The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Intense overall intensityWhat's in it
Alcohol (mead, ale, wine) is brewed, sold, and drunk, and the fictional narcotic skooma can be found, consumed, and sold by the player.
The player can steal, pickpocket, and murder freely, and joining the Dark Brotherhood pays the character to assassinate innocent targets.
Dungeons contain torture racks and captive victims, and one Daedric quest has the player beat a chained, helpless prisoner with a weapon.
Sword, bow, and magic combat against humans, undead, and creatures produces blood spray, with occasional slow-motion killing blows.
Optional quests involve assassination, a cannibalism ritual where the player eats a corpse, and grim scenes of death and cruelty.
Combat killcams can show enemies being decapitated on screen.
Unequipping armor leaves characters in underwear; no fully nude models in the base game.
Ancient tombs feature reanimated draugr, dark crypts, and jump-scare moments in an eerie atmosphere.
Conjuration and necromancy let the player summon Daedra and reanimate corpses, and Daedric shrine quests depict ritual worship.
Hunting and fighting wildlife such as deer, wolves, bears, and mammoths for pelts and meat is ordinary gameplay.
In-game joke book 'The Lusty Argonian Maid' contains comedic sexual innuendo, and the player can court and marry an NPC, though sex is never shown.
Mild insults and curses like 'damn' and 'bastard' in NPC dialogue.
Who can reach your kid
What it is
Skyrim is a single-player open-world fantasy role-playing game where you create a hero and roam a vast Nordic land of mountains, cities, and ancient tombs, free to follow the dragon-slaying main story or wander into countless side quests. Play involves real-time combat with swords, bows, and magic against human bandits, undead Draugr, and creatures including dragons, producing blood and occasional slow-motion decapitation killcams. The world contains drinkable alcohol and a fictional street drug (skooma) the player can use and sell, optional guilds that reward theft and assassination of non-combatants, spell schools that summon demonic Daedra and raise corpses, and darker quests touching cannibalism and beating a bound captive. Sexual content is limited to mild written innuendo and marriage, with no nudity beyond underwear.
How it's framed
The game presents an open moral sandbox: you may play as a noble hero or pursue theft, murder, and Daedric pacts, and the darker guild questlines actively reward killing innocents rather than punishing it. Grim acts such as assassination, torture, and cannibalism are woven into optional storylines as choices with in-game consequences to reputation and bounties, but the game imposes no authorial judgment on how the player behaves.
Details
- Developer
- Bethesda Game Studios
- Publisher
- Bethesda Softworks
- Released
- Nov 10, 2011
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