Skyrim feels like a whole new game after grabbing these 3 free add-ons

Skyrim players in need of a quick graphical boost can completely change the atmosphere of the game with these three simple free downloads.

As a game from 2011, it’s pretty clear that The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim has aged in some regards. The graphics are one such example which, while revolutionary for the time, have become quite dated by today’s standards.

Thankfully, there are three simple add-ons that you can pick up for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim which we’d recommend installing if you want to upgrade the game’s atmosphere without sacrificing performance or its very specific art style.

You’ll need a PC copy of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition in order to install these, plus some knowledge of how modding the game works.

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You can dramatically improve Skyrim's atmosphere with these three mods

The first one you’ll want to pick up is Helios, a mod which changes interior lighting and effects depending on the current weather, time of day, and other effects which alter the atmosphere of the game’s exteriors.

When inside a building, the light shining through the windows will reflect what the current state of the world outside is. If it’s day-time and sunny, you’ll get big beams of light coming through. If it’s night-time and foggy, there’ll be a completely different set of lighting effects coming through.

The next one is a bit more subtle, but it’s called Volumetric Mists and does exactly as it says on the tin.

Volumetric Mists brings large scale distant volumetric mist and fog effects to Skyrim, adding misty valleys without obscuring peaks or wiping out the sky like fog does in the standard version of the game.

These effects are hand-placed by the mod’s creator, so there shouldn’t be any graphical issues or mistakes that come about as a result of procedural generation. It’s subtle, but it adds a huge amount of atmosphere to some of Skyrim’s outdoor environments.

The final mod in this selection we’re shouting out today is HeilingerKrest’s Northern Scenery mods, which are a small collection of overhauls for various locations in Skyrim which aim to enhance the world.

The mod features brand new props, altered scenery, and other little details added to help make Skyrim feel like more of an authentic location, based on conceptual illustrations of Skyrim which were made during development.

Altogether, it should mean that Skyrim feels like a much more realistic and authentic place when you install these three mods, bringing the immersion far beyond what Bethesda Game Studios was able to do with the technology it had in 2011.

It adds just that little bit of extra immersion that Skyrim is famous for, and for those who are familiar with the game, it’ll give you another reason to install.

While we wait for The Elder Scrolls VI to launch in the next few years, these add-ons are surely enough to give you a reason to keep playing Skyrim.