Skyrim

I'll be honest, I don't play Skyrim as most people do. In fact, you could say I don't have the button-mashing skills to play it at all. And you'd be correct. This game was introduced to me by my boyfriend, and he didn't let me know anything about the game when he had me create a character. So I learned as I went, and I didn't get very far before I was attacked by wolves and panicked, pausing the game and handing the controller back to him. From then on out he let me make the decisions but it was his skills with the buttons and speed that made "my game" achievable. As you may know, I am no video-game champion. On that note, because I only had the decisions to make, and wasn't worried about my lack of skills, I loved this game!

Now, for those of you who don't know the world of Skyrim, it is an era during which magic, swordsmanship, and thievery reign. And there are rumors of dragons...

It is the players goal to play out the certain story pieces of the game while also engaging in side-quests of "life", such as forging weapons, collecting items for alchemy, learning at the college, and killing draugr. Because this game simulates life in another world, the basics of life such as talking to people, and collecting food are still usual parts of game play, however, there is no "grinding" to obtain a higher level. Unless, of course, you'd like to grind. But the higher levels of character building are easily obtainable through the quests. For example, in order to get an ancient book for a professor at the college, you must travel to a cave in the mountain, kill any guards and draugr (undead), perhaps dispatch a very unfriendly foe, and solve a puzzle or two. You now have obtained the book as well as experience points.

I think the main reason I liked this game is because of it's freedom of play. I was more interested in leveling up my magic, or my archery (so I could easily fight from a far distance), than my swordsmanship, or thieving. When I was asked to plant a ring on a man who I knew nothing about, I had the choice to refuse to do so, not hindering my path to the end of the game, simply not obtaining whatever lied at the end of that mini-quest. And so I took down my foes in my own selected choice of weapon (fire and arrow), and was give choices as to what paths I would take in my game.

I believe that the elimination of grinding and the availability of choices which reflect the person's true characteristics make this game fun for a large population of players.

...and let's not forget that you can shout at dragons to kill them. That's pretty cool too!