An absolute ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ masterpiece of a game. Okay sure it's technically a mod but ♥♥♥♥ that, this is a full on game.

God where do I start. The Atmosphere. The World Building. The some new enhanced gameplay features based on the simplicity of Skyrim. In short it was amazing. It did take me 6 years after first trying Enderal to actually give it an honest to god try for a full playthough and I'm disappointed I didn't get into it sooner buuuuuut...

Alright the biggest thing I hated/kept me from actually playing this was the difficulty. I'm not talking about how the world is "leveled" I.E. where certain areas have higher level areas instead of Skyrims "level-scaling". But if you are in a similarly leveled area to what your character level is you are basically playing Skyrim on Master difficulty. You know, the setting that makes EVERY enemy a bullet sponge(and worse). It's not fun, it's not inherently difficult, it's just absolutely tedious to play through. You could get by easily especially if you already understand Skyrim and it's gameplay. Yeah it does get better but its such a slog to the game as a whole I'm surprised it never got a major adjustment with The Forgotten Stories expansion and Steam releases. This fake difficulty put me off the game for literally 6 fricken years. Again not because it was hard but it was so damn tedious/annoying to play though.

Now after trying to get into Enderal yet again a month ago I came acrossed a Reddit post mentioning the use of the Story Mode mod. So I downloaded it and a few other small mods and let me tell you it was one part that complete changed the mod for me.

Another issue I had was the leveling system. I really wasn't a fan of the introduction of skill books. Much like the "difficulty" changes it made the game alot more tedious to play through. So I also installed a mod called Leveling Redone that lets player spec into whatever skills they want to without the requirement of finding/buying books. It just made things so much better in the long run.

Aside from core game features I had issues with the only thing I had gripes with were general playability and bugs. Lets start with general playability. I will say the world is significantly more detailed and interesting than Skyrims, but that might be at a detriment? Skyrim/The Creation engine has always had issues with NPC pathfinding but Bethesda's world building made it "acceptable" Yeah sure NPCs would get stuck from time to time but not really too often? At least it wasn't 100% repeatable. But the consequence of having a more detailed environment in Enderal with significantly more detailed and beautiful areas is that Bethesdas NPC AI/Pathfinding absolutely STRUGGLES in the environment. Be prepared to use TCL alot on NPCs that get stuck because it will happen all the time. Let it be known this is an issue on Bethesdas end with the Creation engine, and a small part on the developers of Endearal for making cells and the world too beautiful and too detailed(what a curse).

Bug-wise was a mixed bag. Concerning side-questing I really didn't have too many bugs all things considered. Granted it is Skyrim and this is a mod for it so it's to be expected but it wasn't that bad on the side content. But the Main quests are an absolute mixed bag of hitting bugs and snags. The majority of my crashes were all on the main quest, and the majority of all game breaking bugs were all on the main quest. IDK what it was but the side quests were so much more stable, even the new faction ones introduced with the Forgotten Stories expansion. It was always a little jarring to spend 10 hours on side quests and have a smooth experience only to go back to do a mission or two of the main story and be plagued with bugs that require reloads and console commands to fix.

The voice acting, while amazing and AAA quality in alot of areas, is a complete mixed bag. Granted yes this is a mod but the quality of both voices AND mic quality vary wildly throughout the game. It absolutely makes it hard to get fully immersed into it when you all of the sudden come acrossed an NPC that has dialogue that was recorded in their kitchen and you can hear them breathing in between lines and moving. Not a deal breaker by any stretch of the imagination but still something kind of annoying at times. And good god who the hell chose the voice actor for Lishari Peghast?? Yeesh terrible and monotone.

Alrighty onto the good!
My god the story is so damn interesting. Okay well sometimes it can be a little annoying and yes there are ABSOLUTELY some plotholes here and there, but overall it's just amazing. Jespar's quest with the expansion, the new faction quests, and base quest are really great. I really don't want to get into specifics because I don't want to really spoil too much.The one thing I hate is how there are so many unanswered questions at the end.

Atmospherically the game is jaw dropping. Both the music and the world crafted work amazingly together. A completely different experience to that of Skyrim but nearly on the same tier as it using the same assets! It's absolutely incredible what the developers were able to make feel completely original and new using stuff already in Skyrim! It is literally art, and well done art at that! Oh man the soundtrack is beautiful to listen to and brings about so much life to the game! God, Lonely Mountain, Heading for new Shores, and Every Day like the Last are just beautiful pieces.

Gameplay wise it is pretty much Skyrim but with some new stuff. Magic got an overhaul compared to base Skyrim where spells have "tiers" to them, with each tier getting more damage/effects. It made going fully mage a more enticing play style. Melee combat is the same but with newer weapons being locked to blueprints it made dungeon delving alot more enticing and lucrative because that cave you just discovered could let you make better gear! In terms of gear I really liked the inclusion of Armor Sets. These are pieces you can find throughout the world(or craft) that unlock new power-ups as you equip more pieces from said set. There's also the inclusion of being able to decorate your home! And no it's not the disappointment that Hearthfire was to Skyrim, you can actually get blueprints and make furniture AND place it wherever you wanted in your home! Granted Enderal only has 2 player homes which is kind of disappointing, but the ability to mold it into what you wanted was a great addition. There's also new bar games you can play! Dice and a card game, there not really in depth but still cool additions to help flush out the world.


I have so much more I want to say but I'll leave it at this. PLAY. THIS. GAME.

If you own Skyrim you have no excuse to not at least try it. Seriously. 60+ hours of great and interesting stuff to do and its all for free!!! Please if you were put off from this game when you tried it vanilla check out the mods I mentioned at the beginning of the review. Enderal is absolutely worth your time and is worth a full playthrough side questing and all.

We will NEVER get anything as amazing, flushed out, and beautiful as Enderal ever again. The numerous devs split after making it and its expansion, and the rights issues(at least for the title) means this masterpiece will never again be replicated. It brings me such disheartening feelings to know this was a once in a lifetime thing to happen......