 | ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids. |
 | OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | NOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age. |
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
- Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Windows
- Price: $59.99
- Genre: Role Playing
Common Sense Media says
Vast and violent RPG filled with moral choice and ambiguity.
Parents say
QUALITY
Kids say
QUALITY
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is a vast, open role-playing game with missions involving bloody, visceral violence and others that require diplomatic social skills. The game is largely what the user makes of it. Players can choose to act nobly, maliciously, or apathetically. Actions are typically accompanied by appropriate consequences, meaning players who do good will be rewarded while those who do evil will likely end up spending time in jail and facing loss of property and skill. The game is dense with mature themes involving sexuality, alcohol, and complex social, political, and economic problems.
What's it about?
THE ELDER SCROLLS V: SKYRIM is a fantasy role-playing game set 200 years after the events of its predecessor. It takes place in Skyrim, the oldest and northernmost province of Tamriel, a continent that fans of the Elder Scrolls franchise have been exploring in games dating back to 1994. As in previous entries, players have complete freedom to explore a vast, open world however they like, growing their character slowly through game-altering decisions and actions that could lead them to become a noble soldier fighting for an empire, a fighter in a resistance group that challenges the empire, or a member of several different organizations that range from a college of bards to a brotherhood of assassins. Along the way they learn that they are one of the dragonborn, a rare breed of warrior capable of slaying dragons and stealing their voices, which they can use in battle. This turns out to be pretty handy, given that the dragons have returned to terrorize Skyrim after centuries of absence, adding to a stack of problems that includes a burgeoning civil war and a potential invasion.
Is it any good?
A strong contender for one of the best M-rated games of 2011, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is perhaps the largest and most ambitious single-player, role-playing games ever made. Its world is startling in its scope, complexity, and beauty. More than 100 points of interest -- including cities, towns, caves, and ruins -- dot a Nordic landscape filled with towering mountains, beautiful wildlife, and rushing rapids. Blue skies and bright sun can in moments give way to pounding rain, deep fogs, and blinding snowstorms. Calm nights, meanwhile, are lit by mesmerizing starscapes and dancing Northern Lights.
And there is no shortage of things to do in this world. Players are free to choose their own way through the tundra, hills, and marshes, completing or ignoring scores of quests at their leisure. Engaging combat mechanics combine with interesting characters, a rich and interweaving mythology, and the satisfaction that comes with the constant discovery of new places and things to create an experience that remains fresh day after day, week after week. Hardcore adult players can expect to invest somewhere north of 100 hours in this remarkable virtual fantasy world, and they’ll adore every minute of it.
What families can talk about
Families can talk about the possibility of losing oneself in enormous, realistic video game worlds. How do you maintain game/life balance? How do you moderate your play?
Families can also discuss violence in games. Do you distinguish between games that allow you to make moral decisions regarding violence (such as whether or not to kill a thief or stop an unjust execution) and those that simply present the player with legions of enemies to slaughter? How so?
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AGE
It's a OK
Hello!
Let me put this to you straight and simple. Skyrim is about exploration and fantasy. I bought this game because my 15 year old wanted it for his birthday. When he put it in his system I decided to watch him play. The game was fantastic! I have never seen anything like it before. However at the time my 13 year old also wanted to play it. I told him he would have to let me see the game played longer by my 15 year old. I have to say after watching my son play the game I told my other son to come in. I told him it would be okay to play because of the fact that Skyrim is such a big game that I seriously doubt that my 13 year old will get to see every bit of the game. The sexual content is at a minimum, The blood is similar to the Halo games, and the drinking thing is just silly. Thank you for reading this review and I hope it helped :) Peace
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AGE
Moral Decisions: Scary, but Important
Among the games of today Skyrim is the rarest kind of jewel. It is an experience that should be had by anyone who loves video games, and the story-line, moral choices, character development, atmosphere, and sheer gorgeous beauty of the world you are exploring make this game one of the best I have ever played. As a hard core gamer all of my life, I look at this game as a once-in-a-decade occurance. It is unique, it is individual (a very rare thing in games that are becoming increasingly fixated on only the multiplayer experience) and it is beautiful.
But that's not the point. I am a young adult, after all, and this game, as a M Rated game, is targeted towards me and middle to older teens. Is this game appropriate for children? In some ways possibly more so than most M rated games. In other ways, it is not so much inappropriate as perhaps over younger children's heads.
This game is a very difficult game. It has difficulty settings, of course, but the complexity of the world and the problems the character is presented with, the sheer vastness of an entire land to explore and dozens of quests to fullfill, make this game a likely bewildering experience to many children younger than 12, and only if those twelve year olds are experienced or fairly experienced gamers. There is a way of thinking that goes along with experience with games, and they will need critical thinking skills, trial and error, patience, and technical skill to be successful at this game. While it is extremely rewarding to wander into the wilderness of Skyrim, weak and practically defenseless and without knowing anything about the world you are entering, I entered that world as an experienced and confident gamer, and suspect that the experience would be overwhelming to younger children who do not have much experience with video games. There are just so many things to do, become, try.
Which brings us to the moral choices dilemma. It is true that in Skyrim, you can choose to become anything from the noblest man or woman to ever walk to earth, to the lowest, cruelest, piece of scum. There are many levels of gradation, unlike many games in which the good/evil moral choice aspect is presented in a way that makes you either totally good or absolutely bad. For example, you could choose to save a man from a bandit's onslaught, and yet pickpocket random people on the street. You can donate your money to homeless beggars, and then join an assassin group and kill for money. There are many moral choices in this game. To many to count. And that is why I think, in the end, this game is better than a game in which you are forced to play by default, a completely good hero or a mean antihero (as in the Grand Theft Auto games).
The kind of moral choices in Skyrim can seem scary. After all, what if your child chooses to play as the worst kind of character, a merciless killer, who would kill innocent men and women on the street to rob them of their money? First of all, the fighting in this game is far less violent than most games now days. There is a little spurt of blood, and then the body falls, completely intact (unless it is beheaded, and even then, the animation is nothing that most 12 year olds haven't seen worse of in movies or on TV). Some people I know play the game in this way and find in enjoyable. But many other people find an excersize in morality, as they try to become a genuinly good person and make decisions that will benefit those around them. It means more to be a hero in Skyrim, because you can choose not to. IT means more to choose not to lie, to choose to help someone who needs it, to choose to make a character who embodies some aspect of how you would hope to live. But at the end of the game, the character is just a character and the world is just a world. RPG's can teach us things about ourselves, and Skyrim is one such obsticle course through which we can practice steering our morality.
So this is my recommendation:seriously question whether this game is appropriate for your child if they are under 13 and not an experienced gamer. However, if the kid is 16 and older, this game might just end up being their favorite game ever.
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AGE
Future Game of the Year
One of the best games you can find around. Where you can cast exploding fireball spells, to creating your very one sword for profit. Now for the appropriateness. Now the game came out today (11/11/11) so don't expect 100% accuracy. ESRB was reasonable about the gore rating. People get sentance to death via beheading. On of the one handed perks even gives a %30 percent chance of decafatation. I haven't notice much sex talk, yet. And you can consume alcohol, such as wine. One thing is for certain, they made their own illegal drug called "Skooma" which CS somehow failed to mention in Skyrim and Oblivion. You can even find Skooma dealers on the roads and buy the stuff from them. Or you can walk away. I one time found a skooma dealer that talked about how good skooma was. I said "This doesn't sound legal." Then she tried to kill me so she fell victim to my mighty axe! It does have slow motion animation killings sometimes. For example one time when I was facing a wolf, I picked it up and slammed my axe on it. The dragons and giants can be brutal though. There is video of a dragon biting an archer, swinging him around, then chucked him across the field. The giants just stomp on you and slam their clubs. But they are pretty terrifying. Not ghost story terrifying, they can like kill you in one shot of their club so yea, they're pretty powerful. The funny part about them is that there is a very common glitch where when a giant kills you, you go flying a mile into the sky. You also get to choose whether you fight te defend the people, or be a serial killer. Though if you choose evil, you get a bounty on you meaning that the guards will want to see in prison. Also, if your bounty is high enough, they wont even give you the opportunity to surrender, they'll just attack you on sight. In other words, this game is amazing!
EDIT: If you choose evil, there are ways to avoid bounties. You only get a bounty if you are caught by someone else committing crimes. You can monitor wether or not you are being watched when in sneak mode because it has a little eye thing that tells you if you are hidden, at risk of detection, or detected. I even took advantage of that and robbed a meat stand in brood daylight when a guard was just a couple yards away and avoid a bounty by only robbing when I was hidden. I have found some sex talk. It was woman upset over her husband thinking he was sleeping with some other woman. There is racism. The Stormcloakcs, (rebels who want independence from the empire,) only want Nords in Skyrim, and the citizens in Windhelm hate anyone who is not a Nord, primarily Dark Elves and Argonians (lizard people.) There is torture. I got a quest to spy on the Thalmor, (A group of elves that for some reason hate the worship of a god known as Talos,) they were hitting a man with a mace to get information. Just be happy I busted that guy out. Their are guilds you can join. The Companions, legendary mercenaries, College of Winterhold, good guys that teach magic, but are disrespected, Thieves Guild, a group of thieves, and Dark Brotherhood, hired assassins. There is also a political conflict with wether or not Skyrim should go independent. Stormcloaks, rebels who want independence, they are angry at the empire for banning the worship of Talos, and believe that the Nordic way of life is in danger, but are racist and only want Nords in Skyrim. The Imperial Army wants Skyrim to still be part of the empire, they'll let anyone be in Skyrim and want to uphold the peoples safety, but conflicts with the Nordic way of life and were forced to ban the worship of Talos, thanks to the Thalmor. You get to choose witch side you want to take. There is even achievements for completing their quest lines. Hopefully this edit helps you to decide even more.
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AGE
Good for 13 and up
The one problem I had with this game is the minor sexual content. Although it is pretty hard to see this you can talk to certain people who will refrence it. But this game is not really designed for you to walk around and talk to every one, it is designed for ou to go exploring and discorvering. This game is a RPG which is a game that gives the player choice. You can if you want to steal or murder but just like in real life you will if you get caught be thrown into jail. But on the good side you can do equally good things such as save a person in need, help a mother find her daughter/son and you will be rewarded for doing those things. The violence is another issue because when ever you are fighting a creature blood wth spray out of its body and onto the floor. you can use a variety of different weapons in order to finish your opponent. Such as swords, arrows, daggers, and magic. The game also features dragons that will appear at random and attack you. These battles can be epic in scope and onece you defeat the dragon you are rewarded with a new spell that the dragon had. All around this is a great game and I recommned it for any one 13 and up.
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AGE
The TRUTH
There havent been many good reviews on this but im going to tell the truth.
The game itself...
Educational value - 3/5! Like most RPG games this inspires children to save their money, learn how to sell in the market and auction.You choose how you play. You must decide what the best path to take is and there is a lot of research to be done on your class your race and your talent tree. Much like well known RPG based games like 'World of Warcaft'.
Positive messages - 2/5! None apart from what I have just said!
Postive role models - 1/5! This game doesnt have many but it has a few noble knights who would offer their life to defend their town. Apart from that there aren't many.
Ease of play - 3/5! The controls are straight forward but if you want to seriously get into the game you will need to do some research online.
Now time for the decider if you want your child to play this...
Violence - When you hit enemies sometimes blood spurts out. There is no torture at all. People talk of executions, there is 1 but all you see is a person being captured and told he will be executed. He does not beg, scream, shout or cry when he hears this. Nothing much with the violence.
Sex/Sexual references - Nothing much. There are festivals and feasts where half naked women dance but kids below the age of 9 see this on TV.
Language - None.
Drinking, drugs, smoking - There are Skyrim drugs called Skooma which you see around the place. There is drinking but kids will see this all the time.
Over all - If you have a child who is mature and over the age of 10 then this is fine!
It is a brilliant game too.
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AGE
Ok for 13 and up.
This is a very fun game. It is very entertaining and can also be educational. In this game you have the freedom to make choices. Know your kid. If you have a mature responsible kids over the age of 12 it should be fine. There is nothing I wouldn't trust my 12 year old with. There is violence and very small amounts of sexual content. But it is very rare and is very mild. Nothing kids this age can't handle.
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AGE
First user review not written by either a troll or a younger teen.
Ladies and gentlemen, I am going to tell you about Skyrim, what it is, what it is about, and the different themes associated with it.
Skyrim is the next installment of Bethesda Softwork's award-winning Role Playing Game series, The Elder Scrolls. It is a game in which a person takes control of a character of their own design (anything from brave Nordic warrior to Cat-Person.) One traverses the open world of Skyrim in search of fame and glory through combat, trade, errands, and diplomacy. I feel that "pause for 13" is a worthy rating for this game, as while many 13 year-olds can certainly handle many of the game's mature themes, it is not always a given.
Let us look through the stuff here, shall we?
Educational:
Believe it or not dear reader, this game can actually teach a player a good deal about conserving money and bartering, as in the game the character can make many decisions about what to buy, where, and for what reason. This is helped as different stores and vendors offer things at different prices. The player's vocabulary of fantastical words will also be increased, as they will learn words like "tome" or "necromancy". Not that they are particularly useful words or anything.
Role models: The main role-model in the game, is actually the player themselves. They can decide to, ultimately, if they want to smash in the head of an innocent civilian or not. As most games, combat against other blood-thirsty warriors and great beasts is required to play and win the game, but it is up to the player if they want to be a paragon of righteousness and help the weak, or be a really, really big jerk.
Violence: The game almost revolves around violence, but not as much as a game like Call of Duty. The player can choose several different methods of battle to defeat a foe, everything from giant-axe brutality to spewing a torrent of fire out of their hands. As could be expected, the goal of all methods is to kill one's opponent, but magic I have seen is notably less bloody than melee combat. Players can expect to see corpses, skeletons, and mutilated bodies throughout the course of the entire game.
Sexual themes: Minimal but still present. The occasional bit of innuendo here, some cleavage. Characters can appear with most clothing off, this being men in loincloth and girls in their undies.
Language: Not as bad as most games. No F-bombs or swearing in "the name," as it takes place in another world entirely. The "D" word and the "B" word are common place however. Basically any swear that can sound alright said in medieval times.
Themes: It can get pretty strong in this game. Many a time will the player be forced into hard, morally difficult or confusing situations. There is, if the player decides to peruse some schools of magic, a good deal of summoning, the collection of the souls of enemies, and other dark ideas in general.
Addictive factor: Skyrim is an incredible game. It is almost endlessly immersive, and can hold a person's attention for months, literally. There is so much to do and see in the game that there are some people who have played a single character for hundreds of hours in the previous game, Oblivion, just to enjoy all that there is to offer. It goes without saying that Skyrim has even more content, and can utterly consume the life of the player if they have nothing else to do. Be sure your child is not overly-imaginative in the way that they would blur fantasy and reality together, as this is one of those games.
Overall: Skyrim is an excellent game for anyone who can take the mature themes and still enjoy them, along with playing it in moderation. If not, it could lead to an escapist attitude toward life in general, as the player would much rather play Skyrim than enjoy the charms of reality. Be sure to know your child if you allow them to play it.
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AGE
Amazing Game...But Should be Careful about who plays it
I really love this game. I started off playing with Oblivion, then got Skyrim the day it came out. It's graphics are very detailed, the characters look real at points. I do admit that there is a lot of blood and fighting, almost all quests include some form of battle. Now, your character could end up being a good role model or a mass murderer. I normally have one loyal to the law and one that I can do anything with. There are drinks that you can pick up and drink from, though some of them have advantages, they are canceled out by some kind of problem. Language is used at different times.
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Kid, 11 years old
November 18, 2011
AGE
Somewhat inappropriate, but positive messages and good role models
Skyrim has sexual innuendo, decapitations, and alcoholism in the game, but it also reflects the message to make your lifestyle the way you want it, and to realize consequences of your actions, whether negative or positive. You can select different races at the beginning of the game, which will improve different stats and give you special abilities. In the game, dragons come back to life, and you, a dragonborn, (dovahkiin in dragon language) have the power to stop them. While this is the maine questline, you can still branch off and do other things such as brawl in hand-to-hand combat, become an assassin or a vigilante thief. As a hero, you can be a mage, a warrior, an archer, or even a spellsword. Overall, this game is amazing, and parents should take a look at this game first before getting it for 10-12 y.o.
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AGE
Skyrim not voilent!
I think it is not too voilent if cut down to short amounts of time and it is overall safe for kids.
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| Topics: | magic and fantasy |
| Platforms: | Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Windows |
| Available online? | Not available online |
| Genre: | Role Playing |
| Developer: | Bethesda Softworks |
| Release date: | November 11, 2011 |
| Price: | $59.99 |
| ESRB rating: | M for Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Sexual Themes, Use of Alcohol |
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