For those who haven't played elder scrolls games, or fallout 3, games made by bethesda are the best western rpg games out there, and the worlds are hand crafted, beautiful, and HUGE. Skyrim is the next in the series after Oblivion, and after all of the hype, it delivered. This game refined oblivion's combat, whether using destruction spells, or duel weilding swords, or archery... everything is more realistic, easier to use, and so much more fun. The game is the same exact formula, but upgraded and refined in every way. They somehow managed to make the world even more beautiful and real looking. The voice acting and sounds in the game are WAY better than oblivion, and you truly feel like you're immersed in another world. To keep it simple, Skyrim is, in my opinion, the best rpg game out there, and it has so much gameplay put into it you can't even put a manageable number on how long you'll be playing, but it's a long time lol. Years. And apparently with bethesda's new engine, quest system, and depending on your actions and choices, your game will never be the same as another person, or a replay through. It'l always be at least somewhat of a new experience. This is truly the ultimate fantasy epic! It deserves a 10/10... 5 stars, hands down.
As for the Dragon and Art book, they're amazing for fans of the series. Is the bundle worth 150$? Well, I can completely understand anyone thinking that's too steep for any game package, but I personally had no problem paying that much for this game. I don't buy collectors editions anymore because, yeah, I don't think they're worth it honestly. This was one of the only games I was willing to, considering how much work Bethesda puts into their games, and how much I love the series. The Dragon has a good level of detail, but the wall it can be perched on is fairly cheap. It doesn't easily fit onto it either. The dragon language is on the stone wall beneath the dragon, thought that was cool. Now the art book, what impressed me the most is simply the cover and binding. It's leather and it looks exactly like the book of Dragonborn, which is in the game, and the cover of the game of course, and has some slight (intentional) scuffed up art on it. It looks and feels like a real ancient book. Alright I won't exaggerate on that, but it's really cool. The art is a lot of the concept art on environments, and enemies, and weapons, and armor. Very cool.
With that being said, I will admit some slight flaws, or at least what I kind of didn't like, but nothing serious at all. First is that, for how much the game focuses on the new addition of dragons, being the pinnacle of fun combat, they don't feel that challenging, or at least, you can work around their strengths. They also become a bit repetative in the way they fight. I mean, it's epic, but one dragon fight will be extremely similar to the next or last. Don't get me wrong though, they're awesome.
I guess the only other flaw worth mentioning that I can think of, is the map. The map looks incredible, it really does! You're basically looking at an overview of the world in real time. You see the moutains and clouds and rivers from above as they would look from a hot air balloone. Very cool. The problem is, the map doesn't do a good job at showing you the road you're on or routes through the towns and mountains. It's only good use for me is fast travelling. Being a map, I figured it should help you find your way somewhere with the quickest or easiest possible route. After all, that's what a map is for isn't it?
Other than that, Skyrim is one incredible game and I haven't even done the game justice on what I've said that's great about it. If you love rpgs, there's no debating it, just buy it. It's worth every penny and you'll be living in skyrim for years! Literally lol. And as for this collector's edition, I love it of course and I don't regret buying it one bit. If you're a fan of the series, well you shouldn't even be reading this, go buy the collectors edition now! If you're a casual gamer that likes rpgs, then the price is probably too steep and the 'goodies' are not as important to you. Either way, play Skyrim!