Month: January 2019

Complete guide to Skyrim

Here’s everything you could possibly want to know about Skyrim, from mods to graphics to glitches.

Skyrim

Since its initial release back in 2011, Bethesda’s Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim has graced the market for PC, PS3, Xbox 360, Xbox One (Including Kinect capability), PS4, PSVR, and Nintendo Switch. Moreover, there are also three versions of the game regarding content as well: The base Elder Scrolls V game (2011), the Legendary Edition (with all three DLC included), and Skyrim Special Edition (2016) which also has all DLC included along with remastered graphics.

Normally when a game releases “updated” versions of a game the question of which to get is self-explanatory: Get the latest one! But with Skyrim the choice is a bit harder. Why? Because if you’re playing Skyrim in 2019 you’re likely playing it with mods. And lots of them. The modding community has become a huge part of both Skyrim’s fan base and its commercial success, and certain mods, especially ones made several years ago, will not work in Skyrim’s later editions.

For example, there are specific graphic mods that work well with the original Skyrim that are obviously not compatible with Skyrim: SE, since the Special Edition already enhances aspects such as water and spell-casting FX, water flow, god rays, dynamic depth of field, and screen-space reflections. Does Bethesda handle these changes better than the modders? The answer is subjective; everyone has different taste.

This graphic mod is cool but won't work on SE
This cool ENB mod from Sung9533 won’t work on Skyrim Special Edition

As such, this guide will be taking you through the different elements that make up Skyrim: Graphics, content, RPG, and smooth gameplay (yeah, there are bugs) in an attempt to help create the best Skyrim tips for you. The beauty of Elder Scrolls V is that with multiple editions of the game and a massive, growing community of modders, if you’re not enjoying Skyrim you’re simply not doing it right! Is the vanilla experience for you? Maybe the Special Edition with a couple added NPCs? Or are you going to load up 50+ mods to completely transform the game into something else entirely? Let’s get started!

Ultimate Skyrim guide: Which race is the best?

Read Now ►

Why is Skyrim good? Why is it so popular?

The base game released in 2011 was critically acclaimed, with over 230,000 players on the first day of its release on Steam. Within two days of the game’s launch, 3.4 million units were sold. Impressive to be sure, but what was the draw? Bethesda did what they arguably do best: Created an open sandbox experience in a living, breathing world; literally infinite side quests, engaging combat, a streamlined RPG system that still offers tremendous replayability, and DLC content that adds value to the core game without overshadowing content.

Shalidor's Insight provides useful scrolls to temporarily bump your magic skills
Urag will always have a fetch quest in a randomly-generated cave

Skyrim is the type of game that holds your hand during the brief intro tutorial, then drops you in the center of a breathtaking expanse of options and zero time limits. Do things at your own pace. Explore when you want.

Escape Helgen and the world is yours.
Everything the light touches is yours. Except DLC. Then you should be level 15.

Fight anybody who crosses you, build your own house, level up however you choose, and gather all the phat loot you can stuff into your pockets. See those mountains far, far away? You can go there. That dark cave under the mountain? You can go there, too. The snowy crypt surrounded by undead? Sure. There’s no level-lock and there are no invisible barriers to block you from going anyplace you like.

It’s the replayability and the question of ‘what’s around the next corner?’ that keeps players booting up Skyrim and cataloging hundreds and hundreds of hours. The Main Quest is a solid 30 hours long, the Dawnguard DLC adding another 7 hours, and the Dragonborn DLC adding another 6 on top of that. That means the Legendary and Special Editions of Skyrim, both of which include the two DLC as well as the home-building Hearthfire, takes around 25-40 hours, doing added quests and grinding pushing that well past 100 hours.

New spells, new enemies, new areas, new items.
The Dawnguard and Dragonborn DLC add over 13 hours of content.

Why is Skyrim bad? With so much to do, how could it be boring?

With all the positive things to say about Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, we’d be remiss not to address the issues – and yes, there are issues. The bugs cannot be ignored, and while there is a lot of content and there are a ton of skills, it looks like the sky is the limit … until you hit the ceiling. While the Main Quests give you your money’s worth, they lack any branching options like you’d find in games like Mass Effect, Dragon Age, or Witcher 3. Dialogue options will have minimal to no effect on your quest line, and once you’ve, for example, restored the College of Winterhold, that story will be the exact same next time around. And the next time. And the next.

Quests don't change in Skyrim.
Poor Cicero will never get to be the Listener.

Furthermore, while any player can accomplish any build and acquire any skill in the RPG system, role-playing a specific character class will eventually stop yielding reward. Each of the 18 skill trees maxes out at 100, and once you’ve allocated the perks you want into the tree there’s not much more to do with the class and (unless you make your skills legendary) it also becomes harder to level up unless you start investing in the other trees. Let’s say you want to role-play a powerful wizard, for example.

There are six trees in the magic school. Once you’ve reached 100 with each of them (which takes a while!) you’ve got limited choices if you want to continue leveling up and growing as a character: Invest in the martial or thievery skill trees (at which point you’re not role-playing as a wizard anymore), buy some new spells (and unfortunately there is a set number; Skyrim does not have any kind of spell crafting mechanic), or make your skills Legendary. What this will do is reset your skills back to 15, removing all your allocated perk points. You’ll lose a lot of powers, but you’ll once again be able to level up your character by casting spells in the respective trees. Rinse, repeat.

Time to stop role-playing as a blacksmith, I guess.
Once you hit 100 with a skill, performing it will no longer raise your character level.

With no way to alter quest lines, skill trees that repeat, and also the fact that there’s definitely a ‘best equipment’ when it comes to finding, purchasing, or upgrading your armor and weapons, you’ll end up playing a Skyrim experience with less wiggle room than you might have thought.

The best Skyrim graphics

‘The best’ graphics in any video game easily just comes down to subjective taste. So here we’re going to be showcasing both work from Bethesda (specifically from the 2016 Special Edition) as well as a number of community mods that take different approaches to the game world, assets, animations, and character models. Note that higher resolution will mean a more taxing game for your hardware, and if you’re playing on a computer that’s having a hard time keeping up with 4k resolution, you might have to settle for lighter mods (of which there are still a handful to pick from).

Skyrim: Special Edition

To start off, Bethesda Softworks’ Skyrim Special Edition improves visuals by leaps and bounds. Remastered art and effects take center stage with dazzling new spell effects, bright plumes of flame streaming from the mouths of angry dragons, higher-definition trees, foliage, and cobblestone, and weapons that glint in the sunlight. The day/night cycle is enhanced with volumetric god rays peeking through the trees, pale dawn illuminating the snowy lands, and stunning sunsets adding crimson and violet to the craggy mountain backdrop.

volumetric god rays play through the snowy trees or mountain landscapes
The god rays might be our favorite new feature

Aside from the lighting and other visual game improvements, the Special Edition of Skyrim also adds increased stability when facing a swarm of opponents, more realistically flowing water, rain occlusion (precipitation won’t pass through solid objects anymore), and reduced z-fighting (glitchy-looking objects at far distances).

While the Special Edition is a great start, many modding players will not stop there when it comes to enhancing graphics. We’re going to show you a number of additional mods that tweak the game’s appearance. Obviously, it’s best to let the pictures and videos speak for themselves for this, so rather than explain what they do, we’ll leave you with links and pictures of some of the most popular.

Skyrim 2017 Textures – Pfuscher

(Skyrim: SE)

Skyrim Flora Overhaul SE – vurt

(Skyrim: SE)

gorgeous vistas and landscapes that look like a painting

ApachiiSkyHair SE – apachii

(Skyrim: SE)

Tired of the default hair in Skyrim? We are too.

Realistic Water Two – isoku

(Skyrim: SE)

Enhanced Blood Textures – dDefinder1

(Skyrim: SE)

Vivid Weathers Definitive Edition – Mangaclub

(Skyrim: SE)

Skyrim HD – NebuLa1

(Skyrim 2011)

Climates of Tamriel – jjc71

(Skyrim 2011)

Swirling clouds over high mountain peaks.

The Eyes of Beauty – LogRaam

(Skyrim 2011)

Vivid eyes with tons of custom options

RealVision ENB – SkyrimTuner

(Skyrim 2011)

Enhanced Lights and FX – anamorfus

(Skyrim: SE)

The ol' Cistern never looked this good.
New angles for columns of light and shades of darkness

Realistic Lighting Overhaul – sydney666

(Skyrim: SE)

Dust particles meander peacefully down onto dim carpets and wood floors.

What is an ENB and which is best?

Funny enough, ENB stands for “easy now, Boris,” referring to a modder named Boris who used to go above and beyond the call of duty when creating graphical overhauls for games. The acronym stuck and now refers to any complete visual reworkings of the game. These ENB mods are not simple fixes or changes, but are instead a radical re-texturing of practically every in-game asset. They are much larger files and do everything from adjusting lighting and textures to recreating Skyrim into absolutely new territory:

The True Vision ENB by Bronze316 is a good example of a complete character art overhaul

When you download an ENB, you’re committing to all the changes it makes to the game – completely different visual experience. The best thing about an ENB is that they are one-stop shortcuts; a one-install solution to a variety of graphical modifications you want to make. So rather than installing dozens of graphical enhancers to the core game and praying that they all work well together, an ENB should handle all the visuals by itself.

Best ENB for Skyrim

Enhanced Lighting for ENB – JawZ

(Skyrim: SE)

Enhanced lighting for ENB

Nyclix’s ENB-Reshade – huey9055

(Skyrim: SE)

This ENB makes exploring so much more worth it just to see what's out there.

Superb ENB – sung9533

(Skyrim 2011)

Mythical ENB – omega2008

(Skyrim: SE)

Bleak ENB – trustinall

(Skyrim 2011)

Now Bleak Falls Barrow will actually look bleak.

OrganicENB – skysan4298

(Skyrim: SE)

Just when you thought the sunrise couldn't look any prettier.

Sharpshooters Extreme Graphics ENB – sharpshooter8

(Skyrim 2011)

Never be without a god ray
Add god rays to the original 2011 Skyrim!

The best Skyrim added content

Making Skyrim look, feel, and sound more visceral is hugely important in adding immersion to the game. A better-looking quest line doesn’t necessarily constitute for an improved one. Once you’ve played a mission to death it will feel boring no matter how many god rays are shining down on it.

The answer? New content.

This is one of the broadest categories of our compilation since there are more NPCs, spells, weapons, and locations being added by modders every day. As such, we’re going to be focusing on DLC and modded content that provides the most organic, lore-friendly content to the story and world of Elder Scrolls. This list will not include any changes to the core gameplay; that’s in the next section.

What are all the Skyrim DLCs?

Skyrim: Legendary Edition and Skyrim: Special Edition both come with all three DLC packs that Bethesda added to the core game. These are Dawnguard, Hearthfire, and Dragonborn.

Dawnguard

The Dawnguard DLC kicks off once the player reaches level 10, and begins with an orc named Durak relaying news of a growing vampire menace in the peninsula. The quest line takes players through vast new destinations like the eerie Soul Cairn – a purgatory for captured souls led by the illusive Ideal Masters – and the icy tundras, crystalline palaces, and dark caverns of the Forgotten Vale.

Watch the dragons. Yeah, they're here too.
Explore huge new environments as you follow the path of the Knight-Paladin Gelebor

Players can choose to follow the vampire-hunting Dawnguard guild on their crusade to defeat Harkon’s court of night stalkers, or rather choose to join his troupe, inheriting the powerful abilities of the Vampire Lord – sapping health from attackers, morphing into a cloud of bats, summoning gargoyles to your command, and feeding on helpless victims to stave off the wicked effects of sunlight.

Hearthfire

Hearthfire is a smaller DLC, but adds a cozy expansion allowing players to build and design their own houses and adopt children. If you’ve grown bored of the same five houses offered in the base game, this will definitely peak your interest. With Hearthfire you can purchase new land in Hjaalmarch, Falkreath, and the Pale. This includes a new housecarl for each home, tons of storage space, mannequins and plaques to showcase your favorite items, and a place to call your own, far from the bustling crowds of a city.

Dragonborn

Lastly, Bethesda added the Dragonborn DLC, introducing an entirely new area: Solstheim, a large island off the coast of Morrowind, the neighboring peninsula to Skyrim. Solstheim is largely populated by Dark Elves. Starting once you’ve reached level 10 and completed the Horn of Jurgen Windcaller quest, the Dragonborn DLC reveals that you are not the only surviving Dragonborn; Miraak is another, and aspires to take over the island and deem you a blasphemer to the title of Dragonborn.

The quest takes you through Hermaeus Mora’s tortured land of Apocrypha, where you’ll face powerful new enemies, solve puzzles, and earn new abilities ranging from shouts that can disintegrate foes to Dremora butlers, to even riding dragons through the sky, both on Solstheim and back on the mainland of Skyrim. If you’ve ever wanted to feel the true might of the Dragonborn, you’ll need to go through this DLC!

Best content mods

There’s a slew of modded content available for free on both the game’s Steam page and on nexusmods.com both for Skyrim and for Skyrim: Special Edition. There’s also many available on moddb.com. With mods in general we prize two things: Personalization and longevity.

Personalization allows for players to custom-fit Skyrim (or any game) to transform it into one that they want to play. This could be removing irksome features, changing aesthetics, or even providing an entirely new angle to the game experience.

Longevity refers to how much extra time the mods provide us in the game, breathing more life into something we’d otherwise have put aside many hours ago. Added content can keep a game fresh long after it’s worn down.

Stalhrim armor is a top-tier armor right up there with dragonbone or daedric
Ready for a new challenge? Learn how to mine stalhrim and forge new armor in the Dragonborn DLC.

With the three DLC, Bethesda added content to Skyrim that both enhanced what was already present, and also introduced hours more of story, puzzles, gameplay inclusions, player abilities, new challenging encounters, and even slightly branching paths for added replayability in the Dawnguard DLC. The most popular mods that add extra content do much the same thing: Add content that enhances the core experience of Skyrim, adding extra freshness and more avenues to explore.

Apocalypse – Magic of Skyrim – EnaiSiaion

(Available on both 2011 Skyrim and Skyrim: SE)

The spell system in Skyrim is functional but streamlined. Once you’ve purchased your desired spells and acquired the necessary perks in the relevant magic trees there’s not much more to be done as a mage in Skyrim.

Apocalypse is the more popular spell pack, adding 155 completely new spells to the game: Fabricate objects, walk on air, weave tornadoes, conjure holograms, control minds, and a ton more.

Diverse Dragons Collection – opusGlass

(Available on both 2011 Skyrim and Skyrim: SE)

opusGlass’ dragons do not replace or change dragon fights. Rather this mod simply draws the dragon you fight from a much wider selection of possibilities. Dragons in Skyrim, for the most part, will either use frost or fire, and have varying degrees of difficulty, set to match the level of the player character.

Diverse Dragons does the same thing, except it adds dozens of new skins, abilities, and stats for those dragons. You may fight a dragon that’s as difficult as a typical Revered Dragon, except now it will breathe poison instead of fire, or concentrated beams of energy. This mod restores some excitement to fight mechanics that can otherwise grow overdone or tedious.

Monster Mod – TiggyUK

(Available on both 2011 Skyrim and Skyrim: SE)

Skyrim is a harsh land inhabited by many creatures looking to spill your coin or your blood. TiggyUK added hundreds of new lore-friendly monsters to the mix, making exploration more exciting and more dangerous. Many are complete with new or rare alchemy parts or items, making fighting and looting them well worth your while.

What’s especially cool is this also goes for dungeon bosses; instead of a leveled Draugr, for example, you might come face to face with a Dremora Spider or a Lich!

Moonpath to Elsweyr – Illiani

(Available on both 2011 Skyrim and Skyrim: SE)

This mod adds a full adventure through a completely fan-made depiction of Elsweyr, home of the feline Khajiit race.

With new enemies, adventures, NPCs, and locales, this mod adds a refreshing break from the typical tundras of Skyrim.

Immersive Armors – hothtrooper44

(Available on both 2011 Skyrim and Skyrim: SE)

Once you’ve explored Skyrim from top to bottom you’ll have seen practically all the armor variants out there, from steel to ebony, glass to dragonbone, dwarven to daedric. They look cool, to be sure, but does it make sense that every bandit has the same matching outfit? No, it does not.

Hothtrooper44 drastically enhances the variety of armors in Skyrim in a very lore-friendly and balanced way – armors that can be found, purchased, crafted, or looted. If you want to fight enemies wearing a lot of cool new gear, or deck yourself out in some sweet ringmail with a kilt, you’ve got to check this mod out!

Immersive weapons – hothtrooper44

(Available on both 2011 Skyrim and Skyrim: SE)

Another mod by the same dude who gave you Immersive Armors, Immersive weapons does the same thing, only this time with an array of gorgeous, lore-friendly weapons that people in the game world (including you) can use.

Want to use a spear? A naginata? A scythe? Maybe a Forsworn battle axe? It’s all here, it’s all integrated seamlessly, it’s all leveled appropriately, and all the aesthetics are believable.

Falskaar – AlexanderJVelicky

(Available on both 2011 Skyrim and Skyrim: SE)

Falskaar sates the same wanderlust cravings as Moonpath to Elsweyr, and is equally stunning in terms of scope, integration with the core game, and visuals.

There’s a new campaign with a worthy reward, NPCs, as well as new dungeons, alchemy, and encounters. All fully voice-acted and smooth. Enjoy 20+ hours of added content of lore-friendly quests and locales.

Enderal

Much like an ENB is a complete overhaul of a game’s visuals, Enderal is a complete overhaul of Skyrim – stripping away all but some assets and the game engine. A total conversion mod for Skyrim, this does not add content to the core game, but is rather an outright transformation of Skyrim in virtually every way.

An open world with its own unique lore and landscapes, a brand new story, new characters and quests, and an entirely revamped skill system with classes and special abilities integrated. There’s 30-100 hours of content.

Skyrim is an RPG. What are the best RPG mods?

There are two facets that qualify a game as a role-playing game: Acting like a particular character and playing like that particular character. Since Skyrim’s lacking in the ‘make your own plot choices’ department, the RPG angle of Skyrim has to come out in its gameplay. It starts with the skill tree:

Skyrim’s RPG system is divided between 18 different skill trees: Six for martial skills, six more for magic skills, and then a final six for rogue skills. Performing one such skill will rank up the skill tree, unlocking more perks. When your character levels up, he/she earns a perk point to be spent on a tree of your choosing, slowly altering the way that tree works. It could be something as simple as enhanced damage for a weapon type, or something as complex as crafting wax keys based on locks you’ve previously opened. Some perks are better than others.

Bethesda added new gameplay mechanics in the Legendary and Special Edition versions of Skyrim that made slight modifications to the skill trees, namely in the form of the reward players receive upon completing the Dragonborn DLC, and in making skills Legendary. Making a skill legendary will revert it back to its starting level (typically 15), removing all perks you put into it, thereby making you a newborn babe at a skill you were godly at moments ago.

Why would anybody want to do this?

Because it means you can beat the level cap. Low-level skill trees means that you can one again level up by performing that tree’s relevant skills. This is particularly useful for mage characters who can’t seem to level up anymore because they insist on role-playing a pure mage. In short, if you don’t dabble in Skyrim, you’ll eventually flat-line. This fixes that.

Aside from these minor tweaks, there have been precious few alterations or enhancements to Skyrim’s RPG system, and gameplay can become stale. Luckily there are several RPG mods that add or change the way the game is played:

Ordinator Perks of Skyrim – EnaiSiaion

(Available on both Skyrim and Skyrim: Special Edition)

Ordinator is a complete skill overhaul that reforges all of Skyrim’s perk trees. Some of the necessary skills make returns, along with many new, creative ideas. These ideas include corrosive poisons under Alchemy, opening doors between dimensions with Alteration, controlling a subject’s dreams through Illusion, or knocking targets back with powerful one-handed blows.

Each tree has around 50 perks to choose between, and the potential for combinations that allow for entirely unique builds is jaw-dropping.

Path of Sorcery – steelfeathers

(Available on both Skyrim and Skyrim: Special Edition)

Looking to play a spellslinger this time around? Path of Sorcery overhauls the six magic perk trees and grants a better way to role-play as a mighty sorcerer or a wicked witch.

Path of Sorcery introduces a variety of clever perk options such as winning favors from your chosen divine (if you want to role-play a paladin or cleric), construct a skeletal army out of harvested bones, and even generate gold once per day!

Wildcat Combat – EnaiSiaion

(Available on both Skyrim and Skyrim: Special Edition)

This mod doesn’t change the perk tree, but instead addresses combat as a whole. If you don’t like the way combat ebbs and flows in Skyrim, then you definitely need to check out this mod:

Wildcat Combat is a streamlined approach to fighting in the harsh tundras with a focus on gritty realism, lethal combat, and aggressive AI – all accomplished without script bloating or heavy taxing on your system. If you enjoy games like Prey, Dark Souls, or Fallout then installing this will change your mind about fighting in Skyrim.

Perkus Maximus – T3nd0

(Available on both Skyrim and Skyrim: Special Edition)

T3nd0’s Perkus Maximus is similar to EnaiSiaion’s Ordinator in the sense that it’s another complete perk overhaul. That’s where the similarities end. The release is modular, meaning that if there are some perks you wish to use, while others aren’t your style, you’re able to mix and match as you choose, allowing for greater individuality between players and a Skyrim experience uniquely your own:

One of the major draws of Perkus Maximus is that there are far fewer examples of ‘sinking perk points’ into simple damage buffs or lazy stat increases. Instead, PerMa rewards the player with more active abilities, such as animating weapons to fight for you, slowing down time when swinging weapons, and finger-trapping an enemy so they drop their weapon when attacking, or stumble when advancing. There’s even a new tree entirely called Wayfarer that focuses on exploration and nature. If you want a radically different experience to leveling up in Skyrim, this is the best RPG mod to get.

Alternate Start, Live Another Life – Arthmoor

(Available on both Skyrim and Skyrim: Special Edition)

Tired of the same boring start to Skyrim? Alternate start allows you to choose from a variety of starting locations that aren’t the wagon ride to Helgen.

If you’re looking to better immerse yourself in a more real role-playing experience, then this mod helps start you off on the right foot. You can even start out as an Orc in a stronghold, or a newly born Vampire Lord in Harkon’s court.

Frostfall – Hypothermia Camping Survival – Chesko

(Available on both Skyrim and Skyrim: Special Edition)

This highly popular mod endeavors to turn Skyrim into a realistic survival game, adding debuffs from elements like cold and weather. Considering the frigid terrain and unforgiving environment it only makes sense that Skyrim would be difficult to travel. Scaling High Hrothgar should be a monumental undertaking, yet in the core game, it can be accomplished without sweat.

Craft heavy cloaks to cover yourself with, and seek warmth by building campfires as you explore the wilderness in one of the most immersive, game-changing mods available.

Glitches and bugs

Skyrim is infamous for being rife with bugs. While Bethesda fixed many issues as they added more DLC and released more versions, this remains the case even as recent as Skyrim Special Edition. No matter what Skyrim experience you’ve got your heart set on, we doubt that it’s one plagued by technical issues. Here are five tips that should minimize any detrimental gameplay issues on your next run through the game:

1. Save your game

Save often, and in different slots. This will help ensure that, should an issue arise, you can always reload the save and resume your progress. Lucky for you, Skyrim also autosaves any time there’s a load transition to a new cell, so if you’re going back and forth between areas in the game you’ll have your pick of recent saves to choose between.

Always ALWAYS keep autosave on
Multiple saves means multiple chances to fix a corrupted game

The great news about Skyrim is that you can save pretty much whenever you like. Skyrim: Special Edition makes it easier still by incorporating a quicksave feature. If you don’t like having 10+ saves in your load menu, we recommend having one save at your residence (since players spend much time there once unlocking it), one save during travel, and a third save once you’re inside the quest location. Coupled with autosaves, you should be able to find a spot close to where you encountered the bug. Reloading and attempting again should often fix the issue.

2. Install this mod

Typically when you install a mod you’re adding more weight to the game through content and scripts and making your Skyrim experience more prone to bugs and glitches. Arthmoor’s Unofficial Skyrim Patch fixes a number of irksome bugs and crashes, and is readily available for both Skyrim Legendary Edition and Skyrim: Special Edition:

Patch for Skyrim Legendary Edition 

Patch for Skyrim Special Edition

Arthmoor describes the mod as “a comprehensive bug-fixing mod” for the game with the eventual goal being to fix all Skyrim’s known bugs, including any issues in the DLC. New to Skyrim or a returning veteran, Legendary or Special Edition we recommend you get this mod.

3. Back up your files

If you do happen upon an unfortunate progress blocker or corrupted save file, the worst realization is when the most recent save was six hours ago. To avoid this, we recommend making semi-frequent backup saves in case calamity strikes. Your save files for Skyrim: Legendary Edition are located under your local drive:

(Local Disk C: by default) –> Users –> Name –> Documents –> My Games –> Skyrim –> Saves.

Your Special Edition saves are:

(Local Disk C: by default) –> Users –> Name –> Documents –> My Games –> Skyrim Special Edition –> Saves

Make a backup folder somewhere on your computer that’s easy to find (like your desktop) and just copy/paste them in there. That way you won’t lose hours and hours of progress just because a quest bugged or an NPC died.

4. Keep track of your installed mods

Whether you use Nexus or Steam, it’s easy to keep track of all the mods you have installed, particularly if you use the Nexus Mod Manager (which we suggest you do). If you run into any glaring issues one day that were not present the day before, the cause is usually a new mod.

The plugins tab lets you mess with the mod load order
Keep track of installed, uninstalled, or paused mods in your Skyrim game

Note when you install new mods so that you can crosscheck it with when your issues started to occur. Delete (or unsubscribe to) the mod, then go back and check if the problem is resolved.

5. Check mod compatibility, optimize their load order

Not all mods play together nicely. Luckily most publishers are polite enough to mention any known incompatibilities on the front page of their mod. Before you hit that big ‘install’ button, give the page a look to save yourself future trouble.

You can also turn off active mods or DLC here.
Wider mods up top, thinner mods towards the bottom.

Your mod load order can also be a deciding factor in whether your mods work as intended. The Nexus Mod Manager will show you your mod load order, and also allows you to change that order and move your mods around. The best general practice is to have your more over-encompassing mods towards the top, so that everything else can build off of them. Examples are DLC, graphics mods, big added content, or spell packages. Towards the bottom of your load order should be more specifically-targeted mods, such as ‘my followers can pick locks’ or ‘you can now marry this NPC’.

A final word

Skyrim remains such a popular game in large part due to its versatility and replayability. There’s an experience out there for everyone, and the prospect that your previous run through the game could be improved by different mods, updated graphics, or added DLC is what brings veteran players back time and time again. Even something as simple as an alternate start, a re-textured weapon, or a new perk tree can make all the difference. Will your next run through Skyrim be the best experience yet?

We hope this guide will help you build it!

More about Elder Scrolls

How to create and add your own unique follower to Skyrim ►

15 free Skyrim mods to satisfy fans until Elder Scrolls 6 ►

Elder Scrolls 6: What we know so far ►

5 hidden powers in Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim ►

How to find a literary agent for your novel

You’ve finished your book. Now here’s how to get published.

Many novelists will eventually arrive at the same place: they have a fantastic book, which possibly took hundreds of hours to complete. They endured the daily struggle of writing, had friends and family members read their masterpiece, and want to finally become published…

The answer might just be a literary agent!

A good agent can provide invaluable help by suggesting professional editors to review your work. They can direct your future plans to prepare you for a literary career. And, of course, they may have personal connections to publishers interested in your genre of writing!

Finding an agent takes courage…but if you’ve made it this far, you’re ready.

How to find a literary agent for your novel

Big Glasses!

The Traditional Process, Bare Bones

First off: we have the traditional path to finding an agent. Here are the three very basic steps:

1. Find agents and create a list. Your writing will define what you search for. If your novel is a fantasy romance targeted at Young Adults, you can narrow down your search (and trust us, narrowing is good).

2. Research and organize the options! Many resources will tell you a lot about agencies; however, once you have a solid list in place, visit their websites. Everything from the design to the agent descriptions will let you know if the business works for you!

3. Send query letters. Lots of query letters. And make sure they’re all personally addressed to individual agents! Again, if you’re not sure which agent to contact, or how to reach them, the website probably has the answer. Let it be your guide.

So, if you’ve written your query letter well, selected the right agents, and have a product that’s right for the current market…you still may hear “no” multiple times before someone takes a bite! Don’t worry: have your manuscript ready, keep writing on other projects, and wait to see what happens. If an agent asks to see your work, they’ll have instructions on how to move forward. Congratulations!

In the meantime, let’s go back through the process in more depth:

Intro to Writer’s Market

Guess what? There is a time-tested and professionally-trusted list of current agents who are accepting new material! It’s called “Writer’s Market: The Most Trusted Guide to Getting Published” and it truly lives up to the name.

If you’re not sure what literary agents are around, start here!

At this moment, Writer’s Market 2019 can be found on Amazon.com. The section on Literary Agents provides a large list of professionals, from A to Z, alongside a good deal of info: contact info, member agents, what they represent, how to contact them, and the representation terms (to name the most important points).

Use the guide however you like! Our method went something like this:

Go through the agents alphabetically. Before reading an agency’s name, check what they represent to make sure it includes your genre – in our case, this had to be “Young Adult” at the very least, with bonuses for “Fantasy”, “Action”, and “Adventure.”

Once you confirm an agency represents the right genre, check if Writer’s Market mentions the specific agents interested in those fields.

At this point, categorize the agency/agent as “Definitely,” “Yes,” or “Sure, why not?” If you’re wondering, we reserved the latter section for agencies without much info. But as long as they had Young Adult listed, who knows if it’s a gem in disguise?

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Find More Info

You have the list, you’re pretty sure you know which agencies are good. Visit the website and make sure it’s true!

Surprise, surprise: one of your top picks may have a sketchy website. On the other hand, the agency with a brief description may have a minimalist website used by super-agents who prefer to rely on their contacts and industry knowledge. You never know!

At this stage of the game, you have three goals only:

1. Finalize your agency list. You now see the online faces of the agencies, so decide what’s what! And don’t fret too much: you’ll probably query most of them anyway, the order simply dictates which come first.

2. Check submission policies. Different agencies will ask for specific things. One representative might want a logline, a one or two-sentence description of the entire story. Others may ask for a two-page treatment, your biography, and the first three chapters!

(Alright, we admit: that note may belong in the “Forming Query Letters” category below. But then again… if a good agency makes you jump through a thousand crazy hoops to submit, you may want to factor that in!)

3. Choose specific agents, figure out how to contact them. This will make your life easier in the long run!

Forming/Sending Query Letters

There are many good resources for writing a great query letter, such as the explanation from NY  Book Editors, titled, “How to Write a Darn Good Query Letter.”

The simple version goes like this: put your best foot forward in a one-page letter that conveys your novel’s plot and purpose. The soul, abbreviated.

For time reasons, we’d like to share a few technical details that may influence the art of querying: the online form, letters, and emails. These are three large categories of querying we’ve encountered!

Online form

Online forms are easy! And weird.

The gist is: many agencies now ask that querying authors complete pre-set forms. The process feels like an Indeed.com or Brassring job application: just fill out the sections and hit “send!”

While it may feel a tad impersonal, don’t miss the blessing in disguise! Online forms tell you exactly what the agency wants, but you can still make every part of the submission shine.

If the idea of a form doesn’t sit well with you, no worries! Table the agency at the moment, and come back later.

If, on the other hand, you crave a simple formula, you might even be tempted to submit when first visiting the website. Convenience isn’t always a bad thing if appreciated and used properly!

letters

The rare, ancient ancestor of modern queries!

Envevelopesh!

Perhaps in the interest of saving copious amounts of paper (and time opening letters), you won’t get the chance to send letters too often. Good news? Agencies that want physical submissions might be dedicated businesses looking for similarly dedicated writers, who are willing to put in the effort of constructing a real package. Might be.

emails

Emails take up a huge portion of query letters now, thanks to their speed and environmental sustainability. How does this affect you?

First, when sending emails, most agencies will not open attachments. Those that do will probably ask for them specifically, such as a Microsoft Word document for chapters. If this isn’t the case, we recommend putting everything into the email.

(But what if they ask for the first three chapters? Yep, even then! Attachments have long been used to spread viruses, businesses have to be wary.)

Second, don’t fall into the trap of sending one email to multiple agents. We’ve said it multiple times but it bears repeating: every query letter should be personally addressed to the agent you wish to query unless their information is unavailable (some agencies operate this way).

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Silence of the Literary Agents

Yay! The query letters are out. What happens now?

First off, wait! We’ve had agencies respond days, months, and even a year later. No lie. There’s no telling if they’ll respond in time. On that note-

Be very careful about checking in with agencies! Some will state a response time, such as “three weeks,” and advise you check in after that. Others say nothing, and it may be best to wait in those situations.

Finally, if you’re hearing “no” across the board, we have a few suggestions:

1. Don’t get discouraged! Denial happens to most successful writers, often hundreds of times.

If you’re like us, however, you may not be discouraged by the rejection as much as the wait. In that case, keep yourself moving. Keep writing, work, spend time with family, enjoy life. Emphasis on “keep writing.”

Waiting
Find a nice place to kill time, eh?

2. Never assume the reason. The agent you contacted may: not be perfect for selling your book, have a lot on their plate, or even decided on quitting the business to become a Twitch streamer. Who the heck knows?

Admittedly, your novel could need work. It may not be timely. It may be targeted at a niche genre, or a saturated genre.

The very best response for a true writer? Keep writing. Build experience, develop new projects, or perfect old ones.

Conclusion

A bit of personal advice: we found the writing and querying process to be an empowering experience even when a book doesn’t touch base with agents. You still feel the pride and accomplishment of displaying your work boldly, and the experience makes you sure of success in the future. Best of luck!

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8 best apps for managing elementary classrooms

If you’re a teacher, these apps can improve your success in the classroom.

Google Classroom

Classroom management can be one of the hardest things to achieve for a teacher. With dozens of different personalities, students can struggle in a classroom setting that doesn’t fit their particular needs. Thankfully, there are some great apps out there to help readjust your classroom to fit your needs as well as your students. Each of these apps work together to create an ideal classroom for grades K-4, many of which could be used in high school education as well.

8 best apps for elementary school teachers

8. Scholastic Book Wizard Mobile

While this app may seem more useful for English teachers, it can be a great source of additional reading for any subjects outside of the classroom. It can also make it easy for novel-based classes to find books that may not be in each department’s book room yet. This can enhance your classroom’s settings to make it easier for students to feel comfortable.

7. Classtree

Getting parental consent for field trips and other activities can be a real hassle, especially for certain kids who may not interact with their parents frequently. Thankfully this app removes the paper and makes the process easy and seamless for both parents and teachers. It also allows for digital communication between administrators and parents in general, allowing for all parental questions to be answered in an easy format.

6.  BrainPOP Jr. Movie of the Week

BrainPOP Jr is a popular educational series for kids to learn about a large variety of topics. This particular app is ideal for young students, as it’s created for an audience of 10 and under. No matter what subject you’re trying to teach, however, BrainPOP Jr likely has a video on it, that can really enhance the learning experience for your students.

BrainPOP Jr Free Download ►
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5. Kahoot!

Kahoot lets you turn your lessons into playable games, which can be an incredibly useful study activity. Sometimes it is hard to create something interactive and engaging for young students to study with, and this app takes that difficulty out for you. All you need to do is put in the information and Kahoot creates the game for you.

Kahoot! Free Download ►
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4. Socrative Teacher

It can be difficult for elementary students to focuses on quizzes, since most tend to not be particularly engaging for someone at that age. Socrative changes this dynamic to instead make quizzes fun and exciting game-like experiences for kids. This can really change your students perspective on test-taking. It can also help keep your classroom in line, as it’s easy for young students to engage in devices that they are more likely familiar with (especially if your school provides educational iPads).

3. Doceri

This app lets your iPad control your classroom computer, which means you can use it to monitor and manage the classroom from anywhere. You can also use it to control smart whiteboards, and even display videos and pictures from the iPad directly onto the whiteboard. The app may seem somewhat complicated at first, but the Doceri YouTube channel features extensive guides on how to best use their product.

2. Seesaw

Seesaw is an app dedicated to keeping parents at ease, as it allows you to post status updates and student projects to the app that parents can later look at, to get a better idea on how their student is doing. The students themselves can also post their work, which can be a great source of pride if they did something particularly well.

Seesaw: The Learning Journal Free Download ►
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1. Common Core Standards

No matter what state you live in, Common Core can be a stressful part of lesson planning, especially searching through all of it. Thankfully this app makes it much easier to sort through the information and find what you need. It lists the Common Core standards, as well as allowing you to easily copy this information onto your own lesson plans. This can help you stay organized in order to keep your classroom together during your lessons.

While classroom management isn’t the only struggle teachers have to deal with, these apps can help tremendously. Additionally, if you’re looking for something for any age group, we’ve listed the overall best apps for educators to help you stay organized, and make your experience an easy and seamless one.

Top 7 apps for teachers

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How to break a bad habit

Here’s a simple plan for changing your life.

quitting smoking

Bad habits interfere with our lives in a number of ways. They prevent you from accomplishing goals and they might annoy your friends, family, and colleagues.

We all have at least a few. Let’s be real here. Maybe you’re a smoker, a stress eater, or an extreme procrastinator.

To change these habits, you might resolve to change them. But change is easier to talk about than actually put into action. And, often, we revert back to old ways.

That got us wondering, what is it that makes an old habit die hard? And, what does it take to actually change for good?

Here, we’ll dive a little deeper into our capacity for change and whether there’s hope for us yet.

How to change a bad habit

What makes a habit?

There’s something called the habit loop. It’s the three stages that make up a habit: cue, routine, reward.

Bad habits and good habits are reinforced by this system that is inherently built into our psyche. So, with something like smoking, the cue might be boredom, which prompts you to go outside and smoke to get away from your desk. The reward comes from that little break and in the form of satisfying the nicotine craving.

Breaking a habit, means you need to set up a new loop. So — with the smoking example, it might mean purchasing nicotine gum and replacing the daily break with a short walk instead of your usual break. If it’s junk food, it may be a matter of replacing your go-to snacks with an alternative rich in protein vs. sugar.

Some say it takes three weeks to get set in your new ways, but it’s typically longer. We’re talking 60+ days. So, if you’re changing your diet or quitting smoking, you’re staring down a period of discomfort before the change feels natural.

Beyond that long adjustment, we all risk the occasional slip-up. Things like traveling, group dining situations or parties, and stress can all trigger a setback, so sticking to your goal requires some coping skills in addition to playing into the loop.

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What about procrastination?

procrastination

Diets, smoking, and exercise-related habits are easier to wrap your head around than trying to change things like productivity habits.

Something like procrastination is an emotional reaction, so changing that behavior requires some internal work of your own.

You’ll need to identify why you put off certain tasks. Is it because it’s hard? Are you afraid you’ll fail? Do you hate the task for some reason?

Fighting your inclination to avoid what’s hard means neutralizing negative thinking. If destructive thoughts pop into your head when you think about a project, you need to change the language. For example, saying “I can’t do this” could be replaced with “If other people can learn X, then I can, too.”

Avoid feeling overwhelmed by breaking the task into smaller bits — even write yourself instructions if that helps.

Author James Clear recommends avoiding goals as your primary motivator. While that seems counterintuitive, it makes a lot of sense. Change is more about committing to a new system rather than getting from point A to point B.

The goal mindset can cause us to look toward that milestone — which might not be sustainable, as it presents an end-date.

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So, how much can we really change?

This is an interesting thing to think about. Because there are certain things about us — think personality traits or our sleep chronotypes, that tend to stick with us even as we try to fight them.

A night owl can get up early — and develop that routine, but it never feels 100% natural. Or, an introvert can practice public speaking and load up their social calendar, but those choices might not be in line with that person’s preferences.

But, we’re not fully set in stone. Research has shown that we change a lot during our teen years and in our twenties but changes slow down as we get older.

Our personalities aren’t fixed. But the“Big Five Traits” tend to stabilize when we don’t make an effort to change.  As a point of reference, they are: openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism — sometimes known as OCEAN.

According to Psychology Today, it’s possible to change parts of your personality. The thing is, the person needs to commit to that change and stick with new routines for the long term.

The study cited took place over 16 weeks, and researchers agreed that the short period was likely not enough time to change in any meaningful way. Still, the main takeaway is largely positive — showing promise that we can, little by little, turn into a better person.

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Top 9 RPG Maker games

If you love RPGs, you have to try these great games.

To the Moon

RPG Maker is often played off as a “lesser” game engine. This is partially because of how user-friendly the program is compared to other game engines, along with how graphically restrictive the program can be. However, this is a misleading way to think, as there are many impressive games out there that people don’t even know were made through RPG Maker. Here are some of the best games that were created through the program.

Top 9 RPG Maker games

9. Skyborn

A steampunk adventure game about an enslaved race, this game is very reminiscent of older adventure games. The gameplay follows a classic RPG system, which is contrasted by very modern storytelling. Anyone who has interest in steampunk or Victorian games will love this unique take on a steampunk world.

Skyborn Free Download
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8. Yume Nikki

The first in a long list of horror-style RPG Maker games. Yume Nikki follows the story of Madoksuki, as she adventures through her dreams. Her dark surrealistic dreams are unexplained, leaving most of the game up to interpretation. Yume Nikki has had a cult following in America for years, and is often created as the inspiration for many future games, such as the LISA series, Corpse Party, and Oneshot.

Yume Nikki Free Download
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Yume Nikki has also recently received a remake on a new game engine. Fans of the original game will love the new take on a modern classic.

7. Rakuen

This is a combat-free adventure game about a hospitalized boy who is given the opportunity of having a wish granted. In order to get this wish, he has to travel through the world of Rakuen. The story does a fantastic job conveying dark concepts and messages (such as the hardships of dying young) with colorful and happy imagery.

Rakuen Download
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6. Corpse Party

A Yume Nikki-inspired series that has probably gained more popularity than Yume Nikki itself has. The game follows the story of a group of high school students trying to escape their haunted school after an earthquake causes various paranormal events to start happening. The game features a variety of endings depending on who survives, and the choices the player makes throughout the game.

Corpse Party Download
7

Off

A french RPG, and one of the few games on this list that features more combat-oriented gameplay. The game follows the story of the Batter as he goes on a mission to purify the world. The game’s plot is slowly revealed as the Batter defeats more and more opponents. The game was first made popular on Tumblr, where the official fan translation of the game was one of the top reblogged games of all time on the platform.

Lisa: The First & Lisa the Painful

The first game in this series follows the story of a young girl as she pieces together her memories and tries to escape from a man who is holding her captive. The story is surreal, like many Yume Nikki-inspired games, with much being left to interpretation. The second game follows the young girl’s brother, as he tries to escape his childhood memories. The first game follows a more exploration-based gameplay, while the second game is more of a standard RPG. Both are incredible and worth looking into.

$9.99
LISA

From: Steam

Add to Cart

Always Sometimes Monsters

A game of betrayal and intrigue, every choice you make changes the ending entirely. Dark love stories are popular in movies, but aren’t usually developed well in video games. Always Sometimes Monsters, however, takes a unique approach to its love story. The game centers around an author trying to win back the love of their life after they left to the west coast to marry someone else. While that may sound like a simple premise, the game has so many choices from beginning to end, it’s easy to get immersed in the story. Interestingly, you can choose from a number of different character sprites (including sprites of all genders and races) for you and your love interest in the game, allowing for a more immersive love story for everyone.

$9.99
Always Sometimes Monsters

From: Stream

Add to Cart

OneShot

OneShot follows the journey of a young child named Niko as they try to bring light to their world. The player acts as their unseen companion, helping them carry “the sun” (a lightbulb) across the world. This game follows a reverse approach to dark imagery compared to other games of this genre. Similar to Undertale, the world is filled with “dark” creatures that surprise you with their generosity and kindness.

$9.99
OneShot

From: Steam

Add to Cart

To The Moon

You’ve probably already heard of this game, as it won “Best Story” in GameSpot’s 2011 Game of the Year awards. It’s also been nominated for many awards, even in its mobile re-release seven years later. This game follows the story of two scientists trying to fulfill a dying man’s wish to go to the moon. It seems like a basic story concept, but it’s so much more than that. If you’ve already played this masterpiece of a game, then you have to check out its sequel, Finding Paradise, which was released on Steam last year.

To the Moon Download
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As you can see, most RPG Maker games are praised for their story more than anything else. Pretty much all games created on RPG Maker are made for story lovers, with some puzzle games thrown into the mix.

RPG Maker 2003 Download
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Alternatively to these, you may want to check out what our Softonic Solutions community has suggested for the best RPG Maker games. You can even suggest your own favorite games if you feel we missed one from our list.  You might even see your own RPG Maker game on our list someday!

5 weirdest crossovers in gaming history

If you ever wondered how Super Mario would fare in a 1-on-1 game with LeBron James, you need to read this.

shrek tony hawk

Crossovers and gaming have a long history with each other. Some of the most successful franchises in gaming today are based on unlikely crossovers. Who would’ve ever thought we’d see Mario fight Sonic and Mega Man in Super Smash Bros? Or seeing Cloud Strife fight alongside Donald Duck in Kingdom Hearts?

While Smash and Kingdom Hearts are two beloved games that everyone loves, here are some really weird crossovers that may have flown under your radar.

5 most bizarre crossovers in gaming history

5. The guest characters in Tony Hawk

Can he shred? Listen bud, he’s got radioactive blood

The Tony Hawk series is acclaimed for its fast-paced arcade skateboarding gameplay, iconic soundtrack, and innovative combo system. The megapopular series exemplified skating culture in the late ’90s to early 2000s and helped to popularize extreme sports.

What you may or may not remember, however, is just how many weird guest characters hopped on board. While you had access to basically every major pro skater you could imagine, you could also choose from more colorful characters from popular culture. You could pop ollies as Marvel superheroes like Spider-Man, Wolverine, and Iron Man, grind along rails as Shrek, and hit 1080 melons with Darth Maul and Jango Fett. Even Tony Hawk Pro Skater 5, which is a horrible game, included guests like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Lil Wayne, and Tyler the Creator.

Unlocking all of these characters required searching every inch of every level for secrets, but the novelty of seeing Wolverine skate past Darth Maul was totally worth it.

4. Fortune Street/Mario Hoops 3-on-3

Fortune Street

While mashing together Mario characters and Square Enix characters may sound strange at first, it’s really no weirder than Kingdom Hearts. However, when you mix both franchises with a Monopoly-style board game you get the bizarre stitched-together game Fortune Street. Like Monopoly, Fortune Street has players rolling dice and traveling a board to buy property. Instead of playing as a boot or a top hat, players can take control of Mario, Dragon Quest’s Slime, and other mismatched characters. The series is popular and enduring in Japan but has yet to achieve the same success overseas.

Mario Hoops 3-on-3, another collab between Square Enix and Nintendo, makes slightly more sense. For the most part, the game is your standard arcadey Mario sports game, complete with exaggerated gameplay and crazy power-ups. What makes this game unique among Mario sports games is the inclusion of Final Fantasy characters like Cactuar, Black Mage, and Moogle. If, for whatever reason, your dream is to see Waluigi get dunked on by the White Mage, then this is the game for you. The music is also incredibly infectious.

3. Mario meets LeBron

Mario NBA
Mario should get scouted by the Cavs soon enough

In the most unlikely basketball crossover since “Space Jam,” Mario, Luigi, and Princess Peach face off against NBA superstars in NBA Street Vol 3. Giving LeBron the humbling he deserves as Mario himself was an amazing feeling back in the day, but don’t hold your breath on the Mario crew appearing in the next 2K. The Mario crew appearing in the NBA Street series is all the more hilarious as the game features a much grittier art style and aesthetic than the more pristine NBA 2K series.

The inclusion of Mario and friends was part of a licensing agreement between EA and Nintendo. The agreement also saw the Mario Bros. as playable characters in SSX On Tour, letting the brothers pull off radical midair snowboarding stunts. The most bizarre crossover to come out of this agreement, however, was the inclusion of Punch-Out boxer Little Mac in EA’s Fight Night Round 2. Little Mac is the only cartoonish boxer in the game, and his 3-D model looks absolutely horrifying.

Little Mac
Mac really went downhill after taking down Mike Tyson

2. Dream Mix TV: World Fighters

Dream Mix TV: World Fighters

Want to see Solid Snake fight Optimus Prime? What, you’ve never even thought of that? Even so, make it happen with Dream Mix TV: World Fighters. Dream Mix is a Smash-like fighting game released only in Japan. Developed through a collaboration between Konami, Hudson, and Takara (a popular Japanese toy company), Dream Mix presents its fights through the lens of an intergalactic TV show. Desperate to boost ratings, a bunch of TV executives summon heroes from across the universe to do battle, including Bomberman, Simon Belmont, Megatron, and Tyson (yes, from Beyblade).

The game is a side-scrolling platform fighter like Smash. Instead of racking up damage percent, fighters in Dream Mix knock hearts out of their opponents. If you collect enough of your opponent’s hearts, their soul will leave their body and fly around. If you can collect their soul before they do, you eliminate them from the match. The game is something that needs to be truly seen to be believed, so here you go.

1. Monster Hunter and literally everything

Monster Hunter

If you’re a fan of the long-running series Monster Hunter, then you probably know that the games have plenty of crossovers. You may not realize the staggering amount and sheer variety of crossovers involving Monster Hunter, so I’ll list them some of them out for you:

  • Hello Kitty
  • Metal Gear
  • Inyusha
  • Dead Rising
  • Attack on Titan
  • Hatsune Miku
  • Zelda
  • Mario
  • Metroid
  • Star Fox
  • Animal Crossing
  • Fire Emblem
  • Street Fighter
  • Mega Man
  • Devil May Cry
  • One Piece
  • Neon Genesis Evangelion
  • JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure
  • Sonic the Hedgehog
  • Pizza Hut
  • Resident Evil
  • Yu-Gi-Oh
  • Ace Attorney
  • Sailor Moon
  • Hunter x Hunter
  • Marvel vs Capcom
  • Super Smash Bros
  • The Witcher

Is there anything Monster Hunter hasn’t crossed over with? The answer, of course, is no. The Pizza Hut collab has to be the greatest crossover in gaming history.

Any weird crossovers we missed? Let us know!

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How Nintendo can make 2D Mario fresh again

Is Nintendo stuck in a creative rut? Here’s how they can break out.

How Nintendo Can Make 2D Mario Fresh Again

Nintendo just released New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe to critical praise and high sales. The game is an enhanced port of the Wii U’s New Super Mario Bros. U that includes the game’s New Super Luigi U expansion. The game is the latest installment in the New Super Mario Bros. series, meaning it’s a well-made 2D Mario platformer. The game is a perfectly serviceable 2D Mario game, offering tight, challenging gameplay and a large amount of content. Something just feels missing from the whole package, however. If New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe is fun and well-made, then why is it not exciting? Why is the release of a new Super Mario Bros. game, arguably the most iconic and successful franchise in all of gaming, not a bigger deal?

A problem with packaging

There are four games in the New Super Mario Bros. series: New Super Mario Bros., New Super Mario Bros. Wii, New Super Mario Bros. 2, and New Super Mario Bros. U. Without looking it up, I’d like you to try and point out which game is which on the screenshot below:

New Super Mario games

Pretty hard isn’t it? That’s what happens when four games come out with the exact same art style. When the original NSMB released for the DS in 2006, it was legitimately “new.” It was the first time we saw a 2D Mario game with 3D models and the streamlined modern Mario art style. This quickly wore thin as three more games were released with the exact same art style within six years. Sure, the games look nice and colorful, but they look absolutely sterile in comparison to series’ like Donkey Kong Country, Wario Land, or Rayman. Take a look at how the classic 2D Mario games looked in comparison to each other:

Classic Mario games

These games were much, much more distinguishable from each other. Like the NSMB games, they appeared on different consoles, but they remained distinct by having different art styles and a degree of stylization in each. By stylization, we mean creating an art style that differs from the standard Mario fare, telling the player instantly that they’re in for a brand new and different experience, with a great example being the Paper Mario series’ storybook aesthetic. Back then, it was exciting to have a new 2D Mario game come out because it was a wholly different experience than the last one. Even the music of the NSMB series has remained very similar throughout the years. Compare the overworld track from the original NSMB to one from NSMBU.

While the upbeat guitars and cheerful “BAH!” sounds that made up NSMB’s soundtracks were different and cute at the time, the style has worn far past thin when it’s still in use over six years later. Aesthetically, the NSMB is comparable to the Madden franchise in how little it evolves throughout the years. It’s highly disappointing that the series shows so little growth and creativity, as other recent Mario games show that Nintendo is still able to make masterful and creative worlds.

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Last year’s Super Mario Odyssey saw Nintendo taking plenty of risks with the Mario formula, and with a huge payoff. The game saw Mario exploring a city with realistic humans, exploring an ancient waterfall complete with dinosaurs, bouncing around on stylized polygonal food, and invading Bowser’s samurai castle. The theming of Odyssey is a far cry from NSMB’s standard formula of plains-desert-ice-lava. Even within NSMB, Nintendo has shown flashes of creative brilliance, like with the painted world in NSMBU, but these levels are extremely few and far in between.

Painted World

How to shake things up

In this writer’s humble opinion, a nice way Nintendo could shake up the 2D Mario series is with a 2D hand-drawn art style. While making a game like this is extremely time-consuming, the end result is a fluid and detailed looking game that clearly had a lot of passion put into it. Take a look at Wario Land: Shake It! below, as it uses hand-drawn animation and looks absolutely gorgeous.

Wario himself has hundreds of different animations, giving him tons of character and personality. Over the years, Mario has lost a distinct personality, becoming a sanitized and quirkless entity that serves more like a mascot than a character. 2D hand-drawn animation could go a long way in giving Mario and the crazy world he lives in the personality it deserves. Making levels feel like a cohesive, lived-in world as opposed to a series of tiles would add significantly to the atmosphere and theming of the game.

Honestly, gameplay-wise, the 2D Mario series doesn’t need to change much. Throughout the NSMB series, Nintendo has proved that they are still masters of level design and fluid controls. The additional moves like the triple jump, wall jump, and mid-air spin are also all welcome inclusions to Mario’s moveset, and they should definitely stay.

The problem lies more in the gameplay being hampered by safe theming, leading to uncreative level design. Nintendo has also shown that they’re capable of making memorable characters in the Mario universe, as shown by spinoff games like Paper Mario and Mario & Luigi. Including these wackier characters as playable characters, allies, enemies, and bosses would give the game a more unique feel. Ditching the Koopalings and replacing them with original bosses alone would go a long way. Instead of just Mario, Luigi, and a couple of Toads, let players choose Wario, Waluigi, Donkey Kong, or some of the more obscure Mario RPG characters like Geno or Fawful. It’s a shame that NSMB only showcases the blandest and safest side of the Mario universe because the Mushroom Kingdom is actually a rich and colorful world full of interesting characters.

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By revamping the aesthetics and exploring the more surreal side of the Mario universe, Nintendo can start getting people excited about 2D Mario games again. The New Super Mario Bros. series, while solid games in their own right, have stifled the Mario series creatively and should be totally revamped. Hopefully, Nintendo switches things up, and the announcement of a new 2D Mario game can be the big deal that it’s supposed to be.

What do you think of these suggestions? Have any of your own? Let us know!

How Nintendo could conquer mobile gaming

Here’s how Nintendo could take the lead in mobile gaming.

The invention of the smartphone sent shockwaves throughout the gaming industry. Most of the public now had powerful computers in their pocket, and hundreds of thousands of games to choose from. Unlike console and PC games, most mobile games are free to play, allowing the player to use real money to buy in-game content that would be difficult or impossible to obtain otherwise. This monetization model has proved to be extremely successful, and as of summer 2018, mobile games make up 51% of the gaming industry’s revenue (console games make up 25% while PC games make up 24%).

Nintendo was struggling around the time when mobile gaming was really hitting its stride. Nintendo’s Wii U was getting crushed in the console gaming market due to underpowered hardware and bafflingly awful marketing. After a few years of slugging along, the 3DS became a highly successful portable console, but still faced harsh competition from mobile games. Nintendo faced multiple quarters where they operated at a loss. Facing investor pressure, Nintendo went back on their statements against mobile gaming and entered the market in 2016. Despite its necessity, it was a surprising move considering how traditional and stubborn Nintendo is known to be.

How Nintendo currently approaches mobile games

Super Mario Run

As a console manufacturer, Nintendo designs its mobile games to be supplementary experiences. What this means is that Nintendo is not trying to make mobile games that imitate or replace their full-fledged console entries. Instead, they tend to have simpler, more lightweight gameplay that appeals to a mobile audience. Nintendo does this in order to create brand awareness for their properties among the enormous mobile game market, ideally encouraging customers to buy Nintendo consoles and games. With this in mind, it’s extremely unlikely that we’ll see any full-blown, high production value Mario or Zelda games on mobile any time soon.

So far, Nintendo has released five mobile games: Miitomo, Super Mario Run, Fire Emblem Heroes, Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp, and Dragalia Lost. Interest in Miitomo, a diet version of the 3DS game Tomodachi Life, waned quickly in the months after its release. Super Mario Run, however, ended up becoming a decent success for Nintendo, who translated the classic 2-D Mario formula into that of an endless runner. While the game’s first few levels are available for free, players must spend $10 to unlock the full game, leading to widespread criticism. Fire Emblem Heroes and Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp both became much more profitable games, despite lacking the massive brand recognition of Mario. Both games follow a more traditional free-to-play model, and feature microtransactions. Dragalia Lost is largely seen as a generic mobile gacha/collection game with higher production value.

Before you ask, Nintendo was not involved in the development or release of the smash hit Pokémon Go, though former president Satoru Iwata was involved in its conception. Nintendo does not fully own the Pokémon franchise, and licensed out its characters to developer Niantic through The Pokémon Company. Despite this, the success of Pokémon Go caused Nintendo’s stock value to skyrocket, further showing them the potential of mobile gaming.

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While Nintendo has been heading in the right direction since the fiscally disappointing release of Super Mario Run, here are some ways they could really shake up the mobile games market.

How Nintendo could succeed with mobile games

1. Stick to the free-to-play model

Though Super Mario Run was successful, it did not meet Nintendo’s fiscal expectations. Super Mario Run had all the ingredients of a record-shattering hit, so why didn’t it happen? Even with one of the most recognizable brands in the world and the proven endless runner formula, general audiences could not get behind the game’s $10 price point.

Mobile gamers are used to being able to download games for free, with the ability to purchase in-game content in small increments. Games like this can be mostly be played in their entirety for free, and money is only needed for exclusive content or power-ups. Super Mario Run, on the other hand, locks most of the game behind the $10 paywall and does not feature microtransactions. $10 is a huge price for entry in the world of mobile games, and Super Mario Run has since failed to hit the 10% premium adoption rate that Nintendo hoped it would.

Nintendo seems to have learned from its mistake, as moving forward, all of its mobile games have followed the tried-and-true freemium model. If Nintendo is to become successful in the mobile games market, they need to follow the established formula and make the barrier for entry as low as possible.

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2. Nintendo should start with high profile franchises and work their way down

While Nintendo’s main objective with mobile games is to increase brand awareness of their IP’s, they need to prove themselves in the mobile arena first by releasing games based on their most popular franchises. Nintendo wisely chose Mario Kart as their upcoming mobile game, as the franchise is far and away the most popular racing series in the world. By establishing consumer trust with bite-sized versions of AAA franchises like Mario Kart, Zelda, and Donkey Kong, Nintendo can give themselves more freedom to experiment with lesser-known franchises.

Nintendo could drum up more interest in some of their more niche franchises like Star Fox, Pikmin, or F-Zero by introducing new games in the mobile game market, creating more mainstream brand awareness and possibly leading to more mainline entries in the series on consoles. Newer Nintendo franchises like Splatoon or Arms could also benefit immensely from the awareness that comes with a popular mobile game.

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3. Design social games

If there’s one thing to be learned from Pokémon Go, it’s that social mobile games are the best kind of mobile games. A huge part of Pokémon Go’s success was that the game encouraged you to seek out fellow players and encourage your friends to download the game. Games that encourage sociability create long-lasting communities. Allowing players to team up with (or against) friends helps organically spread the popularity of the game, and this combined with the free-to-play model can lead to thousands of players at least trying out your game. Social features, as well as social media integration, are key to a mobile game’s success, and Nintendo must incorporate these features into all of their mobile games moving forward.

Do you enjoy Nintendo’s mobile games? Which Nintendo games would you like to see on mobile? Let us know!

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The Complete Red Dead Online Weapons Guide: Melee

Knives, tomahawks, arrows – which is the best weapon for close-quarters combat in RDR Online?

red dead online melee weapons

Red Dead Online is a world where respect, money, and loot comes at the end of the barrel of the gun. To survive and reap the rewards of the cutthroat world of the Wild West, you’ll have to be well armed. You’ll also want to spend your money wisely. We’ve put together an in-depth guide to every weapon available in Red Dead Online, so you can know exactly what you’re getting into before you fork over your hard-earned cash. For this guide, we’ll be looking at melee weapons, bows, and blades.

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The Complete Red Dead Online Melee Weapons Guide

Note: We’ve based our number rankings for statistics in this guide out of a possible score of 10.

Bow and Arrow

rdr2 bow and arrow
Image courtesy Rockstar

Rank Unlocked: 10

Cost: $124.00

Accuracy: 8

Damage: 6

Range: 4

Description: A bow holds a special place in the heart and holster of every Wild West cowboy. This supremely useful weapon has multiple functions. First, it’s probably the best weapon to use while hunting. It’s totally silent, so it won’t scare off your prey, and the arrows do little damage to pelts. If you want to sell your furs in the best condition, the bow is the weapon to use. Its silence also makes it well suited to stealth, and you can make quick and quiet work of any enemies you may wish to dispose of discreetly. The only thing to keep in mind is that it’s got a shorter range than gunpowder firearms, so make sure you get in a bit closer before taking your shot.

Throwing Knife

rdr2 throwing knife
Image courtesy Rockstar

Rank Unlocked: 8

Cost: N/A

Accuracy: 4

Damage: 5

Range: 3

Description: It takes someone with a certain sense of style to use Throwing Knives. Similar in application to the Bow, Throwing Knives have a leg up in rate of fire. Whereas you’ll have to load the Bow after every shot, you can rapidly throw one knife after another with little delay. Though it falls short of the Bow in other stats, sending a barrage of blades at your targets does leave you with a certain sense of satisfaction.

Tomahawk

rdr 2 tomahawk
Image courtesy Rockstar

Rank Unlocked: 36

Cost: N/A

Accuracy: 3

Damage: 6

Range: 3

Description: The Tomahawk is a multi-purpose weapon that can be used for either up-close-and-personal hacking and slashing, or thrown to take down targets at a distance. It does more damage than Throwing Knives but you can only carry a few Tomahawks at a time, meaning you’ll need to be a bit more deliberate if you throw them. As with Throwing Knives, you can retrieve your thrown Tomahawks from the spot where they land… or pluck them from the bodies of your fallen enemies.

Hatchet

rdr2 hatchet
Image courtesy Rockstar

Rank Unlocked: 28

Cost: N/A

Accuracy: 3

Damage: 6

Range: 3

Description: Identical to the Tomahawk in almost every respect except appearance, the Hatchet unlocks at a lower level. A favorite of outdoorsmen, trappers, and settlers, the Hatchet is an all-purpose tool mainly used to chop down small trees and other woodland brush. It does equally well at chopping down your enemies.

Cleaver

rdr2 cleaver
Image courtesy Rockstar

Rank Unlocked: 15

Cost: N/A

Accuracy: 3

Damage: 6

Range: 3

Description: Unlocking at a relatively low level, the Cleaver is a fearsome beast of a blade. Statistics-wise, it’s identical to both the Tomahawk and the Hatchet, but looks a whole lot more intimidating in the area of appearance. It’ll be just as effective whether you’re using it to cut up pieces of meat or employing it against slightly larger targets.

Machete

rdr2 machete
Image courtesy Rockstar

Rank Unlocked: 32

Cost: N/A

Damage: 5

Range: 1

Description: A direct upgrade over the standard knife, the Machete is a solid choice for encounters that get a little too close for comfort. It’s about as close as you’ll be able to get to carrying around an actual sword, and can inflict a lot of damage frighteningly quickly. The machete will bring a swift end to anybody who dares invade your personal space.

The blade you carry with you can be just as important as your gun, and can do a lot more than simply taking out enemies in a close quarters fight. Your choice of knife can say a lot about your sense of flair and style, so keep that in mind when you’re looking to be on the cutting edge of close combat.

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The Complete Red Dead Online Weapons Guide: Sidearms

Know your pistols and revolvers before jumping into Red Dead Online.

Red Dead Redemption 2

Red Dead Online is a world where respect, money, and loot comes at the end of the barrel of the gun. To survive and reap the rewards of the cutthroat world of the Wild West, you’ll have to be well armed. You’ll also want to spend your money wisely. We’ve put together an in-depth guide to every weapon available in Red Dead Online, so you can know exactly what you’re getting into before you fork over your hard-earned cash. For this guide, we’ll be looking at pistols and revolvers.

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The Complete Red Dead Online Sidearm Guide

Note: We’ve based our number rankings for damage and fire rate in this guide out of a possible score of 10.

Cattleman Revolver

red dead 2 cattleman revolver
A player-customized Cattleman.

Rank Unlocked: 1

Cost: $50.00

Capacity: 6

Damage Per Shot: 4

Fire Rate: 8

Description: The bread and butter of any cowboy’s arsenal, the Cattleman is a classic single-action six-shooter. This is a starter gun, but it is a solid sidearm in almost every respect. Though it’s on the low end of the spectrum as far as damage goes, it excels with a fire rate on par with the Double-Action revolver. Its low price tag also means it’s easy to pick up a second gun to dual-wield (once you’ve unlocked that ability).

Volcanic Pistol

red dead 2 volcanic pistol
A player-customized Volcanic Pistol.

Rank Unlocked: 21

Cost: $270.00

Capacity: 8

Damage Per Shot: 6

Fire Rate: 5

Description: The Volcanic Pistol bridges the gap between revolvers and pistols. Though it doesn’t have the high fire rate of its semi-auto cousins, it does have the highest damage of all the pistols in the game. For players who are looking for a sidearm with the high damage of a revolver but the quick firing speed of a pistol, look no further. It is important to note, however, that it has the slowest reload time of all of the sidearms in the game. Keep this in mind, or you may find yourself caught with an empty gun in the middle of a firefight.

Double-Action Revolver

red dead redemption 2 double action
A player-customized Double-Action.

Rank Unlocked: 17

Cost: $127.00

Capacity: 6

Damage Per Shot: 4

Fire Rate: 8

Description: The Double-Action revolver could perhaps best be characterized as a revolver that thinks its a pistol. It’s the only revolver you don’t need to cock between shots. This means its fire rate is on par with that of the Mauser, and it actually does slightly more damage per shot. It’s still hampered with the revolver’s classic six-shot capacity, though. This means you’ll likely find yourself reloading quite often unless you can police how fast you fire. Nothing is more frustrating than quickly emptying your cylinder and finding yourself stuck reloading while your opponent returns fire.

Schofield Revolver

red dead 2 schofield revolver
A player-customized Schofield.

Rank Unlocked: 9

Cost: $192.00

Capacity: 6

Damage Per Shot: 5

Fire Rate: 7

Description: The Schofield is the undisputed king of revolvers. This hand cannon boasts high damage and a quick fire rate, but that’s balanced by the slower reload time. That’s fine, though: almost anything that gets hit with a few rounds from the Schofield will be bleeding on the ground before you ever need to reload.

Semi-Auto Pistol

red dead 2 semi auto pistol
A player-customized Semi-Auto.

Rank Unlocked: 22

Cost: $537.00

Capacity: 8

Damage Per Shot: 3

Fire Rate: 9

Description: The Semi-Auto Pistol excels in all of the areas that revolvers don’t. This means an absolutely blistering rate of fire and fast reload speed thanks to the use of 8 round magazines instead of the revolver’s slow-to-reload cylinder. All you need to do when you run dry is pop a new magazine in and you’ll be back to shooting in no time. You’ll probably need to reload a fair bit, though, because of the Semi-Auto’s low damage. Unless you’re going for headshots, it might take more than a few rounds to put down an enemy.

Mauser Pistol

red dead 2 mauser pistol
A player-customized Mauser.

Rank Unlocked: 34

Cost: $600.00

Capacity: 10

Damage Per Shot: 4

Fire Rate: 8

Description: The Mauser is a precisely average pistol. With higher damage and slower rate of fire than the Semi-Auto, the Mauser boasts a whopping 10 round capacity. It doesn’t seem like much, but coupled with the higher damage, those extra two rounds can make all the difference in a gun battle. If you’re a player that prefers a semi-automatic, you can’t go wrong with the Mauser… provided, of course, that you can afford it.

A gunslinger’s sidearm is their best friend. Whether it be a pistol or a revolver, it’s wise to get to know your sidearm inside and out. When your long gun runs dry or you find yourself in an unexpected scrape, having the right handgun in your holster could keep you from ending up six feet under.

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