worth upgrading to special edition?

[Gentoo]

I own the original game (no expansions) that I played back in the day. Starting a new playthrough of it and noticed they released this special edition (ya I know its a few years back they did - I didn't know). Is it worth buying the game again or are the upgrades minimal?

[JDaremo Fireheart]

First off, it isn't an upgrade. It's a complete separate game.
Biggest bonus is that unlike the original it isn't hobbled with a 4gb ram limit and it's a lot more stable than the original.

[Gentoo]

A complete separate game? Its still Skyrim with the same stories etc, isn't it? Or is this a whole different thing?

[Gentoo]

I was thinking it may be worth it just to play with mods. But the base game itself, is it a big step up?

[JDaremo Fireheart]

Yes it's still the same game but one does not influence the other.
saves & mods from the original are not compatible with the new one.

[every1hasnames]

A little added info to Jdaremo firehearts statement.

While it is true generally speaking alot of the mods for original skyrim wont be compatible for se.

Some actually are. There are a few mods for original skyrim that will work for se.


INfact some mods that arent carried over to se by the original mod author. Wasnt specifically because you can just install the skyrim mod and it will work on se just fine. So little point to remaking it for se.



However you will still have to rely on se mods the bulk of the time. I only say this because if there is a mod that you really liked in old rim but its not in se. It may be possible that the reason it wasnt remade for se is because the old rim mod will already work with se.

[GIJoe597]

The answer to your specific question. No, it is not a big step up. It is the exact same Skyrim, bugs/gliches etc. Just looks better and can use more memory. The base game is exactly the same. Nothing was "fixed/added".

The only plus is the memory/stability for modding and the fact all the DLC are included.

[258789553873]

You can make oldrim look better than vanilla SE with mods. Beyond that, it DOES allow mods that oldrim simply can't handle. However, bethesda has been releasing relentless updates in an attempt to sabotage free mods for SE. You really have to jump through hoops to mod this game. Oh, and because of their relentless updates, people stopped letting their game update at different versions, which means that you'll have to consider what version of the game a mod was designed for when downloading new mods. You'll be saving yourself a lot of headaches if you just stick with oldrim. Besides, there's not much point in buying it again if you already own it. A lot of us just got it for free when SE came out because we already owned the program. Though come to think of it, you may also have gotten it for free, assuming you either had the legendary edition or all the expansions when it came out.

[Sabaithal]

Originally posted by Gentoo:

A complete separate game? Its still Skyrim with the same stories etc, isn't it? Or is this a whole different thing?

From a purely, vanilla user's perspective, its skyrim with better graphics and godrays. Not much of a difference besides that.

For mod users the difference is night and day compared to the original. Mods are fewer in number for SE, but only because the ones that have been ported are the ones that were relevant enough to be ported. Also high quality mods that likely don't exist for the original since hardly anyone makes mods exlusively for it anymore. Basically, as a mod user, I like SE better in every way.

Also much less random crashing.

[NimrodX]

If you have Oldrim with no DLCs then yes, buying SE will be like buying a bundle with all DLCs plus some engine upgrades (64 bit, a little graphics improvement etc) that prevent older mods from working. If you want to save some money wait for a sale.

[ShelLuser]

Originally posted by Gentoo:

I own the original game (no expansions) that I played back in the day. Starting a new playthrough of it and noticed they released this special edition (ya I know its a few years back they did - I didn't know). Is it worth buying the game again or are the upgrades minimal?

It's worth buying into. The Special Edition comes bundled with all three DLC and it's actually cheaper than having to buy all three DLC separately for 'Oldrim'. So from that pov. it's definitely something worth considering, also because expansions such as 'Dragonborn' and 'Dawnguard' are very good and add a ton of new stuff to explore & discover.

[Metadragon]

Its more stable in addition to the rest of the answers. Modders like modding it more in general as well as it requires less ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ around to get certain mods to work.

[Isaak]

Special Edition is definitely more stable, I can confirm that, too.
You can run a lot more script heavy mods like warzones without crashing.

And many of the good mods are ported already.
I would say go for it :)

[eyeC]

If you don't have all the DLC (Dawnguard, Dragonborn, Hearthfire), then it is DEFINITELY worth getting , as these are all part of SSE and they're all great. Just wait for a sale.

If you 're on a console, you'll find the graphics are better with SSE. If you're on the PC, then not a lot of difference.

Regarding stability, I'm on the fence with that one. My Oldrim was extremely stable, but I was running only 8 - 10 mods. Now I'm running 100+ mods with SSE, and things are less stable (but still not bad). Supposedly, the 64-bit environment is better for other reasons, also; but that's beyond my ken.

[Gentoo]

The only downside I've seen to upgrading is that the game periodically freezes but hen unfreezes a couple seconds later. It can be annoying but it isn't game breaking.