There is no wonder why “The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim” has gotten the praise it has already received. From a casual gamer’s perspective, this was a gift from the gamer gods.

“Skyrim” is the fifth sequel from Bethesda’s Elder Scrolls action/adventure RPG fantasy video game series, and is the best one yet. And you don’t need to play the previous Elder Scrolls to still have a good time playing it. It took Bethesda nearly two years to finish this amazing project, and it was definitely worth the wait.

This game has touched a generation with its beautiful graphics and storyline. It not only allows the player to play the game, but experience it as well.

You play as a citizen of Skyrim, a fictional nation (in setting you would find similar to a “Dungeons & Dragons” game) in the middle of an ongoing Nordic Civil War between the Stormcloaks and the Imperials. You can customize your character’s race, facial features, hair, skin tone, height, weight, eyes and even war paint.

But you don’t have to be human either, you can choose from an array of different mythological races such as an Argonian (reptilian-humaniod), a Khajiit (feline-humanoid), an Orc, three different types of Elven races and four different types of Human races.

The Nordic land of Skyrim is a beautiful mirror-image of Scandinavia. Aside from the vibrant cities and quaint villages that you come across upon your quests, hiking or horseback riding in the wilderness allows you to see breathtaking mountains, lush green forests, life-giving rivers and at night, when you look up to the night sky you can even see the aurora borealis.

But you can’t stand around too much, because Skyrim is a land filled with dangers. You are never safe in the wilderness, whether it be a pack of ravenous wolves, a belligerent band of blood-thirsty bandits, or even giants with clubs to bash you sky-high. You must always be on your guard. But those are mere peons compared to the real threat you face in this game: dragons.

In this game it is your destiny to defeat fire-breathing dragons. They are difficult to kill, but slaying one is doable (and satisfying).

However, even if you are as careful as you can be, danger can come out of nowhere, you could walk off of a steep ledge and fall to your death without warning.

It would be very wise to save before going into any random structure or corner, or even after you had just beaten a challenging foe. It’s hard to know when your checkpoints happen and it could set you back a few miles or scenes if you’re not careful.

But before you get this game, make sure that you don’t have anything to do for the next month. For those of you who have no life or aspirations, go right ahead. But if you have a social life, friends, or a significant other, please play this game with caution.

This is a hard-core game that you may want to put all of your attention into. In this game you are also able to buy property, and get married to fictional men and/or women, practically living a second life in the game. And with new updates there could be virtually endless quests for you to finish.

In this reporter’s opinion, I would give it a five out of five for its amazing story, graphics and playability.