For me, Skyrim was a visual treat where I was genuinely transported to another land. I felt like I was visiting Skyrim and I had the rare feeling I almost never had in video games where I would like to visit or even live in a place. It was the feeling I had with Megaton as that was the kind of place I'd like to live post-apocalypse.
It was a place I felt genuinely came alive in terms of world design with each of the town's having their own flavor and environment so that much that Fallout 4 was a gross disappointment. There was the frozen port of Dawnstar, Whiterun, the Imperialized Riften, the Nordish it hurts Windhelm, and the beauty of Solitude. How many games have cultural values so you can measure how "nordish" something is as a fundamental quality of the land?
Solitude is the Disneyland version of Nords, Windhelm is the actual Nords (racist pricks with a ghetto), Whiterun is half-and-half, Riften is almost pure Imperial but run by a Loyalist, and Falkreath is more its own culture with a Nordish ruling class. Then you have Morthal which is shaped by the fact its climate is a giant swamp more than anything like being Nordish or not.
Skyrim also gets props from me with characters I genuinely liked. Ysolde doesn't have much of a personality but she's sweet and likable in your brief actions. Lydia is quickly endearing. The actual NPC NPCs like Balgruuf, Ulfric, Tullius, and the others are people that I could imagine as real people in the setting. Plus, Paarthurnax is my favorite dragon in the history of video games.
I love how the backstory of the Thalmor and their war against the Empire was woven into everyone's backstory. Nazi Elves may not be the most original idea of all time but I LOVED killing them and that is the best thing you can do in a video game for me with an enemy and why I love the Enclave so much. It also discusses the politics of surrender for the first time as the Imperial surrendering may have been the right decision but you understand why it made everyone hate the Thalmor so much.
There were some really good choices in the game too even if not nearly enough of them. Destroying the Dark Brotherhood may have closed off a plotline but it was a good thing to add. Do you kill Paarthurnax or not? I also loved the fact you had to choose between the Silver Hand family and the Forsaken. I would have added a lot more, mind you, but they were memorable ones when they occurred. I, for one, prefer to be a vampire than a vampire hunter.
I won't lie to you, the Power Fantasy element also played a role because it was a justified Power Fantasy. You are a demigod like Kratos so you can do things which other human beings can't, including become an Archwizard Warrior like Darth Vader (which my Daedra worshiping Sorcerer-Knight Goodish Bad Guy Dragonborn was). Even if the handing out of titles get ridiculous, it's believable unlike with the Sole Survivor, at least for me.
Plus, I loved the ballads in-universe just like Red Eye's. Our Hero, Our Hero Claims a Warrior's Heart. I mean, I loved it so much I could actually sing the damn thing from memory as I wrote this.
