this post was submitted on 02 Nov 2023
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Enderal.
Official page here: https://sureai.net/games/enderal/
Original Skyrim version: https://store.steampowered.com/app/933480/Enderal_Forgotten_Stories/
2016 Skyrim re-release "special edition" version: https://store.steampowered.com/app/976620/Enderal_Forgotten_Stories_Special_Edition/
You'll need whichever version corresponds with the version of skyrim you own. If you own both, I'd recommend choosing the version of enderal that goes with the version of skyrim that you play the least - because it uses skyrim's assets, switching back and forth has been known to corrupt saves, so back up any skyrim saves you care about.
Anywho, Enderal is set in its own universe - it looks and kind of feels like skyrim because it's built from the same blocks, but has nothing to do with the Elder Scrolls, or Tamriel, etc (barring a few easter eggs). New lore, new characters, new terrain, new music, new voice acting.
The company that made it is "SureAI" - indie dev crew that has nothing to do with AI. /shrug. It's a predominately German studio, and while Enderal is available in English, iirc the English version is voice acted mostly by German native speakers who happen to know English as a second language. Reason for mentioning that is: be gentle in your judgement of the voice acting, lol. Along the main quest line, it's pretty much all rock solid; some of the side quests and random NPCs... not so much. And the children NPC voice acting is fucking awful. The console command "TAI" (after targeting an entity) can be used to shut up an annoying NPC without breaking it - just TAI it again if you happen to need to interact with it for a quest or something later.
Speaking of the command console - don't be afraid to use the command console!! Again, this game is built on Skyrim's engine/assets, so it comes with all of skyrim's problems - e.g., step on a basket full of cabbage; get launched into low orbit. Things like quest items falling through the floor n' shit can happen, so you may need to use the console to force a quest to progress or some shit - also save frequently, same reason. And from a technical standpoint, some of the shit they do with Skyrim's engine is mindblowing.
Not much of a sales pitch so far lol. The good stuff though: Enderal's story is pretty wild. There isn't really a traditional antagonist - instead it tackles concepts ranging from philosophical to religious to emotions / repressed emotions... this game WILL get under your skin, but in a really artistic kind of way. Very much a passion project by the devs.
Combat and skills are completely redone. It's not like Skyrim where you can just shoot icicles up a mudcrab's ass until your destruction level is 100. It plays kinda like an oldschool RPG where killing shit gives you overall-level xp, but raising skills requires skillbooks that you'll need to find or buy. Also the things that were OP in skyrim are no longer so - try the sneaky archer build in Enderal and you'll get your ass handed to you in pretty much every encounter. I recall having a lot of fun with the 2H sword path; and the magic 'schools' are mostly redone (like iirc there's a school of 'Entropy' that an entire talent tree dedicated to dark lifesteal type spells, and stronger attacks that use HP instead of mana) so read through the options, cuz a lot of them will be totally new.
Even with all the combat tweaks though, it plays pretty familiar to Skyrim, just don't lean too heavily into Skyrim's tricks.
The story though, and the way they tell it... holy shit. If you're a bookworm, you know when you finish the last page of a REALLY good book, and then get hit by that kind of empty feeling as it sinks in that the ride is over, and you want more but know there's nothing left? I've played a fuckton of videogames, and only ONE has ever hit me with that at its conclusion: and yup, it's Enderal.
It's a slow start, and there's some jankiness in general like the occasional shit voice acting and technical instability, but if you can look passed that shit (and I mean, keep in the back of your mind that it's a FREE passion project from an indie dev crew with no real budget), then this game will go down as one of your all time favorites.
+1 for Enderal. I liked it enough that I bought the writers standalone book. My friend and I played it at the same time. We both got the Enderal hangover and couldn't start a story based game for weeks
How was the book?
Enderal is amazing