Skyrim vs Skyward Sword

I figured I should take a moment to talk about two games I'm playing right now. They will come as a shock to absolutely no one. Bethesda Games Studios Skyrim and Nintendo's Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword.

In one sense these games couldn't be more different. One is a massive "sandbox" fantasy RPG set in a gritty and deadly world where you can do whatever you want, the other is set (10 hours into it anyway) in a bright and colorful world of talking plants and villains in unitards. With Skyrim my wife has asked me to stop and turn my character around so she could marvel at the world. She calls Skyward Sword "Candyland". But does that mean one game is for grown ups and one is for kids? By no means!

Skyrim as you probably know is the 5th game in the long running Elder Scrolls series. I put many hours into Morrowind on the PC and only a handful of hours into Oblivion (which was my fault for waiting 5 years to play it). The original Legend of Zelda was probably the first RPG-like game I ever played. I've got stories about my 7th grade self trading secret locations with my classmates on our overworld maps. Skyward Sword is the latest entry in that long running series, and most likely the last game on the Wii.


But I love both games. Skyrim, in all it's gritty, bloody, open world glory shows me how far games have come. I shape this world. I'm not just along for the ride. Those kinds of games are great too, but there's something about having impact on a world with your choices. Skyward Sword is just fun. Skyrim is fun too, and even though I feel like Nintendo is constantly holding my hand as if I were perpetually 11 years old, they know fun. And while I was starting to feel like Zelda had grown stale, Skyward Sword makes it feel fresh. It's still 100% Zelda, but it feels new, and I'm having a blast. The hardest part is finding time for both games. I'm over 20 hours into Skyrim and about 12 into Skyward Sword. I'm not tired of either one.

I'll probably devote individual posts to these games soon. They deserve it. These games remind me why it's such a great time to be a gamer.