TES IV: Shivering Isles

Oh man, I almost let my laziness beat me again. It's been a couple of weeks since my last post, and it's not like I haven't done anything to blog about. So, let's get on with it.

The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion is a game that I've played over and over. Even when I've resolved to replay Fallout 3/NV a second time, I find myself staring at the Oblivion menu, the familiar music playing as though to welcome me back. That is what happened again recently. But there is something different about this playthrough. I have finally, finally installed the Shivering Isles. It's the DLC I've been wanting to play since forever, so the moment it was installed, I plunged myself into the game, eager to experience Sheogorath's madness.

As far as first impressions go, this was not bad at all. In fact, it was pretty damn good. The scenery took my breath away. I've never seen something like that while trekking about Cyrodiil. Perhaps it's because I never really bothered to look up, or was fast travelling too much for my own good. Either way, that beautiful night sky captivated me, and put me in high spirits. The weird looking things that dotted the land reminded me of Morrowind, but I'm not really sure about that since I've not played the game before. (So it's pretty safe to say it reminded me of what Morrowind looks like in screenshots.)

I won't write a blow-by-blow account for this since I don't have that many screenshots to remind me of what I did in detail, so I'll just settle with a simple retrospect of my overall experience with in the Shivering Isles.

The main storyline goes like this: Sheogorath is looking for a champion who can hold the fort and defend the Isles from Jyggalag's forces of Order while he mysteriously disappears. So, you go on various quests to gain Sheogorath's favour, understand the courts of Mania and Dementia,  become a duke or duchess of Mania or Dementia yourself, find out that Sheogorath is actually Jyggalag, gain the favour of the Aureals and Mazken, then finally become the the Daedric Prince of Madness yourself, freeing Jyggalag/Sheogorath from the endless cycle they are trapped in. (That was an impressively long sentence.)

One of the perks of reigning over the Realm of Madness was definitely owning this beautiful castle, complete with its own guards and residents so it doesn't seem as lonely as any house you'd own in Cyrodiil.

The story was good, and I would have been surprised about Sheogorath's true identity if I hadn't spoiled myself with the wiki. (Oh, you wouldn't believe how hard a mental slap I gave myself.) The quests themselves are interesting as well, not your usual fare of "go to point A and kill some things, then go to point B and kill even more, then report back". One memorable quest was when I had to somehow break the tense stalemate between the Aureals and Mazken in order to light the Great Torch in New Sheoth. A choice was given: to side with either the seemingly more honourable, and brightly armoured Aureals, or the mysterious, darker armoured Mazken. I chose the Aureals, purely because I've always been fascinated by Valkyrie-type characters, also because which side you chose ultimately didn't matter in the ending anyway.

Another was one where you had to set yourself aflame to restore the Great Torch in New Sheoth.

And another where you had to drive three adventurers, who entered your Gauntlet of traps, to death or insanity.

Character-wise, there were only a few who really stood out to me. One was obviously Sheogorath, whose extremely upbeat and cheerful disposition was sometimes dotted with disturbingly murderous comments.

The other was Haskill, the Prince of Madness' world-weary sarcastic advisor. (Come to think of it, he reminds me of the Doctor in Star Trek: Voyager-which is a very good series and you should watch it, by the way-in terms of both mannerisms and looks).

The Duke of Mania and Duchess of Dementia were disappointingly flat.

Lady Syl, Duchess of Dementia

The only things of note about them were, well, their manic and demented personalities which can be found in any one of the citizens that you find in New Sheoth. Their betrayal of Sheogorath had no emotional impact on me, as the reason for their betrayal was flimsy, and they simply hadn't made that deep an impression on me.

Oh, I almost forgot. One NPC that actually made me smile was this very sweet orc smith residing in Bliss (from the realm of Mania, which I became Duchess of), from whom I was buying a helmet in the screenshot below. He deserves honourable mention. How often do you find such positive people in real life, much less video games?

Here is another notable incident that happened in the city. Whether it was intended in the script or just accidental, I don't know. But the timing and positioning of it made the moment golden.

Overall, I enjoyed this DLC. Even though the gameplay was standard enough, the story was enjoyable and intriguing to play through. It was refreshing to take a step out of almost-boringly sane Cyrodiil and walk among people who seem as if they would stab a dagger into your neck at any time for no particular reason at all. Maybe just to see your blood run down your skin in dark tributaries....