The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Standard Edition – Nintendo Switch

I used to play this on Xbox and now I have a switch. I haven’t even downloaded any other games because I’ve been playing this so much.

Always a great game, no matter the platform. It is dissapointing, however, that the Switch port can’t be upgraded to the newest edition with the CC content. It’s good to see the Hearthfire DLC, though. Recommended for portablilty and nostalgia only; if you want the complete experience, stick with the other ports.

I’ve bought Skyrim for more systems than I can remember at this point. I believe this purchase marks the fifth or sixth time I have bought it, including once before for Switch. I originally traded my Switch version because the controls felt so horrible. With the standard Joy-Cons, this game came close to unplayable for me. Everything felt very slow and ponderous, even when I cranked up the controller sensitivity. I ended up buying a Pro Controller (which is great, by the way), and Skyrim became tolerable. Not fabulous, but tolerable, although I still had to crank up the controller sensitivity and deal with some vertiginous moments. I didn’t play enough to justify holding on the game, so I traded it and moved on to other things.
Recently, I felt the itch to quest again, and I also had picked up a Switch Lite in the last few months. I wondered if Skyrim would hold up in a portable experience. Despite the controls being horrible with standard Joy-Cons on a TV, playing Skyrim on a Lite has been an absolute joy. I’m not sure exactly what it is, but the controls are perfect on the Lite. Everything seems snappy and tight and combat is just what I’d like. I will admit that the smaller screen of the Lite means I have to squint at some of the text (this is what happens when you get old, kids), but it’s not like I end up with headaches. Instead, I can play Skyrim from a fully charged battery down until it tells I need to plug in or lose data. That’s got to be 3 hours, at least, which is not typical for me.
I love that I can play in bed, in an easy chair, in a boat, with a goat…this is a Switch Lite thing, not the game, but I can say with no hesitation that Skyrim works great in handheld mode. Really, really great. In fact, I would go so far as to say that playing Skyrim on the Switch Lite is my favorite way to play Skyrim. Who knows? I may actually finish the main quest this time.

I have Skyrim on various platforms. It’s my favorite game ever and I will never not recommend it. However one issues I have with the Switch version is there is this terrible scratching/sudden static sound that happens every ones in a while when playing. This issue made it hard for me to decide between 4 starts or 5 since it doesn’t affect the game itself but rather it’s just an annoyance. It comes and goes but it can be a real damper on the game play. It’s quite annoying but since it doesn’t last long and you can usually make it stop by saving and restarting the application, it’s not a huge miss for me. Other than that the game is as fantastic as ever. Still good old Skyrim. 🙂