I have undoubtedly played more of Skyrim than any other game. Unfortunately, it isn’t really possible for me to give an accurate playtime because I have now played the game across so many platforms that it’s just unrealistic to keep track. PS3, PS4, PC, and sometimes even multiple versions of the game on the same platform. Now add PS5 to that collection and it begins to look like an obsession. This is a game that I have almost religiously bought the new version of nearly every single time one was released. It’s somehow hard to believe that it’s been ten years of Skyrim, my first copy being a gift a month or so after its original launch and I have barely stopped playing it since.

The most substantial upgrade to the game of all the re-releases so far was the 2016 Special Edition which gave things a well-needed facelift, with crisper textures, a more stable framerate, and the addition of select mods and a quick save option for consoles. The new Anniversary Edition comes with some of the premium Creation Club content pre-installed, including fishing and survival mode. There is also a collection of smaller free mods that are still available for download within the Special Edition for those who don’t feel like paying the cash for the Anniversary upgrade.

Usually, I wouldn’t want to play a game on survival mode. I’m kind of an easy-going gamer, so the thought of it would be quite daunting, but I’ve played through Skyrim enough times that I was sure it wouldn’t prove too much of a challenge. It makes a decent chunk of changes to the original gameplay loop, adding the need to eat, sleep, and stay warm. Neglecting to do these things will have a major effect on your health and stamina, making it harder to play as you deal with the effects. I actually enjoyed these editions quite a lot. I love cooking in video games already and used to whipping up ten or so cabbage apple stews when I had the chance, just because I liked doing it. It was nice that cooking became a much more useful ability, as cooked meals provide a much larger recovery from hunger than just shotgunning nine wheels of cheese. Needing to sleep was interesting too. It forced me to rent a room at an Inn for the first time ever, lots of times actually. Any time I came across a town I would pay that 10 Septim fee for an Inn room, so much that it became a comfort to walk into one of those warm havens.

The other major edition to this new release is of course the aforementioned fishing. This mechanic feels disappointing, especially considering how much they were advertising it. When you equip a rod, it just ends up in your weapon slot and attempting to cast your rod just results in the Dragonborn swinging it the way they would swing an axe. That is unless you are in one of the few designated fishing areas in the game, then you stand and wait for something to bite and reel it in. It’s very basic as far as fishing goes, and the rod feels a little redundant when the Dragonborn is already able to catch live fish with their bare hands, but I digress. It seemed like it would be a neat little add-on for the game, but the requirement of standing in specific fishing locations makes it not very useful at all and kind of a pain to even use, especially if you are playing on Survival Mode without fast travel available. Being able to fish in any body of water could have been a big change to the game, but unfortunately, that isn’t the case here. The other free Creation Club editions are so un-noteworthy that if I have encountered any of them so far, I have barely even noticed. There was one new property that the player can purchase that I found while scaling a mountain, but apart from that there is nothing of any sort of interest.