Let’s see what’s on the to-do list today. Chop some wood before sunrise, make a few health potions, raid the local bandit cave, climb a snow-covered mountain leading to an abandoned fortress and slay a dragon. All in a day’s work in the land of “Skyrim.”

After five long years, Bethesda Game Studios, the developer of “The Elder Scrolls” game series, has released another breath-taking, open-world game, “The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.” An open world game is where a player can roam in a virtual world and is given a considerable amount of freedom to choose how to approach objectives.

Like a great fantasy novel, “Skyrim” has deep lore and rich backstory dating as far back as 1994, with the release of “The Elder Scrolls: Arena” propelling the game forward without missing a beat.

As always, there is an intricate main story line that you can follow, but unlike a novel, there aren’t any guidelines or boundaries you must adhere to. You can go wherever you want, whenever you want and do anything you damn well please once you get there. Very few things are unobtainable. For instance, if there’s a mountain in the distance and you want to climb it, not much is going to stop you.

Picking up 200 years after the events of “Oblivion,” “Skyrim” starts out similarly to its predecessors. Bound in shackles, you’re once again the nameless prisoner being transported to whatever fate awaits you. You are then introduced to a few prisoners that basically tell you that you were in the wrong place at the wrong time and things are looking pretty grim right now.

First off, I’m getting sick of the nameless prisoner routine. I know that options are limited when it comes to introducing everyone’s unique character into the world, but the whole rags to riches story is starting to get very cliché. Just change things up a bit. I don’t think this is such an insurmountable task.

Character personalization is what makes Bethesda a contender and everyone else pretenders when it comes to open-world games. While “Assassins Creed” or “Red Dead Redemption” offers you rich and exciting open-world gameplay, you’re still playing through the eyes of a scripted character the developers created. It just makes a game more special when you build something from the ground up, including the main protagonist or antagonist, whichever you decide.

After making your selections from several different races, sex, body and facial features, you put a name to the face and the story picks up from there.

I won’t give away anymore of the opening sequence, but eventually you will be released into the vast world on your own. A hint of advice: don’t be afraid to just walk around and explore. There are some amazing things to discover, so take your time and smell the roses.

While “Skyrim” wows people in many aspects, it does have a few flaws. “The Elder Scrolls” games have been known for glitches in the past and “Skyrim” is no exception. A glitch is a temporary malfunction that causes irregularity in the program.

You can be sure a patch, which is a software released to fix bugs and glitches, will be released soon to address these issues.

Overall, this game is worth every penny. Anyone who has followed “The Elder Scrolls” series can tell that a lot of love and patience went into this game. The five year wait was worth it to me. I can’t wait to see what Bethesda throws at me in another five years.