Skyrim is loaded with a ton of glitches and bugs, some of which are quite charming and hilarious. On top of that, there are lore and immersion-related problems that just don't add up.
As enjoyable and cool as the story is, it isn't without a heavy dose of plot holes and inconsistencies. When it comes to the gameplay, some elements haven't aged very well. Thankfully, the ever-reliable modding community keeps churning out content designed to fix a lot of these bugs, but it really falls on Bethesda to make the next Elder Scrolls game more believable.
Updated on August 31st, 2021 by Derek Draven: It's no secret that Skyrim is loaded with initial oversights that have made it what it is today. It doesn't detract too much from the excellence of the game, but it sticks out like a sore thumb regardless as, despite the efforts of the modding community, many gamers still stick with the base game and all the good and bad that comes with it. There are a lot of embarrassing, unintentional, and all-around hilarious hiccups in Skyrim that deserve to be highlighted, not to mention design flaws and plot holes. Hopefully, they each serve as a lesson for Bethesda as they ramp up production of the Elder Scrolls VI.
The Sparse Population
Technical limitations made it practically impossible for Bethesda to create a thriving society in Skyrim, but it's still difficult to justify the sparse population of the province. This is supposed to be a major part of Tamriel, albeit harsher than most. The Nords are hearty people who have learned to adapt and thrive, despite the climate.
Yet, it sometimes seems that no more than about two hundred people exist in Skyrim at any given time. Cities aren't particularly jam-packed with citizens, and there's only a handful of villages, towns, and inlets strewn about. It's hard to have a kingdom when there's barely anyone there to rule over.
Surviving In Sub-Zero Temperatures
In many ways, Skyrim feels like a base game that Bethesda intended to be used as a platform for modders to fill in the blanks. There's weight to this theory, considering that Bethesda didn't bother to add in any sort of survival mechanic related to the cold, harsh weather of the province in question.
Indeed, players can strip down to their underwear and spend days in the frozen tundra, fit as a fiddle. This immersion-breaking oversight is why mods like Frostfall were created, which make it possible to freeze to death unless the player is wearing appropriate clothing, or cannot make it to a campfire in time.
Insta-Torches
There's no such thing as a flashlight in the world of Skyrim, but somehow they've managed to create the next best thing. The torches are a nice touch when it comes to immersion, and necessary for seeing in the dark, especially if players are utilizing a relighting mod, or an ENB preset.
The problem lies in how they're activated. Characters need only select the torch from the inventory, and it springs up with a fully active flame. No flint, no oil, and no sparking to create a fire, which doesn't feel particularly realistic, especially for characters that just came out of the water, soaking wet.
Food & Drink Is A Bit Of A Joke
As an adventure RPG, Skyrim is loaded with in-world items to find and use, including food and drink. However, the base game doesn't bother to utilize either, to any great degree. The player can go for months on end without so much as a sip of water, or a bite of food. Obviously, this doesn't make a lot of sense.
Next is the weight mechanic, which tries its best to add weight values to every item. Carry too much, and players will become encumbered, forcing them to drop a few items to get moving again. The fact that a single apple can push them over this limit is pretty funny, and not very immersive.
Dragons Barely Shout
Throughout the game, players will do battle with numerous dragons, but the majority are simply too weak to be taken seriously. They fly around a lot, land occasionally, and blast the player with either fire or frost breath. Shouting is something that takes a relative backseat, which is odd since it's a linchpin of Skyrim's main story lore.
Mods like Magic Duels exist specifically to solve this gaping problem, and they go a long way towards revamping the dragon mechanic. As they stand, vanilla dragons tend to get boring very quickly, specifically because they refuse to rely on the very thing that makes them so unique – their dragon shouts.
Animal Rights Gone Wild
This might be chalked up to a simple bug, but that's being generous. It has much to do with how Skyrim's NPC characters handle forms of aggression displayed by the player. Strike a guard, or steal an item in plain sight, and the folks around will react accordingly.
However, this AI-related mechanic tends to go a little wild when it comes to the local livestock. Taking a swing at a simple chicken will result in the entire town turning against the player, and the consequences are usually dire. Coincidentally, this is one of the Skyrim, bar none.
Going To Sovngarde
At one point in the game, the character Hadvar says "I hope that dragon takes you all to Sovngarde," as if it's somehow a bad thing. Elder Scrolls lore describes Sovngarde quite differently, as the equivalent of Heaven, or the Nordic Valhalla. While no one is ever in a rush to die, most take solace in the belief that they'll end up in a better place.
Also, Sovngarde is quite culture-specific, and it's hard to believe that other races with a different belief system would be allowed inside its spiritual walls. Yet, the Dragonborn is welcome there, regardless of what race the player chooses at the beginning of the game.
Unstoppable Horses
To say that Bethesda's Creation Engine is less than perfect is video gaming's most notorious understatement. It's no secret that physics tends to fly right out the window, especially when it comes to unpatched, buggy copies. Horses in Skyrim actually benefit from this mechanic in a huge way.
While the average player might have trouble hoisting themselves over a small ledge, horses can gallop up the side of a mountain at 85 degrees, without batting a lash. At this point, it's considered one of the most charming goofs in Skyrim's buggy engine, and one that Bethesda ought not to fix.
Aventus Aretino
Aventus Aretino is a child that can be found in Windhelm. Upon arriving in the city, players will hear ominous portents about Aventus and his supposed misdeeds. Apparently, he is performing some type of dark magic in order to the infamous Dark Brotherhood, a group of legendary assassins. The whole thing sounds quite disturbing, especially since Aretino is a child.
This begs the obvious question as to why the people of Windhelm were so concerned about Aventus, in the first place. They're the adults, after all, and they could just as easily have intervened. The fact that Ulfric Stormcloak himself is a stone's throw away from what's happening is also odd. No Dark Brotherhood member would dare go up against him.
Reporting Crimes
Skyrim gamers can go to the dark side, and satisfy their selfish urges if they so choose. Stealing is a big part of this mechanic, and gamers have plenty of opportunities to go about the world and steal whatever they'd like from store shelves, people's homes, and their very pockets too.
When a crime does get reported, however, reality flies out the window. The entire region gets instantly notified, which means the player is a wanted fugitive, no matter which part they visit. Worse, even animals can report crimes due to bad AI scripting. Many mods exist to get rid of this silly functionality, which is good news for those who like reality in their games.
