Skyrim goes full Mass Effect in this epic free fan expansion

You’ve most likely played Skyrim to death, I get it.

That’s a boat that many of us find ourselves in and yet that certainly doesn’t stop me from crawling back to this Bethesda masterpiece.

There’s something about Skyrim’s open world that just, as cheesy as it sounds, feels like home.

If I don’t want to think too hard, it’s a chance to step into somewhere that’s wholly familiar, but that’s not to say I’m against any sense of newness in Skyrim.

It goes without saying that as much of a comfort blanket Skyrim is to many of us, it’s fun to switch up the formula from time to time - which PC players can do with the assistance of mods.

And it’s a mod by NexusMods user TheBawb that I want to highlight today as ‘Warden of the Coast’ is a DLC-sized adventure inspired by the likes of BioWare’s Mass Effect and Dragon Age franchises.

Mass Effect fans will also want to keep an eye on Exodus, an upcoming sci-fi RPG.

‘Warden of the Coast’ will see you travel to an “isolated island” where you must “stop a daedric lord from returning to power”, closing shut “the jaws of Oblivion once more”, and that’s all whilst you earn the loyalty of nine companions.

Just as you’ll find in BioWare titles, each companion has a loyalty quest so you won’t want to skip over those, and you can choose up to three companions to accompany you during major missions and exploration.

On top of that, there are seven romance quests as well as five mod endings, determined by the player’s choices.

All in all, ‘Warden of the Coast’ provides between 10 and 15 hours of gameplay - and the mod is fully voiced, with 9,000 lines of dialogue brought to life by 27 voice actors.

Companions will react to your kills as well as your choices, and you may need to revive them during combat.

As you can likely see, this isn’t your average mod. This is a colossal project that’s endlessly deserving of all praise it receives.

‘Warden of the Coast’ takes place across two new world spaces, which feature 19 new interiors in total.

If you remain unconvinced at this point, well, I find myself at a loss to understand why.

PC users can enjoy ‘Warden of the Coast’ for free by heading over to NexusMods.