The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - Legendary Edition is the complete form of the original 2011 Skyrim: the full base game together with all three official add-ons, Dawnguard, Hearthfire and Dragonborn, plus the mounted combat, combat cameras, Legendary difficulty and Legendary skills that Bethesda Game Studios added after launch. It is the open-world fantasy epic that collected more than 200 Game of the Year awards, gathered into a single package.
A Province on the Edge of War
The High King of Skyrim has been murdered and the Empire of Tamriel is coming apart. Claims to the throne pile up, alliances form, and the Stormcloaks and the Imperial Legion settle into a civil war that reaches every corner of the province. Then, in the middle of it all, an ancient evil wakes. Dragons have returned to Tamriel, and the great black dragon Alduin leads them.
You are the Dragonborn, a mortal born with the soul and power of a dragon and the only one who can truly stand against them. How deeply you involve yourself in the civil war, which side you take, and how you go about facing Alduin are all left to you. Skyrim is a dark, dangerous place, and it never pretends otherwise.
Live Another Life, in Another World
Skyrim's defining promise is freedom. Bethesda Game Studios built a complete virtual world of rolling clouds, rugged mountains, bustling cities, lush fields and ancient dungeons, then opened all of it to you from the first hour. Play any character you can imagine and explore any way you choose.
- You are what you play. With hundreds of weapons, spells and abilities to draw on, the character system defines you through your actions rather than a class picked at the start, so a warrior who dabbles in magic simply becomes a warrior who casts.
- Dragons are not just bosses. As Dragonborn you battle these ancient creatures, learn their secrets and harness their power, turning each victory into strength you carry into the next fight.
- Every road leads somewhere. A ruin on the horizon, a cave mouth in the snow or a stranger with a problem can pull you into hours of adventure you never planned, and that is exactly how Skyrim is meant to be played.
Three Add-Ons, One Complete Package
- Dawnguard
- The Vampire Lord Harkon has returned and means to use the Elder Scrolls to end the sun itself. Join the ancient order of the Dawnguard to stop him, or take the other path entirely and become a Vampire Lord yourself, with everything that choice brings.
- Hearthfire
- Buy land and build your own home from the ground up, starting with a one-room cottage and growing it into a full compound with an armory, an alchemy laboratory and more. Adopt children and give your Dragonborn a life to return to between adventures.
- Dragonborn
- Journey off the coast of Morrowind to the island of Solstheim, a land of ash wastes and glacial valleys with its own history and threats. New shouts bend enemies to your will, and for the first time you can tame dragons and ride them across the sky.
The Legendary Additions
The Legendary Edition also folds in the improvements the base game gained after its 2011 release. Combat cameras add cinematic weight to finishing blows. Mounted combat lets you fight from the saddle instead of dismounting for every roadside ambush. Legendary difficulty is there for players who want Skyrim to push back hard, and Legendary skills let you reset any mastered skill to 15 and keep levelling without a ceiling, so a long-running character never truly runs out of room to grow.
This is the definitive form of the original Skyrim (not the later Special Edition remaster), presented as it was when Bethesda considered the story complete.
Still Played, Still Growing
Roughly fifteen years on, Skyrim remains one of the most-played single-player RPGs on Steam, and a large part of that is Steam Workshop support. The modding community has kept the game alive with everything from small fixes to whole new questlines, and the sheer size of the world means there is always another corner to see. It is a purely single-player experience, built to be lived in at your own pace.
If you have never climbed the Throat of the World, or if it has simply been too long, the Legendary Edition is the place to begin again. Pick up your bow, learn your first Shout, and go see what is over the next ridge.
