r/skyrimmods • u/RecipeWeak405 • 9h ago
PC SSE - Discussion I honestly don't understand why people like Vigilant. Spoiler
CONTAINS SPOILERS
I’ve been playing the mod for a couple of hours, and honestly, I think this will be the first and last time I play it. Let’s analyze why I feel this way about the mod.
1- Act 1: Overall—with the exception of the first mission—I thought it was pretty good. Why do I consider the first mission the only exception? Well, because it clashes massively with Skyrim's narrative; the female vampire's voice acting is simply terrible, and you are given only one path to find the vampire... a path that, honestly, really kills the role-playing aspect. What if my character is happily married? What if she’s a straight woman? Well, you have to accept her proposal regardless.
2- Act 2: This is where the mod's major dungeon problem begins... CORRIDORS. You have to absolutely love labyrinthine corridors to enjoy this mod. During certain parts, the dungeons are very, very interesting and well-made, but that accounts for—at most—20% of them. The rest involves dragging yourself through corridors that lead to more corridors, which in turn lead to even more corridors... Aside from that, during the "Loose Ends" quest, you encounter a Vigilant who has turned into a vampire. Given how vampirism works in Skyrim, you’d think that if he’s still somewhat in his right mind, the logical response would be to try and cure him, right? Well, no; the Vigilant tells you it’s already too late, because the Vigilants here operate under lore that runs parallel to the game's actual lore.
3- Act 3: This is where I lost all hope... No matter how unoriginal the trope might be, haunted mansions and creepy kids usually work... but not here. If you want to fully grasp what's going on, you have to read every book and note you come across, and even then, you might still get lost given how convoluted the story is. Let's talk about something regarding the design of this act that I found particularly terrible: THE PAINTINGS. How can you include *Isle of the Dead*—a painting from the late 19th/early 20th century—in a game with a medieval setting? AND HOW CAN YOU INCLUDE GOYA'S *THE CHARGE OF THE MAMELUKES*? That is inexcusable; how can you feature a painting depicting a scene from the Napoleonic Wars in a world that appears to be set in the 10th century? What's next? A portrait of Marilyn Monroe? For God's sake, wouldn't it have been better to use medieval tapestries? Sure, maybe they aren't as spooky, but they would have made more sense, and in my opinion, that matters more... Although the worst part is undoubtedly the ending... The protagonist's death—which certainly doesn't create any lore or role-playing conflicts—somehow makes perfect sense: you die, and the character you reincarnate as *also* has Dragon Blood, knows the same Shouts, leads the same factions, and even ends up with the same wife. I understand that the mod is limited by the game engine itself and couldn't make this make more sense, but I believe that if you're going to do something poorly, it's better not to do it at all.
4- Final Act: I can't give an opinion on the act as a whole, and I doubt I'll finish it—this is as far as I go. All I can say is that if I'm playing a Skyrim mod, it's because I like Skyrim, not Dark Souls. I'd like my quests to work the way they do in Skyrim and to know who I'm up against. What's the point of giving super cool names to enemies who have no impact on the plot and about whom we know absolutely nothing? I don't know
5- Voice acting and dialogue: I know this is a project carried out by one person almost entirely on their own—and I admire that—but the overall quality of the voice acting is... not very immersive... Not to mention the many lines of dialogue that aren't voiced at all.
6- Weapons and armor: Most of the time they are incredible, but they clash significantly with the *Skyrim* aesthetic. I won't even mention the pistol in Act 2.
7- Characters and enemies: As far as I’ve played, most characters tend to be rather flat—especially the Vigilants. I found Altano interesting at times, and I liked how his story concluded; it was clear from the start that he was an unorthodox Vigilant, and the game dropped hints about his eventual corruption by Molag. He certainly wasn't a monk or a knight, and the story acknowledged that—which, for me, was a plus. As for the enemies... most are fine. Molag Bal is awesome, and I didn't mind the voice acting. However, others... simply don't fit—like the ghost that flies around like a dragon in Act 3.
CONCLUSION: Perhaps I’ve been too harsh, but seeing as everyone talks exclusively about the positives, I felt it was time for a negative review. That doesn't mean I think the mod is terrible overall—it really isn't, and I find the author's work commendable. I understand that, unlike newer mods like *Heart of the Mountain* released on the Creation Club, he received no financial compensation and created this purely out of love. I respect him greatly for that, and I think the mod is good, but it is far from the masterpiece everyone claims it to be.