The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion® Game of the Year Edition - contact@rockpapershotgun.com (Brendan Caldwell)

A piece of game art from Crusader Kings 3 showing a cross looking medieval king in close up.

Regicide is once again a topic at dinner, thanks to the release of Crusader Kings III. Your aunt passes you the gravy, and asks about council matters. Your mother comments on the rise in guillotine stocks. Your father, the king, chews his mutton with a rueful and distant glare, probably thinking about war. A cloaked advisor enters and hands you a note on parchment. “The ten worft kingf and queenf in gamef,” it reads. You cough politely, put it in your pocket for later, and continue pushing poisoned food around as if you are eating it.

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The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - contact@rockpapershotgun.com (Natalie Clayton)

What’s your favourite Fall Guys minigame? See Saw? Door Dash? That weird thing with the eggs? I, for one, prefer the one where your merry band of tic-tacs slay the elder dragon Alduin. Now I understand that’s not a very “official” route to claiming a crown or two – but thanks to modder m150, you can now traipse around The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition with a rabble of ravenous Fall Guys at your side.

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The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - contact@rockpapershotgun.com (Craig Pearson)

A screenshot of a feasting hall in an ultra-modded version of Skryim. It has god rays and everything looks loads better than normal Skyrim

Nowadays, I’m a Skyrim watcher and not a Skyrim doer. I used to be a doer, but that involved more than just installing the game. I’d start modding, and I wouldn’t stop. Couldn’t stop. I’d spend more time looking for lore appropriate coin distribution than shouting at dragons. Eventually, something would break, and I’d uninstall it, promising that I wouldn’t fall into that hole again.

It’s been a long struggle, but when I stumbled upon YouTube compilations of heavily-modded Elder Scrolls, I finally broke the curse. Some brave souls do the hard work for me, turning the nine-year-old RPG (or four-year-old remaster, or two-year-old VR remake) into PC melting 4K thirst traps. I don’t have time for that. Nor the PC. (more…)

The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind® Game of the Year Edition - contact@rockpapershotgun.com (Natalie Clayton)

Crikey, it’s been a hot minute since we last heard anything about Skywind, hasn’t it? Nevertheless, the colossal task of bringing all of Morrowind into Skyrim is still well underway, with the modders behind the project releasing our first look at the ambitious mod in over a year, by way of a spruced-up return to The Battle at Nchurdamz. Hope your arachnophobia doesn’t extend to mechanical spiders, readers.

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The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - contact@rockpapershotgun.com (Sin Vega)

A cupcake drawn in mspaint, green on a pink background. The word "cuppycake" has been scrawled above it, and a heart, and a wonky hammer and sickle, and the A is the anarchism symbol.

It’s the banner that did it.

Drag… god. Jesus christ. Dwagonbown Goes UwU (or, more correctly, dwagonbown goes uwu) is an overhaul mod that turns you into the worst person in Skyrim. It does nothing, really, except it changes most of your dialogue options to be, well, uwu.

If you’re not familiar with the concept, please for the love of god stop now. Save yourself. There is no value in this knowledge. (more…)

Deus Ex: Game of the Year Edition - contact@rockpapershotgun.com (Imogen Beckhelling)

Ages ago I learned how to lockpick in real life, and ever since I’ve been so impressed at how video games emulate the feeling of managing to crack a lock open. I think maybe it’s the noise, that signature *clunk* that makes it so satisfying. It’s a staple of RPGs like Skyrim, where lockpicking is literally a skill you can level up. But loads of games have introduced their own unique minigames to let you unlock things, and now you can see most of them in one place thanks to the museum of lockpicking mechanics.

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Half-Life 2 - contact@rockpapershotgun.com (Brendan Caldwell)

A screenshot of the interior of a helicopter from Metal Gear Solid V showing snake, with his cool eyepatch, kneeling inside. Behind him, his cool wolf dog Diamond Dog has turned to snarl at the camera.

All dogs go to heaven, we have heard it said. But what about videogame dogs? By the virtue of their non-existence you may suspect they are refused entry. However, after contemplating the issue for some time, our finest minds in the listicle archives have concluded that, yes, even videogame dogs go to heaven. What a relief. Here are the 10 goodest boys in PC games, all approved for divine ascendence.

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The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - contact@rockpapershotgun.com (Brendan Caldwell)

Hubbish bubbish, rhymes are rubbish, eye of newt and blah blah blah. Gosh, magic is a chore. If only we had a catalyst to… Oh, hello reader, what are you doing here? Well, as it happens, yes, you can help me out. Just stand over here while I scratch these runes around you. I’m trying to summon the 9 best magic spells in PC games, you see. Stand still, please. You won’t feel a thing.

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The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - contact@rockpapershotgun.com (Sin Vega)

I once worked in an archive that included a heap of medieval herbals. In some form or another, they were a huge part of our culture and inherited knowledge for thousands of years, and while Skyrim does have a few compendium and guide books, there’s nothing in them that really fits that bill.

But one talented player has recently taken to drawing and painting their own compendium of grumpy Nordland’s flora. Even in its earliest days, it’s got me excited and tempted to dive back into the alchemy game all over again.

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The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - contact@rockpapershotgun.com (Imogen Beckhelling)

There’s a new gameplay trailer out for The Forgotten City, the game that started life as an award-winning Skyrim mod. It’s set in a cursed ancient Roman city where if one person sins, everyone dies. It’s a Groundhog Day kind of scenario where you have to figure out the city’s mysteries in order to break a time loop. In this new preview of one of the game’s quests, we get a great look at how far The Forgotten City has come since its Skyrim days, and dare I say it looks better than Skyrim ever could.

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