w00t Pawn: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

M's been playing this game Skyrim on Xbox for about a month or so now.  As far as I can tell, it's not really about doing or accomplishing anything - you're just this elf guy that walks around this Medieval-y, Lord of the Rings-y type of place and interact with people and forge stuff and like, barter for cheese and special helmets and whatnot.  You know how when I review a game and I'm like, This game kind of sucks because all you do is run around killing things while what would be REALLY nice is if you just walked around and enjoyed the scenery while holding hands with someone you loved?  Well, THIS is that game, except, you don't hold hands with anyone, which I think is a real lost opportunity.

You operate this character who's some kind of Elf, even though you don't really see him because it's first person.  M says this is called a "Role Playing Game".  So, you walk up to people and you scroll through these questions you can ask them and then they say the answers, and then, I don't know, maybe you go to the next village or something?  M been a real sport about jumping in rivers and looking at stuff when I ask him.  Some of the physics in the rivers are screwed up so when you're in the water it's all wonky.  I did some research and apparently later he'll ride a horse up a mountain and it's kind of dopey.  There's this one guy?  And you walk up to him and ask him to sing a song?  And then he stands there are sings a damn epic tale.  That was hilarious.  Eventually he meets up with this lady who for some reason follows him around and grudgingly tells him, "I am sworn to carry your burdens."  I'm not sure what that's all about.  Some of the ladies have giant boobs but not everyone, so it's not the most misogynist game I ever saw.  So.  There's that.

So, it's very pretty, but to tell the truth it's a little boring.  Like sometimes M's character will LITERALLY sit down at a grindstone and sharpen his own knives and shit.  For realz.   And I'm like, What's going to happen next? And M's like, I don't know, I might walk over to that other village.  One time he did fight a dragon though.

For some reason it makes me really antsy when I can't tell when these games are going to be over.  It's like... he could play it forever.  I suspect this is happening...