The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is a fantasy RPG from Bethesda Game Studios that, since its 2011 release, has become synonymous with an endlessly expandable open world. The player takes on the role of the Dovahkiin, a prophesied hero capable of absorbing dragon souls and using powerful Shouts, while traveling through the snowy province of Skyrim full of factions, caves, cities, and side stories that together add up to hundreds of hours of content. The free character-development system without fixed classes allows players to combine melee combat, magic, and thieving skills as they please, gradually crafting a hero to their own liking without the risk of choosing wrong.

The Anniversary Edition, which arrived on Xbox Series X and S in 2021, combines the base game with all its expansions (Dawnguard, Hearthfire, Dragonborn) and dozens of previously paid and new creation-club contents. On the new generation of consoles, the game runs in native 4K resolution with improved lighting and smoother performance, so the snowy mountain peaks and dungeon depths look significantly better than on Xbox One. Jeremy Soule's atmospheric soundtrack remains one of the most recognizable in the genre, and together with the sound of wind and wolves it completes the feeling of a lonely journey through a wilderness full of dragon shrines and ancient ruins. The faction quest lines, from the Dark Brotherhood to the Companions, also offer entirely different playstyles and tones of storytelling within a single world.

Skyrim has probably had more re-releases than any other game during its existence, and its influence on the open-world RPG genre is hard to overstate — it set the bar for freedom of exploration, the modding community, and the longevity of a single title. Even nearly fifteen years after the original, it remains a game on Xbox Series that players keep coming back to, whether out of nostalgia, for the additional content, or simply because it offers so many paths to walk.

Why play it: Almost fifteen years after release, it still offers so many paths to freedom of exploration, modding, and length of play that players keep coming back to it, whether out of nostalgia, new content, or the urge to lose themselves once again in their own adventure.