Item: The Orb
Rarity: ✸ Legendary
What do you think is the greatest video game ever made and why?
Feed your dashboard by answering my question, blogger.
Yeah, shut up, I know it's technically just a mod and not a full game, but if you call it anything but a game you're doing it a disservice.
It looks insanely pretty with the limited assets it has. Yes, you can see the Skyrim in it, but it also looks almost nothing like Skyrim.
The characters are so well written with their own motivations, personalities and flaws. They feel more real than any Skyrim character ever did.
While the basic story isn't anything new or special, the experience stays with you for years. It keeps resurfacing in my mind when I'm not even playing. Random words or phrases make me turn my head, once I even thought I heard someone whistling like Daddy.
The soundtrack is straight up perfect. Most soundtracks aren't as good on their own as they are in-game, in my experience. Not so with Enderal. I often put it on in the background for reading or writing. One track is the official soundtrack for one of my fics from an entirely different fandom. That's how much I like it.
And it's all free!
(You do need a legal copy of Skyrim on Steam or GOG, but wait for a sale and you get 2 games for 10€ or so.)
Enderal puts triple A games to shame for being of similar or even better quality with no budget, student licenses and a whole bunch of volunteer work. It's fully voiced in German and English!
Of course it's not perfect. It has flaws in its writing, it has bugs. But for what it is, it is amazing.
And that doesn't end with the game. The community is super nice and the lead writer is a wonderful person. He wrote a book that is certainly not for everyone, but one of my favourites (I may own way too many copies of it).
So go do yourself a favour and play Enderal!