'Best rpg ever' is the mot fanboyish answer you can come up with. I'd like to have some substantial reasons I should buy it (because don't get me wrong, it does look quite good.). But some things looks so off-putting. Well, only 1 thing actually: the combat looks boring as shlt. You basically either spray a dude with fire or electricity for a few seconds while he just hits you, until he falls. Or you can swing your melee weapon in an incredibly monotonous fashion; the same slash over and over and over and over, until he falls.

Is it actually fun, or is the idea of a huge open-world what attracts people ?

The huge open-world system is the main attraction, with you being able to do almost anything - creating a family, ruining the eco-system of a village... I've even heard that you can become one of the jarls (lords) if you play your cards right. The stories you encounter, also, are so gripping that any fantasy fan will be delighted and have a great time.

About combat: one would think it monotonous by only seeing it, and to start of it feels almost unbearably clumsy, but once you've got the hang of it and have gained a few levels, you will realise that it's actually pretty dynamic. Yes, your light attacks are basically the same, but your heavy attacks vary depending on how you move - both visually and in effect. The enemies are smart (playing on Expert difficulty here), and you really need to utilize your mobility. I'm playing with shield and sword right now, and blocking is among the trickier arts I've seen:

Block, shield bash, attack, withdraw, recoup to regain stamina, block, throw in a light attack, shield bash the enemy to knock him back before striking you with a power attack, power attack, evade, recoup.. The depth is great and whenever there's two or more attackers, you're gonna have to break some sweat to be victorious.

When it comes to magic, some spells are ridiculously gorgeous (especially conjuration - summoning - looks wonderful as far as I've seen) and you feel badass and almost unstoppable. And once you've gained some perks for dual casting (one spell each hand), they grow even more brilliant. I haven't played much as a mage, so i can't really promise anything, but as for now I'm confident the different combinations opens up for some interesting tactics. And whether the "spray and stay" tactic works I'd say that depends on whether or not you spec some melee defense - one dies quite easily in Skyrim. The different magic resistances of enemies, enemy spellcasters and eventual anti-magic enchanted armors should also be something to keep you on your toes. I would however call magic somewhat overpowered in general.

The stealth engine is marvelous. It's basically as good as what you expect from an entirely stealth-based game. I'm worried, though, that it might be a little too easy to sneak up on an enemy when you're reaching higher levels. But hey, try sneaking up on a dragon.

The one thing that might become monotonous is archery. I mean, you shoot arrows. How varied can you be? The difficulty here is not the actual attacking, but the mobility you need in order to keep the enemies distanced. For example, you can only walk (perhaps jog) backwards, so kiting becomes much more challenging. And if you shoot from somewhere your enemies can't reach you, they won't just run into the wall or something; they'll take cover and try to wait you out.

In conclusion, my opinion is that the combat system is great and should rather be considered one of the game's strengths than a weakness. It's new, confusing and clumsy at first, but that is because you have yet to learn it and not the system itself.

I play BF3 on PS3! Add me: Pankis13

SUper fun game but I expected only graphics to differ from PC version but then I understand that some maps are smaller which is no fun If I get a new computer soon (Not very likely though ) I'll surely get it for PC too!

Skyrim is great, imho! Because there's soooo much to do. I mean, I'm almost lvl 20 now and I haven't even touched the main quest (only to the point where dragons are finally roaming free). It's basically a fantasy world simulator. And since the world is so huge, I can overlook some of the minor bugs and the not-so-state-of-the-art graphics.

Oh and best RPG is still Baldur's Gate 2

Got Skyrim. It's amazing.

I like it too, very much. I won't say it's worse than Oblivion, because it's better (1), but I do have some problems. I don't mean the lack of normal A.I. or the lame animations (which are almost a signature for The Elder Scrolls), but I almost hate the inventory. And the quick select menu. Imho a circular menu would've been easier (like in Oblivion). Every time I want to select a different spell or want to switch between types of weapons I have to click through that silly little menu in the bottom left corner, while it could've been so much easier with a simple circle. It's easier for both mouse and controller (I use the last one).

And less is more, but a little bit more info could've come in handier in the inventory. It could've been a bit more clearer which items you stole, which ones are L, R, or LR handed and what is better in terms of armor (for example, when you use the blackforge it doesn't give you an armor indication, why not?!).

I just say this because I never read this in any review, while it's still a bit of a bump for me. But despite this, I do love it haha!

You know about favoriting spells, don't you?

But yeah I agree. It could be done a bit better. It's very... console-like.

I know you can favourite. That's my point.

Basically I have favourited a bow, a dual-wield sword and an axe/sword combined with magic. Next to that I just favourited most of my magic and my shouts. If my bow is on top and my axe is below on the list, it gets pretty annoying to click down 10 items every time you want to switch between distance and close-combat weapons (something which I always do, sneak bow until they reach me for close combat). I think I'll remake the list though, if I understand correctly the list is somewhat based on 'added latest' so I'll just favourite them in order.

Still a bit chaotic for something so simple

Nah... I've never liked the 'days of yore' style of rpg. Or any game that uses that style. Except Assassins Creed.
Much prefer some kind of gun or laser (etc). Fallout 3/Fallout NV, will always be my fav rpgs.
or maybe Mass Effect.

Am hooked in to the grind of Forza 4 right now though.

@ Januy:
You know you can hotkey favourites? If you're playing on a console, press one of the directional buttons to bind the specific favourite to this button. This maybe won't do you much help on a console, but on PC (hotkeys 1 - 8), it paces up combat quite some.

After that, it also depends on how you use these hotkeys. If you have your sword and spell equipped and hotkey swap to the bow, when you press the bow hotkey to unequip it and your spell and sword will be re-equipped - handiest way to do it, or you'll confuse yourself by unequipping the bow and the magic or something similar.