At this point, Skyrim has been released on so many platforms that it’s basically the RPG equivalent of
a classic rock band doing “one last reunion tour” every other year. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Anniversary
Edition is Bethesda’s big 10th-anniversary victory lap: a bundle that adds curated Creation Club content,
next-gen polish, and a fresh excuse to sink another 300 hours into Tamriel.
But how does the Anniversary Edition actually rank compared to previous releases? Is it worth the upgrade if
you already own Skyrim Special Edition? And which new systems and mini-expansions are genuinely great versus
“that’s nice, I guess”? Let’s break down rankings and opinions so you can decide whether this is your
definitive Skyrim… or just another scroll on the pile.
What Skyrim Anniversary Edition Actually Includes
First, a quick recap. Skyrim Anniversary Edition is essentially:
- Skyrim Special Edition (the remastered base game + all three major DLCs: Dawnguard, Hearthfire, Dragonborn)
- All 70+ Creation Club add-ons bundled in, including new quests, dungeons, weapons, armor sets, and player homes
- Plus some headline features like Survival Mode, Fishing, Saints & Seducers, and Rare Curios
In other words, you’re not getting “Skyrim 2.0,” but you are getting a “complete GOTY+” package. New players
can buy the Anniversary Edition outright, while existing Special Edition owners can purchase a paid upgrade
that unlocks all Creation Club content in one shot.
The core experience is still the same legendary open-world RPG from 2011: dragon shouts, endless side quests,
guild storylines, sneaking around in Daedric armor even though you promised yourself you’d roleplay a pure
law-abiding healer this time. The Anniversary Edition just layers more toys and distractions on top of that
formula.
Where Anniversary Edition Ranks Critically
When it comes to formal rankings and review scores, Skyrim’s different versions occupy slightly different
tiers:
-
Original Skyrim (2011): Critically acclaimed, consistently ranked among the top RPGs of all
time with sky-high scores on major review aggregators. -
Skyrim Special Edition: Well-received remaster. Critics praised improved visuals, stability,
and native mod support, though some felt it wasn’t a must-buy at full price if you owned the original on PC. -
Skyrim Anniversary Edition: Generally lands in the “good, but not mind-blowing” range on
review sites. Most outlets score it in the low-to-mid 70s, describing it as a big, content-rich bundle that
doesn’t fundamentally change the game.
That positioning makes sense. Reviewers aren’t really evaluating Skyrim from scratch anymore; they’re
judging the value of “Skyrim + Creation Club content + a new price tag.” A common critical verdict looks
something like: “Still an amazing RPG, but this is more of a deluxe repackaging than a revolutionary
upgrade.” For brand-new players, the package often gets a hearty thumbs-up. For long-time fans, the reaction
is closer to: “I love this game, but do I really need to buy it again?”
Player sentiment is split into three main camps:
- The Newcomers: For people who somehow dodged Skyrim for a decade, Anniversary Edition is an S-tier value: massive content, modern platforms, and all DLC in one box.
- The Casual Returners: Players who owned Skyrim once or twice already but aren’t deep into modding often consider the upgrade worthwhile during a good sale.
- The Mod-Heavy PC Crowd: This group is more skeptical. Many already have mod lists that exceed what Creation Club offers and worry about updates breaking their load orders.
Ranking the Big Additions in Skyrim Anniversary Edition
Let’s get to the juicy part: which Anniversary Edition features and Creations are actually worth your time?
Here’s a practical, opinionated ranking of the major headliners.
1. Survival Mode – Immersive Challenge, Top-Tier for Role-Players
Survival Mode is arguably the most impactful gameplay change. You’ll need to watch hunger, fatigue, and body
temperature. Fast travel is disabled. Carry weight is stricter. Suddenly, hiking to Winterhold in a cloth robe
during a blizzard becomes a terrible life choice instead of a casual stroll.
For role-players and immersion addicts, Survival Mode ranks A-tier to S-tier. It turns Skyrim
into a slower, more deliberate experience where preparation actually matters. However, if you enjoy power
fantasy speed-runs and fast-traveling across the map every five minutes, this might feel like an unnecessary
hassle.
2. Saints & Seducers – The “Mini-Expansion” Questline
Saints & Seducers is one of the most substantial Creations, often described as a small expansion pack. It
adds a new questline inspired by the Shivering Isles from Oblivion, introduces unique enemies, and spices up
the world with new encounters and loot.
In rankings of Anniversary Edition content, Saints & Seducers usually lands in the
top-tier. It’s not as long or elaborate as a full DLC, but it scratches that itch for fresh
narrative content in a world many players know by heart.
3. Fishing – Chill, Cozy, and Surprisingly On-Brand
Fishing was widely memed when it was first announced (“we waited ten years for this?”), but it has
quietly become a cozy favorite. It adds:
- Fishing spots around Skyrim’s rivers and lakes
- New fish species to catch and display
- Related quests, relics, and collectibles
As a mechanical addition, Fishing is B-tier. As a vibe, it’s excellent. It’s perfect for
players who treat Skyrim like a fantasy hiking simulator and want a low-stress excuse to hang out by a lake,
listen to the soundtrack, and occasionally get dragged into a Daedric artifact quest because of course.
4. Rare Curios – Great for Alchemists and Min-Maxers
Rare Curios expands the pool of alchemy ingredients, especially via Khajiit caravans. If you love crafting
powerful potions and poisons, this is a stealth MVP. It doesn’t dramatically change the game, but it deepens
the economy and crafting systems in a satisfying way.
For players who barely touch alchemy, it’s a quiet C+ to B-tier quality-of-life upgrade.
For potion enthusiasts, it jumps to A-tier.
5. New Player Homes and the Goldenhills Farm
One of the sleeper hits of Anniversary Edition is the collection of new player homes, especially Goldenhills
Farm. This Creation essentially lets you run your own farm:
- Hire workers and manage crops
- Generate passive income through production
- Enjoy a cozy rural base of operations
For players who love Hearthfire, housing mods, or general “fantasy homesteading” vibes, these rank
A-tier. They don’t revolutionize combat or story, but they add a satisfying sense of
progression beyond “collect more dragon bones.”
6. Artifact Packs, Armor Sets, and Weapons
Anniversary Edition includes a big pile of new gear: artifact weapons, alternative armor sets, backpacks, and
themed equipment collections. These are great for:
- Build-crafting and character concepts (paladins, battlemages, hunters, thieves, etc.)
- Fresh aesthetics for veterans who’ve already seen every vanilla armor set a hundred times
On their own, most of these Creations are B-tiernice extras rather than must-play content.
Together, though, they make re-rolling new characters more exciting and help Anniversary Edition feel like a
richer sandbox.
Skyrim Special Edition vs. Anniversary Edition: Which One Deserves the Higher Rank?
From a pure “how well does it run and look?” standpoint, Anniversary Edition and Special Edition are extremely
similar. Both deliver:
- Remastered visuals compared to the 2011 original
- Improved stability and performance versus last-gen console versions
- Shorter loading times on modern hardware
The real difference is content and cost:
- Special Edition: Best if you’re a modded PC player who wants full control over your load order and isn’t interested in paying for curated Creations.
- Anniversary Edition: Best if you want a “complete, everything-in-the-box” Skyrim with minimal setup and a big bundle of extra quests, homes, systems, and gear.
For most console players or newcomers, Anniversary Edition ranks one step above Special Edition because it
simply offers more content with little downside. For hardcore PC modders, however, Special Edition can easily
outrank Anniversary Edition because community mods provide deeper, more customizable content than Creation
Club, and updates tied to AE have historically broken carefully tuned mod lists.
The Price Debate: Value vs. Fatigue
One of the most divisive aspects of Skyrim Anniversary Edition isn’t the contentit’s the pricing and the
feeling of “Skyrim, again?” After a decade of rereleases, some players are understandably tired of paying
for incremental upgrades.
Common opinions from reviews and community discussions include:
- “Overpriced at full MSRP, great on sale.” Many players recommend waiting for discounts unless you’re a die-hard fan.
- “Perfect for new players, a harder sell for long-time owners.” If you already have Skyrim and some Creation Club purchases, the math gets murky.
- “Convenience premium.” Some are happy to pay for a clean, curated package instead of hunting through mods and individual purchases.
In a value ranking, Anniversary Edition lands roughly like this:
- S-tier value: Brand-new players on console, or people who only ever played the original 2011 release.
- B-tier value: Special Edition owners who rarely mod and want more official content.
- C-tier value: Mod-obsessed PC players who already have hundreds of hours and dozens of free mods installed.
Bugs, Performance, and Modding Concerns
Let’s be honest: it wouldn’t be a Bethesda RPG without at least a few dragons flying backwards or NPCs walking
into walls during serious conversations. Anniversary Edition doesn’t magically erase Skyrim’s quirks; it
inherits most of them.
On the bright side:
- Modern platforms handle Skyrim much better than the notorious PS3 days.
- Loading times and frame rates are generally smoother on current-gen consoles and decent PCs.
The main pain point is mod compatibility. Anniversary Edition’s updates changed internal game files, which
initially broke many script-heavy mods and mod loaders. The modding community has largely caught up, but:
- Some older mods were never updated for AE.
- Players who don’t want to rebuild their mod setups often stick with Special Edition.
If you’re a console player using only official content, this isn’t a big deal. If you’re a PC player with a
200-mod load order, your personal ranking of Anniversary Edition might be dragged down a notch simply because
it complicates your modding life.
Overall Verdict: How Does Skyrim Anniversary Edition Rank in 2025?
If we mash together critic reviews, community opinions, and practical value, here’s a reasonable ranking:
- Skyrim as a game (base + DLC): Still S-tier open-world RPGone of the most influential titles of its generation.
- Skyrim Special Edition: A-tier remaster with strong mod support and solid performance.
- Skyrim Anniversary Edition: A-tier overall, with its rank shifting slightly up or down depending on who you are:
- A+ for newcomers and console players wanting the most complete official package.
- B+ for long-time owners who already have Skyrim in multiple forms.
- Anywhere from B to C+ for hardcore modders who prioritize community content over Creation Club packs.
In short: Anniversary Edition isn’t a must-buy revolution, but it is a very comfortable way to experience one
of the best fantasy RPGs ever made, especially if you appreciate curated extra content and don’t want to live
in mod manager menus.
Extended Experiences: What It Feels Like to Live in Skyrim Anniversary Edition
While opinions and rankings are useful, Skyrim is ultimately a “feel” game. A big part of deciding whether
Anniversary Edition is worth it is imagining (or remembering) what it’s like to actually play it with all
those extras turned on.
Picture this: you start a fresh character, promising yourself you’ll stick to one build this time. You enable
Survival Mode, step off the wagon in Helgen, and suddenly that fur armor and cooked rabbit from the starting
area feel a lot more important. You’re not just sprinting to Whiterunyou’re watching the sun go down and
wondering if you’re going to freeze to death in the middle of the tundra because you decided to chase one
more wolf.
As you wander, little Anniversary Edition touches keep popping up. A Khajiit caravan sells unusual reagents
you’ve never seen before. A roadside encounter spirals into the Saints & Seducers questline, giving you a
fresh mystery to solve. Your alchemy table becomes a toy box of new possibilities, and suddenly you’re
brewing potions like a fantasy chemist with a side hustle.
Eventually you unlock Goldenhills Farm and realize you’ve accidentally roleplayed your way into being a
land-owning Dragonborn farmer. Instead of fast-traveling from dungeon to dungeon, you find yourself checking
on your crops, talking to your hired hands, and dumping loot into carefully labeled chests because clutter in
your fantasy house now bothers you as much as clutter in your real one.
Fishing adds its own flavor to this rhythm. Maybe you head to a lake to clear your quest journal, get
distracted by a fishing spot, and end up spending half an hour catching rare fish while the main quest sits
there patiently like, “Hey, the world is kind of ending.” For many players, that’s the magic of Anniversary
Edition: not the huge, flashy additions, but the subtle excuses to slow down and just exist in Skyrim’s
countryside.
On the flip side, some players report a very different experience. If you’re rushing through the main story,
ignoring side content, and playing on a straightforward build, Anniversary Edition can feel like “oh, there’s
more stuff in the menu” rather than a transformative upgrade. You might see new armor in a chest, shrug, and
keep using your trusty Daedric set. You might disable Survival Mode after a few in-game days because food and
temperature management clash with your preferred power-fantasy playstyle.
PC modders often describe a third experience entirely. They treat Anniversary Edition as raw materiala
foundation that gets heavily customized with ENBs, combat overhauls, quest mods, and texture packs. For them,
the official Creation Club content is either a nice baseline or something to be carefully managed so it
doesn’t conflict with deeper, fan-made overhauls. In their rankings, the “best” Skyrim is neither Special nor
Anniversary, but the one they’ve shaped over years of modding.
Taken together, these experiences explain why opinions on Skyrim Anniversary Edition are so varied. The
content is objectively generous: dozens of Creations, hours of quests, new systems, and a unified package.
But Skyrim is also a game people bend to their own tastescozy explorer, min-maxing assassin, mod lab rat,
or lore-hungry completionist. Anniversary Edition doesn’t change who you are as a player; it just offers more
ways for that player to roam Tamriel.
So if you love the idea of more structured challenges, new stories, and “official mod-like” extras, Anniversary
Edition will likely rank highly in your personal list of Skyrim versions. If you mainly care that the dragons
shout, the bards sing, and your stealth archer one-shots everything from the shadows, then the base game and
Special Edition may already give you everything you really need.
