The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Anniversary Edition

If you wish to spend another lifetime on Skyrim, this is the best way to do it. The Anniversary Edition brings more than 500 new items, quests and mods in the never-ending Bethesda's RPG.

It’s never too late to explore Skyrim for the first or the 100th time, and this version gives us yet another reason to go back to one of the best games ever made.

For those who have never played it or want to dedicate another 500 hours, this is undoubtedly the most complete version to date.

Aimed at those who are yet to experience The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim for the first time, this Anniversary Edition offers exceptional value for money, and is easily the best way to jump into one of the best role-playing games ever made. It may not quite look current-gen, but the fast loading times and reduced storage footprint are both meaningful gains for PS5 players, while the included Creation Club content adds yet more meat to the game’s bones which are already heaped with flesh. For those that have already played Skyrim to exhaustion, however, there’s not much here to draw them back. Though being able to upgrade from the Special Edition for just £15.99/$19.99 makes it very enticing.

So Skyrim's still Skyrim, but what does Anniversary Edition actually bring to the table? Well, with Anniversary Edition, you get complete access to the Creation Club. In a nutshell, the Creation Club started life as a poorly judged official mod shop, essentially offering DLC packs for premium currency. It took years for the Creation Club to stock up on any worthwhile content, but if you add it all together now, you're getting significant bang for your buck. Anniversary Edition comes with 74 'Creations' — from new quests and locations to weapons, armour, and player homes. If all you've ever known is Skyrim on consoles, then this avalanche of new stuff will refresh the experience to a surprising extent.

For any console player who already owns the Special Edition, some of the improvements of the Anniversary Edition are already available as free patches. Those folks will find the Anniversary Edition a reasonably priced add-on. It provides a significant new quest, some new mechanics, a new mode, and lots of cosmetic additions, plus access to the Creation Club and mods. Just don’t expect a graphical facelift. For console gamers without any experience of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim at all, the Anniversary Edition is definitely the version to pick up. With the Elder Scrolls VI in production, the Anniversary Edition is most likely (and hopefully) the final version of a seriously aging but still viable classic RPG.

Skyrim’s 10th anniversary edition is a rich and polished package, offering over hundred hours of top class RPG experience. If you never got the chance to play it back in 7th generation, now is the best time to do it.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Anniversary Edition continues to be exactly what makes Skyrim popular: a massive world to explore with tons of different ways to develop your Dragonborne. Outside of that, mods make an appearance and add a bit to the formula in their own way. Otherwise, this Skyrim is exactly as you remember, except it loads a bit faster and plays a lot smoother.

The performance upgrades make this a fantastic way to experience Skyrim for the first time, but slim content additions won’t enamour returning players. [Issue#9, p.76]

While perhaps not as enticing as it could have been, the additions that this version of Skyrim offer keep it from feeling like a total cash grab.

Skyrim is back yet again, with a graphical makeover and new user generated content, but at full price even fans of brazen commercial cynicism will find their eyebrows quietly reaching for the sky.

Skyrim Anniversary Edition is a pricey update to a legendary yet aging classic game. For those who already know it by heart, the free update will offer enough reasons to come back.