opening bigger (must peek at the settings again). The originals are 1080p and I think highest detail. It's a very pretty game, which just adds to the sense of immersion. Trudging through a blizzard feels Hard.